Candle making is such a wonderful craft to explore because you can really experiment with lots of different materials. You’ll have to choose the correct wax and wick to go with the style of candle you want. Dyes, fragrances, and many other things can be added to candles to make them more interesting. Candle making isn’t hard at all once you learn how to make candles with your own two hands and a candle making book. Once you master making candles you’ll wonder how you ever made them before.
Before you get started making candles you should know that there are several different kinds of wicks available for candle making. There are tallow candles, taper candles, pillar candles, taper and container candles, gel candles, and soy candles. Depending on your skill level, you will want to choose one or the other and learn how to use it properly before you move on to the more complex types. I would suggest starting with the basics first, so that you have a good foundation.
To make tallow candles you will need beeswax, tallow, a flame, a wick, a container such as a sauce pan or cookie sheet, a burner, and fragrance. If you don’t have these things in your candle making kit you can easily buy them online or at craft stores. The basic process is quite simple. All you need to do is boil water, add the wick to the water, place the tallow into the candle containers, and then light the burner.
Taper candles are made in much the same fashion, only you use tapas or tallow cubes instead of beeswax. They are also made by boiling water, adding the candle wax, a paraffin wax candle wax and a wick. Once you light the burner, it boils quickly so watch it carefully. As the candle burns down it produces white smoke like substance. You can pour this into lined thermoses to avoid burning the bottom of the pan.
Pillar candles are another very popular type of candle making. They are usually taller than most other types, but there are some that only weighs a few ounces. To make these you do not need any other supplies except for beeswax and a pillar mold. You place the wax into the mold and light the pillar until it starts to flame.
Soy candles come in handy when making candles since they are lightweight and can be molded in a variety of shapes. The candle making kits already contain templates for them so all you need to do is melt some beeswax and pour it into a mold, put on the wick, allow it to cool and you have your Soy candle. You do not need any other supplies for these because they will dissolve while melting, and then you just pour them into lined thermoses. Some candle manufacturers like to add some coloring to the Soy candle wax to give it a more pleasant smell. Other companies like to add glitter to the candle to give it some sparkle.
Of all the candle making products, the most interesting is probably spermaceti. Spermaceti is made from the oil that is produced by the sperm whale. All you have to do to make this candle is melt down some wax, dry out the wick, add a funnel to let the melted wax to flow through it, and put on some cotton. When this candle has cooled down, you can add a funnel and some whaling industry stencils and you will have a one-of-a-kind creation that many people will be interested in.
Candle making might sound like a simple craft but the candle making industry has changed a great deal over the centuries. The wax that was available for candle making in the middle ages was hard to use. There were many chemicals that needed to be used to help with the candle burning process, and there were very limited candle making supplies that were available. In fact, candles were only created during the middle ages that did not require any of the modern candle making supplies.
Welcome to my candle making blog! In this blog, I will be sharing my tips and tricks for making candles. I will also be sharing some of my favorite recipes.
