Colonial Candle Making
Back when our country was first established, Colonial candle making was absolutely essential due the fact that there was no electricity but the cost of oil made it unaffordable for most of the population. Commonly colonial candles were made from tallow or animal fat, and only the wealthiest of the people could afford beeswax candles, which were preferred because they smelled better and burned much longer. Eventually colonial candle making progressed to a point where the people realized that they too could make nice smelling candles that burned clean from bayberry shrubs.
The migration to bayberry shrubs was made largely due to the fact that candles made from animal fat smelled horrible and made a huge mess while they burned. Whale oil was used primarily at first for these candles. One of the downsides to using bayberry shrubs for oil was that it took many days in order for the manufactures to extract the purest form of wax. It also takes eight pounds of berries to produce only one pound of wax.
Colonial candle making though is a popular hobby for those curious as to its techniques. These days however you can get the bayberry wax from hobby or craft stores rather than having to make your own.
Another difference between today and the colonial era is the number of molds available. There are far more molds available today than back then and they can be used to make candles of all different shapes and sizes. In colonial times they used wicks made from strands of cotton and they had to be very careful to make sure they kept burning. Normally candles made for a household were tapers and were made by introducing the wick to the melted wax over and over until that right size candle was formed.
Colonial candle making may appear to be very basic, but in all actuality it takes a lot of dedication and skill to perform correctly. You too can see how rewarding it is by simply trying its techniques. Basically what you want to do is dip a non-waxed taper wick into your melted wax. You will need to exercise extra care since both parts of the wick need to be evenly coated. Another tip: don’t wait too long between dips since you don’t need the candle to completely cool. Another thing you need to be aware of is in order to keep the wax at the same temperature you are going to want to keep stirring the wax during this process. Don’t be surprised if you need to melt it again. This is quite normal. Enjoy!
Candle Making Supplies
If you are new to candle making, before you start, you are going to want to make sure that you have all the right candle making supplies. This may actually be the most important facet of your candle making hobby. If you have the wrong supplies, your process will end up being a disaster and will not be the least bit fun. If you are interested in pursuing candle making as a business then you really want to make sure you have the right supplies! Having the wrong supplies will end up costing you a lot of money which in turn will decrease your profit margin dramatically.
Candle mold: Before you select your mold you need to think about what you want your candle to look like. Candle molds come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes so the possibilities are endless when choosing your mold.
Wax: You will need to research the various types of wax you will need to make your candle. These include beeswax, paraffin, gel and soy wax. All have different properties and are used for different effects.
Dye: What color do you want your candle to be? This will determine which dye to purchase. Candle dyes come in pretty much any color you can imagine so simply choose which color best matches your taste and project requirements.
Pouring pitcher: This is helpful in keeping your candle work area neat and clean
Candle accessories: These are particular to gel candles, but there are literally hundreds of things you can do with various accessories. Once again your personal taste and project requirement will determine how you should best accessorize your candles.
These are the basic supplies that I use in my own candle making business. This should be enough to get you started.
Candle Making Scents
Candle making is a very popular growing hobby. Its low start up cost and easily obtainable materials make it quite easy for one to being creating their own candles quite quickly. Like anything in life though, there is a learning curve to the process. For example your candles won’t turn out right if you wax is not kept at the correct temperature or your molds are dirty. With a little knowledge though, you too can be making very professional and amazing looking candles from your home!
Scented candles are now emerging as one of the more popular types of candles to make. You will need basic equipment to produce these candles. This includes a double boiler that you use to melt the wax, a metal pouring pot, mold sealer, candle molds, wicks, wax, dyes and other basic household tools such as scissors, measuring spoons and a tape measure.
Once you get your feet wet and have made a few candles and firmly understand the process you may want to begin making fragrant smelling candles as well. Flavors are derived from both synthetic chemicals and essential oils. This is done by distilling natural plant material. Some aroma’s you may want to try are anything from African violet, almond cherry all the way to orange and different spice scents. There are literally thousands of possibilities when selecting a fragrance. Trying a few shouldn’t cost you much as it only takes a couple of drops of the essential oil when adding fragrance to a candle.
Check your local crafts supply store or art store and you should be able to find a wide variety of these aromatic oils.
Whether you would like to make candles to accent your own living space or looking for a creative way to make gifts for friends and family members, making scented candles is an excellent hobby and fairly easy to get in to. Once you master the basic skills in making candles, you will be able to make all sorts of different candles that you and others will enjoy for a long time. Enjoy!
Candle Making Crafts
Candles have been an integral part of human life for well over a thousand years. When are country first started it was not uncommon for some households to burn over 400 candles a year for lightning purposes.
One of my fondest childhood memories was learning from my father how to make candles. Perhaps a little unconventional hobby for a child, but lots of fun nonetheless. It also gave me something to do with all the broken crayons I amassed.
I was taught that the easiest way to make a candle was by dipping the wick into hot wax. One thing you must do though is to use a pot floating in a full pan of water. If you don’t do this you run the risk of starting a fire!
What can you do with your candle making crafts? Well for starters, it’s a great time killer on a rainy day. What started as a hobby for me though soon turned into a full time business as I discovered that the more proficient I became at the craft, the more attractive my candles became. My little hobby has now morphed into a full time business. I sell my homemade candle making crafts at local flea markets and have found that people enjoy giving my candles as gifts.
So, how do you get started? Here’s a simple tutorial for you:
The first thing you will need is a bunch of wax. You can get wax and most crafts stores, but you can use crayons like I did in the beginning if you are in a pinch.
Second thing you will need is the wick. Don’t skimp on the wick. This is the part that burns. Once again you can pick this supply up at your local crafts our hobby store.
Next you are going to want to fill a large pan about halfway with water. Place another smaller pan or empty can inside. Make sure that this does not tip over.
Next put your wax into the second pan. It should melt provided you have the heat on and since this pan is floating in the water, it will not burn.
When the wax is melted, take your wick and slowly dip it into the melted wax. Slowly lift it back out of the wax, wait a few moments for the wax to cool a bit then repeat the system until y our candle is as thick as you want it to be.
When your candle looks the way you want it, hold it by the wick for a few minutes and to let it cool down before you lay it down. At this point you will want to clip the wick to about 1/3-1/4 of an inch at the top of the candle.
Voila! You have made a candle! Keep the can with the wax for future use. If you were using different colors of crayons, you will end up with several colors to use when you make future candles. You can dip your candles in the different colors, twisting them as you go and really create some beautiful and unique looking color schemes.
Beeswax Candle Making
Candle making kits come in many shapes, sizes and types. Most people gravitate toward the more popular types like paraffin, gel, and soy as they usually contain special fragrances, but don’t avoid beeswax kits.
Beeswax candles are unique for many different reasons. Most beeswax candle making kits are 100% pure beeswax. You want to verify this though it is important as you want to reap all the lovely benefits that beeswax offers.
The color of beeswax is not like paraffin. The basic color is a sort of yellow but can vary from a golden yellow to a golden tan.
I’ve been asked a lot about the scent associated with beeswax. Do we add a fragrance like when making other types of candles? Well, in all actuality beeswax contains its own scent. There is no need to add additional scent to beeswax. The natural beeswax scent is a very light honey smell which is quite pleasant in its own right. It is very mild and naturally occurring.
Another benefit of beeswax candles is that they will burn longer than most other types of candles. This quality alone makes beeswax quite efficient and a sound investment. There is nothing worse than making a candle only to watch it burn all the way down in 2 or 3 settings. When you create your own candle from scratch, you will want to see them last as long as possible so you can enjoy the fruits of your labors.
One aspect you will want to be aware of when making beeswax candles is something called “bloom” This is a powdery coating which will develop on your candle. This is common and very easy to get rid of. There are a couple of things you can do. An easy remedy is to buff the candle lightly with a soft cloth. Another method would be to take a hair dryer to the candle in order to remove the bloom. Don’t worry when you first notice the bloom. It is common and not a problem. Just simply apply these techniques and your candle will look amazing and smell like honey.
One more tip, when you are burning your beeswax candle, as with any candle make sure you keep it out of any drafts and in a candleholder that is fireproof. And, as always, never leave your candles burning unattended. Enjoy!
How to Make Your Own Candles
Candle making has been around for thousands of years. It was once a necessity in order to have light at night; it is now a hobby that many people enjoy. Candle making continues to be a popular hobby for a variety of reasons. People make candles for their own personal use, it is a great craft project to do with older children, people make candle to give away as gifts, and people even make candles to sell and create a business out of it.
Making candles for your own personal use or to give away as gifts is extremely rewarding and easy to do. Many of the local craft stores supply all of the tools you will need in order to make your own candles. You can buy wax, wicks, and molds from almost any craft stores. With the popularity of the hobby, craft suppliers have also made things like color, decorations, and fragrance readily available for homemade candles. The rest of the supplies needed for candle making can be supplied by the hobbyist. The first step in candle making is to prepare the wax. You do this by melting it in a double boiler. A double boiler is simply one large pot filled with water and placed on the stove top. Another smaller pot that contains the un-melted wax is sat inside the larger pot. Wax will burn when you try to melt it so using a double boiler makes it easy. Once the wax is melted, hold the wick in place in the middle of the mold and pour in the wax. Allow the wax to cool for about four to six hours before you attempt to remove it fro the mold. Sometimes putting the entire thing into the freezer for about a half an hour will make it easier to remove the candle from the mold. You can also spray non-stick cooking spray into the mold before you pour the wax into it so it is easier to remove the finished candle.
There is almost no end to the different types of candles you can make at home. With the different fragrances, colors, and decorations your only limit is your imagination. Some candle making enthusiasts have gone as far as to make their own molds using liquid latex in order to create amazing candles. The only problem with using latex molds is that they typically are too flexible to stand on end to pour the wax into the bottom of them. What you will need to do is to cut a hole in a piece of sturdy cardboard. The whole needs to be big enough for the mold to slip through but only up to the lip. All latex molds need a lip on the bottom for this purpose. The wax can then be poured into the bottom of the mold and the cardboard will act as support.
Some entrepreneurs have found that selling candles can be a lucrative business. They have taken their love of the hobby and their talent and turned it into a great way to make money. They do this by buying their supplies in bulk at discount prices. They also take time and effort into packaging their products attractively. The thing that really drives them is their imagination. People are always looking for something new when it comes to this old custom.
How to Make Soy Candles
Soy candles are natural and burn cleaner then paraffin candle wax. The popularity of them is growing. Although soy wax is a little bit more expensive then paraffin wax, people who have used and made soy candles are quickly becoming addicted to them.
Soy wax is a vegetable wax that is made from soybeans. The oil is extracted from the soybean flakes and hydrogenated. The majority of the world’s soybeans are grown in the United States in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. It is believed that soy candles burn cleaner then paraffin candles. This is true to an extent. All candles emit soot. There is no way around that. But, paraffin candles emit black soot while soy candles emit white soot. While soot is not harmful to people, white soot is a little cleaner then black.
The only thing that is really different about making soy candles then paraffin candles is the wax. They both use the same techniques and equipment. You can use a double boiler to melt the soy wax. A double boiler is a smaller pot with the wax is placed in a larger pot full of water that is placed on the stovetop. Heat the soy wax to 150 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Be careful not to keep the melted wax above 150 degrees Fahrenheit for too long because it could burn which will give the wax a yellowish appearance. Ounce the wax is fully melted you can add the color you would like. You can then remove it from the heat and add the fragrance. It is best to use 7% fragrance by weight. That simply means that for every one pound of soy wax, you can use 1.12 ounces of fragrance oil. If the fragrance concentration is too high, it may bleed through the candle. The soy wax can be about 140 – 150 degrees Fahrenheit. You can then pour the wax into the mold to cool. Be careful not to pour the wax at too low of a temperature or the candle could crack. The wax should be between 95 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. You should also not use water to cool the candle quickly. This could also cause the candle to crack.
Although soy wax candles and paraffin wax candles are mostly the same, there are a couple of differences. Soy wax is a softer wax so it is not suitable for some types of candles. For instance, soy wax does not work well when you are trying to make novelty candles. It also do not work well for pillar candles. You can also not make taper candles with soy wax. Floating soy candles can be made if they are up to 3 inches in diameter.
If you can make candles with paraffin wax, you can make candles with soy wax. Making candles is kind of like trying out a new food recipe; sometimes you have to try things one way then the other to see which works best for you. The bottom line is that soy wax and paraffin wax both hold scent and color the same in candles but, it is great to learn how to make a new kind of candle and offer a variety in your candle making whether you are making candles for pleasure or a business.
How to Make Scented Candles
Scented candles add a certain amount of elegance to a room. The candlelight from any candle gives the room a romantic feeling. However, when a fragrance is added to the room through a scented candle, the elegance of the room grows.
You can use fragrance oil that is available at most craft stores or online for your scented candles. It is better to use oil rather then a water-bases or alcohol-based perfume in wax because most waxes are close to oil in their chemical composition. Water and oil do not mix. So, by using water-based perfumes, the liquid will simply float to the bottom of your melted wax.
The wonderful thing about scented candles is that the fragrance is noticed even when the candle is not lit. They make wonderful gifts and are appreciated even more when they are handmade. The process of making scented candles is the same as making regular candles. You will need to consider which kind of wax you are going to use. There are several kinds of wax that are available today. There are natural waxes like soy, palm, or beeswax. There is also paraffin wax which is your basic wax that most candles are made of and there are also gel candles. Both of these types of wax can be used to make scented candles also. Although, with gel candles, you have to consider how much fragrance you are planning to use before you choose your wax. Gel wax with a lesser density can not hold as much fragrance as gel wax with a higher density.
In order to make any type of candle, you have to first melt the wax before you can pour it into your candle mold. You have to use a double boiler to melt the wax. Place a smaller pot that has the wax in it into a larger pot that is filled with water. Be careful not to put the temperature of the stovetop too high because wax can burn. You can use a thermometer and heat the wax to be around 170-180 degrees. Add the wick to the mold. After the wax is melted, you can remove it from the heat source. It is now time to add the fragrance oil. You can add one ounce of fragrance oil to one pound of wax. This will give you a 6% fragrance concentration. Make sure that you do not add too much fragrance. Although it may seem like the more fragrance the better, this is not always the case. Certain problems can arise from using too much fragrance. One thing that could happen is that the candle will not burn properly because of the higher concentration of liquid. You might end up with pools of liquid in the candle. You can always experiment with you candle making. You can keep records of how much fragrance you use to how much wax and find you own scented candle recipe.
Using things like scents and colors gives you much more variety of the things that you can create in your candle making. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to give a loved one a gift of a candle with the essence of relaxation and a calming sent to go along with it? Now that you understand a little bit more about how to make scented candles, you can do it.
How to Make Gel Candles
Gel candles are growing in popularity. They work the same as regular wax candles in the respect that they will burn in the same way that wax candles burn but they are made a little differently.
Wax candles are made from oil. The same is true with gel candles but they are made of 95% mineral oil and 5% polymer resin. The resin starts out as a powder but when it is mixed with the mineral oil it is transformed into a solid state. Gel wax comes in three different states: high density, medium density, and low density. The higher the density, the more fragrance the oil can hold. Plus, the thicker gel will hold the suspended decorations with in the candle. But, keep in mind that the thicker gel takes longer to meld and it is harder to pour.
The steps that go into making a candle out of regular wax such as melting the wax and pouring it in a mold to dry are the same steps you need to do in making gel candles. But, the equipment you use and the techniques are slightly different. With other types of candle wax most people use a double boiler to melt the wax. But, trying to melt gel wax in a double boiler would take way too long. Some gel candle makers have turned to multi-cookers to get the job done. A multi-cooker is kind of like a deep fryer. They typically are metal with a non-stick coating. They have a separate heating element with a temperature dial so you can get the proper temperature to melt the gel wax. Rather then using two separate pots one with water and one to melt the wax in, the gel wax is placed directly in the multi-cooker to melt. Although the multi-cooker comes with a temperature dial, it is still a good idea to use a separate thermometer to make sure that the gel is melted at the proper temperature. Use something metal or hard plastic to stir the gel wax. Wooden spoons can sometimes add bubbles to the gel. The most important thing to remember is that gel candle wax can catch fire. Make sure you have a chemical fire extinguisher near by.
It is also possible to change the color of the gel candle wax by using dyes. Liquid candle dyes are perfect for gel candles because they can maintain the translucency of the gel. It only takes a very small amount of the dye to actually change the color of the wax. Sometimes even a drop of dye is too much. You should never use crayons, clothing dye, food coloring, or soap dyes in gel candle wax. They will no burn right because they are not made specifically for candles.
Learning how to make gel candles is fast and easy. There are so many possibilities when it comes to creating wonderful candles with gel wax. The best thing about gel candles is that you can add decorations directly to the wax so that they float within the candle. This is a clever and unique way to personalize a gift if you are making the candle for someone else. Plus, gel candles burn slower then regular wax candles so they will last a little longer.
Candle Making Wax
Today, with the growing popularity of candle making, candle making wax has made strides to become better, more available, and with more diversity then before. People are constantly looking for the new thing and since wax is the main component in candle making, the changes have been there.
Most of the wax used in candles today is refined from petroleum like paraffin wax. This is the type of wax that is in most candles. Paraffin wax is readily available and inexpensive. Other types of waxes are natural and refined from vegetable or plant materials like soy, palm, or bayberry. A natural wax growing in popularity is soy based wax. It is processed by hydrogenating soybeans which makes them suitable for candles. Soy wax is a renewable resource that is eco-friendly. The best part about soy wax is that the majority of soybeans are grown in the United States primarily in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. Palm wax is also natural and a renewable resource. Unfortunately with the growing popularity of palm wax, countries like Indonesia and Malaysia were clearing our vast areas of rainforest in order to plant palm plantations. This is devastating to ecosystems and compromises the populations of endangered animals like orangutans, rhinoceroses and the Sumatran tiger. Thankfully, the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) stepped in and founded RSPO. This organization was founded to develop and define the best practices for sustainable palm cultivation. They also help member organizations to implement and verify the procedures. So when you are shopping for palm wax make sure that they are obtaining wax in an eco-friendly way.
Some candles are made from animal based materials like beeswax. Candles made from beeswax, palm, and bayberry were offered by companies in the past. Recently there has been a new and growing interest in making candles out of these natural products. One of the more popular natural waxes is beeswax. It is available in yellow or white. Although the cost of beeswax can be expensive, candle makers are drawn to its pleasant fragrance, the burning characteristics it contains, and the hardiness of the product.
Gel candles are also a new kind of way to make candles. It is a clear, rubbery texture but works the same as wax. Gel wax is available in three different densities. The density of the gel that the candle requires depends upon the type of candle you are planning to make and how much fragrance you are planning to use. Low density gel wax is best for candles with a 0-3% fragrance load. Also, the low density can be poured at a lower temperature. The medium density gel wax works well with candles that have a 3-5% fragrance load. It is probably the most popular gel wax to work with. High density gel wax is better for candle with a heavier fragrance load.
With so many different kinds of wax available, candle maker are able to pick the type that works best for them. When a candle maker is able to understand each kind of wax, they are able to fully experience every inch of the candle making market and get double, triple or even quadruple the fulfillment.
