Newbie Here from Florida

[Rivermist_Chris]

Hi all,

 

I'm a newbie to the forum so bear with me.  When I was 10 years old, back in the stone age, my oldest sister made candles when she was in high school and made a pretty good profit.  I was a goofy kid and followed her around like a puppy, so I learned from her; melting the wax, adding color and scent, making the wick stick up straight, etc.  Much of the process has stuck with me, but I haven't made a candle in 20 years, and then I flew by the seat of my pants.  Fast forward to today, I now work in ceramics.  Someone from a Facebook pottery group  suggested this forum after I asked a question about candle making.  My daughter throws on the wheel and I handbuild, and we sell at vending events, on Etsy and consign at an artisan boutique.  The other evening I got this brainy idea to turn some of our containers that have not been moving into candles. 

Again, I am not a complete beginner, but boy have things changed since 1971!!!!  Sometimes reading the forums here is like reading Greek.  But then I'm sure I know pottery terminology that y'all would be stumped by.  Back in the day, the only candle wax we had a choice of was paraffin.  There were no beads.  There was no such thing as a wood wick. Now the choices of supplies make your head spin! 

I may be asking a lot of "newbie" questions if I can't find answers in the forums.  Thanks for letting me play with y'all. 

[TallTayl]

Hi! I was the one who mentioned this forum to you 😊

 

Glad you decided to give us a visit.

 

you will find a couple of potters here who also make candles, and a LOT of skilled chandlers who can help with any wax you choose.

 

a lot had changed with chandling since your childhood memories were made. Heck, a lot has changed in 2017 alone with the soy wax industry. The first thing I would recommend is that you choose a wax to start with. Every single wax has pros and cons. Every single wax has a learning curve to make that perfect, safe, great burning candle. 

 

In choosing a wax, I'd look for what is available close to home to save on freight. As a potter, I'm sure you're good at finding affordable clay, the exercise is the same.

 

once you choose a wax, we can help you choose wicks that have been successful with that wax. Wicks, like glazes, "fit" different waxes. 

 

Can't wait to see your pottery candle projects! 

[Rivermist_Chris]

Thanks!   I just order five pounds of beeswax, wicks,  and a pour vessel off of Amazon.  I have a ton of mason jars sitting around from when I decided to make a stab at canning.  I made some pretty mean hot pepper jelly!  But canning was not for me.  So I figured I could use those as test vessels before I head into pouring wax in the pottery.  My big question is what wick do I use for beeswax?  Is it different?

 

[TallTayl]

Beeswax in containers will be very challenging. It requires some really big, thick, hot wicks to burn. Glass containers will become very hot.

 

Some people claim adding coconut oil to beeswax magically transforms it into a container was, but all I get are cracks in the candle - which makes it a somewhat dangerous candle to burn. I have completed line blends with beeswax and many other oils and the results were always the same. Sometimes the wax cracked as it cooled, sometimes the cracks appeared after burning. The only additive that worked well and consistently with beeswax is paraffin container blend wax. I got great results blending beeswax 50:50 with IGI4786 paraffin wax.

 

Plus, beeswax shrinks as it cools, so it will rattle around in the container.

 

Beeswax is the star for pillar candles and tapers though. It burns well with square braid cotton wicks.