Make Your Own Candles

Making candles is quite easy. You can learn how to make your own candles just by watching a few videos on you tube or reading some candle making tips. You can treat candle making as a hobby and use your homemade candles to decorate your home, give them away as gifts or sell them and earn some extra income.

There are several different types of candles. They come in different shapes, sizes, colors and fragrances. Most of the candles are made from paraffin wax. Soy candles and gel candles are becoming popular. Soy candles are made from soy wax instead of paraffin and gel candles are made from gel.

Unity candles are used for wedding ceremonies. If you are a beginner and want to learn how to make your own candles, the easiest is to try making container or votive candles using paraffin. For a start, buying a candle making kit online or from a craft shop is a better idea than buying each one of the candle making supplies such as candle wax, wick, wick tabs, candle thermometer, additives, coloring and essential oil. Making taper candles or dipping candles is time consuming compared to votive candles. But you don't need any molds to make taper candles.

Before proceeding to make your own candles, take note of these safety precautions and the necessary preparations.

Whether you are using paraffin, gel or soy wax, you are going to heat this basic ingredient at a high temperature. Care should be taken to ensure your safety from accidents such as fire or getting burnt or scalded. For safety purposes, keep your working area away from flammable items and have a fire extinguisher or baking soda nearby just in case the wax catches fire.

Ensure that you are working on a non-slip floor and using a flat surface for melting the wax, pouring the wax into your containers and cooling them afterwards. The cooling area for you candles should be away from sunlight and any heating or cooling system.

Lay old newspapers or wax paper on the table top that you are working on because the wax will drip and you wouldn't want to have to face with a problem of cleaning it up later.

Get your wicks, containers and everything that you need ready before you begin to melt the wax. One of the candle making equipments that you need is a double boiler to melt the wax. A double boiler is a two fitted saucepans, one bigger than the other. If you don't have this saucepan, you can use any big pan that you have and place a smaller one or a large can on top to be used for melting the wax.

The wick is an important item for your handmade candles. Get the right width, length and quality. If the wick isn't wide enough, it will cause the candle to form a crater in the middle when you burn it.

When melting the wax, don't leave it unattended. Cut the paraffin in smaller chunks so that it will melt faster. Follow the temperature that is set, often between 150 to 200 degrees. You can check the manufacture's instruction to determine the correct temperature. Remember that if the heat is too hot, your candles will lose luster and won't be sturdy. If there's insufficient heat, they will not form correctly.

Here's how to make your own candles

What you need to make your own candles:

Wax, molds, thermometer, a spatula, a toothpick, additive, wick and wick tabs. The wick tab is for the base of the candle. If you want to add color and scents to your candles, include dye and fragrance.

How to make your homemade votive candles

Get your containers ready. Ensure that they are clean from dirt and dust. Use non flammable molds. You will remove the candles from the molds when they are hardened so you should make sure that the candles can easily slip out
Prepare your wick and attach it to your wick tab. Drip a few candle drips onto the base of the molds and place the wick tab with the attached wick in the middle of your molds. Let the wick be several inches longer the height of your container. You can cut the tips off when the candles are hardened
Fill the bottom layer of your double boiler with water and boil it
Pour the wax that you have cut into smaller pieces into the top of the double boiler
Let it melt. Check the temperature frequently and stir. Once it is melted, put in the additive. Add the dye and fragrance if you wish to add color and make your candles scented. Pour the hot wax into your molds until it is half inch below the rims of the molds. Leave about 20 percent of the wax to fill into the mold later
Allow the top of the melted wax in the mold to cool and form a skin on top. This will take between 30 minutes to an hour. Then using the toothpick, poke a few deep holes to prevent air pockets from forming
During the hardening process, the center of the candles in the molds will sink in. Use the remaining wax that you have put aside to fill into the molds. It would already have cooled and hardened by this time, so what you need to do is reheat it
After several hours, your candles would have hardened completely. Turn the mold over and remove the candles from the molds. Trim off the tips of the wick, leaving enough for you to burn your candles

Those are the steps to make your own candles.

If you want to learn how to make gel candles or soy candles, you can search the internet, go to you tube or buy a book on making candles. And when you have learned how to make your own candles and mastered the skill, why not turn your passion into a business.