Candles make your home feel better, warmer, and like a peaceful and cozy place. However, most store-bought candles actually release a mixture of toxins and chemicals that you don’t want in your indoor air. The solution? It’s simple! Make your own candles with beeswax and coconut oil.
Regular candles include artificial fragrances which can negatively impact your health, especially if you’re sensitive to chemicals. Most candles also have a lead-based wick and chemicals within the wax that may upset how you’re supposed to function. It’s not something you want in your indoor air.
However, as I already mentioned, you can make beeswax candles at home with ease. What’s more, beeswax candles are completely non toxic and natural.
Just pick the right materials and you’re good to go! Below, I will share a guide on how to select the right materials for your candles. You can make candles with beeswax only, but I suggest adding coconut oil too!
Why add coconut oil to beeswax candles? Well, coconut oil helps candles burn slowly and consistently. It also prevents tunneling. I suggest utilizing unrefined 100% organic coconut oil. With that being said, let’s learn more about beeswax candles and coconut oil, and make lovely organic candles.
Why Add Coconut Oil To Beeswax Candles And How Much?
Most waxes aren’t too hard anyway. However, adding some coconut oil will make your wax even softer, which is why you don’t want to apply more than 1/2 teaspoon per 1 pound.
You can make beeswax candles with beeswax only but adding a bit of coconut oil will help your candles burn slowly and more consistently. The best part? It also prevents tunneling.
How To Choose The Right Ingredients For Your Beeswax Candles?
When making scented beeswax candles with coconut oil, you need to pick the right items. The following tips can help you select the perfect materials and make lovely beeswax candles in no time.
Beeswax
I suggest that you utilize 100% organic beeswax. It’s the purest form of beeswax that will burn evenly as well as without smoke. I often utilize yellow unrefined beeswax when I want the color and honey aroma to be the primary focus of my candles.
Beeswax makes a great choice for people who can’t handle strong aromas and people with asthma.
Coconut oil
Again, I highly suggest that you utilize 100% organic and unrefined coconut oil if you want to make high-quality candles that burn consistently, slowly, and evenly.
Candlewick
Choosing the proper candlewick is key for making high-quality candles and succeeding with your candle-making. First and foremost, determine what type of candle containers you want to utilize. You can utilize vintage teacups, seashells, small jam jars, small tins, or proper candle molds or containers.
This will also determine the denseness of your candlewick. The denser the wick, the larger the container because the denseness of the candle wick needs to be the same as the width of the container. So, if you place a thin wick in a big container, the wax only melts around the wick and won’t burn equally.
And if you place a dense candle wick in a small container, it will burn fast as well as make your container too hot, which can be dangerous as the container can crack and start a fire. So, measure the diameter of your container. For instance, if you have a 6 cm wide container, you will need a 3 diameter wick.
Candle jars
You can utilize any heat-proof container that will handle the continuous heat of burning candles. I would suggest tin jars, glass jam jars, and stone or pottery containers. Investing in tin jars created for candles is probably the best choice. They’re cheap and made specifically for candles.
Essential oils
Utilize essential oils made strictly for candle making for the best results. And if you can’t get your hands on these oils, you can utilize any essential oils that can handle high temperatures.
Often, coconut and beeswax candles include coconut and honey fragrances, so you want something that will compliment these scents like pure vanilla essential oil, spice, or orange aromas.
Find out more about essential oils and fragrance oils in this article that I wrote.
Beeswax Candle Recipe
Homemade beeswax candles make a great gift although I highly doubt you will give away your beeswax candles once you see how amazing they look! Just follow the next recipe and you will make your candles in no time! Don’t forget to share your results in the comment section down below!
Ingredients:
- Pouring jug
- Wooden skewer or pencil
- 3 small jam jars
- Candle wicks
- 10 drops of vanilla essential oil
- 4 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 170g organic beeswax
Instructions:
First of all, cut or grate the beeswax into small pieces. However, if you’re utilizing pellets, you don’t need to do this step. Then, put the beeswax in a double boiler. You can also use a microwave-safe plastic bowl and melt your beeswax in the microwave.
When it’s completely melted, remove it from the heat and add the coconut oil. Stir well and give the mix a few minutes to cool down. Then, apply your essential oil. If you don’t like vanilla, you can choose some other scent. Finally, prepare your jam jars.
Secure or wrap with cellophane or sticky tack to a wooden stick and put on the tops of each jar to keep the wick in the center of the jar. Add a small amount of the mixture into each jar and wait for a couple of minutes until the base of the mixture is set.
Ensure the candle wick is right in the center of the jar and pointing upwards. Some candle wicks include “feet” to stabilize them before you apply your mixture. You can do this with a dab of melted beeswax or glue gun and just keep it in place until it sets.
Slowly add in the rest of your mixture. Fill your jars about 1 cm from the top of the jar. Moreover, don’t move your jars and let the mix sit for a couple of hours or overnight. Leave your beeswax candles to cool down slowly in a cold spot so they don’t crack.
Voila! You have homemade beeswax candles. Just remove the wooden sticks with caution and trim each wick to approximately 1 cm above the wax level. Then, light up your new homemade candles and enjoy! Or wrap them and give them away as a gift!
Summary
As you can notice, making beeswax candles at home isn’t rocket science. On the contrary, it’s very easy. And adding coconut oil is just going to make your candles burn evenly and more consistently.
Have you made beeswax candles with coconut oil before? If so, I’d love to hear your experience, so drop a comment below! Also, don’t forget to share this valuable info with other candle enthusiasts.
I started Scents and Aroma as a way to share my knowledge from owning a candle, wax melt, diffuser and bath bomb business so that you can make your home smell lovely too.
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