Some Hints and Tips on Making Recycled Candles

What do you need to begin with?

You'll need a few things before you get started, some of which you'll have to buy. They're available from craft shops and from some department stores.

• A suitable melting pot for the the wax. A relatively safe, and recommended, way is to use a double pan with the inner wax-container sitting in a water bath. You might well have an old pan and a suitable sized can or pot to to stand on a raised mesh inside it so that there is no direct contact between the wax container and the heat source. Purpose made jugs can be bought to stand in the water bath at a modest price. Alternatively you can buy a special double unit for candle making but these are likely to be quite expensive. A cover-all metal lid is desirable for use in an emergency. An alternative is to buy special wax boil bags which are also heated in a water bath.
• Wicks: you will probably need to buy these. Make sure to get the right thickness for the size of the candles you're going to make and you should be able to get some guidance when you buy them.
• Containers or moulds to make the new candles in: you can make candles in a glass, or a glass jar, or container that you've already had a candle in; or you can buy candle moulds. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, materials and prices.
• And of course, old candles. (You can buy suitable wax, such as beeswax, intended for candle making but our purpose is to encourage recycling.)

• If you mix lots of colours together, you'll probably end up with a murky brown mixture. This may suit you, but if not, try separating old candles into like colours and make new candles in batches. If your outer pan is large enough you may be able to stand two or more cans or pots in the water.
• Apart from a variety of colours your old candles will probably be made of different types of wax, which might burn at different speeds, so the candles you make may burn unevenly. Breaking the candles into small bits and mixing them together well should help in this respect.
• If you mix several scented candle bits together, the scent of your 'new' candle may not be as you expected; you may or may not like it!
• The wick should be straight and in the centre of the mould or container, or if you're making a wide candle with more than one wick, these need to be in the positions where you want them to be. One way to help achieve this is to tie the wick to a pencil, about in the middle of the pencil; then place the pencil horizontally across the top of the container or mould with the wick vertically down into the container; you can adjust the height of the wick until it's correct. Some wicks you buy may have a base and will stand up on their own, but you'll still need to ensure they don't fall over as you pour the wax in.

• Prepare everything before you start paying special attention to your working area so that it is not cluttered and you have freedom of movement. Get your containers or moulds ready and set up the wicks etc
• Clean up your old candles before melting them; take off any paper, decorations etc from the outside of candles; cut off any burnt, blackened wick
• If you break up your old candles into pieces, these will melt faster. You can probably remove the wick and decorative pieces from inside the candles as you break them up. If not, it doesn't matter too much as you can fish some of these out with a fork when the wax is melted
• Place your pieces of candle in the pan or boil bags (follow any instructions supplied with these). Do not fill the pan too full, say no more than half full, as when the wax melts some will probably melt faster and could start bubbling causing the level of wax to rise in the pan; this could be dangerous. Don't be tempted to heat the wax in a microwave
• Heat the wax gently (on a very low heat) until it's melted; don't leave it unattended on the heat. Very carefully fish out any floating bits and pieces of unwanted debris that will inevitably find its way into the melt.
• Pour the wax into your prepared containers or moulds up to the level you require. It's a good idea not to completely empty the pan; that way any remaining bits will stay in the wax in the pan, ready for disposal, and won't end up in your candles
• Any unwanted residues or extractions should be disposed of by putting them on old paper or rags and dispose of them as refuse: do not put them in the kitchen sink.
• Leave the candles to cool and set, then trim the wick to the required length
• Store in a cool place not exposed to bright sun. We have experienced such conditions on an exceptionally hot day and the candles melted and the resulting grease soaked into the base of a wooden drawer.