BeeMaker

Candle & Soap Company


How Candles Are Made.

String & Solid Fuel.

Dipping, Pouring, & Molding.

The making of a candle begins with a piece of string.  The string is the most important part of a candle.  Without the string, or as it is called when put into a candle, the “wick,” all you have is a chunk of solid fuel..

The other major component of a candle is the fuel.  Fuel for a candle is some kind of oil or fat that is solid at room temperature.  This is what differentiates a candle from an oil lamp.

Wick and solid fuel are the only two things that you need to make your candle.  There are other things that can be added to the fuel such as scent, but the basic mechanism of a candle relies only on wick and solid fuel.

Although the basic mechanism is very simple, producing a candle that will burn properly does require a degree of care.  The type and size of wick must be carefully matched to the type of fuel and the size and dimensions of the candle.

Once the basic materials for your candle are selected, all that is left to do is to give the candle it’s shape.  Shaping your candle can be done in a few different ways.  The old ways are by dipping and pouring.  The more modern way is by molding.  The old ways produce better candles, but the modern way is easier.

A crucial first step in making a candle, is turning your string into wick.  This is called priming the wick, and is done by soaking the string in the melted wax or fuel, for at least 20 minutes

The oldest way of making a candle is by the dipping method.  “Dipping” produces the finest candles, but is labor intensive and rarely used, today.

Another drawback of dipping is that one must have a large quantity of melted fuel in order to dip the candles.  If you don’t have that much fuel, you have to find another way.  This brings us to “pouring.”

Dipping is just what it sounds like.  Take your primed wick and dip it in the melted fuel, over and over again, until you reach the desired diameter for your candle.  The candle must cool between dips though, so the process can take some time.

The pouring method involves suspending the wick over a vessel of melted fuel and pouring melted fuel over the wick, repeatedly, until you reach the desired size for your candle.  Like dipping, pouring produces a superior candle, but is slow and labor intensive.

The method of candle making that is most used today is “molding.”  Most commercially made candles are produced using this method.

In “molding,” the wick is suspended inside a mold, shaped as the desired candle.  Then the mold is filled with melted fuel, and allowed to cool.  This method works well for larger pillar type candles.  The drawback is that molding produces inferior “taper” candles, which are the best candles for lighting.