Mr. Boxy
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The easiest material for making candles is beeswax. It can be made mailable with the heat from your hands, allowing you to wrap sheets of it around a wick, like this:
Other waxes will need to be melted and poured into a mold.
Wax should be heated in a double boiler: place a pan partially filled with water on the stove, and then cover that with a metal bowl. The wax sits in the bowl, which is heated by steam.
Candle molds have a little hole on the bottom: this is for the wick to pass through. The wick should be cut so it's twice the height of the candle. If you bought a wick kit, it should come with foam pads and washers. Tie a knot at one end of the rope, then slide a washer onto the wick so it sits on top of the knot. Slide a pad through the wick so it's on top of the washer. Insert the wick into the mold so the pad and washer are underneath: this keeps the wick anchored while the wax cools. Once the candle has hardened, the end can be cut off, and the candle will slide out of the mold.
When pouring a mold, add a few unmelted wax chips to help speed up the cooling process. This will prevent the candle from sinking inward as it dries.
 Posted 5416 day ago
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