A note to guests who have found this page using the links on various eHow articles: I have not given my consent to the authors of these articles to list my work as source material, nor have I approved the content of these articles. In particular, I find the plagiarism of Jessica Cook's article obnoxious and the content of Kelly Sundstrom's article offensive.
A note to Ms. Cook: You claim to be a writer. You should know better than to plagiarize other writers to earn an income. Go write your own damn articles, and stop using my freely-offered work to make money.
A note to Ms. Sundstrom: ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS? "How to Write a Name on a Black Candle With a Nail?" Is that where you're at? If you had read my web site, you'd already know I'm Pagan, so I sure as shit know what you're trying to teach in that article, and I wholeheartedly disapprove. How can you call yourself a Reiki master? Who the fuck do you practice on, Darth Vader? May you receive three-fold what you send out in the world, and may it teach you not to teach others how to hurt people.
My husband Sean has been sensitive to chemicals his entire life, and this sensitivity most often manifests in an aversion to non-natural smells. Everything from perfume to glue makes him ill, and the longer he's exposed to it, the sicker he gets. For many years, I limited the burning of candles in our home for this reason, until it occurred to me that since he kept bees as a child, he might not react badly to burning beeswax.
I was right. Sean loves my handmade beeswax candles as much as I love making and burning them. However, beeswax is expensive. It's also tricky to work with, since it melts and burns at a much higher temperature than paraffin or soy. But the scent it throws is like none other, so I think it's worth the cost and effort.
Lately though, I've begun to miss scented candles, so I asked Sean how he might feel about a soy wax/essential oil combination. It's less expensive than straight beeswax, and the ingredients are all natural. He was game to be my guinea pig, so today I made three scented batches; wintergreen, lemon and lavender. They turned out well, and Sean noted little, if any aversion to the smell of the hot wax or the essential oils.
What follows then, is my experience of the two types of candle-making along with pertinent instructions. I hope they're helpful to you.
Making Beeswax Candles
Ingredients and Costs
* 1 lb. Beeswax – $12.00 est.
* 1 Roll Braided Wick – $20.00 est.
* 1 pkg. Square, Metal Wick Weights - $4.00 est.
* 1 pkg. of Wooden Clothespins - $1.00 est.
* 1 doz. Small Glass Votives - $6.00 est.
* A Cooking Pan (With a Pour Spout!) and Metal Spoon You Don't Mind Losing to Candle-making
* Assorted Towels and Hot Pads You Don't Mind Losing to Candle-making
* A Hammer
* A Pair of Needle-Nose Pliers
* A Pair of Small Scissors
* Two Plastic Shopping Bags
Making the Candles
Double-bag your shopping bags and put your beeswax in them. Close the bag tight, put it on the floor and beat it with the hammer until the beeswax breaks up into smaller chunks. Empty the bags into your cooking pot and heat the wax on medium until it melts, stirring occasionally with your spoon.
While the wax is melting, measure and cut your wick a little more than twice as long as your votives require. Double the wick and fit the loop end into your wick weight, closing it with your needle-nosed pliers. Thread the free ends of the wick up through the metal ring of a clothespin so that the wick weight hangs down, and drop that end into your first votive, securing the tops of the wicks with the pincer of the clothespin. Rest the clothespin across the top of the votive such that the wick weight is centered in the glass. Repeat these steps for all of your votives.
Note: What results here is a double-wicked candle. If your votive is very small, you can get away with a single wick, but I have found that unless you double-wick for all but the smallest votives, the candle burns straight down the middle and eventually gutters out, leaving a lot of beeswax unused. You should be aware though, that double-wicked candles burn high and hot.
When the wax has melted, pour it slowly into one side of your votive, adjusting as necessary to keep the wick weight centered and the wick taut. Allow the votives to cool in a room-temperature place (to avoid cracks in the wax), then clip the double wicks evenly about a half an inch above the top of the cooled wax.
Cleanup
Beeswax drops are most easily cleaned while they are still warm, and they cool quickly. I keep a pot of water simmering while I work for this purpose and dip the end of a towel into it for small messes. I use the simmering water at the end of the project to clean my pot and utensils and follow that with hot, soapy water.
Final Thoughts
Scenting these candles would be like gilding the lily, so I don't advise it. I doubt you'd get a true scent from your oils in these candles anyway, since beeswax smells so strong. Ultimately though, these candles set quickly, burn long and smell great. They also cost a lot less to make than they do to buy!
Making Scented Soy Wax Candles
Ingredients and Costs
* 1 lb. Soy Wax Chips – $2.00 est.
* 1 oz. Essential Oil of Your Choice – (cost varies according to the fragrance you select, $10.00 - $20.00 est.)
* 1 Roll Braided Wick – $20.00 est.
* 1 pkg. Square, Metal Wick Weights - $4.00 est.
* 1 pkg. of Wooden Clothespins - $1.00 est.
* 1 doz. Small Glass Votives - $6.00 est.
* A Cooking Pan (With a Pour Spout!) and Metal Spoon You Don't Mind Losing to Candle-making
* Assorted Towels and Hot Pads You Don't Mind Losing to Candle-making
* A Pair of Needle-Nose Pliers
* A Pair of Small Scissors
Making the Candles
Pour the wax chips into your pot and melt them on medium heat. These chips melt much faster than beeswax, so watch the pot. When the wax has melted, pour the essential oil in and stir the mixture with your spoon.
While the wax is melting, measure and cut your wick a little longer than your votives require. Fit one end into your wick weight, closing it with your needle-nosed pliers. Thread the free end of the wick up through the metal ring of a clothespin so that the wick weight hangs down, and drop that end into your first votive, securing the top of the wick with the pincer of the clothespin. Rest the clothespin across the top of the votive such that the wick weight is centered in the glass. Repeat these steps for all of your votives.
When the wax has melted and you have added your essential oil, pour it slowly into one side of your votive, adjusting as necessary to keep the wick weight centered and the wick taut. Allow the votives to cool in a room-temperature place (to avoid warping due to air bubbles), then clip the wick evenly about a half an inch above the top of the cooled wax.
Cleanup and Final Thoughts
Soy wax reminds me of shortening in that it is a vegetable product that melts and cools at a low temperature. Therefore, once you pour the wax expect it to take awhile to set. The good news is that it cleans up easily with hot, soapy water. The bad news is that once you blow a soy wax candle out, it takes some time for the wax to harden again. In addition, I think soy wax needs to be scented, since by itself it smells like cooking oil to me. However, the scented soy wax candle throws a rich, if subtle aroma and has a cheery flame, so I think they're lovely.
I've heard a lot about beeswax/soy wax blends, and it seems to me that these would offer the best of both worlds; higher temperature melting and setting, wax that smells good on its own but could be scented with oil and a middle ground between the cost of beeswax and the cost of soy wax. If I ever create such a blend successfully, I'll post the recipe here.