What do you do with your little bits...

So the question is, What do you do with your little bits of left over wax from doing your batches?

For us, we do scent shots with the portion cups and will fill them (even part of the way) and pass them as small samples to our lookie-lous. We do also have a few old ice cream buckets (cookies and cream of course) and will pour the little leftovers in there until we get enough to do a batch and name it Frogs Breath or Mississippi Mud or WTF IDK or some other creative name =) Some really turn out quite nice depending on what we have been making but it really sells to those looking for the different or unique scents. Bad side is we can never recreate it so BOO on that part..

We pour leftover wax into tart molds and put them all into brown tin tie bags and call them "mystery bags" - but warn people not to come back and ask for "that lovely red one in the bag I bought last time......"

Oh lord Tracy, we did the whole Mystery thing before too (forgot to mention that) and AMEN sister! Same exact thing happened... "I just loved that blue one..."

I'm lucky - since I do 'scent beads' instead of clamshells or portions I can make as few as necessary to use up whatever is left from making candles. Very little waste, but in the instances where there is some I have a bucket that then gets turned into firestarters.

I saw a website where they pour the leftover wax in layers into a jj and sell it as a Mystery Candle. Or maybe it was Surprise Candle...yeah, I think that's it. And she said on the website they were very popular and sold very well.

They used to be called "Candle Shop Candles" when you pour the bits of leftover wax into a wicked candle jar.

We used to have a chandler or two on this forum that used to make them and sell them. Apparently they sold pretty well. But I don't remember who did that.

For myself, I don't get leftover wax or bits of wax left anymore. I have got the exact weight of wax to pour for each candle or batch of candles I make down to a 10th of an ounce or less. So, no more leftover wax. Now I only get it if I am trying out a new candle or jar.

I use leftover container wax for tealights. Leftover votive & pillar wax is used for tarts.. Scrap wax that can't be used for candles gets mixed with cedar pet bedding & made into firestarters which I can't live without when I'm camping.

If I have pourable wax I consider clamshells or portion cups. I try to label them. If the wax is not good for that purpose, it goes in an ice cube tray and when full, goes in a bin that later becomes material for firestarters.

I make leftover candles for myself mostly - usually layered or chunkies in many sizes and configurations. I save all the used wax produced here from pillar ends to votive contaners, etc. I sort the wax by type/brand, then color/scent. Sometimes I give these to friends, but I don't sell them unless the wax is new. If I am pouring containers and have fresh wax left over, I will use that for customers, but not the stuff I melt out of spent containers, pillars & votives.

The layered candle in my avatar is a soy part deux project.

Here're some I made a couple of months ago... I was cleaning out my palm pillar wax stash...

Palm pillar wax votives and tealights are very quick. I use wick pins in my favorite containers and pour away. As soon as they cool, I remove them, and pour some more. I wick them & burn like container refills.

I have a gazillion favorite containers, so I just pour layered, swirled or chunky candles in them.

I'll either pour it into tea lights to use around the house, or pour it into clamshells and call the result a "variety blend"

Some great ideas for all the tid bits =) Thanks everyone for sharing! We did the layers for a bit too and they do sell very well but now seeing about the fire starters... I wonder how well those do? Might be something to try out =)

Are fire starters the only thing to do with old bits of wax you can't identify? Like the butts of candles from various manufacturers that you saved to try to make use of? I'm in the mood for Spring cleaning and want to use up stuff like that that's been laying around.

Are fire starters the only thing to do with old bits of wax you can't identify? Like the butts of candles from various manufacturers that you saved to try to make use of? I'm in the mood for Spring cleaning and want to use up stuff like that that's been laying around.

If its just for you, you can melt them down and add FO to make tart for your melter.

I make tea-lights out of the little bit of wax that usually have left. If it's not enough for a tea-light then it gets poured in the mystery candle. My family loves the mystery candles and trying to figure out what each layer is.

Kim

Are fire starters the only thing to do with old bits of wax you can't identify? Like the butts of candles from various manufacturers that you saved to try to make use of? I'm in the mood for Spring cleaning and want to use up stuff like that that's been laying around.

melt down the various butts and make yourself a multi-layered pillar. You can mix some of the scents if they are compatable (might find a new blend you really love) or just make separate layers.

Or you can just save the little bits in votive blocks and then one day take them all (various pillars and votives) made with different experimental recipes and melt them down and make one big pillar.

Then you can randomly pop a wick in that you think may work (not writing anything down) and watch it burn perfectly in front of you. When your experiments have been here and there, and then this perfectly burning pillar can light the way to read your note book over and over to try to figure out the ratio that it MIGHT be to make better pillars. Then you will beat yourself about the head while this perfectly burning pillar lights the way.............................

<<deep sigh and more testing>>

I wick a coffee can and pour the little bits of leftover wax in it and use it for myself.

Sometimes I will make extra for tarts or a WTF is it jar. I love those things!

I only have left over wax when Im doing a dipped TP. I was pouring them into clams but went back to just using a mini muffin pans and making the scent shots without the container lol. I use these either myself, or pop one or two in an order someone makes, or just give one or two to friends who don't ever seem to buy but are always looking! ( Im sure yall have some of THOSE friends lol ).