How to Make Homemade Candles

It is amazing how quickly we burn through candles at my house!  I LOVE them. I really don’t think there is anything like lighting some candles to soothe the soul, relax the room, and give the atmosphere a lovely scent.

I learned how to make homemade candles when I was seven.  Yep!  My teacher had two desks about 15 feet apart, each with an electric frying pan holding a can full of candle wax.

We had wicks hanging from pencils, and we would dip at one end, walk around the room to the other desk, giving the wax time to dry, then dip again. 

I remember the long line of kids robotically walking to make their own gifts for their parents at the holidays.

It was a neat idea, but being a teacher, I would never do it!  Even as a kid, I remember the mess of candle wax dripping on the barely covered floor.

Candles can be made at home without the mess of classroom candle-making and are fun, easy, and inexpensive!

On this page, we have all of the information needed to learn how to make homemade candles.  There are links to learn how to make soy candles and even the new fad of spiral candles.  

If your interest is in making beeswax candles, we have lots of information on that too!

Making Beeswax Candles

If you are lucky enough to have bee hives, like Chris and her family, you have the perfect medium for making homemade candles that are natural and non-toxic!  

Beeswax can be purchased at craft stores, or if you know a beekeeper, they might send some your way!

There are many ideas on our gardening and foraging page where you can learn more about beekeeping.  You just might like to start your own hives!

One advantage of beeswax is that it will not go rancid like soy wax or palm wax used for candles.  The beeswax also burns longer than other waxes, pulls toxins from the air and is soot free. 

Like other waxes, they can be scented. One thing to remember about scenting beeswax: if you use essential oils to scent the candles, the oils don’t work well with high temperatures. 

Some folks don’t scent the beeswax candles and burn them strictly because of the pretty way they flicker as well as the fact that they are natural.  For scents, these folks often use essential oil diffusers instead.

How do you make a strong smelling scented candle?

“Scent throw” is the term used to describe how strong the fragrance is for a candle.  The throw for a solid candle is called “cold throw”, and the strength of the scent of a burning candle is called the “hot throw”.

It is important to know that there is an optimal temperature of 185 degrees Fahrenheit in order for the wax and fragrance to bind.  This gives the best scent throw.

Once the candles are burning, a low hot throw could be caused by the temperature being too high when the fragrance was mixed. Lower the temperature of the wax before adding the scent next time.

It may also be necessary to add more fragrance when making the candles.  The wick too, has a direct effect on the hot throw of a candle.

Making Soy Candles

Making candles with soy is easy and inexpensive.  These candles make great gifts. They have a nice cold throw, but their hot throw is low. Like beeswax, soy wax is natural and burns nicely, but the scent is not strong when burning.

To make the soy candles have a stronger scent, consider mixing the soy with paraffin wax.  Paraffin is also inexpensive and has a nice strong hot throw. 

Spiral Candles

In 2015, Aaron and Sara McWilliam patented the spiral candle, which is a candle that has a wick that burns in a circle for the first three hours. This fills the hollow core.

When the center is filled, and the spiral portion has burnt out, the remaining candle is one that will burn over 40 hours.  The McWilliams candle center has a wood wick, which makes a beautiful light when burning.

Their candle is especially clean burning with a 100% cotton wick which is sized to match the wax candle.  The scents are strong and the candles are in high demand, but can also be somewhat expensive.

This site has links to learn how to make a spiral candle at home at a fraction of the cost!!

Twisted Candles

Using a store-bought taper candle and warm water, the taper candles can be twisted into swirls or other unique shapes.  Scroll down for more information on this simple technique of forming interesting DIY candles!

Candle making is lots of fun, and the finished candles make great gifts for the holidays.  Scroll down for more candle making ideas!