# January Homesteading Online Co op - Candles



## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

Post your plans, results, pictures, and questions here.

One word of caution, wax is VERY HOT. We don't want burns, so use extreme caution. Only Mom or Dad should handle hot wax.

Have fun everyone.

*Reference material * - 

Encyclopedia of Country Living - Candles, making, pages 45-47 (9th edition), beeswax 805, additional information on page 31 (tells about how to make an emergency candle.

Thread on the Survival forum on candle making - Efficient candles

*Review of class purpose and procedure * -

For those just reading this and as a reminder, here is what we are hoping to accomplish. As members of a Homesteading Forum, we believe we should be learning to be more self sufficient and teaching others (specifically our children) these skills as well. In the next year we will be having online co op classes to learn basic skills as a family. The general format will be that for the first full week of the month we will research the subject, determine our plan of action, and share our plan (this allows those with experience to help us if we have made mistakes or need additional information to produce a good product). The second week of the month we will gather supplies and begin our work. In weeks 3-4 we will do our projects, adjust the procedure until it works and post pictures of the finished result. If homeschoolers would like to grade the work or use it as additional classroom study, we would love to see the finished work, reports, lapbooks, notebook pages or projects they complete also. Have fun learning together!



I, also, want to say *thank you * to any of the homesteaders who are willing to offer help and advice in advance, we really appreciate your willingness to be part of this class.


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

I just wanted to post a part of a pm I recieved...



> I also want to suggest that you make sure everyone is cautioned about candle making. When I've taught candle making to folks, most of them have no idea how quickly wax can spill, or flame up. Tallow is the same...actually worse (lower melt and flash point).
> 
> Small children should never be around when you're making candles. It's up to the parent, of course, to decide, but someone bumping your arm when pouring hot wax, or jostling you when dipping candles...that can cause the wax to go all over the place.
> 
> Also, when wax spills on skin, it sticks. and it's HOT. You'll be working with wax/oil at 140-180F.


I thought it was important enough to share. Thank you, Ann, for the reminder!


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## Ashtina98 (Aug 10, 2007)

I have been making candles for several years now, my dd's who are now 9 have been able to help me in varying ways (as they get older they can help with more). They have always helped me to plan what kind of candles to make (color, scent, shape, etc.) and they help to gather the necessary equipment, I now let them help me stir the wax as it's melting and watch the temperature, I will also allow them to add the color and/or scent and stir that in until even. The part I still will not let them help with is pouring, they can put the wicks in and make sure molds are ready, but I ALWAYS pour the wax. Younger kids won't be able to do as much and older kids will be able to do more!

Dee


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## Jerngen (May 22, 2006)

My kids are too young to teach yet (3 & 1) but my wife and I are wanting to learn so we'll be following along. 
We have the book (great book!) and she's reviewing those pages now. 

Are you focusing specifically on beeswax? We're going to check around and see where we can get some.


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## Madame (Jan 1, 2003)

Jerngen said:


> Are you focusing specifically on beeswax? We're going to check around and see where we can get some.


If you strike out locally, you can always buy it from Amazon.com


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

You can do any kind. We are going to try both tallow and beeswax and simply reprocessing old candles (I have a source of those).


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

oooooo! I've never made candles and would love to learn! ......sounds like a weekend project for me is coming up!


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## Madame (Jan 1, 2003)

Maybe those wanting beeswax should mention it in the beekeeping forum?


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

Would it be possible to do a variation on this or is it strictly candles? Due to money and material scarcity (sp?) I can't do candles right now, but was thinking of making a small olive oil lamp with my daughter (6). Would that be allowable?


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

We are going to try the hard core method. I've got some flax to spin up into string to braid for wicks and some beef, sheep, and deer fat to melt for tallow. If I have more than I need, does anyone know how that mix would work for making soap later? I hope to try both poured and dipped candles, if I can sweet talk my mom into loaning us her candle molds.


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

thermopkt said:


> Would it be possible to do a variation on this or is it strictly candles? Due to money and material scarcity (sp?) I can't do candles right now, but was thinking of making a small olive oil lamp with my daughter (6). Would that be allowable?


Yep, that is fine! The point is to learn things that make people more self sufficient. Tell us how they work!


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

Well this is a little (lot ) ahead of your timeline, but we had started the research a while ago as a bible study project. We read stories in the bible about oil lamps and found a few sites on the net that had somewhat age appropriate pics and info about biblical oil lamps. I explained that we don't have the materials to make a clay oil lamp, but we could make one out of a glass or jar. Principal is the same . We made the actual lamp last night.

The only references we could find for this sort of thing were the ones for sale at Lehman's. We looked long and hard at those, and then I had my daughter draw what she thought the wick holder should look like.

Next, we went to a thrift shop to find a glass/jar with a handle on it. We found one for $.50. Next we took a wire hanger and fashioned a wick holder out of it based on what dd had drawn. We had to tweak it quite a bit to make it workable, but that was part of the fun. My daughter did what she could and I finished up.
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x78/thermopkt/topviewofwickholder.jpg
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x78/thermopkt/sideviewofwickholder.jpg

Then we cut a small piece of lamp wick and put it in the holder, as you can see. Next, we filled up the glass and put in the wick holder with wick.
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x78/thermopkt/topviewoffinishedlamp.jpg
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x78/thermopkt/diffviewoffinishedproduct.jpg

That was it! It was really rather simple, and aside from help bending the wire for the wick holder, my daughter could do all of it. Even though it was so simple, she is quite proud of it and uses it every night.
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x78/thermopkt/Annekjewlamp.jpg
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x78/thermopkt/finishedproduct.jpg

We are going to put these pics in a 'project notebook' along with a writeup by dd about how/why we did the project and whatever else she wants to put in there. She also wants to take it and give a presentation to the one other HS family in the area. This project really caught her fancy and we can't wait for next month!


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## trappmountain (Jun 22, 2005)

thermopkt- That turned out beautifully. Your daughter should be quite proud. The last pic of it on the table shows how good it really looks. Tell DD- NICE JOB!!!


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## RockyGlen (Jan 19, 2007)

HUMPH. I decided to make "cheater" candles to start with, and then work up during the month to beeswax and tallow (we have both, but I needed to up my courage level.

Anyway, we bought wax chips and added coloring.....everything was going so well until they cooled. They all have big craters in the middle. What's up with that?

The kids had a blast, and we are going to try again. 

We also dug out all the old beeswax from harvesting honey and have had it draining for a few days. Today I need to look online and see what the next step is.


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## WildernesFamily (Mar 11, 2006)

RG, from what I've read the wax does that as it cools. You have to do a second pour to fill the cavity after the first lot of wax has cooled.

Sounds like you did good!


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## Ashtina98 (Aug 10, 2007)

Once the candle has begun to cool, take a toothpick and poke little holes in the top then pour hot wax (heated back up to pouring temp) over the top, the hot wax will fill in the air holes. Just make sure you don't fill too much more or you'll have the same problem again.


Dee


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## RockyGlen (Jan 19, 2007)

Ashtina98 said:


> Once the candle has begun to cool, take a toothpick and poke little holes in the top then pour hot wax (heated back up to pouring temp) over the top, the hot wax will fill in the air holes. * Just make sure you don't fill too much more or you'll have the same problem again.*
> 
> Dee


That must be what we did. We ended up pouring more on three or four times to fill in the well in the middle. We ended up with color differences, which makes it look more artistic. Yeah, that's it, they are artistic.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Just a couple of thoughts:

On the second pour: just wait about 1/2 an hour after the first pour. poke holes in the center toward the wick (without moving the wick). Your wax for the second pour should be slightly cooler than the first pour was....if your first pour was 150, second pour could be 145ish. 

Remember, the hotter the wax is at pouring, the more it will contract when cold...i.e.: the larger the crater created.

also, if pouring into a glass container/mold, it helps to have the container/mold warm..like maybe 80 to 100degrees F. 

I sure hope you guys can post some pictures of these. they sound great


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## Ashtina98 (Aug 10, 2007)

Wisconsin Ann said:


> Just a couple of thoughts:
> 
> On the second pour: just wait about 1/2 an hour after the first pour. poke holes in the center toward the wick (without moving the wick). Your wax for the second pour should be slightly cooler than the first pour was....if your first pour was 150, second pour could be 145ish.
> 
> ...


Good point, I always put my metal molds and glass containers in very hot water then dry then pour!

Dee


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

We are goping to make three kinds of candles. First, we are going to learn pour technique by melting old candles and remolding. Then we are going (if my honey guy gets back into town) going to try bees wax candles. Finally, we are going to try tallow candles. I may try an oil light with the 5 yo, as it would be safer for her to handle. 

Anyone else know what they are doing yet?


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## lo6xzm (Aug 23, 2006)

Making candles is addictive. Beware!


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Here's a link to a picture of my kiddos dipping candles. 

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w272/Jimisons/S5000175.jpg

They had so much fun!

For some reason I'm much more comfortable having my 9 and 5 yr dip candles then to pour the beeswax into molds.


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

Remember, this is the week to start making your projects.


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## cindyc (Nov 12, 2005)

We'll have to get to it after the spelling bee on Tuesday.

Cindyc.


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## Ashtina98 (Aug 10, 2007)

We did ours today, it's supposed to be a holiday but thought it was a good day to make candles. I will post pictures later.

Dee


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## dancingfatcat (Jan 1, 2008)

What is everyone using for wicks???


dfc


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

thermopkt, your daughter did a great job. I loved that proud look on her face! She's adorable. 

One of the members here, BlueJuniperFarm (Kathleen) did a 2-part article -- A Discussion of Non-Electric Lighting, Past and Future. It was interesting. When I saw your oil light pictures, it made me think of the articles.
Here's the link:
Part 1 - http://www.frontierfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=1
Part 2 - http://www.frontierfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=1

Jenny


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

Akhomesteader, thanks for the links! That's a pretty cool site. DD likes the pics and I think we'll take the next couple of days to go over the articles. She's real interested in that sort of thing at the moment


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

Today is our day! My sister, who has been making candles for years, is visiting from SC. She is helping us recycle candles today. I had two boxes full of dead candles, used and broken candles. I planned to start from scratch, but my dh pointed out that part of being self sufficent is learning to make do with whats available. Plus, it is too cold to render tallow outside and I thought that might be a better summer activity. I will let you know how it turns out.


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

thermopkt said:


> Akhomesteader, thanks for the links! That's a pretty cool site. DD likes the pics and I think we'll take the next couple of days to go over the articles. She's real interested in that sort of thing at the moment


Glad you both liked the site.  

Jenny
Frontier Freedom Online Magazine


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

Reports on your candles due Thursday!!!!


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## cindyc (Nov 12, 2005)

Cheryl in SD said:


> Reports on your candles due Thursday!!!!


Requesting an "extension", please, Cheryl.  Three of the five are down with the flu. 

Just informing you that we still plan to participate, but will be delayed.  

Cindyc.


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## Ashtina98 (Aug 10, 2007)

Cheryl in SD said:


> Today is our day! My sister, who has been making candles for years, is visiting from SC. She is helping us recycle candles today. I had two boxes full of dead candles, used and broken candles. I planned to start from scratch, but my dh pointed out that part of being self sufficent is learning to make do with whats available. Plus, it is too cold to render tallow outside and I thought that might be a better summer activity. I will let you know how it turns out.


Cheryl, we did the same thing. Dd's found a box full of vanilla scented candles (I don't even know how old they were but the wicks were unusable), we broke them in half and pulled out what was left of the wicks and melted them down, they turned out great. I have pictures on our other computer to post but having problems with that one now. Hope to get posted soon and looking forward to quilting soon!

Dee


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

Cindy, getting well is more important than candles. Post when you get done.

I will post our pictures tomorrow. The candles turned out wonderful. We will be doing this again.


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## cindyc (Nov 12, 2005)

Cheryl in SD said:


> Cindy, getting well is more important than candles. Post when you get done.
> 
> I will post our pictures tomorrow. The candles turned out wonderful. We will be doing this again.


Thank you! Hopefully they will be better soon.

Cindyc.


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

Old Sawmill Schoolhouse, Candle making class photo album

We started with a box of old candles...








[/IMG] 

an assortment of tin can and an old roaster...










Each child found a container and picked color and fragrence...



















This is our total days work.










We had fun and learned a new skill. We kept the tin cans and left over wax to do this again.


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## WildernesFamily (Mar 11, 2006)

Cheryl, love the photos! Your kiddos are cuties and look very proud of what they accomplished. Somehow I didn't get any proud kiddo pics, but here are ours.










We chose to make ours from beef fat.










The rendered fat.










Our gathered materials. I couldn't find stearic acid. We used the measuring cups that come with liquid washing detergent for the molds.










We added some yellow and white crayons to the fat in the hopes that it would help harden the wax a bit.










The end result  My favorite is the one made in a Mott's Applesauce cup, because it now says Motts on the side, LOL. The beef fat *really* needs stearic acid to harden it, these candles are very, very soft.

We had a lot of fun, learned a new skill and we're looking forward to completing February's project.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

You guys rock! I've been trying to follow your candle making saga and it's really cool. but I digress....

Tallow can be used 1/2 with beeswax to make a quite nice dipped or formed candle. I've never tried it as a container...but that should work well with the beeswax hardening it up enough to have a really nice burn pool.

One of the things you can do to make a cleaner burn is to soak the wick in melted wax. if you use a separate container of wax (smallish amount) and add the fragrance to this wax, the wick will burn with a much more intense scent.

anyway..mutton tallow with a wick of twisted wool was probably the very first candle. (mutton tallow candles are WAY stinky, btw). useful for soap, candles, grease on wheels...darn useful stuff!


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## WildernesFamily (Mar 11, 2006)

Thank you Wisconsin Ann, great info! Will stearic acid also make the candles last longer? 

After aging the candles for a little while (and keeping them in the 'fridge) we finally burned them tonight at dinner, and the tallow candles burned down surprisingly quickly. We also had two remelted paraffin candles, and these burned brighter and didn't burn down quite as fast.

I also finally have proud kiddo photos, yay!!!






































They were deLIGHTed to be able to burn their own candles 

Oh.. and my one daughter is painted like and NAI because she is currently reading a mountain man series of books and needed to express herself


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

a harder candle will burn longer (using the same size/type wick) than a softer one. so...yes. stearic acid will make the candle burn longer. HOWEVER, it has a limited um, use. You don't want to take lard and use 50/50 with stearic acid. you won't get a good candle. you'll get...a mess 

from my candlemaking, I'd say no more than 10% stearic acid.

Something fun for the kids to try out would be making an orange container candle. rip off the top of an orange, scoop out the pulp (eat it!), slice a tiny bit off the bottom so it stands up, and use THAT as a container. they look way cool.

And with Easter coming up, I used to take blown out eggshells, put a wick in it, fill with colored wax, crack off the shell and use those as place cards at dinner  You can write on the candle with paint, or use a sticker, or even warm crayon if you are quick.

you can also take some play sand in a box/big bowl/something, press a can or jar bottom or the like into the sand to create a hollow. (moist but not wet sand works best) place your wick in the center of the sand and create something to hold it up top (like your pencils) then pour in (slowly) your container wax. The sand will hold the wax, and the 1/4" of the sand will stick to it making a container. pretty cool stuff.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

I am FINALLY getting around to doing our candles today. Hope to post pictures this evening. (Fingers crossed.) 

Cindyc.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Well we got it done, but I can't find the cord thingy that connects the camera to the computer. I will try to find it and get the pics uploaded tomorrow. We did dipped candles, soy candles, and votive candles in a mold. We kind of messed up the color of the soy candles. We were shooting for red. We ended up with a lovely pepto-bismal pink. :Bawling: Oh well. It was still fun, and we learned a lot from doing it.

Cindyc.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Well, these are our candles. We had fun, and learned stuff (like don't let dh spill the wax all over the gas stove!). We did dipped, molds, and soy wax in containers.

soy









molds









dipped









stirring the wax









finished products


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