BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Candlemaking Re-Melting Existing Candles

My house has gotten overrun with candles somehow and I am trying to get the number down to a more reasonable number. I have a lot of candle-bits at this point, of different types.

What do you guys regularly do with these bits? I gather them up and at some point make new candles out of all the bits. Am I being a bit TOO frugal? Are there other ideas?

I'm trying again to re-melt existing candles and am sort of stuck. I used to have a cheap saucepan I would use as a double boiler, but I can't find it any more. I'm trying using a "mini-warmer" that is meant to keep sauces warm, and putting a tin can into it (with water around the can) but the candles aren't melting in that. My only other option seems to be to use my "tart melter" and hand melt the candles one by one but that will take eons.

I looked on Amazon for a wax melter but couldn't find any. I imagine they exist?

Lisa, what if you used a crockpot?

Then once all the candles were melted and you had them poured up, just pour boiling water into the pot to get the remainder off the sides. Then put it back through the dishwasher and it should be ready for food again.

They do have tart burners where u use a tealite under it, it heat it up and melt them down or you can try a electric burner canlde melter.. you can find this in your walmartcandle section or arts and craft section for like $5.00 it will hold the big jar candles and u can use little candle jars too to put the extra candle pieces in....

I was in fact talking with my boyfriend about this yesterday and he said he hates our current crockpot and wants a new one. So this seems perfect! I'll take our existing crockpot and use it for candle wax burning, as a "double boiler" setup. I'll put a big can into it in a water bath - that appears to be critical for the wax not to catch on fire for some reason. That way I can use a big can, and the water can heat up to boiling, and I'm not using the stove. The main issue here is he doesn't want me doing my wax-playing on the stove and getting wax all over it

Hi Lisa,

I am not a candle expert, but I do know how to make a double boiler for candy making. I am assuming it would work the same way. I take a pan (kettle) and put some water into it, then add a tin can or glass jar, put the candy into it and let it melt slowly. (no turning on high heat, *smile* , and no walking to far away from the pot as it needs to be monitored, and for safety reasons)

Just another idea (I am new to bella - and have to post sometime, right?)

Yup that sounds just right! I just need to find a BIG tin can to put the wax in, or maybe a cheap pot?

With all of the pumpkin pie stuff that is going to be on sale the next two weeks, you ought to be able to find HUGE cans.

Maybe you can play around with some low-carb pumpkin recipes for the holidays and hit 2 birds with one stone.

Lisa,

I use juice cans . . .doesn't take long to drink up a can of juice, and the cans work really good.

No such thing as too frugal. I like using them to make ice candles or sand candles with my kids.

What I like to do is chip up some pieces and arrange them around the wick in a mold and then pour melted wax around the pieces. The mosaic effect is rather nice and I like the multi-colored look as well. The shipping charges as well as the wax itself has gone up, so there's no such thing as being too frugal in this case.

I ended up buying a cheap "wine bucket" which looks like it should work perfectly. I couldn't find any normal can that was as big as I wanted. As soon as I get some free time I'll give it a shot and take some pictures for you all

I like the chip idea! I'll see if I can give that a try!

That is going to be one very large candle! Don't get busy with the holidays and forget. I love to see how other people's crafts turn out.

I should have read this thread last week. I had a couple of candles that I needed to discard and there was one rather tall one that had been in the attic and had softened and was misshapen. I had the oven on and just put the candles in their containers on the stovetop. They softened and then I put the leftovers in an empty can. In June, we have an event at our museum and the kids make candles. I'll give the can of wax to the lady in charge of the candlemaking. I'm sure she will be able to use it.

The kids are really cute and excited about making the candles. The wick is tied to a stick and they dip it into the melted wax. They repeat the process until they have finished their candle.

I completely forgot about the chip idea! However, we have now melted all our wax and made fresh candles out of all of it! Some of this wax we've had for over 10 years! It is very satisfying to have this all done I did take photos so I'll post those soon!

Lisa, how did you make your candles? What did you put them in? Can I use cotton twine for a wick? I have watched the colonial candlemaker use a stick and twine. The kids go around the bucket of wax and dip their wick into the wax. When they arrive around the circle they dip the wick in again and the candle grows. I am sure that is not how you are making your candles.

Angie - here is how I melt the wax which is the first step -

Melting the Wax in a Crockpot

I put all my spent candles in a can and placed them on the stove. The oven was on and they melted down. I'll try making some one of these days although if I don't try by mid June I may give the can of wax to the candlemaker to use at our next event.

Angie you should NEVER just put wax on a stove - it can easily get too hot and catch on fire. You should always have it in a water bath. The water cannot get hotter than 212F and that guarantees you don't burn down your house

Here is how to take the melted wax and pour it into a mold!

Forum Thread on Using a Mold

It wasn't on the flame - just on the stove. The oven was on and it melted down. Was that too hot like that?

The stove can get up to 400F or more So yes, you never want wax on a hot surface without a buffer there to keep it safe. Otherwise it could flash into flame.

It's really easy just to get a saucepan with water and put the can with wax into that. I used to do that on my old stove all the time. The only reason I don't do that now is you tend to get wax spatter all over the place and we wanted to keep the new stove clean.