Candle Making Tips

If you are new to making candles, you are probably looking for some advice on how to get started. Although making candles is really an easy hobby, one that you can enjoy for years to come, you can sure waste a lot of wax (and other materials) if you’re not sure what you are doing. 

In addition, if you don’t have the appropriate safety knowledge and act accordingly you might be putting more than a little wax at risk. I want to give you some candle making tips that will help you be both successful and safe. This will be a quick run down. You will find more details on other pages on this site.

The biggest safety tip is to always use a double boiler to melt wax. Otherwise there is a very real risk of fire. Go to my safety page for more precautions.

Get experience with a few simple projects so you get comfortable handling hot wax before you move onto candles that require more effort and attention. Even something as simple as pouring hot wax from a pour pot requires a little technique so start with straight-forward projects and build skills as you go.

Whatever type of candle you are making, it’s a good idea to review the steps and arrange the things you’ll need in a logical order. Minimize the distance that you’ll have to carry the melted wax. If you should spill any wax, clean it up right away because melted wax can be very slippery. You don’t want to slip and fall.

Another tip is to keep notes of all your candle making projects. Include things like the wax used, any additives and how much of each, melting and pour temperatures, size of wick, and so on. If you have an especially successful candle, these notes will help you reproduce it. On the other hand, if you have a problem, the notes can help you identify what it might be.

Perhaps the best tip is to just get started. Any new activity can be intimidating at first, but once you get started with candle making it will rapidly become second nature. Enjoying the results will encourage you to keep going. So check out other pages on this site to learn about wax and wicks, pick a good starter project like making a container candle and get going.

Of course, I also think that checking out my book (Home Candle Making Made Easy) is a great idea. With all due modesty (OK - with no modesty at all), I think it's pretty darn good. 

In that book, I go way beyond candle making tips and tell you everything you need to know to go from beginner to expert in no time. Believe me, you’ll want to avoid some of the mistakes I made starting out :-)

Happy candle making!