Homemade Candles Made Simple E-Book

Jennifer Stepanik

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Imagine being able to make your very own candles? Ideal as gifts, for home use and even as a business opportunity. This comprehensively illustrated candle making eBook runs you through each stage of the candle making process in an easy step by step fashion. Homemade Candles Made Simple breaks up each candle making technique into beginner, intermediate and advanced making candle options. A section on Candle-making activities for children is also included. Here are just a handful of the candles that you'll be learning to make: tea-light candles, candle melts/tarts, votive candles, floating candles, container candles, gel candles, hand dipped, pillar candles, sand candles, chunk candles, ice candles, hurricane shells, hand rolled beeswax candles, rustic candles,recycled candles and much much more

Leseprobe

Jennifer Stepanik

Homemade Candles Made Simple

Candles are instant mood enhancers, stress-relievers and natural relaxants; fill your home with flickering flames and enjoy the peace and serenity they bring. To receive candle making recipes, step-by-step tutorial videos, as well as ideas on how to recreate a home spa experience, visit www.spanationcandles.com BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified herbalist or chemist. I do, however, have over 14 years of skin care industry experience and 2 years of naturopathic training. Otherwise I am self-educated on health and homemade body care products and want to share my knowledge.

While the greatest care has been taken to provide accurate information in this eBook, it should not replace your own research.

Melting wax is a key part of the candle making process, but it should be done with great caution as it has a flashpoint at which is it flammable. You must never leave melting wax on a burner unattended.

Candles, while beautiful additions to home decor, are also potential fire hazards, so you must make sure that you burn candles safely and never leave a burning candle unattended. Please see the Safety First Tips before starting to make your own candles.

Homemade Candles Made Simple is intended for information purposes only. 

History of Candle Making

Candles have been used for thousands of years to light up the night, with each country independently devising its own version of a wick staying alight by burning fuel. While candles were the sole source of artificial light until the early 1900s, they have also held a prominent position in religious services of most faiths and are now widely used in home decoration. Among other things, they symbolise holiday festivities, romance and birthday celebrations. The simple wick-and-wax combo has proved a perennial hit.

            As with most items, the Romans are generally credited with developing the candle as we know it today, with a wick made from papyrus, hemp, flax or cotton dipped repeatedly in tallow (animal fat from cows or sheep). Ancient Egyptians fashioned their candles from reed cores covered with melted animal fat. The Chinese used rice paper for the wick and a wax made from insects and seeds, wrapped in paper to burn. The fruit of the cinnamon tree was boiled and turned into a wax in India, while the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest simply lit dried fish, the eulachon or candlefish, on a fork.

The most common candles historically were made from tallow, which was cheap and readily available, but gave off smoke while it burnt as well as a stomach-churning stench. By the 13th century, candle making had become a guild craft in England and France, and the candle makers (chandlers) either went from house to house making candles from the kitchen fats saved for that purpose, or made and sold their own candles from small outlets. Tallow was popularly used to light both indoor and outdoor lamps, with street lighting introduced by 1415.

A major improvement came in the Middle Ages, when Europe discovered beeswax candles. They were expensive and used primarily by churches and wealthy individuals, but burnt cleanly, without a smoky flame, and emitted a pleasant sweet smell rather than the putrid tallow.

Early settlers in colonial America created a nicely fragranced wax by boiling the berries from the bayberry shrub. Although the candles burnt well, the process was time-consuming and the yield was poor in comparison to the effort required. Whale fat (originally used in candles by the Chinese in 221 BC) was then produced in mass quantity as whaling took off in the 18th century. The resulting spermaceti wax didn’t smell very nice, but was hard enough to keep its shape in the hot summer months.

With the industrial revolution in the early 19th century, candle making machines were invented and significantly increased production and availability. Then, in 1825, the chemists Chevreul and Lussac patented a candle made from crude Stearic, one of the fatty acids in tallow.

The next developments in the history of candle making came with a new and improved wick, achieved by braiding the cotton instead of just twisting it, and the discovery of paraffin as a by-product of both distilling coal and refining petroleum. Paraffin wax, which gave a bright, clean, odour-free flame, was combined with Stearic to create a superior and cheaper candle.

During the New Romantic era of the 1980s, candles became popular household items as decorations and mood-makers. Suddenly they were available in a variety of colours, shapes, sizes, smells and styles. Candle making had become such big business again, that the following decade new types of wax were being developed to improve the burn.

Today the market offers candle lovers an endless array of candles in all shapes and styles, produced from a wide variety of waxes: paraffin, vegetable wax, beeswax and the newest trend of gel wax. 

Benefits of making your own candles

With such a variety of candles available, you might wonder why people bother making their own, but there are many compelling reasons why you should try your hand at homemade candles.

Basic candles are fun and easy to make, but you can also stretch your skill by mastering advanced techniques such as ice candles, chunk candles, rustic candles and even a hurricane shell.You can unleash your creativity as you produce all manner of crazy candles, from rolls of money or a chain of bullets, to sandcastles and body parts.Candlelight creates a wonderful mood, both romantic and calming at the same time, as well as providing a welcome relief from the technology glare we subject our eyes to most of the time.Candles come in all colours and designs and can be tailored to decorate your home in your individual style.You can personalise a candle to make a unique and thoughtful handmade gift.You can easily make candles in bulk and find it becomes a profitable hobby, bringing in a second income.

How to maximise your scent throw

-          Add fragrance oil at 185 degrees Fahrenheit and ensure that it is thoroughly mixed.

-          Allow your candles to cure fully before burning them; this could be up to a couple of weeks.

-          Store scented candles away from excessive heat or light and preferably contained.

-          Use high grade fragrance in the correct amount.

-          Ensure the fragrance is fully integrated throughout the wax to ensure an even smell throughout burning.

-          Adding Vybar to the wax mix enables it to hold more fragrance, up to two or three times the normal amount, without it seeping out.

-          Use paraffin wax rather than soy or beeswax which will compete with the scent.

The importance of temperature

 The quality of all the ingredients contributes to the success of the candle, but the final factor in the mix is temperature – it is very important and can literally make or break your end product. There are several different temperatures of which you need to be aware.

Firstly you should never heat your wax beyond 250 degrees Fahrenheit, if the wax gets too hot then the molecules will start to break down and the wax will smell like its burning – no amount of fragrance will cover the smell, unfortunately that batch of wax will be ruined.

The temperature of your wax should be taken in the pouring pot just before pouring your candle, and you should always follow the guidelines for the particular wax you are using as all types are different. You will need to maintain the temperature in your pouring pot while you are introducing any fragrance, colorant or other additive it can change quickly during this point of the process.

It is also advisable to pre-heat the containers so that the wax does not experience a sudden change in temperature once poured. Room temperature can also have a big effect on the result of your candle and will affect the length of time your candles take to set – a slow-setting candle is best to avoid shrinkage, holes or a poor finish. 

Candle Types

Now you know what goes into a candle, you can start to think about the type of candle you would like to make. You can choose either a free-standing candle or a container candle, both of which can be broken down further as follows:

Free-standing candles

You can make a free-standing candle by either pouring molten wax into a mould in which a wick is suspended and leaving to harden before turning out, or by repeatedly dipping the wick into molten wax.

  Pillar candles

These are large free-standing candles that are usually, but not exclusively, round. Like votive candles, pillars need to be burnt on an appropriate heat-resistant holder, but they come in a wide variety of colours, shapes and designs, including square and hexagonal, or having multiple wicks. Although they stand on their own, they must be burned on a heat-resistant candle holder