Tonight's potions-class-style experiment has been a big success! I am a happy crafty bunny. With just under a pint and a half of eco soy wax flakes I have made one medium sized jar candle and a couple of soy wax melts in cotton musk fragrance.
This is the first time I've ever made candles and I did some quick learning tonight, on top of the pre-creative reading I did via the mighty Pinterest. The amount of wax flakes needs to be nearly double the size of the container you have. Once they melt down and the air gaps disappear, the volume of wax shrinks considerably.
I started off melting the wax in 20 second bursts in the microwave but very little was happening. A quick swap of the candle-making jug to a pan of water on the hob and the process was much faster. Perhaps heating the wax in the microwave helped it along but I can highly recommend the bain-marie method. I added about 20 mls of candle fragrance oil after the wax was thoroughly liquid and translucent and gave it a good stirring.
One clean jar was standing ready while the wax was melting and I had a prepared wick with a metal sustainer clipped between two chopsticks. I dipped the sustainer into the melting wax and used it as "glue" to hold the wick in place on the bottom of the jar, while the chopsticks supported it in place.
Another lesson learned tonight: wear protective gloves. Soy wax when it's cooled feels quite pleasant on the skin. The same can't be said for the candle fragrance oil. My bottles have leaked slightly and my hands are now scented for the next few hours and feel strangely dry. I've seen a few articles that say that fragrance oils for soap-making and candle-making should be classified separately and now I know why.
The finished results are currently curing and should be ready by tomorrow night. I've added a proper candle warning label to the base of the jar too as I want whoever receives this to be safe! A delicately-scented, creamy candle which I'm really quite proud of. It's quite simple to produce a very professional looking gift and as a certain advert says "trumpets will not toot themselves".
So, from a very pleased crafter and the Fab Four Felines, we wish you a good night!!
This is the first time I've ever made candles and I did some quick learning tonight, on top of the pre-creative reading I did via the mighty Pinterest. The amount of wax flakes needs to be nearly double the size of the container you have. Once they melt down and the air gaps disappear, the volume of wax shrinks considerably.
I started off melting the wax in 20 second bursts in the microwave but very little was happening. A quick swap of the candle-making jug to a pan of water on the hob and the process was much faster. Perhaps heating the wax in the microwave helped it along but I can highly recommend the bain-marie method. I added about 20 mls of candle fragrance oil after the wax was thoroughly liquid and translucent and gave it a good stirring.
One clean jar was standing ready while the wax was melting and I had a prepared wick with a metal sustainer clipped between two chopsticks. I dipped the sustainer into the melting wax and used it as "glue" to hold the wick in place on the bottom of the jar, while the chopsticks supported it in place.
Another lesson learned tonight: wear protective gloves. Soy wax when it's cooled feels quite pleasant on the skin. The same can't be said for the candle fragrance oil. My bottles have leaked slightly and my hands are now scented for the next few hours and feel strangely dry. I've seen a few articles that say that fragrance oils for soap-making and candle-making should be classified separately and now I know why.
The finished results are currently curing and should be ready by tomorrow night. I've added a proper candle warning label to the base of the jar too as I want whoever receives this to be safe! A delicately-scented, creamy candle which I'm really quite proud of. It's quite simple to produce a very professional looking gift and as a certain advert says "trumpets will not toot themselves".
So, from a very pleased crafter and the Fab Four Felines, we wish you a good night!!
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