http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-safe-candles-yourself-how-to.html
How to Make Safe Candles Yourself
Inspired by a beautiful photographic spread on how to make your own sand candles in last August's "Martha Stewart Living," my daughter and I took candle-making ingredients on our vacation to the coast of Maine, for a rainy-day project. We also took an inspiring new book from Storey Books, called "The Handmade Candle," by Alison Jenkins.
Candles are a wonderful enhancement to ambience and mood, yet they
can contribute to air pollution, sometimes significantly if synthetic
perfumes are used. I feel as if my daughter and I traversed this
terrain and learned how to make our own stunningly beautiful candles
using sustainable, less toxic ingredients.
Here’s how we managed to make beautiful non-toxic, soot-free candles. It was easy and a lot of fun!
Here are five tips from us:
1. One of the highest goals of making your own less-toxic candles is to make them free of petroleum products, such as paraffin and synthetic fragrance.
2. You can now buy vegetable wax (usually soy) in craft stores such as Michaels. One brand offers microwaveable soy wax and the process was very, very easy. No fuss, no mess.
3. Beeswax is another pure wax choice, although expensive. I personally just love the smell of pure beeswax candles, and we make candles with 100 percent of this wax for very special occasions. Beeswax needs to be melted in a double boiler.
4. For myself, I prefer unscented candles, but my daughter is looking to add scent to her candles, and many of you might like aromatherapy.
We used only perfectly pure essential oils bought at natural food stores, and only about 5 drops for 2 cups of dried wax flakes. Add the essential oils after the wax has melted and has been removed from the heat source. Stir thoroughly.
Many so-called aromatherapy candles are very soft due to overuse of fragrance, and often these candles cause serious problems with candle soot. Making your own helps you control how much fragrance/essential oil you include.
5. Use wicks without lead. We chose wicks without any metal inside, but there are now lead-free wicks available in craft stores. Wanting to be safe not sorry, we bought metal-free wicks. They have been fine.
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12 comments
add your comment »That sounds like fun=)
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I know to add essential oils to candles you need a carrier oil. Do you need anything else?
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That's a very good point. Thank you.
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When using essential oils, please make sure you research the usage of what you want to use. For example, some EOs are not safe for many folks, or even pets, to inhale (i.e., nutmeg for pregnant women is a big no-no). It's very important to know that even essential oils are chemicals and can be hazardous when used inappropriately. I like to stick to lavender, which is pretty much "safe" in most applications.
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thanks...
Kabin
Konteyner,Prefabrik
mega kabin
Konteyner
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thanks...
Kabin
Konteyner,Prefabrik
mega kabin
Konteyner
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Lovely! Thankyou!
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I HAVE A QUESTION. is it safe to make natural candles when pregnant or with babies and children around?
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Hi Have you tried adding pure essential oils to soy wax? Have you encountered any problems doing this?
Love your articles!
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you can braid ur own wicks as well
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