Melting Wax in a Crockpot

The "hard part" for many people is melting the wax in the first place when they're making candles. Wax is FLAMMABLE. You don't want to heat the wax up to a high temperature or it could catch fire. This is why just putting the wax into a pot on the stove is a bad idea, or putting it into a microwave.

Instead, you typically put the wax into a double boiler, in a water bath. The water can ONLY get to 212F before it boils away. It will never get over 212F. That guarantees your wax will only get to 212F since it's being heated by the water. A double boiler works, but because it's on the stove it gets the stove all waxy :) My boyfriend made me promise, when we got a new stove, that I would not use it to make candles on. I had to find an alternative.

Instead, what I do now is melt wax in a crock pot. The crockpot lets you set the temperature, but to be doubly safe I still put the wax into an inner metal container and then set that metal container into a water bath in the crockpot. That way I can do my melting on the kitchen table, where I can control the wax spatter mess. I can melt the wax down into a nice wax soup to then pour into whatever mold I wish.

Here you see the wax melting in the metal container. Always keep a wax thermometer nearby so you can monitor the temperature of the wax just in case. Always have a notebook so you can keep track of what works and doesn't work, for your hobby records. And finally, always have a fire extinguisher within easy reach! You never know that wax is 100% safe, and it's better to be prepared.

The wax melts best if it is COVERED so we have a glass cover we put on top of this assembly to help the temperature stay at a good, warm temperature. Even so, we start by heating up the water to boiling in the microwave rather than expecting the crockpot to do that work for us. Then all the crockpot has to do is keep it warm.

Once the wax is all melted, it gets poured into the molds.

Candle Making - Tips and Photos for Candlemaking