How to make your own candles: Step by step explanation & all supplies listed!

You want to start making candles yourself but you don't know exactly how it works and what you need? You've come to the right place! I will first list the supplies below:

Candle making supplies:

• Candle wax, how much & what kind? Read below!

• Wicks with or without wick depending on the type of candle.

• 2 pans and a heat source (bain-marie construction)

• Jar or mold in which you will pour the candle.

• Wick holder or alternatively a long thin object such as a skewer or pencil.

• Thermometer (optional)

• Stainless steel pitcher (optional)

• Fragrance oil (optional)

• Color chips (optional)

Ps. Want to buy all these items in one big starter pack for candle making ? You can! 😄

How to make your own candles:

Place the wicks with the round side on the bottom of the jars or the mold. The idea is of course that the wick comes out of the middle of the candle, you do this by placing a long object across the jar and turning the top of the wick around it. I use satay sticks or a straw but you can also use a pen or cutlery! You could also attach the wick with superglue. This is useful when you make a candle in a shell for example! You also have special stainless steel wick holders to keep the wick in place, you can see these in the videos below and they are also included in the large Starter package candle making . They look a bit more professional than a pencil!

How much candle wax do you need?

The magic number for calculating exactly how many grams of wax you need is 0.84. First you determine how many ml goes into the jar you want to make a candle in, if you don't know this you can fill the jar with water and then pour this water into a measuring cup, this way you can see exactly how many ml of liquid goes into it. Now wax does not come in liquid form and is usually sold per gram, to determine how many grams you need you do the number of ml x 0.84 and that way you know how many grams of candle wax you need! Example: You have a teacup of 200ml that you want to pour a candle into, you do 200 x 0.84 = 168 grams of candle wax is needed to fill the cup!

There is also a simple formula for determining how much fragrance you need if you want to make scented candles. You do the number of ml x 10%. In the example with the teacup you would need 200ml x 0.10 = 20ml fragrance for a strongly scented candle!

What type of candle wax do you need?

There are many different types of candle wax, so deciding which type of wax to use for your candle as a beginner can be a difficult task. The main difference between the types of candle wax is whether it is only suitable for a jar or also for pouring into a mold for a freestanding candle. If you want wax that is also suitable for a mold, a hardening agent such as stearin must be added to the wax. I personally recommend choosing a natural wax, the most common are soy, rapeseed or beeswax. All other types of wax contain paraffin and that is a fairly harmful substance, it is a waste product that comes from the oil industry and when you light a candle made with paraffin, the same substances are released as when you start a diesel car (!). To a lesser extent of course and only long-term exposure to such a paraffin candle in a closed space can also be really bad but still not a very nice idea.

A natural wax is also not that much more expensive than a paraffin wax variant! Soy and rapeseed wax also have a natural white/cream color, paraffin wax on the other hand has a very bright white color. With the addition of stearin, soy and rapeseed wax are suitable for making candles in a jar as well as in a mold. The product description of a wax often states whether you can also use it for candles from a mold. The differences between soy and rapeseed wax are not very big, the price is usually about the same. In the webshop we currently work with soy wax , I personally have a small preference for this because I get fewer stains in my candle with this wax.

In the webshop we have both 350 gram and 800 gram packages of the soy wax

You can also purchase larger quantities of 20kg wax through our wholesale platform .

Candle Wax Melting

The wax must first be melted in a bain-marie construction. This means that the heat source must not come into direct contact with the pan or bowl in which it is melted. That is why you need 2 pans or at least a pan and a bowl. For example, you put a large pan of boiling water on the stove and on top of that pan you place a smaller pan/bowl. In the video below you can see an example of a bain-marie construction. The wax can best be melted at a temperature between 60°C and 90°C. Pouring at low temperatures gives a rougher effect. At higher temperatures the candle becomes smoother. You can measure the temperature with a thermometer. It is also possible to do it by feel, the risk of white spots in your candle is then slightly higher! Let the candle wax melt slowly on a medium heat until it is completely liquid. Do you want to give the candles a different color (or scent)? Then you also have to melt them separately! So first split your wax grains into several parts.

Add scent & color

While the wax is melting, add (possibly) color chips in the desired color. (Black chips are beige and brown chips are terracotta). It is normal that they now have a completely different color than described, that only changes while the wax is drying! You add the fragrance oil when the wax is almost completely liquid, the more you add the stronger the candle will smell. A few drops will not have much effect so do not hesitate.

To pour

After the color is well mixed in and everything is completely liquid, you can pour the wax into the jar (which already has the wick in it, see step 1). But be careful! keep a little bit of wax left in the pan - you will need this later! It will now take about 2 hours for the wax to harden. During this process, a kind of sinkhole will always appear around the wick. Unfortunately, this cannot be prevented, the only thing you can do is to re-melt the wax that you have left over and pour it into the sinkhole to make it nice and smooth again. Keep about 1/5 of the wax left! You can pour the wax directly from the bowl or pan in which you melted it if that is easy or, for example, take a measuring cup with a handy pour spout (Tip, you can also melt it in this as you can see below!).

Common mistakes when making candles yourself

1) Are you having problems with cracks in your candle ? This happens when the candle has cooled too quickly, so never put it in the fridge to harden the wax faster but ensure a stable ambient temperature!

2) Are there white crystal-like spots on your candle ? This can be due to 2 things, either the mold/jar was too cold during pouring or the temperature of your wax was too low. 60 to 80 degrees Celsius is the optimal pouring temperature! You could possibly hold the mold/jar under the warm tap before use to be sure. With a food thermometer you can possibly measure the temperature of the wax while you are working.

3) A hole will form around the wick after pouring. This is a sinkhole and is completely normal, you can fix it by having some extra wax left over and pouring it into the hole as soon as it starts to form. This is described as a step in the procedure and you should always do this to be safe!

4) Do you want to make a colored candle but the color doesn't take well? Here too, the problem is the temperature of the candle wax. The color chip will only mix well with the candle when the wax is really hot (+60 degrees). You also have to pay close attention to the fact that the entire chip is dissolved in the wax - so keep stirring the wax until it is all exactly the same color.

Don't let this list of "mistakes" scare you! Making candles yourself is a lot of fun and you don't need any experience. With these tips in mind, you'll probably get it right the first time!

Make your own candles in a mold

You've probably seen them on Instagram, trendy bubble candles or a naked female body in all kinds of colors. You can easily make them yourself! All you need is a silicone candle mold in the right shape and I just happen to have that in stock ;). Making these candles works in principle the same, only a few minor adjustments are needed. I discuss these extensively in the manual for making candles yourself that comes with the package of candles yourself, this package also contains the correct molds to make the candles that are shown next to it yourself! You can find this candle making package here .

Creative ideas for making your own candles

In the videos above you can see how to make candles in a simple fun jar, for that I have put together these DIY packages for making scented candles . You can also add dried flowers to your candle or pour it into a non-standard shape. For example, think of a large shell or an old crockery cup from the thrift store! In principle, a candle can be made in anything as long as it has a cavity and there is no risk of fire when you burn the candle. See below the full video on making candles yourself and a number of the ideas that I have already worked out.

Making Dip Dye Candles

Also fun, you can easily give your boring white dinner candles a color yourself! You can also paint hearts or flowers on them, this is a fun activity for groups because you can all decorate a whole stack of white dinner candles at the same time. I have written a separate blog about how to make dip dye candles .

Getting started with making your own candles

Do you have nothing at home to get started with making your own candles? Then I recommend the large starter kit for making candles. This contains all the supplies and more. I put it together myself based on my own candle making adventure. Everything I found useful to work with in the beginning is in it!

Make your own candles package

Why make your own candles?

You might be thinking, I might as well just buy those candles in the store! Yes, that's right, but it's not really about the candle when making candles yourself, but about the 'making'. I say it often, but here it is again: Head off, hands on is really a thing! When you are focused on something, the merry-go-round of thoughts in your head stops and you can really relax for a while. As a child I could do crafts for hours without making a sound, this is the adult version of the craft afternoon at primary school ;)

Now those candles are of course not completely useless and that makes it extra fun, you take your creative rest moment and make something beautiful and useful with it. Win win! These kinds of things are also very fun to do in a group, instead of an evening of drinking wine and getting up with a hangover why not have an evening together creatively.