Making Candles

Making candles for your own personal use or to give away as gifts is extremely rewarding and easy to do.   You can buy wax, wicks, and molds from almost any craft store. 

The first step in candle making is to prepare the wax.  You do this by melting it in a double boiler.  A double boiler is simply one large pot filled with water and placed on the stove top.  Another smaller pot that contains the un-melted wax is put inside the larger pot.
  
Heat the  wax to 150 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  When the wax is fully melted you can add the color you would like. 

You can then remove it from the heat and add the fragrance.  It is best to use 7% fragrance by weight.  That simply means that for every one pound of  wax, you can use 1.12 ounces of fragrance oil.  If the fragrance concentration is too high, it may bleed through the candle. 

The  wax can be about 140 – 150 degrees Fahrenheit.  You can then pour the wax into the mold to cool.  Hold the wick in place in the middle of the mold and pour in the wax.  Allow the wax to cool for about four to six hours before you attempt to remove it from the mold.   Be careful not to pour the wax at too low of a temperature or the candle could crack.  The wax should be between 95 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  You should  not use water to cool the candle quickly.  This could also cause the candle to crack.  

There is almost no end to the different types of candles you can make at home.  With the different fragrances, colors, and decorations your only limit is your imagination. 

Some entrepreneurs have found that selling candles can be a lucrative business.  They have taken their love of the hobby and their talent and turned it into a great way to make money.  They do this by buying their supplies in bulk at discount prices.  They also take time and effort into packaging their products attractively.  The thing that really drives them is their imagination.  People are always looking for something new when it comes to this old custom.

Making Soy Candles

Soy candles are natural and burn cleaner then paraffin candle wax.   

Soy wax is a vegetable wax that is made from soybeans.  The oil is extracted from the soybean flakes and hydrogenated.  The majority of the world’s soybeans are grown in the United States in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. 

It is believed that soy candles burn cleaner then paraffin candles.  This is true to some extent.  All candles emit soot.  There is no way around that.  But, paraffin candles emit black soot while soy candles emit white soot.  While soot is not harmful to people, white soot is a little cleaner then black. 

The only thing that is really different about making soy candles then paraffin candles is the wax. 
They both use the same techniques and equipment. 

Although soy wax candles and paraffin wax candles are mostly the same, there are a couple of differences.  Soy wax is a softer wax so it is not suitable for some types of candles.  For instance, soy wax does not work well when you are trying to make novelty candles.  It also do not work well for pillar candles.  You can also not make taper candles with soy wax.  Floating soy candles can be made if they are up to 3 inches in diameter.

If you can make candles with paraffin wax, you can make candles with soy wax.  Making candles is kind of like trying out a new food recipe; sometimes you have to try things one way then the other to see which works best for you.  The bottom line is that soy wax and paraffin wax both hold scent and color the same in candles but, it is great to learn how to make a new kind of candle and offer a variety in your candle making whether you are making candles for pleasure or a business.