candle making

Kiwisaver_2

I can only urge extreme caution with putting candle wax in the oven. I once managed to spill some in mine and the smell and smoke were just unbelievable. :eek:

Depends on the type of wax you're dealing with;

Natural waxes like the Yankee type jar candles are softer and have a lower melt point so can easiy be melted in a glass jug stood in boiling water and will quite easily wash up afterwards.

If it's old style parrafin wax from pillar type candles or crayon, you'll never manage to wash it off your kitchen utensils. :eek:

zippychick

ive merged this with the candle making thread so you can read back the other ideas

Zip

hakeber

Kiwisaver wrote: »

I can only urge extreme caution with putting candle wax in the oven. I once managed to spill some in mine and the smell and smoke were just unbelievable. :eek:

- not very good at quoting hope this worked
yes be careful but i've never had a problem. put the tin on an old baking tray and check every couple of minutes.
bek

- oooh it worked.

BitterAndTwisted

A friend of mine works in a rather nice bar/restaurant and they have large, white pillar candles everywhere. She's been saving the ends for me and gave me two carrier bags full of them at the weekend. In return I have to make her a couple of scented ones. Easy peasy.

I often use those cheap tumblers, sometimes the four-for-eighty-pence ones from @sda, or better, ten pence each from the charity shop,

I need to get busy.

Note: I would NEVER heat candle-wax in a sauce-pan directly on the hob or worse, in the oven. That stuff's flammable! Much too dangerous.

Sallygirl

We made some really lovely candles using leftovers. We filled the mould (whatever tin we were using) with chopped up chunks of leftever white candles and poured over some melted, coloured candle wax (also from leftover candles). The result was some really eyecatching candles where you could see the white chunks through the coloured wax. They made great presents and all for the cost of the wick.

Living_proof

I have an idea which will kill two birds with one stone. You know when the barbecue has finished but there is plenty of heat left in it - put the candles in an old metal container or pan over the grill and melt the old wax (as long as you are still sober!) and then strain into the moulds outside. No stinky kitchen, lovely new scented candles and a good use for all the inevitably wasted fuel on the barbie.

Superfast_Gran

I have some little glass candle holders with leftover wax in them. They're curve shaped so the leftover was is bigger the the neck. My question is how best to get the wax out without breaking the glass so I can use them again too?

Snowy_Owl

Yay!!! I've made my candle tonight!! Have tried one as a tester....

Used cleaned out cat food tins in a pot of hot water and broke old bits of candle. Melted the wax and then poured into an old glass candle jar. bought some short wicks from a local craft store - rested the top end round a pen but will use a skewer next time.

has now totally set- has dipped in the middle but looks really good! just need to see how it burns (eg smokiness etc) but will wait until finished using current big candle!

Snowy

square_bear

Hi

I have some spent candles that I would like to melt down and re-use again.

What is the best way to melt the wax?

I have some nice glass holders to pour the wax into.

Would it be better to buy my wicks on-line?

Any tips to make the candles more artistic rather than just plain colours and smells?

Thanks

S.B

Seakay

I melt wax in a heavy bottomed aluminium milk pan that I bought second hand.
Before that I used a cleaned tin in a pan of simmering water.

If you are using containers to make candles in it's best to use the wicks with a little metal base which you can stick down and saves faffing with trying to balance the wick.
I'm lucky enough to have an arts suppliers close to me to get enough wicks for my own use from, but I'm sure that there are places online.
Measure the diameter of your container so that you get the correct thickness of wick.

An easy variant on a plain candle is to fill up the mould or container with little chunks of wax before pouring on the liquid wax.
Don't forget to save some for topping up as the centre often drops as the wax cools.