Gel Candle Making
Every candle maker has their own strategies and gear for making their candles. The following is a recommended list of tools and uses. Feel free to experiment and put in you own
Large Glass Measuring Cup - for pouring heated gel and/or melting gel in the oven
Electric Presto Kitchen Kettle - for melting larger quantities of gel
Thermometer - a regular candy thermometer is fine
Stirring utensil - metal is best, don’t use wooden
Metal skewer - use for stirring and/or moving embeds around
Potato peeler - for shaving off small slivers of block dye
Toothpicks - for adding liquid dye to gel
Wax paper - for gel color checking (see adding color below)
Gel, zinc wicks, liquid color dye, fragrance oils and embeds. You also have the choice to purchase gel candle making kits. These kits include all the items that you require; you need to buy a glass jar.
GEL CANDLE MAKING METHOD
1. If you bought your candle making materials separately and not from a candle making kit, prefer non-flammable products. Keep in mind that you will be using heat in making it, so you have to take the necessary precautions. Also, keep a fire extinguisher handy.
2. Do not replace zinc wicks with cotton wicks; the latter can soak up the gel. Your gel candle will not burn well with these. Also, you be able to glue your wick to the base of the container to create sure that it sticks to the middle. Do not trim the wick yet, leave it long enough to let it reach outside the container.
3. Cut the gel into small strips, this will help in melting the gel faster. You can use a double boiler or a multiple cooker in melting the gel. Control the temperature. Do not leave it too high, or the candle can lose its gloss.
4. Wooden spoons should not be used for stirring the gel candle wax, as they can cause bubbles in the mixture. You do not want bubbles in your candle.
5. Once the gel becomes smooth, pour the liquid dye into the mixture. You do not need to pour a lot of the liquid dye; a tiny drop is all that is needed to put in color to your gel candle. Gel candles pick up color more readily than other candle waxes. You can also skip pouring the dye in total, as well as keep your the candle clear.
6. To create scented gel candles, you can add scents or fragrance oils ( these must be non polar and over170 flash point) to the gel mixture. They can come in low, medium and high densities. The higher the density, the more fragrance it can hold. This also holds true for embeds. You have to keep in mind though, that with a higher density gel candle, the gel will also be thicker. So, it will take a longer time for the gel to melt.
7. Prepare the container that you will be pouring the gel into. Containers used are preferably those that are made of glass, in order for the design to be displayed as well as any decorative embed. .
8. Before pouring the mixture into the container, heat up it in the microwave oven for about a minute. If you want embeds to be at the bottom of the container, put in these embeds before pouring the mixture into the container. Embeds are impressive additions to your candles. The embeds that you use can include glitter, crystals, seashells or marbles.
