Does anyone make their own candles?

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Does anyone make their own candles?

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Islay

Joined: 11 Aug 2009
Posts: 38
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 09 1:07 pm Post subject: Does anyone make their own candles?
I quite fancy making candles, but I don't know the best places to get hold of wax and scents. I'd like to be eco about it, and can't decide whether soya or beeswax is best. Any tips? thank you!

earthyvirgo

Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 7972
Location: creating prints in the loft, Gerlan

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 09 1:09 pm Post subject:
These are good. They sell everything you could want, colour, wicks, scents, wax and so on and so on www.4candles.co.uk EV

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 09 1:10 pm Post subject:
Well, beeswax is naturally, umm, waxy. It's just melted and filtered. Soya is more sort of beany so I'd guess that turning it into wax is probably quite a high energy input process.

Barefoot Andrew
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 22780
Location: In the 17th century

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 09 1:44 pm Post subject:
Northern Lad is a candle making guru. He'll no doubt be along later to advise. A.

match

Joined: 09 Aug 2009
Posts: 40

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 09 2:41 pm Post subject:

One option is to ask on somewhere like Freecycle for old ends of candles. Take all the old ends of candles you can get and melt them all together. If you take the time to keep the colours separate you can generally get some blends to more or less the shades you want. As you're re-using something that would have been thrown away its good recycling.

All you need then is an old pan (you'll never get candle wax out of one, once you've started), and some wick and moulds (I've used everything from yoghurt pots to sculpted pieces of tinfoil).

I do this all the time, and have never needed to buy wax chippings to make candles, or indeed new candles!

Islay

Joined: 11 Aug 2009
Posts: 38
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 09 9:31 am Post subject:
Thanks for the advice! Brilliant idea about candle ends - I'll post on my local freecycle, and I'll ask my family to save their old candle ends too. They already think I'm such a weirdo that it won't make much difference...

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 09 3:37 pm Post subject:
Easy to make beeswax foundation candles, just buy unwired foundation & some wick. Run the wick through some molten wax to stiffen it. Warm the foundation gently to soften it slightly & roll it around the wick like a sausage roll. https://www.ehow.com/how_8521_make-rolled-beeswax.html

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 09 3:01 pm Post subject:
I'm idly browsing through the Friday Ad paper and spotted an ad for candlemaking kit https://www.friday-ad.co.uk/AdRef/YI930A9C3/Keywords/candle+making/Web/FullAdDetails.asp Might have been sold already, but thought I'd mention it

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