Getting Started in Candle Making? What do you Need?

BASIC CANDLE MAKING SUPPLIES - WHAT IS NEEDED TO GET STARTED?

Grace McLaughlin, Customer Service Representative, Candle Cocoon llc

October 2012, Revised April 2013

1)      First things first – what type of candles do you want to make: container, votive, or pillar?

            Container or jar candles are the easiest.  Secure the wick, melt the wax, add your choice of scent and dye, and pour.  With container candles, there is no need to worry about preparing molds.  Many types of glass jars can be used, as well as ceramic or metal containers.  Glass must be properly annealed during the manufacturing process in order to take the heat generated by burning and the fact that the heat will be distributed unevenly.  Candle Cocoon sells only jars which meet safety requirements. 

            Votives can be made in metal molds, which require proper sealing and treating with mold release, or in Dixie Cups (paper, not plastic!), which require no preparation. 

            Pillar candles require properly prepared molds, and the basic wax often requires additives in order to burn properly once the candle is standing on its own – usually in a somewhat drafty environment, which can make it burn unevenly. 

2)      What type of wax:  paraffin or soy? Others?

            Many people do not like the idea of burning a petroleum product in their homes, and paraffin tends to have a higher soot residue than soy.  The idea of using a plant product appeals to many, as a “greener” alternative, but those plants require inputs of petroleum products at several points in the journey from seed to wax:  planting, fertilizing, harvesting, extracting the wax.  In general, it is a personal choice which type of wax to use.  The same goes for palm and rapeseed (canola) waxes.

            Container and votive candles can be made with either, and soy tends to be the most popular for both.  With pillar candles, paraffin is often an easier choice, due to technical matters – in order to have soy pillars remain upright and burn evenly, additives must be used.  Those additives can make the wax hard and brittle, leading to cracking during the cooling stages if the cooling is not very slow.

            While United States sourced straight paraffin waxes (no additives) of the same or very close melting point can be expected to behave very much the same no matter the manufacturer, and thus are interchangeable, the same is not true for soy waxes.  Different brands of soy wax have different characteristics, and it is important to test thoroughly if you change brands.  Some soy waxes provide truer scent throw than others; after extensive testing, Candle Cocoon founder & owner Lyschel Bersch has chosen to carry the Enchanted Lites brand of soy waxes.  All of her fragrances are tested in that brand.

            Beeswax is used in some specialty candles, such as dipped tapers, as well as some soaps.  It can be used, with special handling, to make pure beeswax pillars.  It can also be used as an additive to paraffin and soy waxes, especially for making votive and pillar candles.

3)      Fragrance Oils (candle scents)

            What types of scents do you like?  What types might sell well in your area?  Basic categories of fragrances include floral (lilac, rose, freesia), herbal (rosemary, sage, cilantro), fruit (citrus, strawberry, mango), and trees (pine, eucalyptus, sandalwood).  Many fragrances are food related and can be very popular, including chocolate, coffee, and baked goods.  Although you can purchase “single-note” fragrances, those can often be “just too much!”  Just as walking in a meadow or forest brings many different scents to your nose at one time and one after another, the best perfumes and candle fragrances are complex blends that have several layers to them.  The top notes are what you smell first, followed by the middle notes, all supported by the base notes – melding together to produce the whole.  Rather like writing a symphony, where all of the instruments interact to produce something more wonderful than any one alone, good quality fragrance oils bring out the best in each of the components.  Poor quality oils can be harsh and nerve-jangling, like poorly trained players on mistuned instruments, or can have strong chemical odors because they consist in large part of fillers and have too much solvent in them.

            Candle Cocoon founder Lyschel Bersch has a wonderful talent, honed over 20 years of making candles, in creating combinations of basic fragrances that are unmatched in the industry.  Her blends are proprietary and not available from other supply houses.  Candle Cocoon fragrances contain less solvents and no fillers, meaning that they burn more cleanly, with no chemical odor, and that you will use a smaller amount per pound of wax to get good scent throw. New scent combinations may be tested, tweaked, and retested, using different wax and wick combinations, for as much as three years before being offered for sale.  If they don’t work, and haven’t gotten good reviews from CC’s testers, you won’t see them in the product line. 

4)      Dyes

            Dyes come in many colors and several forms.  While colors are a matter of personal preference, and may be suggested by the fragrances you choose, the form of dye to use can depend in part on how many candles you make at a time.  Are you making a few votives for a special occasion, or fifty to restock your inventory?  One container for a gift, or 12 dozen for a shop? 

            Flutter Dyes are a unique Candle Cocoon product line that not only provides excellent color shading control and mixing opportunities, but a portion of the profits support endangered butterfly habitat in Wisconsin.  One half to two little butterflies per pound of wax give a range of shades with no residue in the pot, and some UV resistance.  You can use more for deeper color and mix colors to create your own designer tones.  While soft colors are produced in soy waxes, the colors are truly brilliant in rapeseed wax (courtesy of a Flame Flight member who has posted some of her photos).

            Dye Diamonds are similar to the Flutter Dyes in color and usage, and are being replaced by the latter in Candle Cocoon’s line.

            Dye blocks weigh about ½ ounce each and will color 5 to 20 pounds of wax to varying shades, depending on the brand and color.  You can use more, or less, and combine blocks for a wide range of colors.  A color chart is available for those that Candle Cocoon stocks.

            Dye crystals are made from a natural wax base saturated with liquid dye and then dried.  They are extremely concentrated – ½ ounce will color 20 – 50 lbs of wax – and very economical for the large scale candlemaker, but they can be messy and must be mixed very well to ensure even color distribution.

5)      Wicks

            Without a wick, a candle won’t burn.  Without the right wick, a candle won’t burn well.  The type of wax, diameter of candle, and the fragrances used all affect which wick should be used.  There are many, many types of wicks available, but Candle Cocoon has chosen to stock a limited range of wicks that have proven to work well with paraffin, soy, and beeswax.  This is also less confusing than having dozens of different wicks to try to understand and choose from.  We can provide a wick chart for direct use with paraffin or soy votives and Candle Cocoon proprietary fragrances, and instructions on determining which wicks to use for larger candles. 

            Pre-cut wicks come pre-primed and with tabs attached; long wicks can be cut and re-tabbed as necessary to fit shorter containers.  We do have certain types of wicking available by the yard.  These need to be primed before use, and cut to length and tabbed if necessary.  We are happy to help you select the right wick for your project.  We also have a paper on “Wick Testing” that provides additional information on the art & science of determining the proper wick type and size.

6)      Wax Additives

            Several types of additives are available through Candle Cocoon.  You may choose to experiment and come up with a blend that fits your needs and goals, and that meets your requirements for appearance, scent throw, burn rate and ease of use.  While we can offer suggestions based on experience and our preferences, we do not provide formulas that we will guarantee to meet your individual criteria – ultimately, it is your opinion that matters.

            Stearic acid, a component of most animal and plant fats and oils, is used to harden pillar waxes to help prevent sagging in warm weather.  Candle Cocoon offers only palm oil-derived stearic acid, not animal-derived or synthetic.

            Ultra-violet (UV) inhibitors reduce color fading, particularly important for blues, but should be used for all candles that will be exposed to light, or might be stored for some time.

            Vybar 103 for pillars and votives, and Vybar 260 for containers are used with paraffin to harden the wax and bind oils for proper distribution.  These do make the wax more opaque and brighten the colors.  Both color and scent throw of paraffin wax are improved by using Vybar.

            Beeswax can be added to other waxes in varying amounts.  Adding as little as 1 oz per pound to paraffin can make a somewhat softer appearing flame and lengthen the burning time, while adding 4 oz per pound to soy wax plus 1 oz of stearic acid is a good start for a pillar blend.  Some people make candles with a 50-50 blend of beeswax and paraffin.  This is an area ripe for experimentation!

7)      Equipment

            Melting Pot:  To start with, you need either a double boiler or an electric cooker, such as the Presto Kitchen Kettle (PKK), to melt your wax and additives, and to maintain the wax at the right temperature.  Alternatively, any cooking pot can be used as a water bath for a pouring pot – particularly with a support such as the “Double Boiler Maker”.  Do not use a deep fryer, as those will heat the wax to dangerously high temperatures and a fire may be the result.  Once you use a double boiler or electric cooker for candle making, DO NOT use it for cooking food.  Candle ingredients are not meant to be eaten.  You can melt up to 8lbs wax in the PKK or up to 4 # in the pour pot.  If using the PKK, you can use a standard kitchen ladle for pouring into your containers or molds.   

            Thermometer:  A candy thermometer, either standard or digital.

            Scale:  An accurate kitchen scale, capable of weighing in grams or tenths of ounces can decrease the amount of waste and give you more consistent results.  A microscale, accurate to 0.1 gram or 0.005 ounce, will help you nearly eliminate waste (as long as you don’t spill!).  Although you would think you could use measuring spoons for fragrance oils, you really can’t.  That is because the different fragrances don’t all have the same density – for example, with Vanilla Voodoo 1.5 tablespoons = 1 oz by weight, while for Brandied Pear, 3 tablespoons = 1 oz by weight.  Only 0.5 oz of Vanilla Voodoo can give an excellent result in soy waxes, whereas other fragrances can require more than an ounce for good results.

            Wick Pins:  Make it easy to ensure proper placement of wicks in votives, with no fussing as the wax hardens.  The pin is removed once the candles are cool and replaced by a tabbed wick of the correct length.

            Adhesive disks or glue gun and glue:  for attaching the tabbed wick to the bottom center of the container so it does not move during pouring and hardening.   As the adhesive has a higher melt point than the wax, and the candle will only burn down to the top of the wick tab, there is no danger of burning the adhesive. 

8)      Now to make your candles!

            Once you have all of your supplies organized, it is time to make a candle (or several!).  Basically, you prep your containers or molds, melt your wax and raise it to about 170 d F (a bit more for some waxes), add your dye and fragrance oil, mix thoroughly, then pour your wax into the container or mold.  Specific pouring instructions for EL Soy Waxes are available as a pdf document.

            Allow the candle to cool thoroughly before removing from the mold, and allow at least 48 hours before burning any new candle; this is called curing, and is essential to allow the components of the candle to properly “settle” with each other.  We have a document on “Scenting Issues” if you have more questions.

9)      Community

            While you can always contact us at customer@candlecocoon.com, we encourage you to sign up for the Flame Flight Forum – flameflight.yuku.com - as many of the questions you might have may have already been asked and answered by someone else.   Members of Flame Flight Forum often have discussions on different types of wicks and waxes, as well as fragrance load, blending FOs, suggestions for craft shows and different retail or wholesale markets, etc.  The forum is a great place to get more information and to ask questions, and while reading through members posts and the responses, you may get a great idea!  Candle Cocoon llc staff check the forum frequently, and members often answer questions and provide advice before we have a chance to do so. 

Welcome to our world and Good Luck!