Making New Candles from Old Ones

Kefi

I have 4 fab candles which smell lovely. Unfortunately despite my best efforts, they have burnt through leaving lots of lovely wax.

Where do I get wick to melt them down and make new ones?

Do I just gently melt the wax in an old pan ( or bain marie) and put the wax back in the glass, and put the wick in?
How do I keep the wick straight?

I know that you have the answer
Thankyou

sparrer

This happens to me too Kefi, especially with candles in glasses, or pillar candles. I've also got a huge bag of ends but no idea how to make them into new candles or how to attach the wick. Would be interested to hear how others do it.

balletshoes

ebay for your candle wicks, you should get them for around £1 for 10 .

melt the wax slowly in an old pan, then pour the wax into whatever mould/jar you want to use for the new candle. As the wax sets, insert your wick and hold it in place (you won't need to hold it for long, the wax starts to set quickly). Finish off the setting in the fridge, and you're good to go again with new candles .

suejb2

Like above you can get the wicks from that well known auction site,but to stop a candle from "tunneling" you need to burn it till all the wax has melted across the surface.

Evil_Olive

Yay, I can help!
I have done this for years (about 20 ) and have lots of tips earned through hard trial and error
No one in my family throws away their candle ends anymore - they save them for me

I have used moulds but they are more work. Moulds can be improvised from lots of things. I did make a giant candle in an old Pringles tube once. If you want to use moulds, get yourself a candle making book as it gets a lot more involved.
I've found that the easiest and least hassle candles to make are in a glass or jar - less messy to burn too. I use old glasses from charity shops or save small jars like the ones pesto or spices come in & soak off the labels - white spirit gets the gluey residue off. Square glasses/jars don't work as well as round ones, and straight up and down glasses/jars work better than those which are wider at the top.

WICKS
Different thicknesses of wicks are needed for different widths of candle (a wide candle won't burn properly if the wick is too thin) I just buy a job lot of the right wick for 2-3 inch wide candles and that seems to work ok for most things.

You can buy wicks in different thicknesses (often labelled with the width of the candle they are for) in pre-cut lengths or in one long length that you cut up yourself. You can also buy them with metal bits on the end like you get in tealights. You can buy it pre-soaked in wax, or not.

I've also had good results using ordinary household string (it must be the 100% cotton type) instead of special wicking and I've saved and re-used the metal bits from tealight candles in the past.

You need the wick to be a couple of inches longer than the height of the candle - . If you didn't buy it pre-done, soak the wick in melted wax, and allow to cool straight to stiffen it.

METHOD ONE (using the wicks with the metal bits on the bottom like tealights have)

Use a bit of glue to stick the metal bit to the bottom of your jar (I use a lump of Pritt Stick scraped off the stick with my fingernail) press down well.

Put a cocktail stick or skewer across the top of the jar and wind/tie the top of the wick round it to hold it straight and central.
Wax shrinks a lot when it cools and this can pull the wick out of straight a lot - you can avoid this a bit by only adding 1/2 - 1 inch layers at a time and letting it cool in-between. Candles won't burn properly if the wick isn't reasonably straight and central.

It's best to melt the wax in a bain marie type arrangement as the wax can spoil if you overheat it, and also catch fire like a chip pan, but I am guilty of putting it straight into an old saucepan (low heat setting and watch it like a hawk!)
Reclaimed wax from old candles will often have bits of crud in the bottom of the pan - pour it slowly to keep this in the bottom and don't use the last bit (like decanting wine).

METHOD TWO (using wick without the metal bit which is cheaper, especially if you buy a long length and cut it into bits yourself)

It's quite easy to just fill up a jar with wax, add a bit more to fill up the shrinkage once it's cooled and then, when completely cool, use an ordinary DIY drill to drill a hole down the centre about twice as wide as the wick.
Poke the waxed wick in then dribble in more wax to fill up the hole.
the type of drill bit on the right seems to work best
but an ordinary wood/metal bit like the one in the centre (not the masonry one on the left) will work too. A slower speed is easier to control if your drill has a speed control.


You can buy special scent oils and colourings to go in the wax if you want, these are ok and last ages, but I have also used essential oils and other oil-based scents I had on hand in the past. I've also used children's wax crayons to colour it - but they have to be the really cheapo ones with very little pigment in (those fat ones you often find in newsagents/market stalls/poundland that look kind of pale and clear when you draw with them)
The pigments in posh ones like Crayola collect around the wick and put the candle out or make it smoke.

I've also done 'proper' candle making, but I'm not precious about it - if I can bodge for cheaper/faster I will
If you've got any questions or troubleshooting quanderies, post 'em - I might be able to help.

sparrer

Thanks all, makes it sound much simpler than I expected. In particular I was wondering how to keep the wick straight, which has been answered. Think I'll leave the drill bit ones til I'm a little more proficient but for now I'm off to search the bay of e for wicks.

Sorry to hijack your post Kefi, hope it helps you too

Evil_Olive

Hi Sparrer,
I'm a Cockerneee too (Wapping and Stepney) but I now live in the traditional Cockney over-spill county of Essex

Might not sound like it, but the drilled candles are actually the easiest and quickest - I urge you to give it a try - if you do, you'll wonder why on earth you ever bothered with cocktail sticks and metal bits and tying wicks and layering etc etc etc.

It's probably the easiest way to make pillar or other candles that need a mould too as you don't need to fiddle about with fixing wicks and sealing moulds - just fill an old gravy granules pot or similar with wax, rip the card off when cool and drill. Silicone cake cases make good moulds too - cupcake tealights!

Kefi

sparrer wrote: »

Thanks all, makes it sound much simpler than I expected. In particular I was wondering how to keep the wick straight, which has been answered. Think I'll leave the drill bit ones til I'm a little more proficient but for now I'm off to search the bay of e for wicks.

Sorry to hijack your post Kefi, hope it helps you too

No hijacking done.That's us sorted!

Kefi

Evil_Olive wrote: »

Yay, I can help!
I have done this for years (about 20 ) and have lots of tips earned through hard trial and error
No one in my family throws away their candle ends anymore - they save them for me

I have used moulds but they are more work. Moulds can be improvised from lots of things. I did make a giant candle in an old Pringles tube once. If you want to use moulds, get yourself a candle making book as it gets a lot more involved.
I've found that the easiest and least hassle candles to make are in a glass or jar - less messy to burn too. I use old glasses from charity shops or save small jars like the ones pesto or spices come in & soak off the labels - white spirit gets the gluey residue off. Square glasses/jars don't work as well as round ones, and straight up and down glasses/jars work better than those which are wider at the top.

WICKS
Different thicknesses of wicks are needed for different widths of candle (a wide candle won't burn properly if the wick is too thin) I just buy a job lot of the right wick for 2-3 inch wide candles and that seems to work ok for most things.

You can buy wicks in different thicknesses (often labelled with the width of the candle they are for) in pre-cut lengths or in one long length that you cut up yourself. You can also buy them with metal bits on the end like you get in tealights. You can buy it pre-soaked in wax, or not.

I've also had good results using ordinary household string (it must be the 100% cotton type) instead of special wicking and I've saved and re-used the metal bits from tealight candles in the past.

You need the wick to be a couple of inches longer than the height of the candle - . If you didn't buy it pre-done, soak the wick in melted wax, and allow to cool straight to stiffen it.

METHOD ONE (using the wicks with the metal bits on the bottom like tealights have)

Use a bit of glue to stick the metal bit to the bottom of your jar (I use a lump of Pritt Stick scraped off the stick with my fingernail) press down well.

Put a cocktail stick or skewer across the top of the jar and wind/tie the top of the wick round it to hold it straight and central.
Wax shrinks a lot when it cools and this can pull the wick out of straight a lot - you can avoid this a bit by only adding 1/2 - 1 inch layers at a time and letting it cool in-between. Candles won't burn properly if the wick isn't reasonably straight and central.

It's best to melt the wax in a bain marie type arrangement as the wax can spoil if you overheat it, and also catch fire like a chip pan, but I am guilty of putting it straight into an old saucepan (low heat setting and watch it like a hawk!)
Reclaimed wax from old candles will often have bits of crud in the bottom of the pan - pour it slowly to keep this in the bottom and don't use the last bit (like decanting wine).

METHOD TWO (using wick without the metal bit which is cheaper, especially if you buy a long length and cut it into bits yourself)

It's quite easy to just fill up a jar with wax, add a bit more to fill up the shrinkage once it's cooled and then, when completely cool, use an ordinary DIY drill to drill a hole down the centre about twice as wide as the wick.
Poke the waxed wick in then dribble in more wax to fill up the hole.
the type of drill bit on the right seems to work best
but an ordinary wood/metal bit like the one in the centre (not the masonry one on the left) will work too. A slower speed is easier to control if your drill has a speed control.


You can buy special scent oils and colourings to go in the wax if you want, these are ok and last ages, but I have also used essential oils and other oil-based scents I had on hand in the past. I've also used children's wax crayons to colour it - but they have to be the really cheapo ones with very little pigment in (those fat ones you often find in newsagents/market stalls/poundland that look kind of pale and clear when you draw with them)
The pigments in posh ones like Crayola collect around the wick and put the candle out or make it smoke.

I've also done 'proper' candle making, but I'm not precious about it - if I can bodge for cheaper/faster I will
If you've got any questions or troubleshooting quanderies, post 'em - I might be able to help.

Thankyou very much. I am just going to but the wax back in the pots they came in. I have printed off your reply and passed it on. Smashing,eh!:T

Evil_Olive

Something I left out - if not using the drill method, it is essential that the wick is held firmly at the top and bottom or it just won't stay straight.
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