Tuesday, 3 May 2005
How to Melt Old Candles, Place in Mold and Add Wick?
You can recycle your used candles into new ones, just by melting the wax from the burned candles, pouring into a mold and adding a new wick! It’s really that simple to create a brand new candle from your old candles.
You can melt the used candles using a few different methods. On the stovetop, you should use a double boiler, to prevent fires from the wax dripping onto the burner. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can make one just by taking an empty coffee can and placing it in the center of a pot that has a few inches of water in the bottom. Then you would simply place your pieces of candle wax into the coffee can to melt. Sometimes, the candle wax gets stuck to the sides and bottom of the glass candle holders- you can melt the wax by placing the entire glass candle holder into the center of a pot with a few inches of water in it! You could also use an electric frying pan to melt the wax. Just place the pieces of wax into the heated, electric frying pan and watch it melt. Remove when you are able to pour the melted wax.
You can use a variety of objects as molds for creating your new, recycled candles. Pour the melted wax directly into glass candleholders for a fast and easy new candle. You can also get creative, and use coffee cans for large, pillar type candles, or teacups, small glass containers, plastic containers, or empty glass jars. Use your imagination!
To add the wick to your new candles, cut a piece of store bought wick that is about 2-3 inches longer than the height of your mold. Wrap the wick around the pencil once so that it is secure, and let the end of the wick into the center of your melted wax. Set the pencil across the width of your candle mold to hold the wick in place while the candle hardens.

