Making decorative candles — technology and methodology

Fig. 1. The form is ready to the filling of paraffin: 1 — wick; 2 — wand to pull the wick; 3 — wooden cork.

Beautiful candles can be bought in the store, but... Personally, I have been making decorative candles using a simple technology for several years especially for the New Year on my own.

Simple technology for making decorative candles

As a «formwork» for casting decorative candles, I adapted an aluminum elbow from the vacuum cleaner hose. It has a conical shape, so that when the finished candle is «withdrawn» from the «formwork», there are no special problems. The bottom of the mold, and this is the narrow end of the tube, I closed with a wooden stopper with a hole. I passed a wick through the last one — a thick cotton thread. It is easy to make a wick from ordinary sewing threads by twisting several threads into one. From the top of the mold, the wick in a stretched state was fixed in the middle of the tube with a small stick (Fig. 1). I pour molten paraffin into the vertically installed tube-form (the narrow end of the tube is at the bottom). The «formwork» is filled in several stages, since, cooling down, the paraffin decreases in volume. After 15-20 minutes, the paraffin hardens (it cools down slowly). To remove the manufactured candle from the aluminum tube, I take out the stopper installed from below, pour boiling water from the kettle or hot water from the tap over the tube, gently squeeze a brand-new candle out of the mold. After some additional cooling, the candle is «ready to illuminate the room». As you can see, the technology of making candles is simple and accessible to almost anyone.

Manufacturing technology of colored candles

Fig. 2. Thread options «by the candle».

As you know, pure paraffin is white. So the candles will turn out white. One day my wife wanted to decorate the table with colorful candles, and I decided to introduce a dry pigment into the melted paraffin. There was nothing suitable at hand except a blue one. I also added a blue to the melted paraffin.

It turned out to be a blue decorative candle. To melt the paraffin, I use a small bucket (it is easy to clean with boiling water). Note that when adding pigment to the melted paraffin, the latter must be constantly stirred until it is poured into the mold.

To candles have become prettier, I decorated them with a simple carving with a semicircular chisel (Fig. 2).

As for the purchase of paraffin, I rarely saw it in stores. And its acquisition should be taken care of in advance.

All materials of the section «Ideas for the master»

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