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Making Hand Dipped Candles
You would like to make your own hand dipped candles? Spread some old newspapers or wax paper around and get ready to dig in - or actually, to dip in.
Making hand dipped candles has been a tradition, and as such, there are variations between different makers and the products. The process is "simply" dipping a long piece of wick into the melted wax, but there are a few problematic places that you'll need to be helped with and a few useful tips to help you through.
You will need some wax, wicks, a double boiler, a candle or candy thermometer and a wooden spoon for stirring. Here's the basic procedure:
1. Melt the wax
You need some deep metal container to hold the dipping wax - consider how long you want your candles to be. One way is simply using the upper part of a double boiler (take some large pot of water, place it on the burner, and then put a melting pot into it). Your melting pot / dipping vat can be a steamer pot, an old sauce pan or perhaps a coffee can. Remember to add new water when it starts evaporating.Though, since more and more wax will adhere to your "growing candles", you may have to add more wax to have proper level of it for the dipping. So especially if you're making more than just a pair of hand dipped candles, melting the wax separately and pouring it into the vat is faster. Your dipping vat should also be placed in a pot containing water to create a double boiler set up.
Hand dipped candles are commonly made with 140 melt point paraffin wax. If you would like to try with beeswax, don't put additives into it. If needed you might want to add Stearine to paraffin wax (5 tablespoons of Stearic Acid per pound of wax).
Melt the wax in the double boiler and keep it on a temperature of about 160 degrees F. If you need them, this is the time to mix in the additives, dyes and scents. Stir the wax frequently, so that all the ingredients are evenly mixed into the wax during dippings, and keep it on 160° F.
2. Dip the wicks
Take a flat braided wick for paraffin wax dipped candles or a square braided wick for beeswax candles. A cotton candle wick will also do, you'll see which one suits you best. Since you'll be dipping the candles into the hot wax, you will need more wick because you have to hold it or tie it to something that will help you handle it more easily. You can tie wicks to a wooden spoon or you can take a piece of wire, form U shape at both ends, bend the middle part of the wire to form a loop and that can be your dipping frame. That way you won't have your fingers too close to the melted wax.First dipping might be a little tricky because wicks will float on the surface of the wax for a while first. If you want to speed this up, you can tie some washers that can weigh the wicks toward the bottom of the dipping vat.
Dip the wicks in the wax for a few seconds, until air stops bubbling out of the wick and then lift back out. Keep an eye on the candles while you dip them to keep them from touching each other, for it could ruin their texture.
3. Dipping and Cooling
Allow the wax on the candles to cool for a while, but not 100%. Then the dipping is repeated but just in and out, don't hold the candles in the wax. After each dip, the candles should be left to cool a bit. After a few layers, you might want to speed up the process of cooling by dipping the candles into bowls with cold water.The wax needs to be on a temperature of about 160 degrees F if you want your hand dipped candles to be smoother and made of thin layers of wax. Dipping candles on 150° F will result in getting candles that look more rustic.
In case your mixture is getting too hot and you're having a hard time keeping the temperature even, try putting a wire rack that will keep the wax container from resting on the bottom of the pot with the water.
After some 20 or 30 dippings, or when you've achieved the desired diameter, you can dip them one last time on a higher temperature, but not higher than 182° F, but this is not mandatory, it helps if you want the candles to look smooth. The other way is rolling them gently in wax paper or over some clean, smooth surface.
Trim the bottom of each candle and leave them to cool completely.