Welcome to Part 2 in our candle-making series: How to Make Handmade Candles! If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, you can check that out HERE. There’s some really important information in there that every aspiring candlemaker should know, so be sure to check it out!
Now that you have picked your wax, vessel, fragrance oil, and the wicks you’re going to start with, it’s time to make your first candle!
Section 1: Supplies
Before we jump in headfirst, let’s discuss the supplies that you will need to make a candle.
- Pouring Pitcher: An aluminum-pouring pitcher such as THIS one, is essential for making candles. These can be purchased from pretty much any candle supplier or from Amazon if that’s your preferred place to shop.
- Spoon: You’ll need a spoon to mix your fragrance oil with your wax that’s non-porous and non-corrosive. I personally like to use a standard large aluminum spoon that’s typically used for cooking. You want to avoid using plastic and wood, as plastic can degrade, and wood is porous.
- Thermometer: As we work with wax and fragrances, you’ll need to know the ideal temperature ranges of your material. Thermometers for candy making are really useful because they are long and typically come with an adjustable clip that makes it easy to attach to your pouring pitcher. You can also use an infrared thermometer, but I’ve found them to be a bit less accurate.
- Wicks and Wick Stickers: Obviously you already know that you need wicks, but you’ll need a way to attach those wicks to your vessel. The primary way of doing this is by using wick stickers. These can be purchased from any reputable candle-making company. You can also try hot gluing them to your vessel if you’d like, but make sure to allow enough time for the glue to dry before pouring any hot wax on top of it.
- Wick Holders: Wick holders do exactly what you might expect, they hold the wicks in place. Basically, after you set your wick and pour your wax, you’ll need to make sure that the wick stays taught and centered as the wax dries. This is where a wick holder comes in handy. There are a ton of different types of wick holders, but if you’re just getting started and want to save money, you can use clothes pins or pencils. If you have a few extra dollars, I’d highly recommend getting something like these DINGPAI metal wick holders on Amazon.
- Digital Scale: A digital scale is absolutely necessary when making candles. There are a ton of different digital scales out there, but you’ll need one that works in ounces and preferably shows the hundredth decimal place. THIS one on Amazon works great.
- Glass Measuring Cup: A glass cup or measuring cup is needed for weighing your fragrance oil. You don’t want to use plastic cups as the fragrance oil is corrosive and will eat away at the plastic. You can opt for silicone cups though if that’s what you prefer.
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Optional Supplies: All the supplies listed above are essential to the candle-making process, but there are some supplies that aren’t necessary and will make your life much easier.
- Presto Pot: A Presto Pot is a kitchen appliance that’s been altered or adapted for melting max. There are all sorts of Presto Pots on the market, but I’d recommend going with one that’s been adapted for candle makers by the addition of a spout. If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend THIS one on Amazon.
- Wick Centering Tool: A wick-centering tool makes it super easy to place your wick perfectly in the center of your vessel. Early on many people use one like THIS from CandleScience, but as you get more into candle-making it might be worth looking into custom wick centering tools that are made specifically for your vessels. Norden Candle Supply is one of the only companies that I know to make such devices. They also make custom wick holders that are definitely worth looking into when you want to graduate from clothes pins or the basic metal wick holders.
- Heat Gun: Heat guns are by no means necessary to make candles, but they can be incredibly useful to have around. For starters, they are great for cleaning off old wax from pitchers and tools. They are also great for smoothing out the tops of pure soy candles and are good to have around for preheating a pouring pitcher so avoid the temperature of your wax dropping too quickly.
Now that you’ve got all your supplies the fun can finally begin!
Section 2: Melting the Wax
Melting your wax is the first step in the candle-making process. Early on, most people will utilize the double boiler method. This is where you put wax in your pouring pitcher and then put the pitcher into another pot that has water in it. You then heat the water in the second pot on your stove to melt the wax. You do not want to sit your wax pitcher directly on your stove because it could scorch the wax.
If you decide to use the double boiler method instead of investing in a presto pot, then you’ll want to weigh the wax beforehand. We talked about weighing wax and fragrance in Part 1 of this series, but you can scroll down to the fragrance section for more information on weighing the wax and fragrance.
Whichever method you choose to heat your wax, make sure that you are checking the temperature throughout the process. All waxes have different melting points and an ideal temperature range to add the fragrance oil to the wax. Usually, that temperature is around 185 degrees Fahrenheit, but make sure to check the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Section 3: Prepping the Vessel
Waiting for your wax to melt is the perfect time to get your vessels ready. Grab the wick that you’re going to use and apply a wick sticker to the bottom of it. Before you place the wick in the vessel it might be a good idea to spray some isopropyl alcohol in the container and wipe it out. This will remove any dust or debris that may prevent the wick from adhering to the vessel.
If you haven’t purchased a wick-centering tool yet, then don’t worry, you can use the empty casing of a pen to place your wick. I used this method to place my wicks for months before I got a wick-centering tool. Find any pen in your house and take it apart, only leaving the plastic shell of the pen. Pull the wick through the pen’s casing, grabbing the wick coming through the other side. Now, remove the wick sticker and try your best to place the wick in the center of the vessel. And that’s it!
Section 4: Adding Fragrance:
Finally, what we’re all here for, adding our fragrance. It’s time to whip out your scale and weigh your fragrance oil. Most waxes made for container candles can hold anywhere between 6-10% fragrance oil per pound of wax. As always, refer to the manufacturer’s specifications to ensure you are staying within their specified load ranges. As for the percentage you should choose, well, that takes some testing. For one scent, 7% might be perfect with your vessel, for others 8% might be perfect. This is a crucial part of testing candles so learn to enjoy the process.
Once you’ve decided on the percentage you want to start with its time to do some math. First, Find the total weight of the material you will be using. This is usually listed on most vessel websites. For our example, we’re using a 9oz straight-sided jar, which has a fill weight of around 7ozs. With that in mind, here are our calculations with an 8% fragrance load:
Total Weight: 7 ounces
8% Fragrance Load: 7 ÷ 1.08 = 6.48 ounces of wax
7oz - 6.48oz = 0.52 ounces of fragrance oil
These calculations ensure that there is no extra waste. Be sure to adhere to these calculations, guessing how much oil you need could lead to problems burning your candle, or worse, a fire.
Once your oil is weighed and your wax is at the correct temperature it's time to combine the two. Slowly pour the fragrance into your pitcher with the wax and stir in the fragrance. Be sure to stir slowly. Stirring too quickly can introduce air into the wax creating air bubbles within your candle. How long you should stir is a topic that’s highly debated within the candle-making community, but in my opinion, a couple of minutes is more than sufficient.
As you’re stirring in your fragrance, you should be monitoring the temperature of your wax. As mentioned above, the temperature at which you should pour the wax into your vessel will be recommended by the manufacturer of your wax. For many waxes, this is anywhere between 145 – 165 degrees Fahrenheit. You are by no means constrained to these temperatures.
Feel free to test pouring your candle at different temperatures to see how it impacts the final look of your candles. However, you might want to avoid pouring too hot as it could lift the wick sticker off the vessel.
Section 5: Setting the Wick
Now that you’ve poured your first candle you need to set the wick to ensure that it's set straight and taught as the candle cures. As mentioned above you can use clothes pins if you have them lying around, or you can try wrapping the wick around a pencil. I’d highly recommend purchasing the metal wick holders I talked about in the supplies section. They are inexpensive and they are much easier to use than pencils or clothes pins.
Section 6: Cure Time
Congratulations! You’ve successfully made your first candle! Now comes the hardest part, waiting to burn it.
Just like pouring temps, cure time is a topic that is highly debated, but of course the manufacturers of your wax have you covered. Just like recommended pouring temperatures, the manufacturers of your wax will typically have a suggested cure time. Generally, soy wax requires anywhere between one to two weeks of cure time while paraffin waxes can be burned 48 hours after being poured.
When I first began making candles, I started with soy wax, but the long cure times coupled with the finicky behavior of soy became too much of a headache. I switched to a parasoy blend months ago and have never looked back. This is all personal preference of course, and no wax comes without its own set of unique problems, but we’ll leave that for a future blog post.
This concludes our two-part series on How to Make Handmade Candles! Once again, congratulations on your first candle and if you have any questions feel free to email me at info@macabrecandles.com and I’ll try my best to get back to you in a timely manner!