Safety is paramount in Candle Making and if all safety precautions are taken hobbyists can confidently make beautiful candles to adorn their home, sell to make an income, or give away as popular gifts.
Copyright (c) 2008 Kaye Dennan
The art of candle making goes back many hundreds of years. Over the years many candle makers have come up with some absolutely beautiful candle ideas and candle forms. Something you will be able to benefit from if you take candle making on as a hobby.
Nearly everybody has a candle or two in their homes, and those that enjoy candles, actually often have a dozen or so.
Why would you want to make your own? Well, if you really like candles you can make them at a fraction of the price of those that you buy. You are free to choose your colors and shapes, and you can perfume them or not, and, with your choice of perfume.
Candle making is one hobby though that you don't want to 'just experiment' with. Obviously you are working with very hot wax, and if not handled correctly, the candle wax can 'explode' and catch fire. It is what is called a 'flashpoint'. It could be disastrous so don't cut any corners when dealing with wax. It really does pay to read all the safety tips and know all about the wax that you are using.
It really is a very economical hobby, so don't go looking for cost cutting by using old wax. that has been lying around the house. You never know what is in it. Use good clean wax that you have bought and handled correctly, then the chance of any problem is much, much less.
So, to help you here are some safety tips: 1. Never leave unattended wax on a stove top. 2. Know your 'flashpoint' of any wax that you use. 3. Always use a thermometer in your wax 4. Always use a double boiler for melting your wax as this slowly melts the wax at a safe speed. Never put the wax in a pot and straight on the heat. 5. Never have wax near an open flame, wax is flammable. 6. Always have cotton gloves handy to handle molds. 7. Keep a chemical fire extinguisher handy in case of fire. 8. Keep a pile of newspapers handy in case of spillage on the floor or bench top. 9. Wear loose clothing in case of spillage and if you get wax on your skin run it under cold water immediately. 10. Never pour molten wax down the sink - it will block it.
Candle making is such fun and you can use all sorts of containers to make candles. For pillar candles you can use milk cartons, or other waxed containers like juice cartons. If you have any old glass containers, either drink glasses or vases, that you no longer use, you can also use these, but make sure that you warm them before pouring in the hot wax.
Like any hobby, candle making takes a little to learn before you start, but there are some very easy techniques to learn in the early stages to make stunning candles.
Start with easy projects and progress through to the more difficult ones later.
If you are going to sell candles then make sure you use quality products so that you keep getting those repeat sales.
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