How To Make Candles Using A Double Boiler
How to setup a double boiler
Before starting, gather the following equipment and supplies. Almost everything can be found at your local craft store in the candle making section or online at various candle supply stores.
- Use any wax or fragrance oil (including essential oils)
- Colors are optional (must be oil-soluble)
Gather the following equipment:
- 4 lb aluminum pour pot or 4-cup measuring glass
- Kitchen scale
- Wooden spoon or small spatula
- One small disposable cup or small glass container
- 1 clothespin
- Hot plate or stove top
- Thermometer
- Heat gun (optional)
- Scissors
And the following supplies:
- 12.86 oz (365 grams) candle wax
- 0.90 oz (26 grams) fragrance oil or essential oil
- One 6″ pre-tabbed wick
- One wick sticker or some hot glue
- 16 oz glass mason jar
Step-by-step Instructions
The following recipe makes a single candle. Scale accordingly!
Step 1: Measure wax and fragrance oil
Use your kitchen scale to measure the following:
- 12.86 oz (365 grams) wax
- 0.90 oz (26 grams) fragrance oil
Weigh supplies using ounces (oz), not fluid ounces (fl oz). Candle making supplies are always measured by weight.
Place wax directly into your aluminum pitcher or measuring glass.
Pour fragrance oil into a separate container. Do not combine the wax and fragrance.
Step 2: Prepare double boiler
Fill the pot with water about three quarters full and place over heat. Place your aluminum pitcher or measuring glass (filled with wax) into the water and turn the heat up to bring the water to a boil.
Step 3: Prepare container(s)
While the wax is melting, use a wick sticker or some hot glue to affix the wick tab to the bottom-center of the container.
To ensure the wick stays in the middle while pouring, use clothespins to hold it in the center. Your wick doesn’t have to be perfectly centered in this step – we’ll adjust it again after pouring the wax.
If the wick sticks up a lot, don’t worry about that either. After the wax initially cools we’ll remove the clothespins and cut the wick down with a scissors.
Step 4: Remove wax from heat
As soon as some of the wax begins to melt, occasionally stir the un-melted components to encourage melting.
Do not aggressively stir because this can introduce air into the blend which may impact the final candle quality.
Monitor the temperature and remove the pitcher or measuring glass from the water once the blend reaches 185°F – 190°F (85°C – 88°C)
Make sure to stir the blend briefly before taking any temperatures to ensure an even distribution of heat.
While taking off the heat, you can carefully wipe the water off the bottom, but it’s not harmful to leave it there either. Place pitcher or measuring glass on a slightly heat resistant surface – a trivet works well if you have one.
Step 5: Add fragrance oil and color - stir for two minutes
While the wax is around 185°F, add your measured amount of fragrance oil to the blend.
If you’re adding color:
Dye: Add 3 – 5 drops of liquid dye. Make sure the dye is oil soluble (if it’s made for candles, it is oil soluble).
Color Blocks: Add 1/2 to 1 small block of color to the blend. If the supplier instructions are different, follow those instead.
The most important aspect of adding color is that there are no rules. Coloring your candles is an art with no real rules. More dye typically darkens the color.
Also keep in mind that different waxes take on color in different ways. Soy wax is milky, and will appear more muted or pastel-like compared to paraffin, which closely matches the color.
Think of it this way: paraffin is mostly clear whereas soy is a shade of white. Adding your color to clear leaves you with the color, but adding white to a color typically results in a different shade altogether!
After adding your color and fragrance, stir for two minutes to ensure the oil is well-dispersed in the blend.
Step 6: Pour wax into container
Now for the fun part! Pour your wax blend into the container at a steady rate – not too fast and not too slow. Try not to introduce too much air into the blend.
If you’re pouring more than one candle then pour roughly 75% of the candle in each and then top them off in the same order. This practice ensures you don’t accidentally over-fill one candle and inadvertently under-fill another.
Step 7: Cure candle
What most people don’t tell you about candle making is that the cooling wax needs some time to work best.
This period of time between when you poured the candle and when you first light it is called curing. Read more about curing here.
Curing allows the fragrance oil to disperse evenly in the wax blend and allows the wax to substantially harden beyond what the naked eye can see.
Generally speaking, each wax has a different recommended cure time:
- Paraffin = 72 hours
- Soy = 7 to 14 days
- Palm = 5 days
- Coconut = 5 to 10 days
- Beeswax = 7 to 10 days
Note: these cure times are estimates. Your mileage may vary depending on your candle design.
Step 8: Enjoy!
