Candle Making For Dummies

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.

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.

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.