How to Make a Candle at Home
How to Make a Candle at Home – with ArtMoment
A guide from our CandleArt workshop: what you need, the method and the mistakes to avoid.
What you'll need to make candles at home
- Wax: soy or coconut (natural, burns slowly and cleanly); about 150–180 g for one candle in a 200 ml jar.
- Wick: cotton or wooden, with a metal tab; choose the thickness according to the diameter of the container.
- Container: a jar, a ceramic or a coconut bowl – heat-resistant, with a flat base.
- Scent: essential or plant oils, about 6–10% of the wax weight; colour: wax pigments.
- Tools: a pot for a water bath, a thermometer, a wick sticker or glue gun for the wick, skewers for centring it, decorations (dried flowers, herbs).
How to make a candle – step by step
- Prepare the container and wick – wipe the container completely dry, stick the wick tab to the centre of the base and hold the wick at the top between two skewers so it stands straight.
- Melt the wax in a water bath – slowly, to 70–80 °C; never directly on the hob – the wax must not overheat.
- Add scent and colour – off the heat, at 60–65 °C, stir in the oil (6–10%) and pigment if you like; stir for at least a minute so the scent binds.
- Pour into the container – at about 55–60 °C, slowly down the side to avoid bubbles; keep the container at room temperature.
- Let it set slowly – undisturbed, away from draughts and cold, ideally overnight; then trim the wick to 5–6 mm.
- Decorate and let it “cure” – add dried flowers or herbs to the surface once it has set (away from the wick); let the candle rest for 1–2 days before lighting it for the first time so the scent develops.
- Want to try it with an instructor? – at the CandleArt workshop, you make two candles – a coconut bowl and an engraved glass – in 2 hours, 1 990 Kč, everything included. candle making class →
The most common mistakes when making candles at home
- Overheated wax – it loses its scent and turns grey.
- Scent added to wax that's too hot – it evaporates.
- The wrong wick thickness – a thin wick creates a “tunnel”, a thick one smokes.
- Pouring into a cold container or cooling too quickly – cracks and a sunken centre.
- Decorations near the wick – flammable flowers and herbs belong at the edge.
- An off-centre wick – the candle burns unevenly.
Where to try it with an instructor – the CandleArt workshop
At the CandleArt workshop, an instructor guides you through working with coconut wax, wicks, essential oils and pigments; you make two scented candles – one in a real coconut bowl decorated with dried flowers, the other in a glass with your own engraving – and take both home straight away. 2 hours, welcome drink and materials included, 1 990 Kč. Currently in Prague; dates on the CandleArt page.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – HOW TO MAKE A CANDLE
Natural soy or coconut wax – it burns slowly and cleanly, holds scent well and is easy to work with. At the CandleArt workshop, we use coconut wax.
About 6–10% of the wax weight (9–15 g of essential or plant oil per 150 g of wax), stirred in at 60–65 °C.
Cooling too quickly – pouring into a cold container, a draught or the fridge. Pour at 55–60 °C into a container at room temperature and let it set slowly, ideally overnight.
The work itself takes about an hour, plus setting overnight and 1–2 days for the scent to “cure” before you light it for the first time. At the workshop, you leave with two finished candles after 2 hours.
At the CandleArt workshop in Prague: two candles (a coconut bowl + an engraved glass), 2 hours, materials and a welcome drink included, 1 990 Kč. It can also be given as a gift voucher.
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