Any ideas for old candles ?

[Millymollymandy]

I pour the melted candle wax into old glass jars that I can't use for jams and things, stops it leaking all over the place

Now you tell me!

[indy]

[ElizabethBinary]

If you have children:

Drawing 'secret' patterns on paper with the candle end then painting over to reveal them!

Who needs children for this?! :D

I can see this both as a cute way to leave secret messages for my man as well as just playing around because, hey, I'm an adult and I can play with fire if I want.

[growingthings]

I have seen the ones in bun cases, Zoe.

If I am correct I think that River Cottage sell them in their online shop, natural beeswax of course! I've not even entertained looking at the price. The wicks help light the pinecones that have been set into a small block of wax, what I do if I have no wick is simply roll them in the wax so it covers them all over - i have to confess to sprinkling glitter on a few that I made for Christmas gifts (v. sparkly!), put onto some paper set alight underneath them they work a treat!

Lorna x

[Big Al]

I have tried melting old candles down to make new ones, bought the new wicks and moulds etc.

They don't work! For some reason they burn for a while and then the WHOLE candle just melts. Making a big mess of furniture, floor etc.

So I don't do THAT any more!

Hi MMM,
You have either used container wax or a wick that was too big for the candle.

there are two basic waxes for making pillar candles and container candles. For container candles the wax is a lot softer and it needs to be in a container as the way they melt there is a "wax pool" or "melt pool" . Where as if you use pillar wax it is made as a harder wax that burns as it melts so doesn't go all over.

As said above if you have used a wick that is too big then that weould have mad the candler melt and go all over the place but there would have been a lot of smoke, a relativly large flame and a fast burn.

[Big Al]

Cheers Big Al, definately a job for a rainy day, or something to keep the kids amused during half term or something. The three of them in a small space can be very very..

It depends on how small a space you have. If you were good at geomitry then you can work it out on paper first but if not just get the children to stand with their feet as far apart as possible and in such a way that they can't touch each other.

Then mail one foot on each child to the floor and leave the room. they can shout at each other but not fight....simples...

superglue on their hands / lips is also good ..

[Millymollymandy]

I have tried melting old candles down to make new ones, bought the new wicks and moulds etc.

They don't work! For some reason they burn for a while and then the WHOLE candle just melts. Making a big mess of furniture, floor etc.

So I don't do THAT any more!

Hi MMM,
You have either used container wax or a wick that was too big for the candle.

there are two basic waxes for making pillar candles and container candles. For container candles the wax is a lot softer and it needs to be in a container as the way they melt there is a "wax pool" or "melt pool" . Where as if you use pillar wax it is made as a harder wax that burns as it melts so doesn't go all over.

As said above if you have used a wick that is too big then that weould have mad the candler melt and go all over the place but there would have been a lot of smoke, a relativly large flame and a fast burn.

I used ordinary candles i.e. freestanding ones (I assume that's what you mean by pillar) and used wicks that I bought in a craft making place for candle making. I know nothing about wick size! Do you mean the diameter of the wick? It was a long time ago and I don't think there was any choice.

[Big Al]

I have tried melting old candles down to make new ones, bought the new wicks and moulds etc.

They don't work! For some reason they burn for a while and then the WHOLE candle just melts. Making a big mess of furniture, floor etc.

So I don't do THAT any more!

Hi MMM,
You have either used container wax or a wick that was too big for the candle.

there are two basic waxes for making pillar candles and container candles. For container candles the wax is a lot softer and it needs to be in a container as the way they melt there is a "wax pool" or "melt pool" . Where as if you use pillar wax it is made as a harder wax that burns as it melts so doesn't go all over.

As said above if you have used a wick that is too big then that weould have mad the candler melt and go all over the place but there would have been a lot of smoke, a relativly large flame and a fast burn.

I used ordinary candles i.e. freestanding ones (I assume that's what you mean by pillar) and used wicks that I bought in a craft making place for candle making. I know nothing about wick size! Do you mean the diameter of the wick? It was a long time ago and I don't think there was any choice.

Wicks... bloody wicks.... There is a bit of a difference for the anoracks out there. As a pro candle maker I used to have over 150 different wicks in stock. It did get to be a bit of an obsession at one time

I've had a self sufficiency site for about 7 years now but never really got anything done to it as there were always other things to do but when I get it all sorted there will be candle making tutorials on there.... but not with 150 odd wicks,

The real sad thing was that I had varying numbers of different waxes and over 120 different fragrance oils. Add to that well over 1000 different colour as I used the pantone colour scheme and I could at one time tell you the exact combination of wick, wax, colour and fragrance oil for any given candle you wanted to make..... then I went bust and got a life....

[Millymollymandy]

You could always put the tutorial on here Big Al.

[Big Al]

You could always put the tutorial on here Big Al.

Now that's the difference between the genders........ females think out of the box....

i'll do one tomorrow or wednesday all being well. I've got tutorials on pillar candles, container candles, fire lighters, fir cones and I think, storm proof candles.... somewhere,lol.

[Millymollymandy]

Goodo , pop it in this section http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... m.php?f=54 and you never know, it might get put on the main site.

[tizzy]

I just wanted to say thanks to the people that mentioned making firelighters with wax candles etc.
I tried throwing a handful of chipped bits of old candles into the fire the other night and it worked like a charm. Hubby will never have to go outside to chip up kindling in the dark because we have nearly let the fire go out

[Green Aura]

Sugar works too tizzy. Every time my Dad did it he'd say "feeding the devil" - I don't use it, I wonder why!

[the.fee.fairy]

Can you use candle wax for batik? Or is that special wax?

If they're fragranced candles, get an oil burner and just stick the wax in the top (no water), light a tealight underneath and leave to melt and smell lovely. The fragrance doesn't last as long as proper wax tarts do, but you can get another night or two's smelliness out of a candle this way.

I think that if they're not fragranced and you let them melt like above and put a few drops of fragrance or essential oil in, it should also work, but don't quote me on it, i could be wrong.

[Big Al]

Can you use candle wax for batik? Or is that special wax?

If they're fragranced candles, get an oil burner and just stick the wax in the top (no water), light a tealight underneath and leave to melt and smell lovely. The fragrance doesn't last as long as proper wax tarts do, but you can get another night or two's smelliness out of a candle this way.

I think that if they're not fragranced and you let them melt like above and put a few drops of fragrance or essential oil in, it should also work, but don't quote me on it, i could be wrong.

You can do this provided it is in a potporui burner and not a jar with the candle lit. If you add oil to say a container candle [ wax and wix in a jar for instance] then the oil will burn abs you will end up with something akin to a chip pan fire, lol.

A good method is to melt the wax in a double boiler to around 68 Deg C then add the oil. Stir it all together then pour this mixture into an old ice cube tray. When it solidifies you can then pop out an " ice cube" of scented wax and put this in your clean dry burner.

HTH.

Alan