CandleHelp - Candle Making Instructions for CandleMaking Fun!

One side of your mold has an indentation at the top for a wick. This is your “wick side” (shown in the photo below on the right). The other has a well at the bottom for a pouring hole. This is your “pour side” (shown in the photo below on the left).

Cut a length of wick and press one end into the wick indentation at the wick end of your mold. Anchor it there by placing scotch tape or mold sealer over the wick. Pull the wick taut and anchor it to the base-end of the mold with scotch tape or mold sealer.

Take the two halves of the mold and put them together. There are nubs in the mold to assist in aligning it and which keep the mold together. Press the two halves together, forming a hollow shell.

Use mold clamps to keep the mold tightly together. Place mold clamps on both edges of the assembled mold, leaving the top and the bottom free.

Insert the assembled mold into the mold base. The end opposite the pour hole is the end which you insert into the mold base. The mold base serves two purposes: it acts as a mold clamp to keep the mold pressed tightly together, and it acts as a base to hold the mold upright as you make your candle.

When your mold is fully assembled, you will see the pour hole end at the top, and the wick indentation at the bottom, where the mold base holds the candle upright.

Cut Pour Hole

It is common for new molds to arrive with no hole yet in the pour hole well of the mold. Use your craft knife to cut a hole in the bottom at this pour hole.

Remove the plastic you have cut away, or move it away from the hole you have cut, to allow a clear opening to pour wax into the mold.

Melt Wax

You will need either a steamer pot or deep sauce pan, and you will also need a melting pot with a pouring spout. These two items create a double boiler to melt your wax.

Fill the bottom part of your double boiler (the steamer pot or the deep sauce pan) with about two inches of cool water, and place on the burner set to high temperature.

Place pieces of 139 degree Molding Candle Wax to be melted into the melting pot with a pouring spout, set the melting pot in the water, and attend to it as the wax liquefies. (When the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium low or low.)

If you have a large block of wax and need instructions on how to safely break it into smaller pieces, please visit our section on How To Break Up Wax Blocks

When the wax is entirely liquid (i.e., when there are no solid chunks any longer in the pot) you have successfully melted the wax.

Our 139 degree Molding Candle Wax melts at about 139 degrees F. The wax will continue to grow hotter as it remains in the double boiler. The temperature of the wax should get to 190 degrees F.

Adding Dye

After the wax has entirely melted, add your candle dye, if you are using any. Each of our diamond shaped dye chips colors 1 lb of wax. Use more or less candle dye for lighter or darker colored candles. Drop a dye chip (or part of a dye chip) into the melted wax, and stir until the dye chip is entirely dissolved into the liquid wax.

Adding Additives

After the wax is entirely melted, you can add additives. There are a number of additives to choose from to get different effects. Vybar 103 prevents mottling and makes the candle wax more opaque. It also locks color and fragrance into the wax. Parol Oil promotes mottling. Stearic Powder makes candles more opaque, and in high percentages creates a crystallization. See our reference section on Additives and What They Do for an explanation of the different additives.

Adding Fragrance

Adding fragrance is the last thing you do before you pour the candle. This is because the potency of the fragrance can be reduced if subjected to high heat for too long.

After the wax is entirely melted, add your candle fragrance. The standard ratio for our candle fragrance oils is one ounce of fragrance oil per 1 lb of wax. Use more or less fragrance for lighter or heavier scented candles. Add the candle fragrance to the melted wax in the melting pot, and stir thoroughly to get even distribution of the candle fragrance.

Pour Wax

Let the wax cool to between 175 and 180 degrees F before pouring it into your two piece plastic mold. Plastic molds can be damaged by very hot wax.

Pour the wax in through the pour hole you have made in the mold. Fill the mold up to the top of the pour hole. When you have finished pouring, tap the mold briskly with a wood stir stick or other implement, to dislodge any air bubbles stuck to the inside of the mold.

Be sure to save some wax for the 2^nd pour.

Look the curves and points of the mold over, to see that there are no trapped air bubbles which will affect the final shape of the molded candle. Tip the mold in various directions to dislodge these air bubbles and allow wax to fill every cranny of the mold.

Set & Poke Hole

Allow the candle to set for an hour or so to cool. Specific cooling time depends on the size of the candle you are making. As the candle cools, the wax level will drop inside the mold and a skin will develop on the surface of the wax inside the mold, which you will be able to see by looking through the pour hole.

When this skin has formed, use a wood stirring stick or chopstick to poke a relief hole in the candle, near the wick. The purpose of this relief hole is to allow the wax to shrink without pulling the wick off center. You may have to re-poke this hole several times as the candle cools.

Pour Again

When the candle has cooled completely, and the mold is cool to the touch, reheat the remaining wax to 180 degrees, and pour it into the sink hole in the candle, which you will be able to see well from the pour hole.

Fill the mold back up to the top of the pour hole. Tap the mold briskly again with a wood stir stick to dislodge trapped air in the sink hole beneath the 2^nd pour wax.

You may have to make a 3^rd or even a 4^th pour as your candle cools completely. This depends on the size and shape of your two piece mold.

Remove Candle from Mold

When your candle is completely cooled, with no sink holes in the candle, you may remove it from the mold.

To do this, first remove the mold clamps on the sides, then the mold base at the bottom. Gently pry the two halves of the mold apart, working in a circle around the entire seem of the mold, prying it a little farther apart with each turn.

When the mold is suitably loosened from the candle, remove one half of the mold. Turn other half over and, holding the candle in your hand, lift the other half of the mold away from the candle.

Trim Seam

You will see where the seams need to be trimmed away from your finished candle. Run your craft knife across thin shallow seams to smooth them away. Use your craft knife to carve away thick protrusions of wax. Carve the pour hole and wick end off of the bottom of you candle using the craft knife. After removing seam wax with a craft knife, rub the seams with a nylon stocking to buff them smooth.

Finished Candle

Your finished two-piece mold candle is ready to burn! You can display it in its natural splendor, or use finishing techniques, such as dipping or painting.