MAKING CANDLES

Why should we make candles when we can buy quite ornate ones relatively cheaply? Because creating a candle in itself is an act of magic, for as we work we endow the candle with our hopes, fears, dreams and unique personality in a way that even engraving or anointing cannot achieve. Even if your candles are not perfect, they are yours and making candles as a family activity or with friends can bind people together in the harmony of mutual creation.

There is a bewildering amount of information available on candle-making and I have suggested various sources, but it is an art best learned by experimenting. You do not need expensive equipment and candle-making is no more difficult than cookery.

If you have not made candles before, begin with beeswax candles that need very little preparation.

Making beeswax candles

Pure beeswax candles are the best for any candle rituals or for home use as they burn longer and brighter and release a honey fragrance. You can obtain sheets of natural or ready coloured beeswax from most craft shops or sometimes from honey producers. A full sheet of honey comb, rolled into a candle, will make a candle powerful enough to burn for eight hours continuously. But you can make beeswax candles of any size by cutting the wax on a firm surface using a sharp knife and a ruler

To make a candle:

Using your fingers, roll the beeswax sheet around a candle wick.
Secure the outer edge by heating it very gently – a hairdryer is ideal for the job – and smoothing it out.
For shorter candles, place the wick vertically on to the shorter side of the beeswax and again roll the sheet around the wick

The wick on a beeswax candle, should be quite thick, of the kind called square braid, and should extend half an inch above the top of the wax and end half an inch before the bottom of the candle. Press the wax at the bottom of the candle to cover the extra wick. Warm the wax again if necessary.

Making paraffin wax candles

These candles are not much more difficult to make than beeswax and are made by two processes, dipping and mould. The initial stages are the same for both kinds of paraffin candles.

Materials

The Wax
You can buy paraffin waxes specifically for candle making from candle-making suppliers and from art and craft shops. You may wish to start by using a paraffin wax which melts at a relatively low temperature, about 135 - 145F. You can add up to 10 per cent beeswax to paraffin wax to improve its quality.

As a rough guide for quantity:

1tbsp of wax weighs about 1 oz (25g)
One and three quarter pints or 1 litre volume = 2 lb (900g) of solid wax
Six and a half pounds (3kg) wax makes six candles of a half to three-quarters of an inch (12-19mm) in diameter and nine inches ( 22.5 cm) long.

Probably you will want to make only one candle at a time at first, but will soon become practised in producing a batch. However, it can be a good prelude to a candle ritual to make your candle of need on the day before.

Moulds

Moulds come in many shapes and sizes to create candles for every occasion. You can buy a house mould if you want to do a house moving ritual, a boat for travel or a heart for love. Commercially-made candle moulds can be purchased at any candle making supplier and many craft stores and are found in metal, acrylic, latex rubber and glass. But almost any container that is resistant to molten wax can be adapted if there is a large enough opening to remove the hardened candle or you can peel off and discard the mould after the candle has hardened.

A one-piece metal mould is the easiest and most durable to use and these are easiest for securing wicks.

Wicks

You can buy several different types and thicknesses of wick in a craft or candle supply store. Flat and square wicks are used for moulded and dipped candles and wire core for floating, votive, and container candles. For a small mould , you would use a small wick and a thicker one for beeswax. It is best to prime your wick before using, by melting some wax and immersing the wick for about five minutes.

Remove it, pull it straight and dry on it greaseproof paper until it is hard.

You can also buy pre-stiffened wax-coated wick

Colours

Coloured dye chips or cakes specifically for colouring candles are also available in craft stores and candle making suppliers. You can also get wax dye in powdered or liquid form.

You can test the colour by dripping melted wax on to a white piece of paper and letting it dry, although the finished candle colour. will be slightly darker. Again, follow the quantities suggested by the manufacturer as dyes vary in strength, but it is better to add too little and increase the quantity.

Wax crayons are sometimes used, but are not satisfactory and can cause a candle to burn badly.

Fragrances

Fragrance oils for candle making can be purchased from candle making suppliers, craft shops and speciality fragrance companies. It is best to use oils that are specifically made for use in candles and to buy liquid scent rather than fragrance blocks. In this way, you avoid any problems about using oils that might be highly flammable and so make your home-made candles a fire risk.

Any other oils added should be pure with no water or alcohol base. Some fragrances, especially essential oils do smell very differently when burned scents. Test fragrances in oil burner to decide which you like and, because they are so strong, use no more than two drops per pound of wax.

For candle fragrances, a general rule is four or five drops per pound, but do check the manufacturers’ instructions.

If you want to use a scented oil not specifically designed for candle use, test it for flammability first.

You can also add a few fragrant powdered herbs to your wax once it has melted, for example lavender has a pleasing, cleansing scent.

Additives

The most common is stearic acid (stearine). An optional standard paraffin hardening additive, stearine makes a candle burn longer and gives an opaque finish. But many people prefer not to use it. It cannot be added to wax placed in for rubber moulds. Use stearine at the rate of two to three tablespoons per pound of wax.

It is melted first then the paraffin wax is added and melted.

Treasure candles

Make your own treasure candle by inserting a lucky charm, a crystal, or anything small and non-flammable) about halfway down in the candle about midway through the hardening process. This can be a good way of incorporating a symbol into a ritual. This is also an alternative way of making a coin candle (see section on candle rituals).

Equipment

You can use your kitchen stove for heating the wax. Microwaves are not suitable. You need a double boiler, the inner one with a handle like a saucepan for lifting out when it contains hot wax. Wax melting vats can be purchased from candle making suppliers and have thermostatic controls for temperature, with a choice of vats for dipping.

Obviously they do make the job easier, but since they are expensive they are worthwhile only if you intend to make a lot of candles.

Alternatively, you can use a large pan half-filled with water with a wire rack in the bottom to support a metal container, an old heat proof glass coffee pot or a heatproof measuring cup to hold the wax. If the pan is large enough you can have two or three smaller containers on the rack so that you can make different coloured candles at the same time. For safety reasons, the metal inner pot should not make contact with the bottom of the larger one.

Wax must never be melted directly on a pan on the stove as this can easily catch fire.

A thermometer is essential for testing the temperature of the wax. A jam or meat thermometer will do fine, as long as it has a clip to fasten it to the side of the wax container.

Making your moulded candles

Break the wax into smaller pieces. Add any beeswax to the paraffin.
Place the wax in the inner container and put it in a large pan, filled halfway with water.
Set the stove to medium heat and bring it to the boil gently so that the water will not splash into the wax which could cause it to catch fire (see precautions in the next section).
Use a wooden spoon to stir the wax.
While your wax is melting, prepare your mould. Put the wick in it, leaving one or two cms hanging out of the end of the mould, then seal round the hole if the wick is very thin, with a small lump of mould sealant, so that wax will not leak when you cool it in water. The total length of wick should be about five inches ( 8 cms) longer than the mould.
Prime the wick before inserting. Remember, the bottom of the container will be the top of your candle.
When inserting the wick before pouring the wax, you will need to find something to hold the top of the wick on to the open top of the mould while the wax dries.
Use a clothes peg or tie the wick to a pencil with a knot and lay it on top of the mould. Make sure the wick hangs in the centre of the mould.
When the wax is completely melted, turn the heat down low and place the thermometer in the container so that it does not touch the side or bottom of the container. When the wax reaches 175F (or 135F if you are using the type with a lower melting temperature), it is ready to pour.

At this stage add your colour chip, a little at a time and stir it in.

Next add a fragrance if you wish, generally one teaspoon per pound of wax.
Stir the wax again.
Remove the wax container from the large pan
Pour the wax slowly into the mould, until it is the correct height, about half an inch (2 cms ) from the top. Return the wax container to the pan.
Rather than leaving the wax boiling, reheat it gently whenever you need to top up your candle.
Tap the sides of the mould, and allow 45 seconds for the air bubbles to rise.
Place the mould in a deep container of cold water to cool. The water level should be half an inch (2cms) lower than the top of the mould
Every half hour or so, take your mould out of the cold water. You will find that a well has formed around the wick. This is because as wax cools, it contracts.
Make one or more holes alongside the wick using a wooden skewer, a knitting needle or a dowel to stop holes forming around the wick around the wax.
Add more liquid wax to fill this well, but do not go above the original height of the wax.
Continue to make holes in the wax at half hour intervals, pouring more wax into the cavity being created by the shrinkage, so that the top is eventually flat.
When the candle is completely cool, which will take several hours, take the mould from the container of water, dry it and slide the candle from the mould.
Trim the wick to about third of an inch and press the remaining wick at the bottom into the candle, smoothing it, warming the candle base slightly with a hair dryer if necessary.

Candle making precautions

Liquid wax will catch fire at a temperature of 375F so do not leave your pan unattended.
Remove melting wax from the heat immediately if it begins to smoke.
If a fire starts, do not use water to put it out on it. Smother the burning wax with baking soda, cover the pan with a lid, extinguish any heat source and leave the lid in place until the area has cooled.
It is also important to check frequently on the water level, as this will need topping up regularly. If you get hot wax on your skin, rinse immediately in cold water. Do not wipe off the hot wax, as this increases the burned area.

Dipping candles

If you are going to make taper candles, make the wax as before, but pour the molten wax into a dipping can; one that is as long as you want your candles to be, but which should be at least 12 inches deep. Alternatively, if you have an outer pan large enough to hold the dipping can in water, you can heat your wax directly in the dipping can.

As a guide a container 12 inches (30cm) by 8 inches (20cm) is needed to hold about 15lb (7kg) of wax. This sounds a lot but you do use a great deal of wax in this method.

Cut the wicking about 6 to 10 inches longer than you will need it and begin dipping it into the wax once the wax is melted and at the right temperature.
Hold a length of wicking between your thumb and forefinger and dip to about 10 inches.
You will need at least twenty dips in all for your candle. For the first few dips, the wick may float on the top of the wax, because the wick will not initially have sufficient weight of wax.
Dip for no more than a second or two and hold the wick up out of the wax in the air for about a minute to let it harden.
Dip again, and again until the candle has reached the width you want.
The longer you hold it out of the wax, the harder it gets, and the quicker the wax builds up on the candle.
Once the candle is the right size, remove it and dry it by tying the top of the wick to a kitchen towel holder or a strong string suspended between two chairs,.
After half an hour, the wax will be still warm, but set.
Place a piece of waxed paper on a firm surface and roll the candle back across it gently to straighten it.
When you are satisfied, dip the candle two more times in reheated wax for three seconds, lifting it out in between as before.
Hang once more for a while and when the wax is warm but not hard, trim the inverted cone of wax at the bottom flat with a knife, but leave the wick slightly longer still.
Fold this extra wick flat to the bottom of the candle and press it into the wax.
Suspend the candle again until it is completely dry.

For beautiful ready made candles in beeswax take a look at Miranda's Candle Page

MAKING CANDLES

There is a bewildering amount of information available on candle-making and I have suggested various sources, but it is an art best learned by experimenting. You do not need expensive equipment and candle-making is no more difficult than cookery.

If you have not made candles before, begin with beeswax candles that need very little preparation.

Making beeswax candles

To make a candle:

Using your fingers, roll the beeswax sheet around a candle wick.

Secure the outer edge by heating it very gently – a hairdryer is ideal for the job – and smoothing it out.

For shorter candles, place the wick vertically on to the shorter side of the beeswax and again roll the sheet around the wick

The wick on a beeswax candle, should be quite thick, of the kind called square braid, and should extend half an inch above the top of the wax and end half an inch before the bottom of the candle. Press the wax at the bottom of the candle to cover the extra wick. Warm the wax again if necessary.

Making paraffin wax candles

These candles are not much more difficult to make than beeswax and are made by two processes, dipping and mould. The initial stages are the same for both kinds of paraffin candles.

Materials

The Wax

As a rough guide for quantity:

1tbsp of wax weighs about 1 oz (25g)

One and three quarter pints or 1 litre volume = 2 lb (900g) of solid wax

Six and a half pounds (3kg) wax makes six candles of a half to three-quarters of an inch (12-19mm) in diameter and nine inches ( 22.5 cm) long.

Probably you will want to make only one candle at a time at first, but will soon become practised in producing a batch. However, it can be a good prelude to a candle ritual to make your candle of need on the day before.

Moulds

A one-piece metal mould is the easiest and most durable to use and these are easiest for securing wicks.

Wicks

Remove it, pull it straight and dry on it greaseproof paper until it is hard.

You can also buy pre-stiffened wax-coated wick

Colours

Coloured dye chips or cakes specifically for colouring candles are also available in craft stores and candle making suppliers. You can also get wax dye in powdered or liquid form.

Wax crayons are sometimes used, but are not satisfactory and can cause a candle to burn badly.

Fragrances

Any other oils added should be pure with no water or alcohol base. Some fragrances, especially essential oils do smell very differently when burned scents. Test fragrances in oil burner to decide which you like and, because they are so strong, use no more than two drops per pound of wax.

For candle fragrances, a general rule is four or five drops per pound, but do check the manufacturers’ instructions.

If you want to use a scented oil not specifically designed for candle use, test it for flammability first.

You can also add a few fragrant powdered herbs to your wax once it has melted, for example lavender has a pleasing, cleansing scent.

Additives

It is melted first then the paraffin wax is added and melted.

Treasure candles

Equipment

Obviously they do make the job easier, but since they are expensive they are worthwhile only if you intend to make a lot of candles.

Wax must never be melted directly on a pan on the stove as this can easily catch fire.

A thermometer is essential for testing the temperature of the wax. A jam or meat thermometer will do fine, as long as it has a clip to fasten it to the side of the wax container.

Making your moulded candles

Break the wax into smaller pieces. Add any beeswax to the paraffin.

Place the wax in the inner container and put it in a large pan, filled halfway with water.

Set the stove to medium heat and bring it to the boil gently so that the water will not splash into the wax which could cause it to catch fire (see precautions in the next section).

Use a wooden spoon to stir the wax.

Prime the wick before inserting. Remember, the bottom of the container will be the top of your candle.

When inserting the wick before pouring the wax, you will need to find something to hold the top of the wick on to the open top of the mould while the wax dries.

Use a clothes peg or tie the wick to a pencil with a knot and lay it on top of the mould. Make sure the wick hangs in the centre of the mould.

When the wax is completely melted, turn the heat down low and place the thermometer in the container so that it does not touch the side or bottom of the container. When the wax reaches 175F (or 135F if you are using the type with a lower melting temperature), it is ready to pour.

At this stage add your colour chip, a little at a time and stir it in.

Next add a fragrance if you wish, generally one teaspoon per pound of wax.

Stir the wax again.

Remove the wax container from the large pan

Pour the wax slowly into the mould, until it is the correct height, about half an inch (2 cms ) from the top. Return the wax container to the pan.

Rather than leaving the wax boiling, reheat it gently whenever you need to top up your candle.

Tap the sides of the mould, and allow 45 seconds for the air bubbles to rise.

Place the mould in a deep container of cold water to cool. The water level should be half an inch (2cms) lower than the top of the mould

Every half hour or so, take your mould out of the cold water. You will find that a well has formed around the wick. This is because as wax cools, it contracts.

Make one or more holes alongside the wick using a wooden skewer, a knitting needle or a dowel to stop holes forming around the wick around the wax.

Add more liquid wax to fill this well, but do not go above the original height of the wax.

Continue to make holes in the wax at half hour intervals, pouring more wax into the cavity being created by the shrinkage, so that the top is eventually flat.

When the candle is completely cool, which will take several hours, take the mould from the container of water, dry it and slide the candle from the mould.

Trim the wick to about third of an inch and press the remaining wick at the bottom into the candle, smoothing it, warming the candle base slightly with a hair dryer if necessary.

Candle making precautions

Liquid wax will catch fire at a temperature of 375F so do not leave your pan unattended.

Remove melting wax from the heat immediately if it begins to smoke.

If a fire starts, do not use water to put it out on it. Smother the burning wax with baking soda, cover the pan with a lid, extinguish any heat source and leave the lid in place until the area has cooled.

It is also important to check frequently on the water level, as this will need topping up regularly. If you get hot wax on your skin, rinse immediately in cold water. Do not wipe off the hot wax, as this increases the burned area.

Dipping candles

As a guide a container 12 inches (30cm) by 8 inches (20cm) is needed to hold about 15lb (7kg) of wax. This sounds a lot but you do use a great deal of wax in this method.

Cut the wicking about 6 to 10 inches longer than you will need it and begin dipping it into the wax once the wax is melted and at the right temperature.

Hold a length of wicking between your thumb and forefinger and dip to about 10 inches.

You will need at least twenty dips in all for your candle. For the first few dips, the wick may float on the top of the wax, because the wick will not initially have sufficient weight of wax.

Dip for no more than a second or two and hold the wick up out of the wax in the air for about a minute to let it harden.

Dip again, and again until the candle has reached the width you want.

The longer you hold it out of the wax, the harder it gets, and the quicker the wax builds up on the candle.

Once the candle is the right size, remove it and dry it by tying the top of the wick to a kitchen towel holder or a strong string suspended between two chairs,.

After half an hour, the wax will be still warm, but set.

Place a piece of waxed paper on a firm surface and roll the candle back across it gently to straighten it.

When you are satisfied, dip the candle two more times in reheated wax for three seconds, lifting it out in between as before.

Hang once more for a while and when the wax is warm but not hard, trim the inverted cone of wax at the bottom flat with a knife, but leave the wick slightly longer still.

Fold this extra wick flat to the bottom of the candle and press it into the wax.