Sponsored Links

All your candle making supplies and equipment at discount prices

Basic Candle Making Equipment – Wax Melting

By Marge Snow

This is the first article in a series we're going to do on candle making equipment. Candle making is a fun and rewarding hobby, but you need to have the right supplies. We're going to try and get you started in the right direction. Today we're going to look at equipment you need to melt your wax. That's about as basic as you can get. We'll also have a quick hint for easy cleanup!

Double Boiler

The double boiler is the most basic of candle making equipment. It's what you use to melt your wax. NEVER NEVER NEVER try to melt wax by putting it in a pot directly on your stove. Did I say to never do this? Good! The reason is that wax is very flammable. If it wasn't candles wouldn't burn. If you apply direct heat from your stove, the wax will quickly reach its flash point and poof. If you've ever had a grease fire in your kitchen, imagine a wax fire. To avoid this always use indirect heat to melt your candle wax.

Use a double boiler to provide indirect heat. Most double boilers have two parts. The Steamer Pot and the Melting Pot. You put water in the steamer pot and place the melting pot down into it so that bottom of the melter is not in contact with the bottom of the steamer. What happens is the stove heats the water in the steaming pot, and the water in the steaming pot heats the wax in the melting pot. Since all the heat is coming from the boiling water, and if you remember your High School physics, boiling water will not get hotter than about 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 Celsius), your wax will not get above 212 degrees. That's well below the flash point of most paraffin waxes. One last point. Never leave your wax unattended. Even in a double boiler, the water could boil off, leaving your wax to get too hot. So make sure, if you have to leave your melter, you turn your stove off!

Thermometer

Here's an often overlooked essential piece of candle making equipment. A thermometer is important for a couple reasons. One you want to make sure your wax doesn’t overheat. Another reason is that paraffin wax has a certain temperature that’s optimal for pouring into a mold. You need to know when your wax is ready. Also additives like fragrance oils and color chips need to be added to your wax a certain temperatures too. You don't want to guess at these, or your candles may not come out as expected. So don't forget a thermometer.

Newspaper

The last bit of candle making equipment we're going to look at today is newspaper. That's right, I said newspaper. Plain old newspaper you probably have sitting in a recycling bin right now. Candle making can be a messy hobby. Wax will drop onto your counter and you can have a hard time getting it off. If you spread newspaper around where you're going to pour your candles, all you have to do is wad it up and throw it away. What could be easier?

That's it for today. Remember, if you're melting wax on your stove, use indirect heat. That's the safest way. In the coming weeks, were going to look at the different types of molds you can use to make candles, wick selection, additives, and a whole lot more. So stay tuned, we've got a long way to go.