Candle making can be a tremendously fun activity to engage in, but it can also be quite frustrating. Many beginners struggle with mistakes such as candles that tunnel, contain air bubbles or shrink. Therefore, our 5 essential tips to help you avoid this!
1. Experiment and take notes
Especially at the beginning, it is important to experiment. After all, you can make a myriad of combinations. Think about differences in wick, perfume, wax and temperature. This is why Post-its are your best friend in this regard. While you are busy making a candle, write down what you are doing. That way, when the candle is good, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to make another one.
Here our list of what we think is important to write down:
- The percentage of perfume
- Type of candle wax used
- Room temperature
- Type lont
- Temperature at which the candle was poured at
- Temperature at which you added the perfume
Of course, it would be a shame if you made some candles and then forget what you did right or wrong.
2. Choose the right materials
At the beginning, it can be quite a challenge to choose the right materials. After all, there is so much on sale and where do you choose from? For every candle, there is a golden combination that works. Now the challenge is to find this perfect combination.
Candle wax
There are a lot of types of candle wax sold. Before you start stocking all kinds, it is helpful to think about the following things: What kind of candles am I going to make and what is my budget?
Paraffin wax
The most commonly used type of candle wax in stores is parrafin wax, as this is also the most affordable wax. Parrafin burns brightly and holds fragrance well. It is also easy to handle. A good option would you say? Unfortunately, the biggest disadvantage of parrafin is that it is a byproduct of petroleum and thus harmful when you light the candle.
Soy wax
Our choice is soy wax. This is because it is a very sustainable option. Soy wax is made from soybeans. It melts at a low temperature and burns cleanly without sooting. Soy wax does tend to shrink and freeze, especially in glass jars. If you want to make figure candles, Kerasoy 4120 is a wise choice. If you want to make beautiful candles for in a glass jar, choose container candles soy wax.
Wick
Many candle wick sellers have a table for the wicks they sell. Make good use of this table. In fact, with this table you can see which wick you need and actually the table is always right. With a few exceptions, of course. If the wick vendor does not have a table, you should look for another vendor. Otherwise you are sailing blind and you will have to experiment a lot, which is not recommended for beginners.
3. Don’t use too much perfume
It can be very tempting to use a nice lot of perfume. At least that way you can smell the candle properly, right? Unfortunately, this is a common mistake. Possibly the candle may have trouble burning afterwards. This is because an excess of perfume can suffocate the wick. As a result, the flame gets smaller and smaller and even extinguishes. Also, the scent may become too intense, making you reluctant to let the candle burn.
The ideal amount of perfume depends a bit on the wax. For soy wax it is usually around 6-8% and for parrafin around 8-10%. Of course, this brings us back to point number 1. Try experimenting.
4. Be patient and let the candle cool slowly
All beautiful things take time. This is no different for candle making. After you have poured the wax, let the candle cool very slowly. You can do this by raising the room temperature a bit or by putting something on top of the candle such as a vase or measuring cup. This will give the candle a good chance to harden evenly. If you don’t do this, you have a good chance of frosting or dents and cracks in your candle.
Give the candle time to cure
When you’ve just made that beautiful candle, of course you can’t wait to light it right away. Leave your candle for at least 2 days to a week to allow it to fully harden. Then the fragrance will come out better when you burn the candle. We call this term hardening or curing. Then you give the wax time to properly absorb the fragrances and develop completely.
If you do not do this, there is a risk that the candle will burn faster than intended. This puts you at risk of tunneling and of course no one wants that!
5. Learn from your mistakes and stay calm
Don’t panic right away if something goes wrong. Take a step back and observe. Many cosmetic things can be fixed afterwards with a hair dryer or a hot air gun. For example, do you suffer from wet spots? Then you can re-melt the sides and top with a hair dryer or hot air gun. Then you let the candle cool gently and voila, no more wet spots. You can also easily fix air bubbles or an uneven top of the candle with this method.
