My first attempt with rolled beeswax candles

I’ve been interested in trying to make rolled beeswax candles for quite a while. So why use beeswax instead of petroleum-based paraffin? According to Chris Dalziel, in her book, The Beeswax Workshop,

“Paraffin candles are shown to negatively affect indoor air quality because of the chemical by-products in their soot. Beeswax candles burn cleanly, without soot. Beeswax emits negative ions when it burns. Negative ions clean the air of odors and bacteria. Falling water, like waterfalls, rain and snow also give off negative ions. that smell after a spring rain is the negative ions doing their job. In a similar way, beeswax candles clean the indoor air.” (pp. 18-19)

I’ve been using beeswax in my various skin care products for several years. It’s an essential part of my lip balm and lotion bar recipes. Usually, I buy beeswax in the form of pellets that can be measured out easily.

I do know that beeswax is not difficult to melt but the clean-up is a little tougher than cleaning up from my soap projects. Warm beeswax must be wiped out carefully from any container I use. It can’t be be washed away easily and it WILL clog up drains when it cools.

I’ve always been interested in trying the rolled beeswax sheets to make candles, so that’s where I’ll start. Much less worry than trying to dispose of melted wax. I thought I’d try a small batch of birthday candles first to see if I could actually do it!

Supplies needed

First, I ordered a set of multicolor sheets of beeswax from Amazon (about $25.00). The sheets are 8″ x 10″ and come in many colors. It says it’s beeswax, but it does not have the smell of natural beeswax. The coloring might affect the smell. However, this package was not as expensive as natural beeswax and the colors might be fun to work with.

I also ordered a set of natural color sheets of beeswax from Amazon (about $35.00). Based on the smell alone, I know they are natural beeswax. Of course, this package was more expensive than the multicolor pack.

At the same time, I ordered a pair of Teflon-coated scissors to cut the wax sheets. These were recommended by several online sources because the beeswax sheets are quite “sticky” and I didn’t want to ruin my good fabric scissors.

And of course, you’ll need a hair dryer with a low heat choice. I’ve had short hair for so long I wasn’t sure I still had one!

And finally, my work surface was the same piece of heavy glass that I used to work with the air dry clay. It sits on top of my table cloth so it looks like I’m working directly on cloth…but the glass is there! Use any smooth surface that the wax won’t damage.

Making a Rolled Beeswax Birthday Candle

For my first attempt at a rolled candle, I decided to try small birthday candles. Using the red beeswax sheet, I cut the sheet into four 2 1/2″ strips.

I cut a piece of wick string about 3″ long. On the first wax strip, I positioned the wick across the end. Using the hair dryer on low, I warmed the end of the strip (about 5 seconds). I could then gently fold the edge over the wick. Warming the next section of wax, I rolled the wax about 2-3 times and decided to stop. It looked big enough. I cut off the extra portion of the strip and pressed it to the candle.

I cut the rest of the strip into 2 1/2″ pieces and made a few more candles. By the fourth candle, I trimmed the piece to just 2″ so it made a skinnier candle.

My candles got skinnier by the time I got to #4!

Of course, I had to see if it would work as a birthday candle in a corn muffin (since I didn’t have any cupcakes handy!) Not too shabby!

For my next attempt for a birthday candle I used a piece of the natural beeswax and tried again. This sheet was thinner, more pliable and rolled up nicely when warmed.

Here’s a comparison of the two types of beeswax sheets. The colors are nice, but the natural beeswax sheet made a more compact candle.

Making a Rolled Beeswax Votive Candle

I now had the rest of the sheet of natural beeswax to work with so I thought I’d try a votive candle.

I measured the votive candle holder and made sure my strips would make a candle the right height.

Following the same procedures, I just started rolling around the wick until it was the right size to fit into the votive holder. Use the hair dryer every few inches to warm the wax so it bends and doesn’t crack. Join the strips of the wax sheet by smoothing the ends together and continue rolling until the size is right.