DIY – Wheat wax candle

To create a citronella candle you will need:

Candle
Candle container
Citronella essential oil
Candle wick with metal base
2 bain marie pots
Thermometer
Some silicone glue
Color (optional)
and a little imagination!

1. Find a container with a large spout. In the container we will place the wick and the melted citronella wax. Choose metal and clay waterproof containers such as cans and clay yoghurt pots, tomato cans and coffee cans… As a rule of thumb, if you want to make candles with a wick, limit the diameter at the mouth of the container to no more than ~9 cm.

2. Collect wax residues. Use candle remnants from different grades of wax to make outdoor citronella candles. If you don’t have enough add some soft paraffin wax like soft paraffin wax for filling containers. Alternatively, you can also use soft soy wax, which has excellent performance.

3. Melt the wax in Ben Mari (75°C). Put two fingers of water in a shallow pan and place a smaller pan with the wax you will melt in it. (e.g. a large beer or milk jug) The water should be simmering to melt the wax safely.

Filtering. Pass your melted old candles through some cotton cloth to filter out the residue. You can use the cloth as a tinder on the bbq!

Add colour for wax. You can now optionally add some candle paint. No crayons, no crayons, no pastry colours.

4. Add the citronella aromatic oil (65°C-70°C). Use up to 25ml of Citronella in 500 grams of wax. (i.e. 5%). Mix well but gently and for at least 2-3 minutes to mix the citronella and wax.

5. Fytile. Get wicks suitable for the diameter of your container. Candles in containers need a metal base. Prefer a wick that is larger in size, so that it can cope with burning the mixture of old candles.

You’ll need to do some experimenting to find the perfect combination of wick, wax and container.

6. Placement of the wick. Put some hot glue or plumber’s silicone from a paint store on the metal base of the wick and press it to the bottom of the container so that it sticks. No, we don’t stick the wick with a little wax at the bottom of the container.

7. Fill the container with 60°C – 65°C wax, leaving ~2 cm from the rim of the container.
Straighten the wick. We want the wick to remain vertical in the wax so we stretch the wick slightly and secure it at the top with a peg/ stick.

8. Leave it alone for 24 hours! It needs time to crystallize. If the wax has belly/deepened add a little more wax to the hole.

Cut the wick to half a centimeter and light it!!!!

You can add other essential oils to contribute to the insect repellent action such as eucalyptus, lavender, lemon and mint, always keeping in mind that the maximum total amount of essential oil should not exceed 25ml (5%).

Did you like the tip? Share it with your friends by sharing!