#Beeswax for candle making cracked#

His engineer’s mindset and interest in systems make for efficient and consistent candle production. Beeswax rendering and beeswax candle making are his domain. Like many beekeeping families, my husband and I divide our beekeeping work between the two of us. It can take years for even the most productive small-scale beekeeping farm to save enough wax to fill a dipping vat with the material to make a single set of tapers.īut since beeswax candles make a most precious gift representing a marriage of effort between the bee and the beekeeper, they are absolutely worth saving for. While wax from all areas of the hive is usable to a degree and there are many wonderful beeswax uses, it is cappings wax, the newest wax you collect with your honey extractor, that can make the most divine beeswax candles. And that is a pretty big deal for me.Story and Photos By Laura Tyler, Colorado – Beeswax comes in a range of colors, from lemon-yellow to warm, grizzly brown - depending on its age and what part of the colony you harvest it from. Aside from price and general health benefits, it is by far the easiest to clean up. The flame colors looked to be about the same for all four candlesĪfter A LOT of experimenting over the past few years, I’ve decided that soy wax is my favorite for general purpose candles and wax melts.So even though beeswax is the slowest-burning wax, it didn’t really make for longer-lasting candles, since a lot of the wax was wasted. The yellow beeswax candles always had the smallest flames the smallest wax pools that never reached all the edges of the containers.

#Beeswax for candle making cracked#

They also both cracked the glass jars they were in while burning.

The paraffin candles had the tallest flames, flickered the most, and produced the most visible smoke.

I was a little surprised by a few of the results, so I made another batch to double-check that my results weren’t just a fluke. This was an interesting experiment because although I’ve worked extensively with these waxes, this was my first time observing them side-by-side. Not enough oil, and your candle will smell like… well nothing. If you add too much oil, you’ll end up with little pools of it on the top of your candle once the wax is hardened. Fragrance Loadįragrance load refers to the amount (generally a percentage) of fragrance oil that a particular variety of wax can hold. Once you begin to experiment, you’ll understand this better. These are subjective terms, but in general, paraffin is the best wax of the lot when it comes to holding and then releasing fragrance when burned. The amount & strength of fragrance a candle puts out when burning. The amount of fragrance a candle gives off when unlit. Here are a couple of candle making terms you’ll come across: Cold Throw I like to use an inexpensive digital thermometer like this one to check the temperature. Most fragrance oil manufacturers recommend adding the fragrance when the wax is between 180 and 185 degrees. Paraffin melts in the range of 125 to 165 degrees Farrenheit. But it is MUCH cheaper in bulk- around $3.84 per pound if you buy 10 pounds. If you want a small quantity of paraffin it’s pricey at around $9.35 per pound. A paraffin candle is ready to use as soon as the wax has cooled, meaning it doesn’t need to cure for a few weeks in order to properly release its fragrance. This means it won’t diminish in quality over time, change color, etc. It’s also versatile and more chemically stable than other more natural waxes. It’s what most traditional and commercial candles are made from because it’s inexpensive, readily available, and relatively easy to work with. Paraffin wax is a byproduct of the petroleum refining process. If you want to make tallow candles out of beef fat (Little House On the Prairie style), this may not be your article. We’ll start with paraffin since it’s the most common, oldest, and well-known variety of candle wax on the market.

Then you can decide which type of wax is best for your purposes. So let’s talk about the different varieties of wax for candle making, the pros and cons of each, and where you can find the best inexpensive candle wax when you’re getting started.