Making candles ideas or help

[dn170221]

Hi all
My eldest (aged 11) would like to have a go at making candles. He is happy to start with something simple. I was thinking tea/night lights might be a good place to start. Can anyone with experience help. If tea/night lights are the way to go what is the shopping list?
Any help much appreciated.
D

 

[Bear]

I have not been successful at rendering beeswax. You might want to start with a starter kit for candle making from an arts / crafts shop, online etc to get a little bit of practice in before using actual bees wax. Beeswax is worth more than candle wax. Any mistakes can be melted down and used again. With the way things are at the moment there’s plenty time to practice!

 

[user 6127]

There are plenty of good Youtube videos on the subject. My wife likes this one, says it gives a good explanation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrZwvJ3QCOw&t=951s

I would say order a couple of moulds from eBay, and just practice. Then get some wick and practice some more.

As Bear says, mistakes are just melted down and used again.

 

[Abbee]

There are plenty of good Youtube videos on the subject. My wife likes this one, says it gives a good explanation.

Yes very good instructions which really helped me too.
Bear in mind that wicks for beeswax candles need to be bigger than a lot of the wick size recommended on moulds being sold as they are mostly for paraffin and other waxes which are too small for beeswax. Thornes give pretty much the correct sizes.
I bought a wax hair removal machine which has been SOOO helpful. It is safer than standing over a cooker and it has digital f or c degrees and you can set it so you don't go over the suitable temperature for beeswax. I only ever use clear rendered wax ready for candles in it.
Hope that helps

 

[rampino]

I made some candles last year. Everything you need is available from EBay or Amazon. One tip: I found that wiping the moulds with a bit of olive oil made the candles come out of the mould easier as well as giving a better finish.