Recycling Test Candles

[coachtom]

I have been testing quite a bit needless to say as my wife and I have started our new candle venture. Was wondering how you recycle your test candles?  Do you reuse the wax with the fragrance to pour other test candles? I am assuming the only way to get the wax out is to put them in the oven? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated !

[moonshine]

If I get one that is a total bomb that won't stay lit at all I just use it a couple days on a hot plate for fragrance and then ditch the wax

I have read some people drill a hole and put a different wick in but I use wick stickums for my testers only (permatex for sale jars) so I could never get them out to do this - also some people test in votive holders first to get a starting pint and then move up to the larger jar so there isn't as much wax wasted if it won't wick

Then after I have burned successful testers that burn all the way out I just chunk the wax that's left out- pull the stickum off and put the jars upside down on a foil lined pan in the oven on low to melt all the rest out and wash them in hot soapy water to reuse

I have never tried heating the jar and reusing the wax- to me it seems it would change the candle some as far as throw and appearance (I use soy) so I just start over and use it to fragrance my home a couple days

Once you get your system down to a couple of wicks it will rarely happen unless you get an FO that just doesn't play nice at all! I have had this with angel over and over again- no matter what I cannot get this one to wick

[Scented]

Well mine sit around as examples, but I'm not really a container person. I  make a lot of pillars. 

You could melt them down and make other testers if you wanted, but a test candle really should be burned from top to bottom so you know/learn what that size wick did in that size container and you're logging it in your notes. It helps you learn your wicks and your wax/formula. If you have the room, keep it. If you become a fragrance addict, you might want to compare it should you ever strive to want to find a better version of the scent. 

But mostly, if a test isn't working out, strip out the wick and try another to see what it does. 

 

The way to get wax out of containers is with heat, unless your mix is so soft you can dig it out, but why make more work for yourself?

[jbrooks]

I put my candles in the oven, melt them down, then pour any unwanted wax into a huge bowl lined with parchment paper and sit on counter to cool. Once cooled, you can pop out the whole thing with the parchment paper and dispose of it. Wash and reuse jars.

[Candybee]

I actually kept my failed candles in boxes and on shelves for the first couple of years. Yes I ended up with quite a few but it turned out I was glad I did. I ended up going back to most of them for one reason or another and was glad I had that particular candle to reexamine at a later date.

 

Eventually I melted many down in the oven on a low setting and poured out the wax into the garbage. I just wanted to save the jars to reuse for testing. Some wax I saved for melts or other testing purposes.

 

I still save testors but eventually I end up using them for personal use as my 'failures' today are much better than when I first started out making candles.

 

To remove wax from you container in the oven set it on low about 175-200 degrees F. Place your jars right side up on an old cookie sheet lined with paper towels. This would be for jars with more than a tiny bit of wax.

 

For jars with just a tiny bit of wax in the bottom place them upside down on cookie sheet lined with double paper towels. The wax will melt onto the paper towels leaving the jar empty enough to wash it out for reuse.

 

BTW-- handle the heated jars with oven mits. It will save you from burning your hands.

Edited November 5, 2014 by Candybee

[Chefmom]

WOW, I am way too frugal to toss wax.  Ever. 

 

A failed scent throw in a container, but the scented wax might work in the wax warmer, so I will try that first.  Once the wax has given its all then it can still be burned and is turned into a household use only tealight.  I use unscented tea lights a LOT for my tealight warmer and at dinner etc.  In Halloween pumpkins that are lit up all night every night for a week. I use a LOT of tealights that week.

 

I melt my wax out of my jars on the stove in simmering water and pour it into a big silicone loaf that can be re-used etc.

 

If the wick works but it isn't throwing, then it can be put in the emergency candle box.  If/when the electrics go out I like to put the container candles around the house so people don't have to carry them around.

 

Then....after all that there is always fire starters.  Fill some silicone cupcake cups with dryer lint or sawdust from my husband's wood shop and pour the unwanted wax over.  Great to have on hand during the season of outside patio fires and my husband's wood shop has a wood burner heater in it.  Win win.

 

There is always a use, I NEVER toss.

[Jcandleattic]

I do the same as Chefmom - after thoroughly testing and making/keeping copious notes about them, I turn them into firestarters. Just melt the wax out of the jar into cupcake liners mixed with dryer lint, old leaves, twigs, etc, with a cut wick that is too small to add to a candle, and viola - instant firestarter!  

 

However, I don't have near as many failed testers now as I used too, but as Candybee said:

 

 

I still save testers but eventually I end up using them for personal use as my 'failures' today are much better than when I first started out making candles.

 

[Candybee]

There is a reason I did not save all my wax. The jars had pieces and bits of black sooty mushrooms that fell off the wicks into the wax. Sorry but ick! I don't like to reuse dirty wax. I found only a portion of my used wax reclyclable.

[Jcandleattic]

There is a reason I did not save all my wax. The jars had pieces and bits of black sooty mushrooms that fell off the wicks into the wax. Sorry but ick! I don't like to reuse dirty wax. I found only a portion of my used wax reclyclable.

That's why this wax is so good for firestarters! It doesn't matter if the wax is all icky and gross, because you (or at least we) put them in the wood pile of a fire pit, and it doesn't matter. LOL

(I don't sell my firestarters - they are all for personal use when we go camping or my hub goes hunting) 

[Candybee]

One of these days I will have to try making some firestarters! I still have a ton of votives, melts, and tea lights all boxed up. I could melt that down and use it I suppose. Usually I take the boxes out to our annual yard sales to get rid of them. LOL!

[Oceangazer1]

WOW, I am way too frugal to toss wax.  Ever. 

 

A failed scent throw in a container, but the scented wax might work in the wax warmer, so I will try that first.  Once the wax has given its all then it can still be burned and is turned into a household use only tealight.  I use unscented tea lights a LOT for my tealight warmer and at dinner etc.  In Halloween pumpkins that are lit up all night every night for a week. I use a LOT of tealights that week.

 

I melt my wax out of my jars on the stove in simmering water and pour it into a big silicone loaf that can be re-used etc.

 

If the wick works but it isn't throwing, then it can be put in the emergency candle box.  If/when the electrics go out I like to put the container candles around the house so people don't have to carry them around.

 

Then....after all that there is always fire starters.  Fill some silicone cupcake cups with dryer lint or sawdust from my husband's wood shop and pour the unwanted wax over.  Great to have on hand during the season of outside patio fires and my husband's wood shop has a wood burner heater in it.  Win win.

 

There is always a use, I NEVER toss.

DITTO! I couldn't agree more. Supplies have gone up so much since I started in 2001 and I cannot afford to be pitching good wax. I use it until I absolutely cannot. Here in FL we are entering our dry season and can't burn in fire pits, don't have one anyway...too risky, so I use wax in my burners and we have emergency candles. You can make your own tapers too! Endless ideas. Don't throw good money away.

[chuck_35550]

Oh, I have boxes of partial candles shoved under the work bench in the shop. Someday I'll get around to putting them in the oven or melting with a heat gun. The heat gun is pretty fast but you have to wear heavy gloves to keep from getting burnt. I just don't have time to deal with it.

[coachtom]

Great feedback as always! Since I am early in the testing and perfecting phase, I have several that I knew were duds early because of wick sizing. I will defintely turn them into melts and sell. No need to have fire starters in eastern NC. Only have gas logs. Thanks again for all the feedback !

[Pam W]

I don't throw away anything!!  Failed testers get melted down and repoured for use on the patio.  Since it's outside, the scent throw doesn't matter much.