# candle questions



## Stacey (Mar 23, 2011)

Let me give you my wax rendering process and you tell me if it's good enough for candle making, 'Kay? Here goes:

Glop the cappings (and sometimes some old frame wax) into a pair of knee-high nylons. (a messy job!) Knot off the nylons and put in a pan of water. Place said pan in the (electric not gas) oven at 200/225 degrees F until wax is melted out of nylons. Resist the urge to squeeze any more wax from nylons because all you do is squeeze out the gunk. Remove nylons and disgard. Let the pan cool until the wax is hardened and remove wax disc.

I've heard the wax water is good to toss on the garden. I used it once last year on the flower bed by the house. Not such a good idea. :no: Attracted lots and lots of bees right to the back door. Not so much a problem for me but our visitors weren't so impressed! 

Anyway...discolored goop on the bottom of the wax disc is blasted with a heat gun and scraped off.

Ta-da! That's my process. Good enough for candles? Or does it need to be rendered more than that? And if yes, what more do I need to do?

I've attempted beeswax candles a couple of times but my beeswax is too precious to me to keep messing around with until I know what I'm doing with it. 

I've made container candles before but used commercial/crafty type wax and fragrance oils. I know the usual process for candle making requires priming the wick. So now I've got a couple of the Mann Lake silicon molds. I've read that you should thread the wick through the mold so you can continue to pull it through with out re-threading it for the next candle. Ok, that makes sense to me. So then logic tells me that you don't have to prime the wick. Correct? Does it ever cause problems to NOT prime it? I understood that priming the wick is to ensure the wax adheres and should help prevent air bubbles. Albeit small bubbles...but bubbles none-the-less. 

So then I'm wondering about popping release holes around the wick in beeswax candles. One of the problems I found with the few attempts I've made at beeswax candles is if I get a drop/dip in the middle around the wick or want to cover the release holes, it's darn near impossible to re-pour into a hardened. I get two seperate layers. That can and do pull apart. I've even tried blasting it with a heat gun to get the warmed layers to stick. Didn't work. 

What am I doing wrong to get a dip in the first place? (with container wax it's never been problem to get the layers to stick.) Am I pouring too hot? Do I really need to punch in release holes? I always have because I've always done it. Do I need to with beeswax candle?

Ok, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated!


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

You will know if your wax is clean when you burn your candle with the properly sized wick. Wax that isn't clean enough will clog the wick and the candle will burn poorly due to that.

I no longer prime my wicks as the candle mold gets rewicked when the candle is pulled out of the mold. 

You might be pouring too hot, but I also believe you are topping up the wax too late in the process. What temperature is the wax when you pour? The hotter wax is when you pour, the more shrinkage that results around the wick. Pouring too hot or not hot enough can both cause problems. Find the ideal temperature to pour to cause the least amount of hollow area inside the candle that you'll need to deal with. If you pour too cool the candle will have lines in it.

When you do the first pour for a mold, pour to the top of the mold. I cover the candle mold to slow the cooling. After a few minutes I check and pour more wax to top it up. Do not pour higher than the initial pour, especially for glass containers. If the top of the molded candle is becoming solid, you will still get a hollow spot underneath. I take the hot metal rod from my temperature probe and open up an area in the middle of the candle and pour to top it up. Check a third time. I try to catch the repour before opening up the surface is required.

Basically, add liquid wax to liquid wax.

~ Bee Bliss


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## Stacey (Mar 23, 2011)

Thanks for the answers Bee Bliss!

When I pour my wax it's right from the oven at the 200/225 degrees F. Is that too hot? What would be approximate right temp? 

So you heat your metal temp probe to poke the release holes? That's such a simple answer....I don't know why I didn't think of that! Brilliant!

Ok, what you've said is that I'm letting it cool too much between pouring the layers. Got it. Makes sense now. I guess I was thinking that I had to let it cool more but that's not the case at all. 

I'll give a whirl again this weekend. Thanks again for the answers.


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

You are pouring way too hot. These temperatures are also not good for the fragrance and wax color (rendering is another thing). I pour tapers (not metal molds) at about 155 to 160 degrees F. The fatter flex molds I pour hotter.... like 160 to 170, 175ish. A hair dryer is good for warming up the mold prior to pouring. Do not let the wax you are heating to pour go over 180*. That being said, rendering in water seems to protect the wax. 

My temperature probe is in the melted wax in the 4-cup pyrex measuring glass container so it is already hot. I just take it out temporarily when I pour. I actually can make the hole wider than the probe is by working it. I use the double boiler method and/or also the Presto pot.

If the flex mold is wide, I put a coffee filter on top and then a hot pad. Sometimes I put a canning jar ring on top and then the hot pad to keep the wick from being pushed back into the wax. I wrap towels around a group of poured glass containers. Slow cooling is best.


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## Stacey (Mar 23, 2011)

Ah. I see. Pouring too hot. Ok, good to know. Interesting about the not letting the wax go over over 180 degrees to pour...

Even though you've said that rendering in water seems to protect it a little, am I rendering too hot? Should I take that down a ways too?

Great tip about the canning jar ring! Thanks!


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

I have not yet had enough wax to render my own. 

There are a lot of people on this forum that do render their beeswax and hopefully they can answer your questions. Some people use solar melters and others boil it in water and some do a combination of both. 

As far as melting beeswax in a microwave or an oven, I do not feel comfortable about doing that. 
(Edit: DO NOT USE A MICROWAVE TO MELT WAX- IT IS DANGEROUS!) 

~~~~~~~~~~~
In the book, "The Hive and the Honey Bee", it states:

"The wax should be boiled gently" (they were referring to it being in water); "prolonged boiling will result in damage to the beeswax."

"When beeswax is melted in the absence of water, discoloration ordinarily occurs when the temperature exceeds 185 degrees F."
~~~~~~~~~~~

Bee safe, and monitor your wax temperatures!


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## beekeeper_sd (Oct 30, 2008)

1. NEVER, EVER melt beeswax in a microwave!!!!!

2. The best way to render your own wax is to place the dirty wax in a pan of water, heat until the wax is melted, then skim the wax off the top of the pan. When we first started my husband actually took a 1 gallon olive oil can and soldered a spout just an inch or so below the top and then the wax would pour out the spout when it melted and all the slum gum stays in the water. Then you can reheat the wax using a double boiler method and strain through a nylon. 

3. You are pouring way too hot. I pour about 170 degrees. It's also very important to pour in a warm room. I never pour in my shop unless it's at least 75. 

So, are you making container candles? I've not had any luck making containers out of beeswax because it just burns way too hot. 

I also never repour. If you are using silicone molds and your temps are right, you should not have to repour. Oh, and no drafts when you're pouring.


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

I totally agree with you beekeeper sd and should have made a stronger statement about not using a microwave. 

I did not mean to make it seem like it was an option. It is not an option. Don't do it! 
I also feel that wax should not be melted in the oven! I recently saw a video on You Tube where the guy (from Georgia I think) was melting his wax in a microwave and all I could do was shake my head. Bad, bad, bad! Unfortunately he is probably not the only one that does it. 

In addition: Do not heat wax near an open flame. Do not leave melting wax unattended. Double boiler method is safer, but no open flame!!


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## Stacey (Mar 23, 2011)

I guess I've never rendered wax in the microwave. Never really thought about trying it there. Apparently it's a good thing that I didn't. Just for the sake of my curiousity...what happens when renderng beeswax in a micrpwave? Does it overheat and catch fire?

I guess I ask because I have melted some very small amounts of already rendered beeswax in the mircowave when making soaps and lip balms. We're talking tiny amounts (1 oz or so) and it's usually mixed with other oils. Am I playing with a ticking timebomb?

I knew about the cautions around melting wax near an open flame. I used to do all my melting outside on a one burner/electric hot plate. I learned about melting in the oven from a lady who a part of the honey and honey bee exhibit at the MN State Fair. I trusted her advice as being part of the state's assoc. as the good word. Could be she was wrong. 

I think I would be more wary if I were using a gas stove but mine is electric. No flame to worry about. 

I actually feel more comfortable using the oven then using the electric hot plate outside. I used to do it that way until it tipped by accident. I had it sitting on a 12 x12 concrete patio block but somehow...someway, over it went. What a mess. I don't think the grass around the area was ever the same. I was the only one around it and didn't get hurt, but it did scare me a little. 

At least in the oven, the temp is more easily controlled and the surface is stable. I don't leave it unattended. I usually use a timer to check it every 15 minutes or so. Once I see everything has melted, I open the oven to remove the nylon stocking and close her back up again. And shut it off. That way it cools slowly and in a confined space. 

But I came to the Beesource to learn. So learning I am. Just because something has luckily worked for me in the past, doesn't mean it's right. I appreciate the words of caution. Truly. It's given me more to think about. Thank you.


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## Stacey (Mar 23, 2011)

Beekeeper sd: I'm not making container candles out of the beeswax, I'm making containers out of container wax. I got a bunch of candle wax from a Craigslist ad. Most if it was container wax and scuplting wax. 

The beeswax has been saved for pure beeswax molds and pillars. =o) 

I do a lot of CP soaping and other B&B products so of course candle-making goes hand in hand with that little venture! Way too many good fragrance oils out there to just use in soaps! So that's where some of my candle making experience comes from.


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

Rendering beeswax is easy to do.

Depending on the amount of wax you render, you might want to invest in a cappings melter from Maxant. It is what i use and I did 600 pounds last year.

I uploaded a vid to you tube, its a two parter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80MSXRu9O0o


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## beekeeper_sd (Oct 30, 2008)

Just heard the word container and thought EEEEEKKKKKK!!!  

I wouldn't melt any amount of beeswax in the micro. Have never done it, but, knowing how flammable it is, wouldn't even consider it. 

Good luck! I love beeswax candles!


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