How to make homemade scented candles?
Scented candles can be a great holiday gift for friends and
family. They also can be great for your own personal use and are even helpful
in case of emergency such as a storm that causes a power outage. But candles
can be expensive from stores and the ones which seem to have the best
ingredients or use all natural products in the scents might be too expensive
for many people. This is why knowing how to make scented candles can not only
be fun but be very worthwhile for you.
Making candles can allow you to use your own ingredients and
will let you think outside of the box rather than being forced to go with whatever you would be forced to
buy. For example many scented candles might use harmful factory made scents.
Since these candles would be homemade by you, all of the ingredients can be
picked by you. The first time I made my own scented candles I made some using
orange peels which made the candle have a very nice orange citrus smell to them
but you can choose anything you enjoy the smell of. If you are less creative
and still want good smelling candles you can go to a local art or crafts store
and pick up scented oils to use in your candles they usually can be found in
the same section that you can buy the different types of wax used for making
candles.
Adding color can be another fun thing to make your candles
more interesting you can even go a step farther and add some sort of abstract
inside of the candle wax. Like if you're planning on using the smell of the sea
you can incorporate that into your candle wax by adding some shells that you
found on the beach or even use a shell as the candle holder.
In the end it's up to
how creative you want to be when making candles. Scented candles can even be
used for your holiday inventions and can be great gifts for family.
Getting Started
The first important thing to know is the scent of the candle
you want to create if you're not making the scent yourself then you will be
buying it from a store. It doesn't matter which way you decide to go in this
case but you will need some kind of scent for a scented candle because the wax
doesn't usually come with any scent. Next you will want to figure out the type
of candle you're going to be creating. This is because the candle type will
depend on the type of wax that you will plan to use. If you're going to be
using abstract items inside of the wax usually you will want to use a wax that
makes the objects visible. Gel wax is often used when your planning these type
of candles. Gel wax candles also hold in the smell of the candle and it's color
very well while still allowing it to be see through.
Another type of wax that often is used without the need of
melting the wax or adding a scent to the wax is beeswax. Depending on the
flowers that the bees where feeding from the wax will give off its own sweet
scent when it is burned. Beeswax is easy to model and shape without having to
heat it first which makes it very useful for difficult molding projects.
Many people that want to make natural types of candles which
don't previously have any scent to them would be more likely to use either soy
wax or palm wax. Palm wax produces a feathered effect in candles and is useful for certain projects. Palm is
also a hard and brittle wax which is often used in votives and pillar candles.
It can also be mixed with soy to provide a harder wax candle while still
providing the feathered look.
Soy wax is a cost effective natural wax which can be much
cheaper then beeswax and natural compared to paraffin. It does not come with
any natural effects like palm and it can be bought with different melting
points making it a very cheap and quality wax.
Paraffin is the last type of wax which is commonly used
today in many candles and applies to pillars, votives and containers. Paraffin
wax is a by-product of crude oil refinement process. So since many people
usually try to stick to natural types of products they usually avoid using
paraffin wax but that will be up to you whether you decide to use this type of
wax. While it's not toxic it still comes down to what your making candle wise.
After you've determined the type of candle wax you'll be
using you will want:
- a pot for melting the wax
- a thermometer to measure the temperature of the wax
- a mixing spoon
- a measuring pitcher
- candle wicks
Instructions:
First you will need to weigh the amount of wax that you will
need for the candle. Then place the wax in the melting pot and set the heat to
a low setting. Use the thermometer to check the heat of the wax and heat the
wax to approximately 170- 180 degrees. Make sure to watch the temperature
carefully so you do not over heat the wax. Set the container for your candle on
a flat surface. Add the wick to the container and apply it using a hot glue
gun. Use a pencil to keep the wick from falling into the container. Add your
scented oil to the container. About 1 ounce of scented oil is used to 1 pound
of wax that gives candles a concentration of scent of about 6%. It's your
choice on how strong you want the candle to smell. You can add color to your candle or the
abstract art in at this stage. With dye you will want to slowly drip color into
the container using a drop of wax to get the dye to the correct color for your
project. Then test the temperature of
the wax it should be 160 to 170 and then slowly pour the wax into the
container. You can do this in layers if your adding more abstract art into your
candle. You will want to make sure that
the wick is centered before the wax dry's. After the wax hardens cut the wick
down by 1/2 an inch. Now you should have
your finished scented candle!
