Vegan alternative
Make scented candles yourself: How to combine your favorite scents
You only need a few ingredients to make scented candles
© Helin Loik-Tomson / Getty Images
They ensure a cozy ambience and spread atmospheric light: candles can be found in millions of households, although some of the ingredients in them can be harmful to health. Especially if they are made from paraffin.
Paraffin is a waste product derived from petroleum. Although it is vegan, it is harmful to people and nature: Cheap candles in particular contain questionable colors, varnishes and fragrances that are released when they burn and can cause allergic reactions or other health problems. Candles made from soybean and rapeseed wax, which you can buy ready-made or simply make yourself, are therefore much more sustainable. This has the advantage that you can determine the colors and smells yourself. You can find out which ingredients are necessary for this and where scented candles are best drawn as follows.
What is suitable as a candle holder?
You don’t necessarily need new vessels to make scented candles: keep old, burnt out tea lights and use the small aluminum containers to make new candles. You can easily find suitable wicks for this reorder. Alternatively, classic cookie cutters are also suitable for making candles by placing them on a piece of baking paper and placing the wicks in the middle. The important thing with this method is that you first pour in a thin layer of hot wax and let it set before you fill the mold completely. If you want to be particularly creative, hollowed-out orange peels can also be used as candle holders, then the fragrance is included. Ice cube trays or baking molds made of silicone are even more practical, although the size is decisive here.
Another tip: if you a complete set order for the production of scented candles, you will find all the necessary utensils – from soy wax to candle tins to wicks and scented oils.
These are the most important basic ingredients
If you want to make your own scented candles, you only need a few basic ingredients: odorless wax granulespreferably from soybean oil (beeswax also works, but is not vegan and naturally smells more intensive), suitable candle wicks made of cotton and your favorite fragrance – either in the form of essential oils or you can use dried spices and flowers. Orange peel and coffee powder, cinnamon and vanilla, rosemary and lavender are particularly popular. There are no limits to the possibilities. To color the candles you can use special wax colors use, which they stir in during the melting process. Finally, add the following items to the list of ingredients: a small saucepan, a heatproof bowl, matching candle holders (as described above), small wooden skewers, and a pair of scissors.
Make scented candles yourself: step by step
Once you have all the basic ingredients together, candle production can start. To protect your skin from wax splashes, wearing simple dishwashing gloves recommended.
- Step: To avoid melting more wax than you need, you should measure the granules in advance. To do this, simply put the desired amount in the candle jar – and better still add one or two more tablespoons.
- Step: Cut the candle wicks to the desired length, attach them to the wooden sticks and place them on the vessels – ideally so that each wick is in the middle and touching the ground (so that the candle later burns all the way down).
- Step: Take a small pot, fill it with a third of water and heat it on the stove. Place a heatproof bowl over the pot and melt the desired amount of candle wax over medium-high heat.
- Step: If you would like to give the candle a scent with essential oils, add this to the liquid candle wax – but be careful: just a few drops are enough for a fragrant result. So go sparingly.
- Step: Take the hot bowl with the liquid wax off the stove (caution: hot!), pour it into the candle holders provided and decorate the surface – as soon as the wax has hardened a little – with dried blossoms or spices.
After about 24 hours, the scented candles (at room temperature) should be completely dry and can be lit directly or given away.
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