Endless Green

Candle Making tips from Endless Green

Candle making is easy, rewarding and requires no specialist equipment to get started. Unlike many hobbies and crafts you can make do and improvise until you are sure it is something you would like to do long term. To get started all you will need is wax, Wick, two saucepans and a mould.

If you already burn a lot of candles then keep the left over wax to make new candles. Keep similar colours together, or ones that will mix well to create new colours, and don’t be tempted to throw all your colours in the same pan or you could end up with a muddy coloured candle. The simplest candles to make are container candles and old candle glasses are ideal to re use.

Always use the double boiler method to heat your wax and don’t allow your saucepan to boil dry. Candles waxes are relatively safe to use and typically have a flash point well above 100°C, but a thermometer is recommended as the temperature will rise quickly once the wax has melted.  Never leave melting wax unattended and in the event of your wax catching fire cover with a damp cloth or fire blanket. Never pour water onto a wax fire.  Gloves and an apron are advisable to protect clothing and exposed skin from hot splashes, and cover your work area with newspaper to catch any spills. Candles must be placed on a flat surface and not be left unattended whilst burning.

Choosing a mould

Commercially made moulds are available in a variety of shapes and sizes but you could use many household things, from a jam jar to a flower pot or tea cup, as long as it holds liquid and is heat resistant.  If you are making a moulded candle then use a smooth sided container and one that is wider, or the same width at the mouth, otherwise you will not get your candle out of the mould.

Commercial moulds come in plastic, aluminium, glass or rubber. Plastic is usually the cheapest, is durable but can scratch. Glass gives an excellent finish but is more fragile. Aluminium moulds are more durable and give an excellent finish but can be scratched and dented. Rubber moulds are good for casting intricate shapes. The choice of mould is usually determined by cost and if you are unsure whether candle making is something you would like to do long term then start with a cheaper mould. If looked after properly any of the above moulds will give you good service.

To estimate how much wax a mould will hold weight the mould, then fill with water and weigh again. The difference between the two weights is the approximate weight of candle wax needed for that mould.

Choosing the right wax

There are two basic types of candle wax. Firstly are the pillar waxes, which are used to make traditional moulded candles, and secondly container/full melt waxes, which are used to make candles that remain in their containers to burn (glade/airwick type candles use this sort of wax). Decide whether you want to make a pillar candle or a container candle and choose your wax accordingly. Please see our ‘candle wax’ shop page for more details on the different types of waxes - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Endless-Green/Candle-Waxes.

Dyeing your wax.

The appearance of paraffin wax is usually improved with the addition of candle dyes and produces bright colours while soya, rapeseed and beeswax have their own natural colour. Follow the recommendations given by your supplier on how much dye to add to your wax.

Choosing the right Candle wick

There is a bewildering choice of candle wicks available on the market and finding the right one can take many hours of experimenting, but following some basic principles will produce a candle that burns well without excessive smoking. Please take a look at the candle wicks in our Ebay shop as we have graded them according to the wax and size of candle they are suited to.  The addition of dyes and, in particular, fragrances will affect how your candles burn and natural waxes need a larger wick than the equivalent size paraffin candle.

Candle wicks fall into two basic categories, those that are plain braided cotton and those that have the addition of paper or metal to make them stiffer.  The stiffer ‘cored’ wicks can be used in both pillar and container waxes while the plain cotton wick is generally only used in pillar candles because it cannot support itself in the large amount of liquid wax generated in a container.  Keep the wick trimmed to 0.5cm to prevent excessive smoking.  The perfect wick will give you a candle that burns almost to the edge but leaves a thin rim of unburned wax which prevents the liquid wax running down the side of the candle. Too small and the wick will disappear down a hole and eventually go out and too large will result in wax running down the outside of your candle and the candle burning away too quickly. For container candles you want the whole surface of the wax to become liquid but using too large a wick will result in your candle burning away too quickly.

Making a candle

Once you have decided what type of candle you are going to make you are ready for the next stage.

For moulded candles spray the inside of your mould with a commercial mould release spray or wipe with some vegetable oil. This will help prevent your candle sticking.

Melt your wax using the double boiler method. Do not leave the wax unattended and treat it as you would cooking oil, keeping a fire blanket or damp cloth to hand for emergencies. Under normal heating conditions it is unlikely that your wax will catch fire but how often have we answered the door or telephone and got side tracked? All waxes have a different melting point but in general it is between 55°C and 70°C and all waxes should be heated to 68°C before adding dye and 75°C before adding fragrance for best results.  Do not continue to heat the wax once fragrance has been added.

Prime your wick by dipping into the molten wax and allowing the surplus to drip back into the pan. For moulded candles thread the wick through the wicking hole and seal the hole with mould seal or blu-tack. For jar candles attach a metal sustainer to the wick and crimp the neck closed to hold the wick in place then sit the sustainer in the bottom of the jar. This can be held in place with a sticky dot.

For both candles you will need to support the wick where it emerges from the top of the mould. Use either a wick pin or improvise with a kitchen skewer, but either way the wick needs to be as straight and taught as possible to help the candle burn evenly.

If you have heated your wax to 75°C to add fragrance and dye you can let it cool in the pan for a while before pouring, but stir it occasionally to prevent a skin forming on the surface. When you are ready to pour your wax do so slowly to prevent air bubbles forming and prevent splashes.  Container waxes are a one pour wax so your jar candle can be put one side to cool for 24hrs before lighting. A pillar candle will need topping up at least once before it is finished. The temperature at which the wax is poured will affect how much it needs to be topped up as the hotter it is poured the more it will shrink as it cools. Paraffin wax will form a well in the centre which is quite obvious but soya and rapeseed waxes form a void down the centre of the candle which is not always visible. Top the candle up as many times as is necessary but do not allow the wax to go above the original pour level as this will cause the candle to stick. Allow your pillar candle to cool overnight before removing from the mould.

Trouble Shooting

Pillar mould is leaking – It is important to get a good seal around the wick and no wick is left exposed. If your mould still leaks stand in a container of room temperature water which will immediate slow the flow and solidify the wax. I usually stand my moulds in just a few millimetres of water when I am pouring the wax.

Candle is stuck in the mould – This is very common but, providing you have used pillar wax, it can usually be remedied quite easily. Firstly you must allow enough time for the wax to cool and this can take many hours for larger candles and it is best to leave all candles overnight before trying to remove them.  If the candle still refuses to come out of the mould then place it in the fridge. Check occasionally to see if the candle will release and if not put back in the fridge. Do not try to remove the candle using a knife as this will damage the mould. If the fridge method fails after several hours then you can resort to dipping the candle into very hot water to melt the surface and allow it to slide out. Unfortunately this doesn’t do much for the appearance of the candle and leaves wax on the inside of the mould too.

Variations to try

Odd pieces of china, such as milk jugs and teacups, are always a favourite as well as pretty or rustic flowerpots and for larger diameter flower pots try using three smaller wicks evenly spaced. Save old jam jars to fill with wax and place around your garden to add atmosphere for parties.

If you have lots of different coloured candle bits left over then these can be used in two ways. Firstly you can make layer candles using just small amounts of wax by adding a new layer when the previous one has formed a skin and add more interest by angling the mould so the colours are not all in straight lines. Alternatively you can chop up the different colours into small pieces and use them to make multi coloured chunk candles. Fill a mould with the chopped up pieces and then pour in un dyed paraffin wax.

Make sand candles by pressing a shape into damp sand and then pour in pillar wax. These can be any shape or size and the sand will stick to the wax giving an interesting finish. Add the primed wick when the candle has hardened by heating a wick pin or skewer and pushing into the wax and then push the wick in after.  Any gap around the wick will quickly disappear when the candle is lit.

Ice candles are very quick to make and use only a small amount of wax. Use a large diameter mould (at least 75mm in diameter or larger). Fill the mould with ice cubes and pour in the melted wax. The ice cools the wax very quickly and the candles can be removed very soon afterwards. Place them on the draining board until all the ice has melted. The downside of these candles is they burn away very quickly, but burning time can be improved by using a dinner candle as the core and then adding the ice cubes around this. Always place these candles in a large dish as the wax will run through the holes.

Bamboo makes an interesting container for candles and can be used in two ways. Either stand the bamboo upright (the larger the diameter the better) and cut to reveal a hollow section which is then filled with wax, or slice the bamboo length ways, to reveal as many sections as you want to use, and fill these with wax. Whichever method you use make sure that the bamboo is unable to fall or roll over.

Two lovely ideas put to us recently by different customers were candles in sea shells and coconuts for themed parties.  Whatever container you decide to use for your candles please be sure to display them safely and these two ideas would look stunning displayed in a shallow, sand filled box to keep them level.

These are just a few ideas that you may like to try but use your imagination and you can create unusual and unique designs of your own.