CandlemakingCandlemaking is easy.Making REALLY GOOD candles takes a lot of patience, practice and artistic flair. A long time ago candles were made from animal fat (tallow)but you don't even want to know how badly they smell. Unless you are really adventurous it's best to stick to paraffin wax and beeswax candles, at least to begin with. ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS
If you've never made candles before there are 3 things you need to know
about
candlemaking: You will need to make a working area that won't be disturbed. If you have young children, this is even more important. The ideal place is a garage or out-building with a propane stove...but chances are you'll be working in the kitchen, so I will assume that to be the case. You cannot melt wax over a direct heat source. Wax is FUEL. If it gets too hot, guess what? It burns! Yes, it would burst into flames, and trust me, a wax fire is a nasty one, I have the scars to prove it. You can use a double-boiler of any arrangement that heats the wax via the hot water (I use a pasta/steamer pan) without the water getting into the wax or one of those thermostatically controlled crock pots or slo-cookers. Either way you'll need a thermometer to check the temperature. You may have a Craft Store near to you that sells the wax, wicks, molds etc that you need, but if not don't worry, as you can order Candlemaking Supplies On-Line:
Barkerco Click on candle image for instructions |
