I’m not a huge candle person. Most of them smell too strong or fake, and I generally just forget to light them. As a craft it didn’t appeal to me because it seemed too easy. (I know, I know). I mean, what is there to it? You melt wax and pour it! That is how all the non-specific-crafty blogs make it seem. They make lovely pure beeswax container candles and make it look easy.
WRONG! So very wrong. Candles are difficult. There is wick size, wax melt temps, fragrance throw. Argh! I made a few basic 100% beeswax candles and all they did was tunnel and go out. Beeswax is a very high melt wax and I have yet to find a wick that works to melt it evenly. (I tried three different wick series and the largest sizes of each). I don’t know how people are making container candles out of pure beeswax that work. I could not.
So I read up, and chatted with a friend and came up with a new game plan. I applied what I knew about beeswax and viscosity (from making lotion) to candlemaking. In order to lower the melt temp of the beeswax I would have to cut it with an unsaturated* liquid oil. Something easy to get that I have lots of… olive oil!
| Beeswax Olive Candle | ||
| 58% Olive Oil | ||
| 35% Beeswax | ||
| 7% Fragrance | ||
I ordered two wick samplers from The Flaming Candle (excellent selection, prices and shipping costs). I tested a ratio of 65%/35% Olive oil to beeswax, and used the largest wick in the CD pack (CD 22). It worked! It worked too well. Big flame, and a fast burning candle.
SO I did a test with the same wax and three different sizes of wicks, CD 6, 10 and 14. 6 tunneled, but did not go out. 10 had an ok burn, but left an ⅛” of wax around the perimeter. 14 was the best, but still left a little wax around the outside.
I tried again with a CD 16 and it worked perfectly! It didn’t burn too fast but didn’t leave a ton of wax on the outside of the votive. If you don’t feel like testing any wicks, I think a 14-16 or maybe 18 are the best bets in this size candle container with this wax combination. However, I can’t speak to the size wick you’d want to use on any other container size. If you have something larger, I recommend you get the wick sampler and work your way up from 16 or down from 22. Check out the wick guide for more information
To figure out how much wax you need in your candle, put the container on your scale and zero it out. Pour water until you are about ½” from the top (or wherever you want it up to). Round down to the next even number, 10g or so and that is your total weight. The rounding will help account for wick volume.
Using the percentage ratio above, this is how I calculated how much of each ingredient I would need by weight. If you don’t want to use fragrance, use more olive oil in its place.
| 65/35 Olive oil/Beeswax with CD wick 16-18 | ||
| Rounding down 83g-8g=75g total | ||
| 75g x .65= 48.75 or 49g Liquid oil | ||
| 75g - 49g= 26g Beeswax | ||
| 75g x .07= 5.25g fragrance | ||
| 49g-5.25g= 43.75g Olive oil | ||
| 43.75g Olive Oil | ||
| 26g Beeswax | ||
| 5.25 fragrance oil | ||
I know, seems like a lot of math, but it’s worth it when you pour a candle with no waste left that burns perfectly.
Beeswax has a natural mild sweet aroma. My beeswax had a strange smoky smell, so I added this Bramble Berry Pure Honey fragrance. It’s a really good sweet true honey smell.
Measure your olive oil and beeswax into a heat safe glass container.
Make sure the wax is not clumped on the bottom, it will melt faster if it’s distributed.
I don’t like melting wax in the microwave, it can do dangerous things like pop, burn or explode. A double boiler is safer and allows you to monitor the wax temperature.
Weigh out your fragrance (if using). Add fragrance to your wax base at around 180°F. That will prevent it from burning off, but not be so cool it won’t mix in.
I use a small amount of the melted wax to “glue” the wick to the bottom of the container. Make sure it is centered!
There are a lot of ways to hold the wick in place, I prefer tape. Masking or washi tape works well.
Use a toothpick to make a hole in the center of the tape.
Slide the tape over the wick, make sure it’s centered.
Once the wax is melted and the fragrance (if using) has been added, pour the candle. Avoid the tape!
You can leave the candle to cool at air temp, or put it in the fridge. I often get “wet spots” (gaps between the edge of the candle and the container) when I leave them to dry slowly.
You will be left with a waxy container. Put the container in the sink, add some dish soap and pour the hot double boiler water into the container. Agitate with a brush or spoon (whatever won’t melt). Carefully pour the hot water out and wash like normal. If you still have a film of wax, use steel wool.
Ta-da! I recently learned that candles should cure, much like soap. It will help the candle burn better and give a better fragrance throw. So set these aside for 3-14 days before burning.
No comments :
Post a Comment