Jump to content

Low cost items you use to make candles


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 137
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I use gardening gloves from the dollar store for cleaning molds hot out of the oven without cutting myself, picking up hot molds and shrinkwrapping lip balm tubes, (I can hold them instead of chasing them across the table with a heat gun)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just made a wick pin using a coathanger, and cut grooves in a wooden clothespin to center the pin in the mold. Mrs. geek bought new silverware, so I inherited the old stuff and use the knives to stir wax. Also, after soaking wooden skewers in wax, I have used them for wick pins and used electrician's tape to center the pin. I also use clothespins to center wicks on jelly jars.

geek

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I buy the wick stick ems to anchor my wicks to the jar. To save money, I take the stick em and cut them into fourths. They stick just as well as if I had an entire wick stick em. By doing this, I turn a sheet of 25 into 100!

Another cost saving tip, I use bamboo skewers for my stir sticks. They last forever and are cheap, cheap, cheap. To cover my kitchen counter tops I use newspapers. After they are read, it's all old news anyway. So why not put the newspaper to good use!

I know there are some people out there that believe that pouring into pretty jars like an apothocary,bean pot,or a hex jar is good for sales. I'm not saying that it's right or wrong, it's preference on the candlemaker. But I think that a candle lover is a candle lover. They'll buy a candle regardless of what type of glassware that it's in. So with that being said, I pour my candles into mason jars. At about 50 cents a piece, you really can't beat that price for glass ware. The other thought about using mason jars is that; what do most people do with their candle jars when they are done with them? Few people will recycle them, but perhaps most will just throw them.

We all have scrap wax right? If you're not into making fire starters with it, sell your scrap wax. When I clean up, I scrape my newspapers that have spilled wax on them. My funnel also acculmulates alot of excess wax, I save it. My wax boxes that I get my slab wax always has crumbles and dirty chunks in it. Save it! You can weigh it out and sell it out right or melt it down into an old cake pan and Voila you have a thick slab of scrap wax ready to sell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To save money, I take the stick em and cut them into fourths.

We all have scrap wax right? If you're not into making fire starters with it, sell your scrap wax.

You have got to be the most frugal candlemaker I have ever heard of. After making a few hundred candles by cutting your stickums in quarters, you can buy an extra votive cup. Who in the world buys your dirty wax??
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use:

Spring type clothespins to hold my wicks in place on my 8 oz. jj's

Bamboo skewers for stirring in the smallest amounts of dye

Newspapers to line my counters

Old cookie sheets to put in oven to clean votive cups

Old spatula to scrape up dried wax

Large plastic bins from Wally World to store wax

Small plastic bins from Wally World to store wick pins and other small items

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like BACKWOODS I do things cheap.When I first started did not know what to center wicks with.My husband had alot of wire coat hangers from his work uniforms so he cut them up to one size with wire cutters.Work great.

LynnS

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Large bobby pins to center wicks in 4 oz jars.

I save plastic credit cards from all the goofy "you're approved" junk mail I get. They make great disposable wax scrapers! Oh, the envelopes are wonderful to drop some wax on to check the color. I get a lot of junk mail, might as well put it to some use.

I tried newspapers on my work table...just gets messy. Now I have a sheet of .030 polycarbonate. Spills scrape right up and it doesn't wrinkle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use freebies from work, can you tell I'm a restaurant manager? LOL.

An industrial lexan cutting board (HUGE one) as a liner for my countertop. I place it over the sinks and it gives me about 2 more foot of workspace to use as well as protect the drains against wax.

Small plastic steak markers (rare, med. rare, well, etc.) to mix dye into the wax. Craft sticks for mixing, as well as cheap wooden spoons.

Drinking straws to guide the wicks in the jars.

a plastic dough scraper to scrape off any dried wax on the counters.

an industrial ice cream scoop with antifreeze in the handle to scoop out my comfort blend wax. The antifreeze heats up from the heat of your hand, and makes a nice scoop of wax that releases from the scoop rather easily.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have got to be the most frugal candlemaker I have ever heard of. After making a few hundred candles by cutting your stickums in quarters, you can buy an extra votive cup. Who in the world buys your dirty wax??

Pennies add up to make dollars! So why not save money where you can. As far as the "scrap wax" is concerned is there is a market out there. I hated the thought of throwing it away and I myself didn't want to create anything out of it. So I threw it on Ebay as a "what the heck" type of thing, just to see what happens. Well, lo and behold I started getting hits on it and the questions about it. So I've sent it off to all parts of the USA and have another customer right within my own state that likes to pick it up. Anyway, I state very clearly that the wax can be dirty and it's just second hand stuff. In fact, most times it's scented real nice with a potpourri of fragrances. Anyway, the people are that are big into making firestarters use it. I mean you make firestarters, what do you use besides wax? I've heard some people use bits of cardboard, dryer lint, paper shred and sawdust.....so why not use the dirty wax? It's not like it's been rolled in the grass, dirt or worms. Just what's on the bottom of my boxes. Which most of time is just cardboard bits.

A great American and patriot once said: "A penny saved is a penny earned."

Oh how these words ring true!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...