Candle making.....
Discussion
Does anyone on here know about this? and are willing to give some pointers?
Thing is i often pop in to the pound shops or asda and pick up there sented candels that come in glass Tumblers'. I have quite a few of these now, and the glass is quite a plesent colour but too thin to use as retro glasses... (think brown glass!!!)
Soooooooooo,
I was thinking about re-using them, melting some wax and filling them up. Preferably i would like sented candels, vanillia or coffee... is it just a case of adding some sented oils to the melted wax? I get the whole concept of stick some string in melted wax, wallah! a candel, but how do you fix the wick to the bottom of the glass? dab of glue?
and you wrap the wick around a stick? (remember this from some ancient feild trip at school). And do you have to melt the wax over water...... whats the difference between wax coposites.....
Finally, if anyone does make there own candels, is it worth it? or should i just buy them at £1-£1.50p.
cheers ( a bit random i know but looking about the place there is all manner of s
t i could make in to nifty candels.....)
GingerWizard
Thing is i often pop in to the pound shops or asda and pick up there sented candels that come in glass Tumblers'. I have quite a few of these now, and the glass is quite a plesent colour but too thin to use as retro glasses... (think brown glass!!!)
Soooooooooo,
I was thinking about re-using them, melting some wax and filling them up. Preferably i would like sented candels, vanillia or coffee... is it just a case of adding some sented oils to the melted wax? I get the whole concept of stick some string in melted wax, wallah! a candel, but how do you fix the wick to the bottom of the glass? dab of glue?
and you wrap the wick around a stick? (remember this from some ancient feild trip at school). And do you have to melt the wax over water...... whats the difference between wax coposites.....
Finally, if anyone does make there own candels, is it worth it? or should i just buy them at £1-£1.50p.
cheers ( a bit random i know but looking about the place there is all manner of s
t i could make in to nifty candels.....)GingerWizard
SWMBO had a bash at making candles a few years ago but thankfully, she's fully cured now.
It's fairly easy to do, she used to buy rubber molds in fancy shapes, paraffin wax in pellet form (think tablets) and stearin also in pellet form, which you add to the paraffin wax to improve the flame quality. She did a few scented ones but mainly arty things with different colours and floating ones for the dinner table which were a novelty back then.
The wicks were usually just string, you can buy "proper" wicking, but it she ran out of the kit stuff, used some thick string and that was it. With a mold it's easy, you just thread the string down & use matchsticks/etc to hold it at the end of the mold, then pour in molten wax. If you want to make long tapered candles it's even easier, you just dip the string into molten wax until you build up the length & diameter you want.
Getting the wax molten was messy and a signal for me to find something to polish in the garage. She used 2 old saucepans, one inside the other to form a water bath and an old tablespoon for mixing.
Is it worth it ? well, if you like arts & crafts, want to make unique gifts for friends or set up your own candle making factory, then yes, it is. SWMBO was quite taken with it for a while before moving on to other crafty-type things.
But if you just want to enjoy candlelight, buy some instead and stick them in your glass holders. Far less stress, they'll burn evenly without spitting or packing up half way and are probably much cheaper.
It's fairly easy to do, she used to buy rubber molds in fancy shapes, paraffin wax in pellet form (think tablets) and stearin also in pellet form, which you add to the paraffin wax to improve the flame quality. She did a few scented ones but mainly arty things with different colours and floating ones for the dinner table which were a novelty back then.
The wicks were usually just string, you can buy "proper" wicking, but it she ran out of the kit stuff, used some thick string and that was it. With a mold it's easy, you just thread the string down & use matchsticks/etc to hold it at the end of the mold, then pour in molten wax. If you want to make long tapered candles it's even easier, you just dip the string into molten wax until you build up the length & diameter you want.
Getting the wax molten was messy and a signal for me to find something to polish in the garage. She used 2 old saucepans, one inside the other to form a water bath and an old tablespoon for mixing.
Is it worth it ? well, if you like arts & crafts, want to make unique gifts for friends or set up your own candle making factory, then yes, it is. SWMBO was quite taken with it for a while before moving on to other crafty-type things.
But if you just want to enjoy candlelight, buy some instead and stick them in your glass holders. Far less stress, they'll burn evenly without spitting or packing up half way and are probably much cheaper.
b2hbm said:
SWMBO had a bash at making candles a few years ago but thankfully, she's fully cured now.
It's fairly easy to do, she used to buy rubber molds in fancy shapes, paraffin wax in pellet form (think tablets) and stearin also in pellet form, which you add to the paraffin wax to improve the flame quality. She did a few scented ones but mainly arty things with different colours and floating ones for the dinner table which were a novelty back then.
The wicks were usually just string, you can buy "proper" wicking, but it she ran out of the kit stuff, used some thick string and that was it. With a mold it's easy, you just thread the string down & use matchsticks/etc to hold it at the end of the mold, then pour in molten wax. If you want to make long tapered candles it's even easier, you just dip the string into molten wax until you build up the length & diameter you want.
Getting the wax molten was messy and a signal for me to find something to polish in the garage. She used 2 old saucepans, one inside the other to form a water bath and an old tablespoon for mixing.
Is it worth it ? well, if you like arts & crafts, want to make unique gifts for friends or set up your own candle making factory, then yes, it is. SWMBO was quite taken with it for a while before moving on to other crafty-type things.
But if you just want to enjoy candlelight, buy some instead and stick them in your glass holders. Far less stress, they'll burn evenly without spitting or packing up half way and are probably much cheaper.
Ok I am going to stick to buying them, and just put tee lights in the old holders for effect. Pretty much what I thought. It sounds like a shed job. I have no shed.It's fairly easy to do, she used to buy rubber molds in fancy shapes, paraffin wax in pellet form (think tablets) and stearin also in pellet form, which you add to the paraffin wax to improve the flame quality. She did a few scented ones but mainly arty things with different colours and floating ones for the dinner table which were a novelty back then.
The wicks were usually just string, you can buy "proper" wicking, but it she ran out of the kit stuff, used some thick string and that was it. With a mold it's easy, you just thread the string down & use matchsticks/etc to hold it at the end of the mold, then pour in molten wax. If you want to make long tapered candles it's even easier, you just dip the string into molten wax until you build up the length & diameter you want.
Getting the wax molten was messy and a signal for me to find something to polish in the garage. She used 2 old saucepans, one inside the other to form a water bath and an old tablespoon for mixing.
Is it worth it ? well, if you like arts & crafts, want to make unique gifts for friends or set up your own candle making factory, then yes, it is. SWMBO was quite taken with it for a while before moving on to other crafty-type things.
But if you just want to enjoy candlelight, buy some instead and stick them in your glass holders. Far less stress, they'll burn evenly without spitting or packing up half way and are probably much cheaper.
however i might research wax and hord it...... heheheeh hahahahahah HAHAHAHAAHH (way to happy about this prospect!)
Cheers
Gwiz
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