Category: Essential Candle Making Equipment

Making your own candles from home not only allows you to create your very own unique style and finished product, but also helps you to save some money on purchasing expensive candles from the department store. Although this process does not mean you have to purchase or spend a lot of money on tools and equipment, there are a few items that will help make your candle making journey a lot easier.

Here we will discuss the basic candle making supplies you will need to start making your very own candles from the comfort of your own home. As your skills and requirements grow you can certainly add to this initial toolbox of essential equipment!

Item One: Wax

This will be the foundation of any type of candle that you make, and therefore it is important that you select a good quality wax. Flaked wax is the easiest to work with, however you can also get block wax which you can then chip into smaller pieces. The smaller the pieces you use, the easier it is for the wax to melt consistently.

If you are making candles that stand on their own, you will need a harder wax such as pillar wax. However, if you are making candles in a container, tin or glass jar then you can use a softer wax such as soy wax.

Item Two: Wicks

The wick is a very important component to your candle, and to be honest can be the trickiest element to get right when selecting the correct size and style of wick. Your wick should preferably be made of natural fibres and should be coated in wax. The wax coating on the wick will allow your wick to remain upright when burning.

There are a few elements that determine the style and size of wick you should use in your candle, including:

• Type of wax you are using
• Size (diameter) of the candle you are making
• Type of fragrance you are adding (i.e. the acidity will impact the burning of the wick)
• If color will be added or the candle will be left natural.

All the above elements impact the end performance of your candle wick. We know firsthand how daunting it can be when it comes to finding the perfect wick. We discuss many different types of wicks and provide easy-to-use testing solutions to help you gain the best results for your finished candle product in our eBook.

Item Three: Container or Mold

The type of container you use will depend on how you want your finished product to look like. These can come in all different shapes and sized, and there are many different types you can select from, such as:

• Glass jars
• Aluminum travel tins
• Terracotta pots
• Tealight cups

Just to name a few. Whatever style you decide upon, it important that your container should be non-flammable, should be able to withstand high heat, and is properly sealed as not to leak when the wax is melting. If you are making free-standing pillars ensure to choose a good quality candle mold.

Item Four: Double Boiler

This will be used to melt your wax in. You can either purchase one from a department store, or make your own double boiler by using a metal bowl (or smaller saucepan) over a large saucepan of boiling water. However, it is important to ensure no water mixes into your bowl of wax.

This method of melting wax is the easiest as it allows you to closely monitor the temperature of your wax as it melts. Remember to add additional water to your large saucepan if this starts to evaporate.

Item Five: Scales

A good quality scale is important to use when weighing your wax and fragrance oil. Either kitchen scales or digital scales are fine to use, however whichever you choose the important element is that it provides you with an accurate reading.

Item Six: Thermometer

There is some debate on the importance of using a thermometer when making your candles. However, we personally recommend using a thermometer, as this allows you to accurately monitor the temperature of your wax as it is heating, and when it has cooled enough to add your fragrance and then to pour into your mold or container. For all you perfectionists, you can go all out and purchase a fancy digital thermometer. However, a simple candy thermometer also works well for measuring the temperature of your melted wax.

These are what we consider essential pieces of candle making equipment you will need to begin your candle making journey. There are many more elements you will need over time and you may decide to get multiples of certain things so you can make larger batches of candles at the same time. We discuss everything you need in depth in our candle making eBook.

The pillar candle is a popular candle, one which is classic candle making, but it requires specific candle making supplies.

Metal molds allow you to create the best candles. The supplies that you require is really contingent upon the type of candle you are making, but the core items remain much the same. The real difference lies in the mold or tin in which the candle is placed.

When you’re making soy candles you will need your candle dye block in whatever color you want, a candle making thermometer, a candle mold sealer, a candlewax block, a candlewick that is bleached and whitened, a chisel, chopsticks, a cutting board, a digital kitchen scale, a double boiler, and if you are going to place your candle in a container, a container in which to hold it.

If you’re going to make a pillar candle you need a pillar mold and pillar mold cleaner but if you want to make tea light candles you can rely on smaller molds. Once you make a candle with the pillar mold you will have remaining wax leftover you want to make sure that you remove that before you start any new project. You also need masking tape for a cute trick you will find out later. Premium wax for pillars is the ideal wax to use and you want to cut it with a chisel and a hammer using a cutting board. You also want to use large square braid wicking and mold sealer. To tie up the wick you want to use a pencil and you want to cut the wick with scissors. Using a kitchen scale you can weigh out the wax and you want to use a double boiler in which to melt the wax. There are melting pots designed for wax which you rest inside of a pot of boiling water. A chopstick can be used to stir it while you are cooking and a candle thermometer is ideally suited to take the measurements of the wax temperature throughout the process.

Different colors and different scents will go into the wax at different temperatures which is why you need to have a candle thermometer. In order to die the candle you want to use whatever color candlewax you want with a potato peeler. In order to scent it you want to choose whatever liquid candle scent you prefer which can be measured using tablespoons or teaspoons. Of course for safety you want a skewer for a trick you will learn later, some paper towels for cleanup, and oven mitts for protection of your hands.

Before you make a pillar mold is best that you put masking tape around the top edge. The mold is very sharp and having masking tape around the top will make it a bit safer and easier to reach in. Little rectangular shape the masking tape can be cut and placed over the perimeter. Avoid going to deep inside of the candle mold because the wax will be placed there.

You want to start feeding it through the bottom of the mold because it is quite difficult to get your hand down into the large mold especially if it’s quite tall. You want to feed it through the bottom until you have enough at the top to tie over a pencil. Once that is done you want to trim the bottom side of the wick to about 1 inch above the hole. Do not let it fall through the hole at this point. You want to coil the wick and take a mold sealer. This compound is much like clay. You want to roll it into a ball and then squeeze it out into a flat circle which you place over the coiled remaining wick. This helps to cover the hole and avoid the problem of wax falling out of that hole. You don’t want any wick sticking out of this coil or the wax will escape. You want to flatten the ball of mold sealer down on top of the coiled wick. Hold on to the wick from the opposite end before you turn over your wax mold. You want to avoid pouring your wax into the mold with the wick simply on its own because the wick will fall over. This is why you need a pencil. Having a pencil you can place it over the middle of your candle mold and tie the wax around it. You want to leave the end a bit long so that it hangs over the perimeter of the mold.

With that said, and with the right candle making supplies, you can enjoy a simple and fast candle making process at home.