How to Make Candles – A Beautiful Mess

We’ve been sharing candle making tutorials on this blog for nearly 10 years. That’s why we wanted to put together a beginner’s guide to candle making with our best tips and tricks, as well as links to past projects you might want to try.

Making candles requires a few basic tools, such as a stove or something similar for melting wax.

I love making my own candles and almost always light them in my kitchen every night. It’s also nice to give handmade candles as gifts.

DIY candles are perfect housewarming, wedding, birthday, Mother’s Day, or holiday gifts. At least that’s what I think because I love candles!

Candle making essentials – the basics

How to make candles – the basics

1. Measure the wax. The easiest way to do this is to fill the container that will become your candle with wax pellets. Then use a kitchen scale to check the weight and know how much fragrance oil to use.
2. Add wax to the crucible.
3. In a large pot, add enough water to cover at least half of the crucible.
4. Heat water and crucible in a large pot over medium heat. This is basically a double boiler like the one you use when melting chocolate. You can melt the wax directly in the crucible, but using a double boiler will keep the wax from overheating.
5. Heat the wax to 185°F. Check using a thermometer.
6. Stir to distribute the fragrance oil well.
7. Remove from heat and allow wax mixture to cool to 125°F before pouring.
8. While the wax is melting (or until it cools), add the wick to the container. Attach the metal bottom of the wick to the bottom center of the container using a wick sticker or hot glue. Next, use clothespins or a stick to wrap the top of the wick so it stays centered after pouring the wax.
9. Pour the wax into the container. If the wick becomes misaligned, fix it while the wax is still hot and liquid.
10. Once the candle has hardened, you are ready to cut out the wick and use it.

Types of wax and wicks

There are various types of wax and wicks other than those listed above, but beginners should use these.

What is scent throwing?

The way the scent is thrown is just that. The radius of the scent that the candle will reach when it burns. There are four factors that affect scent delivery.

• Type of wax
• Thickness of the core
• Amount of fragrance oil used
• Wax temperature when adding fragrance oil

You may want to use different types of wax for cost or health reasons, but keep in mind that generally the higher the wax’s melting point, the smaller the scent will scatter.

how far scented oil You might think that adding more always means a bigger splash of scent. Not true. If you add too much oil, the weight of the wax will increase.

You should (generally) aim for 1 ounce of fragrance oil for every pound of wax. For this reason, after measuring the amount of wax that will fit into the container, using a kitchen scale will allow you to optimally calculate the amount of fragrance oil to use.

How to make a molded candle

Making candles using molds is a little different because you don’t need a container. Molds can be reused many times if handled with care. Check out this flower pillar candle DIY tutorial for step-by-step instructions and tips for success.

Here are some cute patterns.

Where to buy containers: