- Candle remains
- Au Bain-Marie
- Old pots
- Cooking fire
- Mold cleaner
- Colander or fine sieve
- Cotton cloth+paper handkerchief
- Thermometer
- Dyes
- Fragrances
- Scale
Recycle old candles
After enjoying the coziness of one or more candles, there is always a stump or remnant of the candle left. You probably know that candle remains can be permanently reused and that reduces the waste mountain. You can learn how to give old candles new life here.
Download workshop.
How do you remove candle residue from glass or earthenware jars?
- Place your old candles in the freezer for a few hours. The remains will shrink and are easier to remove.
- Fill your old candle jar with hot water, the candle remains will float to the top after a while.
- Place your jar in an old pot of hot water. If necessary, add weight to your pot to prevent it from falling over. If your jar falls over while melting, the paraffin will not mix with water because paraffin is lighter than water (± 15ù)
- Place your glass or earthenware jars in an, preferably, old oven. Heat the oven to ± 80°C and let the oven do the work to easily remove the wax residues from the old mold. You can also use our mold cleaner.
Collect all your candle scraps and sort by quality & color.
- Mixing all the colors will give a dark color.
- Remove bad-smelling candle residue.
- Remove as much as possible anything that is not paraffin.
Melting candle remains
- Make a Bain-Marie from two old cooking pots or use our mini Bain-Marie.
- With your own Bain-marie, fill the larger pot with water and then place the smaller pot in the water.
- Please note that the large pot with water does not overflow after filling the small pot with candle residue.
- Keep a reserve several inches below the rim of the large pot.
- Melt by sorted color.
- Melt the candle remains at a temperature between 70° and 90*C
Purifying the candle remains
- Provide a plastic or metal mold to collect the paraffin during purification.
- Take the colander and place an old clean cotton cloth (rag). Stretch the rag with some clothespins.
- Pour the warm candle remains through the colander.
- The second step is to purify as much dye as possible from the paraffin.
- Take the colander and place a paper towel. One layer of the tissue paper is sufficient, otherwise the paraffin will not pass through the paper. Replace the paper sheet regularly.
- Repeat the second step with dark-colored paraffin.
Prepare paraffin for use.
If the newly obtained paraffin will be used for indoor candles, it is best to use the following.
- Melt the recycled paraffin as explained above.
- Do not heat higher than necessary. 65°C should be the maximum.
- Add the same amount of new paraffin to the reused paraffin.
- Add 10% stearin of the weight of the new paraffin. Example: 100 grams of recycled paraffin makes 100 grams of new paraffin and 10 grams of stearin.
- Add the desired food coloring.
- It is best to add fragrances at the end of preparation, just before pouring into glass or jars.
Important:
- Cover the work surface and wear an apron!
- Check the temperature of the laundry regularly with a thermometer.
- Fragrances cannot be removed. Mixing candle residue with different scents can give off an unpleasant odor. Therefore, remove scented candle residues when 'sorting'.
Warning:
- Only pour candles in the presence of adults.
- Never heat the wax directly in a pan or over an open fire.
- Use an electric fire when melting. Do not use a microwave.
- Washing vapor is flammable at 180 °C.
- Place candles on a fireproof surface. (see our safety regulations )
