Today, more and more people are taking DIY candle-making up as a new hobby, or hoping to start a candle-making business as a side hustle at home. Pouring candles is full of fun, creativity, and also easy if you have a candle making kit. However, it’s not a snap to clean up candle-making supplies after making a batch of candles.
Surely, it’s OK to put them out of your sight until you need them to make candles next time. But a clean set of equipment and a tidy workstation will make you eager to make more candles, right?
If you agree, let’s start learning the techniques of candle-making and wax cleanliness.
What to Do Before You Start Making Candles?
Prepare the work surface.
Whether you have a dedicated workbench or just pour your own candles in the kitchens, it’s a good practice to prepare this space before you start to melt the wax. You can cover the work surface with newspapers, old table cloths, or any other disposable things. In this way, the surface won’t be ruined even if there’s dripped and dropped wax.
Protect yourself.
Candle-making isn’t dangerous, but the splashing wax, color dyes, and oils may pollute your clothes and skin. It’s really difficult to get rid of dyes and oils. So, it’s always a good idea to cover yourself with gloves, aprons or working clothes.
I don’t mean you must wear work uniforms to make candles at home. Old clothes or clothes you wear when doing gardening work are great. An oil- and water-resistant apron can further protect your clothes, especially when you wear a daily coat. As for the gloves, you can choose a tight pair that will help you deal with melting wax and hot containers easier.
How to Remove Liquid Wax Immediately after Pouring Candles?
You’re always suggested to clean up the candle-making supplies when the wax is still liquid. Please note that every type of candle wax is not water-soluble. It means, it’s useless to wash your wax melting pots, containers, or molds in the water directly. What’s worse, the wax residue will clog the pipe if you pour it down the sink drain. So, DON’T DO THAT.
The best way to reduce leftover wax is to calculate the quantity of wax before starting to melt. However, I also understand it’s really hard to make it 100% accurate, especially for beginners. So, here is what we usually do.
Step 1: Pour the extra wax into another container, if any.
If you have a large quantity of leftover wax, why not pour another candle? You can simply repurpose the mason jars, spice jars, glass bottles (heat-resistant), or mugs. Make sure you have an extra wick for another candle.
If there’s just a little wax left, you can pour it into a paper cup and let it cool. Then you can peel the paper cup and remelt the wax again later. You can also dispose of it if you want to change candle colors or scents next time.
Step 2: Wipe out wax residue with paper towels.
While the wax is still liquid, it’s very easy to wipe off the wax with a cloth or a paper towel. If the wax melting pot cools down very quickly, you can reheat it on the stove, or with a double boiler. A heat gun can also help remelt the wax in the pot.
You can also fill the melting pot with hot water and wait until the water cools down. The wax will float on the surface. Then you can scoop it out and pour the water. Again, do not pour the water with wax down your sink drain.
In this step, you can also clean up the candle-making supplies with baking soda.
Step 3: Wipe everything with rubbing alcohol.
To be honest, rubbing alcohol is my favorite cleaning material which is able to clean nearly everything, including oils and stubborn stains. After wiping the melting pot with a paper towel or soda, you can clean it again with rubbing alcohol. Then you can clean the thermometer, the stirring spoon or stick, the wick holder, and containers with rubbing alcohol.
Step 4: Clean color dyes, fragrances, and essential oils.
As mentioned above, rubbing alcohol can clean nearly everything, including candle dyes, candle fragrances, and essential oils. So, just clean your skin or clothes with rubbing alcohol.
In addition, you can also try other methods.
As dyes are oil-soluble, you can use mineral oils or vegetable oils like olive oil, coconut oil, etc. to remove the color on your skin or clothes. Dishwashing detergent is also a good choice. However, it may get things worse if you want to wash dyes off of your skin or clothes with water. So, avoid it.
Fragrances and essential oils can be treated the same with dyes.
How to Get Wax Out of a Jar?
When a candle burns to the bottom, it’s time to say goodbye to the leftover candle. However, it’s wasteful to just throw it away. The wax can be reused to make new candles, and the jar can also be upcycled, too. At this time, you need to remove the leftover candle from the jar. I have tried out 3 methods as below.
Method 1: Remove candle wax with hot water.
Fill the candle container with hot water. When the wax at the bottom becomes soft, the whole piece of wax will float to the surface. Wait until the water cools down, then get the wax block and bits out.
This method is useful for wide-mouth candle jars.
Method 2: Put the candle jar into the refrigerator overnight.
The wax shrinks at the low temperature. You can take it out of the refrigerator and flip it upside down. Pop the bottom of the jar till the wax fall out.
Method 3: Heat the wax with your hairdryer.
It’s easy to handle. But remember to put the candle jar on a table or other surface. Don’t hold it with your hand as it may become very hot while heating. When the wax is soft, scrape it out with a butter knife.
After removing the wax from the jar, you can follow the steps above to wipe out the wax residue.
How to Remove Candle Wax from Any Surface?
Burning a candle can be delightful. However, removing candle wax from carpet, floor, wood, metal, cloth or any other surfaces would be a headache. Here are my brief remedies.
From carpet: Put a paper towel on the waxy spot, then turn on your hairdryer and keep heating that area. Change out new paper towels till the wax has been removed from the carpet.
From wood/wood floor: Use your hairdryer to soften the wax. Then dab the wax with a paper towel. Repeat it until it’s clean.
From metal: Use hot or boiling water. When the wax slides off the metal, wipe the residue wax with a cloth or paper towels.
From concrete/bricks: Scrape it with a butter knife or similar tools.
From walls: Like removing wax from carpets, you can use hairdryer and paper towels.
From clothes/fabric: If the clothes or fabric is not big, you can put it into the refrigerator to freeze for about 30 minutes. Then scrape the wax off. Alternatively, you can use your hairdryer to soften the wax then remove it.
From hair: If the wax is on the hair tips, place them in hot water and lift it. If the wax is on the root, use olive oils to help remove the wax.
How to Remove Dirt from Candle Wax?
If you have made quite a lot of candles at one time, they may become dirty until you can burn them. But you don’t want to light a dirty candle in your house, right? Then, the best and easiest way to remove dirt is using a microfiber cloth. Place the microfiber cloth into lukewarm water and wring it out. Wipe the candle in the same direction, and, gently. Then the old candles will become shiny again.
Conclusion
To sum up, in order to clean up candle-making supplies, you need to deal with leftover wax at first. Then, wipe everything with rubbing alcohol. So easy.
