Candle-Making Experiment

I had a dilemma. We had dozens of old, ugly, broken, taper candles that had sat in a basket in our cupboard for several years. I hated to throw them out, because I was certain there must be a good use for them. I just wasn’t quite sure how to reuse them. We generally use scented jar candles in our kitchen to get rid of cooking odors. I was wondering how I could turn the broken taper candles into scented candles in jars!

So one Friday morning, I decided I was going to do some research. After looking online at some helpful websites, I concluded that today was as good a day as any to do it! J (Most of my experiments are born this way.)

First, I needed to find some canning jars in which to make my new candles. But the jelly jars I wanted to use had sticky residue left on them from canning labels. I remembered a trick I had read about and decided to try it.



The sticky residue on the canning jar.



My new trick: peanut butter! Smear the peanut butter over the sticky residue, wait 5 to 10 minutes (15 to 20 for stubborn ones.) Scrub off under warm water and voila! No more sticky residue!



Once the jars were prepared, my next step was to braid a wick. I thought I might be able to reuse the wicks in the taper candles, but just in case I couldn’t, I took 3 strands of kitchen string (each about 18 inches long) and braided them. (I ended up not using it, but if I had, I would have soaked the wick in the wax before using it in the candle. I may try this in the future.)



My homemade wick.





I then put the jars into the oven at 170°F. This dries any moisture on them so that the wax will bond with the glass and the candle won’t be patchy.



Then I placed all my candles in a double-boiler pot. I had to break some of them to make them fit, but I tried not to break the wicks, so I could reuse them.



As the candles melted, I went “fishing” for the wicks with old chopsticks. I laid them out as straight as I could on a paper towel to dry. I thought I might be able to reuse them, as they are long enough to fit into my jars!



Once the wax had completely melted, it was around 180°F. I let the wax cool to 150°F to 160°F. At this point, I stirred in a couple of drops of cinnamon essential oil to give it some scent.



Next I needed to prepare my jars. This was the trickiest part. I used a hot glue gun and popsicle sticks to put a dab of glue on the bottom of the jar where I wanted the wick to be centered. I then pushed my wick into the glue. In order to make it stay upright while the glue dried, I tied the wick between two canisters to keep it straight. If you are interested in making candles often, there are tools you can buy to make this step easier. I just improvised because I didn’t buy any special equipment!



Once the wax cools, pour it into your containers, being careful not to move the wicks. I would HIGHLY recommend pouring over a tray because you WILL spill wax. I guarantee it! J



You must keep the candles warm while they dry. Mine had “sinkholes” around the wicks and I think it was because they cooled too rapidly. Side Note: I only poured two candles, and I kept the remaining wax in another jar to keep for later use. That way none of it gets wasted!



After allowing the candle to “cure” for several days, I lit one to try it out. It worked great! It burned clean and smelled good.



A couple of days later, I had an idea of how to fix my sinkholes…



I took my jar of leftover wax, placed it in a pot on the stove, put enough water in the pot to cover the wax line, heated it up until it was melted…



and poured it into my sinkhole! (Sorry that the picture is blurry. It’s hard to pour and take a picture at the same time! J)



It worked ok. Unfortunately, I had already trimmed the wick down. In the future, I won’t cut them, and then I can pour a whole new layer and it won’t be as noticeable.



And there you have it, folks! This is what happens at our house when a problem sits around for awhile. We just decide to attack it one day! I look forward to turning the rest of our taper candles into usable jar candles. I just need to find another free Friday…