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Gel
Wax Instructions
Equipment
needed
Gel wax
base
Knife
Double boiler or a bowl and saucepan
Dye
Fragrance or essential oil
zinc core wick and wick tabs or prepped zinc core wick
metal spoon
glass container ie, wine glass or tumbler
Instructions
Preparing your containers
Make sure your containers are perfectly clean and no less than
2 inches wide at any point.
If prepping your
own wicks
Cut a length of wick approximately 1 inch longer than the length
of the inside depth of your container. Feed the cut wick through
the hole of your wick tab and crimp closed with pliers.
For all wicks
Place a dab of hot glue on the bottom of your wick tab and carefully
center the wick in the bottom of your container. Once glue has
set, pull the wick straight. An alternative to this is to wait
until some of the wax base has melted, dip the wick base in the
wax and then centre the wick in the bottom of the container. Wait
until it dries and gently pull the wick straight.
Melting your gel
candle wax
Remove the gel wax from your container and cut into cubes. Melt
the wax in the double boiler or in a metal or glass bowl that
fits neatly into the top of a saucepan. Heat it over a low heat.
Keep a close eye on your gel. If it gets too hot and burns it
will develop a really bad smell and lose its transparency. There
is no return from this kind of gel wax death.
Colouring your gel
wax
Take a tiny amount of dye and add it to your melted wax. The more
you add, the darker the colour, and the less transparent the candle
will be. If you make your colour too dark, add more cubes of unmelted
wax to dilute the colour.
Scenting your gel
wax
Once the wax is melted and is the colour you desire, take it from
the heat before adding your scent. The guideline for adding fragrance
to your gel wax is ¼ teaspoon of fragrance per 500g of
wax. This is just a starting point. If you find that you want
a stronger fragrance you can add more scent, but we recommend
that you do so in ¼ teaspoon increments. If you feel that
the fragrance is too strong, dilute with more wax. The fragrance
or essential oil must be mixed in well or it will create highly
flammable pockets of scent within the candle and it will burn
unevenly.
Pouring the gel
wax
Carefully ladle your melted wax into prepared container. After
poured, pull the wick straight again so it remains properly centred.
Leave set up at room temperature for approximately one hour until
the gel has set.
Finishing touch
If you have a few dribbles in the inside of the container, let
it cool down completely and then peel the wax residue carefully
from the inside. Use window cleaner or rubbing alcohol to remove
oil. Trim the wick to 1.5cm before lighting and enjoy!
General
tips
- Never use wooden
or plastic utensils
- Try not to spill
the wax on the stove element. It smells unbelievably bad and
is really hard to get off.
- Adding too much
scent may create a cloudy effect.
- The hotter the wax,
the fewer the bubbles. But be careful not to overheat.
Water based or powdered colours don't work very well with gel
candles. Use candle dyes for best results.
- Essential oils,
fragrance oils and perfumes can be used to scent the candles.
Any scent containing alcohol will cloud the wax and diluting
it with more base will make no difference.
- Keep the wick at
least 2.5cm away from the edge of glass containers so the glass
won't overheat and break.
- If you choose to
embed objects in your candle make sure they are not flammable.
Variations
- You can add glitter
to your melted wax. Just let the wax cool down a little so the
gel is suspended in the wax.
- You can embed anything
in these candles that isn't flammable. Slices of lemons, marbles,
glass figurines, sand, shells and more. The only limit is imagination.
- You can layer the
colours of gel wax. Pour the first layer and let it set, then
pour subsequent layers of different colours, waiting until each
has set before pouring the next.
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