Earlier this week I decided to take the plunge and learn how to make candles. I've been wanting to do this for a while, and had a fairly good idea of how to make candles from videos I've seen in the past. However, I made several mistakes during the process and learned a lot.
I started with a couple of large, pillar candles I purchased from the thrift store that smelled good or were unscented. At this point, I wasn't sure how much I wanted to invest in this new hobby, so I decided to re-use the wicks that were in the candles. Due to the size of the candles, they were difficult to cut into pieces, and I had to be careful not to chop the wick in half by accident. Once the wick was removed, the candle break-down process went a lot smoother. I placed the candle pieces in a small pot over the stove and set it to low.
When choosing a candle container, it's important to use one that can stand high temperatures without exploding. I always check for labels on the bottom of the container for a heat limit, or try to get something durable like ceramic or stoneware. I also learned that it helps the candle-making process if you heat up your container before pouring the wax into it.
While my candle pieces were melting over the stove, I took the wicks (since this was a larger container I used two) and glued them to the bottom of the container. At first I tried hot glue, but that melts really easily, so then I put a tiny dab of superglue on the bottom of the metal tab holding the wick down. This kept the wicks securely in place. Once the wax was melted, I added a few drops of scented oil and poured it into the container, only to find that the wicks become flaccid when hot! I ended up using two pencils to hold the wicks in place while the wax dried, which worked surprisingly well.
Since making this candle, I've decided to try a few more and ordered wicks. Who knows, I might even post an official tutorial with step-by-step pictures on how to make a candle in the near future. (:
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