Monday 18 April 2011

I can make candles

A short one tonight, because of deadlines and assorted other commitments today, but I couldn’t let Monday slide by without mentioning that, on the weekend, we made beeswax candles. I'm sorry, a teensy bit of pride crept in there because, well, I’ve always wanted to make candles.

And all it took was a rainy Saturday afternoon, a candle-making kit from QueenB (containing blocks of wax, wicks and 50 little tin cups, theoretically reusable because beeswax burns away clean, total cost $49.95), a Corningware jug from Vinnies ($6) and a candy thermometer from a kitchenwares shop (the first new thing we’ve bought this month), for about $10. Then it was as easy as 1, 2, 3…

1. Melt wax in jug (wax has to be between 70 and 75°C)









2. Pour wax (now clear) into little tin cups









3. Insert wicks when wax starts to go cloudy









Now we have 50 beeswax tealights, each of which will burn for 4 hours. 
That's a lot of candles...

Sure, they’re not as cheap as the 30-for-$3 petrochemical-based paraffin tealights you can pick up at the local bargain shop. But in terms of air quality, you might as well set fire to a piece of plastic, that's how harmful they are to the atmosphere and to you. Not these honey-coloured candles; they're sustainable (thanks, bees), natural ionisers (they purify the air) and carbon-neutral. My inner hippie is happy now. 

Have you ever made candles? How did it go? 

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