How To Make Votive Candles

By Guest Blogger Kathy Zengolewicz

Votives are one of the easiest kinds of molded candles to make and they have a great deal of charm. The normal votive will burn for approximately 15 hours and will consume just about all of the wax that was used to create it.

Image: istockphoto

A properly crafted votive will liquefy to some degree as it burns. This is necessary to achieve good scent discharge. Votives are not intended to be free standing candles. It is important to burn votives only in a proper holder that is intended for votives.

What you will need:

• Wax suitable for votive candles
• fragrance oil
• dye
• wicks suitable for votives
• Metal votive molds
• Mold release spray (silicone spray)
• Pouring pot (seamless aluminum melting and pouring pot)

1. Prepare your molten wax mixture.

Before continuing, set up a double boiler to melt your wax. A good target temperature for votives is 175 degrees F. Once your wax has completely melted, add any additives you have selected and mix thoroughly, but try to avoid instituting air into the mixture. Add in the following order:

• Fragrance Oil
• Dye (this is done last so that you get visual confirmation that everything else has mixed well with the wax)

Before pouring your wax, you may want to lightly coat your molds with a very thin film of mold-release agent such as silicone spray or a Pam-type cooking spray. This helps aid the release of the finished candle from the mold. However, it is really only needed with new molds.

2. Votives: Initial Wax Pour

Place your votive molds on a newspaper-lined surface to catch any spills. With your wax at the proper pouring temperature (about 175 degrees F), fill your votive molds all the way to the lip of the mold. The objective here is to get the wax just up to the lip without over flowing. If you pour lower than the lip, you may get seam lines in your finished candle. Care should be taken to minimize the number of bubbles introduced while pouring.

Save about 20% of your wax for the re-pour at a later step. Do not return it to the heat source.

3. Add Pre-tabbed Wicks.

Wait for your wax to cool for a short period of time. While it is cooling, prepare your wicks by straightening them. They don’t need to be perfectly straight.

Once the wax just begins to congeal, insert your pre-tabbed wicks. The tab will “stick” to the bottom when it touches. Be careful to position the tab approximately in the center of the mold.

Once the tab has stuck to the base of the mold, it is very easy to manipulate the wick to straighten it. Sometimes you may wish to wait a few moments to allow the metal tab to form a stronger bond with the base of the mold before attempting to straighten the wick.

During the cooling process, the shrinking wax may pull the wick off-center. If this occurs, simply apply a light tug to straighten the wick from time to time. Do not use too much force, it may free the metal tab from the base.

Allow your wax to cool completely before proceeding. This may take 3-4 hours.

4. Votives: Re-pour Wax

When the wax has completely cooled, it will have shrunken a bit, leaving a sink hole that needs to be filled. Melt down the wax that you saved from step 2 above. This time, your target pouring temperature will be 10-15 degrees hotter than the initial pour (pour at about 190 deg. F for this step). This increased temperature is to help the adhesion between layers.

Once your wax is at the proper temperature, fill the molds to a level just slightly above the lip of the mold. Be careful to avoid spills.

Allow your candles to completely cool.

5. Molded Candle Instructions: Remove The Votive from Mold

Once your votives are completely cool, remove them from the mold. They will usually slide right out without any difficulty if they are completely cool.

If they are difficult to remove from the molds, place them in the freezer for about 5 minutes. This will usually do the trick.

Also, for very stubborn candles, it sometimes helps to gently press the sides of the mold inward as you “roll” the mold in the palms of your hands.

6. Molded Candle Instructions: Votives: Enjoy

Always burn votives in a votive holder. Remember that they are not intended to be free-standing candles and they will liquefy.

Never leave burning candles unattended.

Kathy Zengolewicz is an author, ghostwriter, editor and proofreader. To learn more about Kathy and her services, visit her website at kathyzengolewicz.com.