In our household we burn about 100 candles a year. That seems like a lot, but we burn 5 in our living room each evening. Each candle lasts for 5 evenings. That works out at one candle a day from before Samhain (late October) to after Imbolc (early February).
I make my own candles. I pour them into glass jars. The jars are manufactured as single-use food containers. They are heat-proof to stand sterilization for food use. I can re-use them many times. The candle flame is visible as the candle burns down. There’s no dribbly wax down the sides of candlesticks, or over tables or floors. The fire is as controlled, as much as fire can ever be controlled.
As well as making candles for our own use, I make some as gifts. The number of candles that I make at any one time is increasing as I get more practice. At the moment each batch is about 15 candles. During the Winter months I’m going to be making candles once a fortnight.
Here’s my routine for making 4 scented candles, and 10 (or slightly more) unscented ones.
Melting the wax
My first task is to set up a supply of molten wax. Each of my candles will contain 100-125g of wax. Most are nearer 125g. If I’m aiming to produce up to 16 candles, I’ll need nearly 2Kg of wax. I’ve tried using beeswax, in part because I still have a supply from when I kept bees. Beeswax on its own in a container it quite hard and burns a little too hot. Soya wax, on the other hand, burns well but is a little soft. I blend Soya wax with about 10% beeswax as the basis of my candles, and I like the way they burn and smell.
There are various ways of setting up a supply of molten wax. For smaller quantities, you can put the wax over water in a double-boiler and heat it on the top of the stove. (It’s not advisable to heat wax directly, especially over an open flame. The reason we use wax to make candles is that it is flammable!) An alternative is to put the wax in a pot in a low oven (maybe 70C). That works, but it takes a long time to melt 2Kg of wax.
I thought that I would melt enough wax in a year to justify investigating purpose-made wax-melters. Most of the wax-melters available commercially are aimed at commercial candle producers. They would melt my year’s supply of wax, or more, in one go. I found a smaller version with a capacity of about 4 Kg of wax on eBay, from a seller in the US. It’s a crock-pot that has been modified by fitting a tap to run off the molten wax. I need a 220V to 110V transformer to operate it, but it works very well. It takes about 10 minutes to melt each 1Kg of wax.
While the wax melts, I warm the jugs I will use for filling the candle containers. I use two. One is a Pyrex jug with a capacity of 500ml. I use that one to fill 4 scented candles. I use the other jug for pouring “ordinary” candles. The second one is made of stainless steel. It has a long lip for directing the wax into the containers. I put at least one stirring rod in one of the jugs, so the stirring rod gets warm too.
Fixing the candle wicks
I buy pre-cut candle wicks with the sustainers already attached. (Sustainers are small, circular metal clips that grip the wick so it can be fixed to the bottom of a container.) I’ve tried using the double-sided sticky pads sold for fixing candle wicks, but it’s almost impossible to remove the residue when the candle is burnt out. I like to re-use my containers, so now I use hotmelt glue.
My trick for positioning the wick is to put half a drinking straw around the wick.
The straw is rigid enough for me to be able to press the sustainer against the base of the container while the glue sets. I can hold the container upside down and see the wick is central as I bring the surfaces together. (Yes, that is a plastic drinking straw. We had a few left over when we made the switch to paper ones for drinks a few years ago. I’m using them for candles before disposing them responsibly.)
When the glue has had a chance to set, I test each wick by using it to lift the container. I also make sure I have prepared a few spare containers with wicks. It’s not unusual for 2 or 3 wicks in a batch of 15 to come unstuck, and I want to use all the wax I’ve prepared.
With the wicks glued in place, it’s time to fix the wick so it is held centrally in the container. I have some plastic clips for the purpose, and a few metal ones. Sprung clothes pegs can work, but aren’t so good if the top of the container is less than 6cm across. (The clothes peg reduces the gap through which you will pour wax). You can use two cocktail sticks with small elastic bands to hold them together each side of the wick. Orthodontic bands or loom bands work well.
Cooling the wax for pouring
I use an infra-red thermometer to check the temperature of wax and the oven. It’s cleaner than using the type of thermometer that has to be dipped into a liquid. There’s little difference in price.
When all the wax is melted, I check the temperature. Soy wax melts at around 50C. Beeswax melts at around 60C. By the time it is all melted, it’s normally at about 70C. That’s too hot for pouring into the containers. The most obvious reason is that the hotmelt glue will melt at that temperature, and the wicks will come adrift. Another reason is that the hotter the wax, the more it will shrink as it sets. If it’s too hot, it pulls away from the sides of the containers leaving unsightly cavities.
If the wax for scented candles is too hot, any essential oils that are added to it will cook off. This significantly reduces the extent to which a scented candle ends up being scented.
I pour (or scoop) 300-400ml of wax into my stainless-steel jug. I check the temperature and put it on one side. I’ll pour this wax into containers when the temperature is 50C or less, and the wax is just starting to go misty.
I take the second jug out of the oven, and check the oven temperature. The control on my oven is labelled OFF—0—100C at the lower temperature range, so it’s difficult to set it to a temperature below 100C with any accuracy. Using a thermometer to help me, I aim to get the temperature as near 50C as possible.
The second jug is for the scented candles. I put a small amount of wax dye in this jug (about 4g), enough to just tint the wax. Then I top up the jug with between 450ml and 500ml of molten wax. I stir it to distribute the dye, then put it alongside the first jug of wax to cool to around 50C. Meanwhile I measure out 25-30ml of my chosen essential oil or blend of oils.
Pouring the candles
When the plain wax cools to 50C and starts to mist a little, I start to pour it into the containers. I fill containers to a depth of no more than 2cm, reserving 4 containers for the scented candles. Then I refill the jug and set it aside to cool again. This process is repeated, adding no more than 2cm of molten wax to an empty container, or to one in which earlier pourings of wax have set. I continue building up the levels of wax until all the containers are filled to about 1cm below the top.
When the dyed wax has cooled to 50C I add the essential oils and stir them in. I pour wax into the reserved containers to a depth of 2 cm, then put the jug of wax in the oven to stay warm. By this time I should have the oven temperature at 50-55C. I don’t want it any hotter because higher temperatures would cook off the essential oils. When the wax in the containers has set, I top it up by another 2cm, again returning the unused wax to the oven. I continue topping up until the containers are full to about 1cm from the top, or until I’ve used up all the scented and coloured wax. If I’ve judged things correctly, I meet both conditions at the same time.
Finishing off
When all the wax has set, it’s time to trim the wicks and make the candles presentable. I remove the wick supports and trim the wicks with sharp scissors so that they protrude 5-6mm above the surface of the wax. I doesn’t matter if I make gouges in the surface of the wax in the process because the next step fixes that.
The final step is to melt just a few millimetres of wax on the surface of each candle so that the surface sets smooth and even. I use a heat gun. I think of the heat gun as a hair-dryer-on-steroids. Heat guns are sold in DIY stores for drying paint or varnish, or bending plastic pipes, or welding plastics. They work really well for melting and levelling the surface of candles, or wax based cosmetics such as lip-balms.
Tidying up
I allow unused wax to cool and set in my wax melter. The jug used for plain wax goes in a fridge for about half an hour so the wax sets and shrinks. It’s fairly easy to chip the wax out of this jug into the wax melter ready for the next session of candle making.
I try not to have excess scented wax left. Unless I can think of a way of blending it with other fragrances, I discard any excess. Hot wax can be wiped out of the jug with kitchen paper. If there is too much for that, any liquid can be poured into an empty yoghurt or cream carton to set before being discarded.
Minor spills of wax can be scraped off hard surfaces. Very hot soapy water will remove the rest. Alternatively, small smears can be removed with a little paraffin oil (lamp oil). The lamp oil will evaporate quite quickly afterwards.