Low cost items you use to make candles

[Grumpy Girl]

I know our motto around here is:

"It's all about the pennies, nickles and dimes."

I would have never thought of anyone buying old wax in quanity for firestarters. It definitely makes sense and is a good idea. What's the going rate for that stuff anyway?

[topofmurrayhill]

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

Oh how these words ring true!

My hat is off to that. He was a great American dude. I follow his advice too, though I translate it into modern currency - 10 bucks saved is 10 bucks earned! Life is too short for pennies.

[sharyl55]

I cut up the edges of my used label sheets to make small labels for my testers, bits of left over wax, etc. Anything I need to remember what the heck it is.

[mystical_angel1219]

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!

WOW! I can't imagine having that kind of time. To me personally, time is money. A 1000 wickstickers cost 20.00, the sheer convenience of just ripping the tabs off and applying them to the jar is worth more than the time I would spend cutting them into fourths. You must have some good eyes. There is no way in hell I would have the patience for that. Rock on.

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.

I have to disagree. I am a candle queen, however the packaging and glassware you choose to market your product is what can make or break you. You can command a higher price and more profit from investing in unique and classy glassware, IMO. You can find mason jar candles at any big box store or even a dollar store. The chances of finding something like a frosted status jar or even a quality tumbler candle are slim to none. Just something to think about. I honestly feel the candle market is saturated with that look and one needs to be a bit more creative in their marketing approach to succeed.

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.

I have to admire your creativity in this endeavor. It takes both time and diligence to actually market something like that. What amazes me even more is that there are people actually buying it! Totally priceless.

I don't mean to come off as a snob, but I found this post quite intriguing.

Off now to the topic at hand- these are my cheapy tools from the Dollar Store:

Reynolds foil squares

Bamboo skewers

Silicone spoons

Baby wipes- for cleaning molds and hands

Orange wipes

Basting tool

small stainless steel bowls- (3/1.00)

small hammer

heavy foil oven liners

plastic containers of all sorts

pizza cutter

cookie sheets

glass measuring cups

[bilder]

Some good ideas here. I like it!

We have been using old ice cube trays to pour excess wax into. The wax cubes are either stored for reuse or put in a bin if they are dirty.

Have not made any firestarters yet, but I will probably give it a try this summer.

We go to estate auctions a lot and get all kinds of kitchen stuff. Been using the cookie sheets and cutting boards as well as a couple of the double boilers we have found.

[barncat]

I use a spackle spatula like thing to get my wax off the tables and to cut up container wax. I use an industrial size cookie sheet with cookie rack to drizzle my Cinnamon buns, cost about $18 at a restaurant supply. Use ladels for measuring scent and stiring, would never go without them. I use th 4/$1 paring knives for everything! And have been saving that scrap wax for something, probably firestarters, have about 300lbs of it set aside for someday. I just scrap it into an old box for later use.

[tlc26]

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.

I shread junk mail and use it in place of or in addition to packing peanuts.

[blondiee]

I use all the usual stuff (skewers, waxed paper, etc.). The only thing I can think of is those little garage sale stickers. I use 'em to jot down scents & wick size to stick on the bottom of my testers. They peel right off when I'm done. I also use glass pyrex for melting pots.

I have to admit that I often find myself thinking along these lines when I'm shopping, like browsing around Target. (Hmmm.... what could I use that for? or what do they have here that I could use?). I'm just a shop-a-holic anyway!

[Margaritamama]

I use old margarine tubs for excess wax. I just pour it in, allow it to cool, then pop it out and put it in a labelled Jiffy bag. I then store it in a plastic sweater box until I repour that particular fo.

I use broken pegs and a can of beans to stabilize my molds when making tilted layers, and an old pastry cutter to chop up my wax.

[YooperCandles]

I have to say that I have gotten a few ideas from this post that I want to try.

To add mine, my mom has MS and has to take a ton a medicine. Every month she gives me her pill bottles. I use them for dyes, wick hole plugs, and even to make small pillars in (the larger pill botles). I have also used them to hold excess wax that I need for repours.

Great posts all!

Pam in Upper Michigan

[Guest DeeDee]

I put dye chips in film cannisters. I buy from Peak, and the label comes off of the little plastic bag and will re-stick on the film cannisters. I needed something to put them in when I accidently heat-gunned the little plastic bags- they sure melt fast! I can find what colors I need faster, too- I stand them all up. If you pack very carefully, you can get all 20 chips in one without breaking or mashing them.

[scentedstuff]

Paper Cups.. I get them from costco in Bulk.. the small ones are great for making a small pour spout to fill in little molds ( like blueberries and rosehips, and detail) the little larger are great for mixing one candle fragrance at a time. Also, when i do Pillars, i just pour the excess into the cup, easy to pop out when i do a repour and doesn't tie up my pour pots. Also much easier if you are trying to do small amounts of color out of the same batch. a few drops if dye in the cup, easier to pour, and keep the pot "pure". When i'm done with the cut, i remove all the wax before tossing and put it in a bag for chunks later.

[Fern-Marie]

I put a piece of Masking Tape running lengthwise down the jar. I put start and stop burn times on it and make little notches so I can have a visual of how much is burning within a certain amount of time-to see it as a customer would see it, and little notes I put on tape going horizontally. It assures me that I won't forget what scent it is, that I won't lose my notes, and it's great for side-by-side testing. A good sized roll of Masking Tape lasts forever.

Also, I use clothes pins for wick holders on smaller jars.

[The_Dallas_Texas_Dean]

I use "Duck Bills" to keep my wicks straight. ( Although the Zinc wicks stay pretty straight by themselves in containers:wink2: ) You can get them at the Beauty Supply houses in any length, which is great for different jar diameters. They are much easier to open than bobbie pins....and do not "roll" like the skewers did.

I use the Galloping Gourmet Chopping "knife" to cut my wax. I found it so much easier to use than traditional knives with handles.

[candlesprite7]

I have a friend who is a Party-lite consultant (I know, I know), anyway, she has the little boxes that are used for her votives samples, when she is done with them she gives them to me and I put my Dye chips in them, they work great!

[JCFantasy23]

Paper Cups.. I get them from costco in Bulk.. the small ones are great for making a small pour spout to fill in little molds ( like blueberries and rosehips, and detail) the little larger are great for mixing one candle fragrance at a time. Also, when i do Pillars, i just pour the excess into the cup, easy to pop out when i do a repour and doesn't tie up my pour pots. Also much easier if you are trying to do small amounts of color out of the same batch. a few drops if dye in the cup, easier to pour, and keep the pot "pure". When i'm done with the cut, i remove all the wax before tossing and put it in a bag for chunks later.

THis is also the greatest tip I could share. Not necessarily a huge money saver, but what a CONVENIENT nervous breakdown preventer. I melt small quantities of wax, butter, etc, that is almost melted through other means with a few small zaps in the microwave with the cups doubled so they dont seep. With HP soapmaking I melt the castor oil with the powdered dye in these cups. Same with coloring small bits of M&P when doing different colored soap effects. If I have a small amount leftover of wax, soap, or body butter of some kind, pour it back in the cup to harden and reuse - the paper just peels off! If you have small amounts of different MP soap colors - or even candle ones, in the cups, you can stack them inside each other for a great space saver as well.

And...no clean up with these! I HATE cleaning wax and butters more than necessary

Another, that I think has been mentioned, are the ice trays. I buy beeswax in the large chunks unfiltered and pure, and then melt and pour into these for easy pop out cubes. This way no guess measuring, then sawing, etc, etc.

[LRC06301983]

Occasionally if you want to attach another wax object like a flower to the side of another candle...

Or say you have a mold and all the sudden it starts to leak...or there is a certain part you want to harden faster...

If you get a can of that pressurized aresol computer keyboard dust spray (its like $5.00 at walmarts)...keep it on hand and shake it up really fast for a few seconds and when you spray it in medium controlled bursts it comes out really cold...like if I shake and spray it on my wall it will form little ice crystals.

This stops any leaky way in its tracks. Also solidifies wax on anything you are trying to stick it to...

I hope that made sense.

-Luke-

[Candle Kitty]

I don't use my heat gun anymore...

I use the aliens' afterburners when they speed off into space after they've unleveled my pillars and cause weird growths on my votives.

I use the wire cookie cooler thingy-me-bobs, can't think of the name right now. Stands on legs, they're wire...

Anyway, I use those to set my candles on and they get cool more uniform because of the air traveling around them on the underside.

[Nanasnecessities]

I buy the dollar store measuring spoons in bulk and put them in anything I might have to measure.

I buy the large glass measuring cups for wax repours.

had my fingers crossed you would meantion something about peanuts. I have box after box of peanuts! I even burned some. The post office won't take them anymore. Stupid things are everywhere.

I love my magnetic knife holder to hold all my metal stuff up front and handy.

All wax scrappings go into a warmer. I use this wax to try new things with molds. Once I see if what I wanted to make works, I dump it back into the warmer. when it is full I pour into molds and use wick clippings for fire starters.

I see both sides of the jar issue. I use square masons, any some ladies tell me they will clean them and can with them. BUT when I used to buy candles I did look at the cool jars. I hate to throw anything away.

I buy canning jars to store stuff in so I can see what is in them.

Oh and my latest? I am using dog tie ups for susspending my ribbons from the ceiling works great.

Also I bought the cheapo tape dispenser, tore it apart and mounted it to the side of my packaging center. Now I have a dispense for 2 inch wde tape that never falls to the floor, and I don't have to take both hands off of anything to get a single piece of tape.

[candlesprite7]

When I have too many peanuts I Freecycle them, almost always someone has a need of them...

[hollyberry]

i have found that when making votives in the little dixie cups with my wick pins... after the first pour when they are hard and ready you can pop them out and do many many batches of votives in the same cups..( i used to peel them off ,lol) Hey $2 is $2 is $2 bucks... if I save enough of them itadds up

[CandleFreak]

I use metal kabob skewers instead of the wooden ones....wipes clean every time...I am still using the original package of 6 that I purchased over 3 yrs ago...I use them for stirring...poking relief holes...

make firestarters with leftover wax and my dad's shavings from his wood turning lathe (free for me and great disposal for him) also use extras of those for mulch for my plants....

I grow my own herbs for cooking now I guess I'll plant more this year and work them into a B&B line....

I use goo gone to clean anything sticky like stickers/price tags....removing wick tabs from tester jars

I use whole sheets of labels, make my own template for spacing and cut out with a "circle scissor" which is normally used for scrapbooking and can fit more on than the standard ones and can custom size them to fit certain lids

[Soja]

So far no one has mentioned re-cycled baggies.

My Wife gives me the freezer baggies/ large zip bags, etc. that would normally be thrown away and not used for food any more. A quick rinse and they can be used to store the leftover wax from a pour, after it's hardened in a recycled aluminimum pie tin. You can write on the outside of the bag with a magic marker as to what scent/additive, etc.

Also... Your Wallyworld 69 cent Stanley knives used for Everything!

Keep the ideas coming!

Soja

[Juliette]

I don't do this anymore, because I love the pre-blend wax I use but I use to recycle the beeswax candles from my church. They were just going to toss but started saving them for me. I would have to filter the wax but I really liked the blend of parafin and beeswax for my pillars and it saved me $$ on beeswax...free is a very good price.

[Donita]

The cheapest way I found to make my chunks is to have my DH make them......