Candle-making can be a profitable and low initial investment business that can be set up at home. Although candles are almost never used as a source of light, they remain in demand for religious ceremonies, as an element of interior decoration, or as a gift.
Despite the high competition, entry into this market for beginners is open. Yes, and there is potential for growth, thanks to the annual increase in demand for candle products.
What do you need to make candles at home from scratch?
To make candles at home, you will need a minimum set of tools and materials, most of which are in every household:
- Electric or gas stove.
- A pair of aluminum pans of different sizes.
- Metal knife for cutting material.
- Paraffin (wax, stearin) – costs from $45 per kilogram.
- Wick – the average cost is 0.5 dollars Per meter, but you can make it yourself from cotton threads.
- Silicone, metal, or plastic molds for candles – the price varies depending on the material.
- Dyes or colored sand – cost $0.2 Per gram.
You can also get all these things from a candle making supplies wholesale store. It remains only to allocate a workplace and start manufacturing.
How to produce candles?
Usually, a mixture of paraffin with stearin and various additives is usually used as a candle material. Stearin is added 10-20% to increase the hardness and melting point and reduce the shrinkage of the candle and adhesion during its extraction. But wax, gelatin gel, lard, spermaceti, glycerin, or any other that has hardness, combustibility, and fusibility can also serve as a combustible substance. To veil the chemical smell of petroleum products, flavors and dyes are used.
Wax for candles is most often taken from a bee, soy, less often – palm. It is an environmentally friendly product with a pleasant smell. Compared to paraffin, beeswax is a more complex material that requires certain skills and patience. Making candles from wax as a business is a low-cost option with two manufacturing methods: through silicone or detachable candle molds, or by dipping.
It is best to prepare candles from highly purified food-grade P2 paraffin. This product is odorless and completely safe to use. Almost all types of candles can be made from them. On sale, there are also ready-made paraffin candle masses in blocks of half a kilo, painted in different colors.
To produce decorative candles, a gel based on glycerin, gelatin, and tannin is also used. A mixture of gel candles is poured into a transparent container with decorative elements: sequins, flowers, coffee beans, beads, etc.
Standard candles are 55-65% paraffin, 30-40% stearic acid, and 5-10% beeswax.
What material to use for the production of candles?
The material used for production depends on the type of candles:
- Household or household candles are made from inexpensive technical paraffin and come in the form of a cylinder.
- Canteens of a cone-shaped or cylindrical shape are made from paraffin with the addition of dyes and flavors. They can be classical, carved, and aromatic.
- Tea in the form of tablets in aluminum sleeves based on paraffin with essential oils and used for relaxation and aromatherapy.
- Church candles of thin elongated cylindrical shape and smooth structure. They are produced from beeswax, sometimes with the addition of paraffin or stearin. There are liturgical, for home prayer, weddings, altar, numbered.
- Decorative gel or carved handmade. Their shape can be any: in the form of figures, decorations, a logo, and so on.
The technology to produce candles at home by hand (molding) involves the sequence of the following steps:
- Grinding of raw materials and heating in a water bath up to 850C. It is impossible to overheat paraffin because at high temperatures close to 2000C the material explodes.
- Lubrication of the form with fat and placement of the wick with fixation. From below – a piece of plasticine, from above – a toothpick. By the way, you can buy special wick holders. As a result, the wick should be centered in a taut state.
- Add a dye to the molten paraffin and pour it into a mold.
- Cooling the mass and filling the formed voids with paraffin. The excess wick, after complete solidification, is cut off along with a toothpick, and the candle is removed from the mold.
Conclusion
If you want to make sure that your candle-making business becomes a success story. Then, you should start on a smaller scale as it is mentioned above. And also, try to utilize the methods mentioned to get the maximum chances of success.
