Making oil lamps and candles for free

Step 2 Making a paper wick tallow candle

You can make a tallow or cooking grease candle very easily with the stiff paper wicking described earlier.

1. Select a jar, wide mouth jars are easiest to light.

2. Make a spiral from some wire, a foot of unwound ground wire works very well.

3. Pinch the wire around the wicking so the wick stands up. That way the wick will stand straight even if the grease melts. Where as, regular candle wicking would just fall into the candle.

4. Melt and pour in your grease, wait for the grease to solidify, then your candle is ready to use...

Comments

[lomi.hija]

it would be nice if you can make the wick float, so it will automatically follow any level of oil you have..

[bowow0807]

i think you can by using one of those tiny candles in the small tin used for boiling scents. just punch a hole and place the wick through the hole and it will float

[Catl8dy]

You can! I tried it and it works great. Thanks for the idea :-)
I used a Kerr jelly jar.
Punched a small hole in the center of the metal candle holder, twisted in my
salted paper wick, floated it on top of the oil and waited for it to absorb the oil. Took it out with a needlenose pliers, lit it while holding with the pliers, and put back in the oil.
The wick was about 1/8 above the metal and the extended about an inch
below it, into the oil.

[Knitwitz]

Wow, great idea, Thank You, so much for your knowledge.

[Starrystar]

Is there some alternative to grease for us vegetarian types? Maybe crisco or . . . something vegetable based? (wishful thinking, maybe.)

[steam_cannon]

Yes. Most of the pictures are of lamps burning recycled corn oil. And looking back to history, oil lamps since antiquity have used olive oil. So yes, you can definitely use vegetable oils.

[rbneville]

you could probably use algae oil too.

[steam_cannon]

Most of the oil candles in the pictures are burning vegetable oil. Many of the oil candles in the picture are burning used vegetable oil. It's not a bad way to get one last use out of some oil.

[shmacky26]

This worked perfect for me the first time, I used a coffee filter to filter olive oil after cooking chicken. The only problem that I ended up with is that my wix, made of paper and salt, burns black smoke after it really gets going. Not sure why, but it's too smokey for indoors. Any suggestions or comments on why that is happening? Also, Is there something you can mix with oil to get it to smell good that's not store bought? Maybe grinding up dried rose pedals to a powder and mixing it in with the oil?

[steam_cannon]

Glad to hear it worked right off the bat! :) If your wick is smoking, try trimming it shorter. That fixes smoking problems for me. Regarding changing the smell of the oil, Rose oil might work but in general I don't know much about how to scent oils.

[rbneville]

Just get what you want your oil scented as. Fore example a rose flower. Place it in the oil and keep the oil warm for a day or 2.( I found placing it on top of a heater works good). Then filter and use.

[texasmom_35]

To keep the oil warm do you think that placing it on one of those candle warming things would be ok?? I use it to make my yogurt and when used with a small plate between it and the yogurt it stays at a perfect 110 degrees.

[crochetdee]

How long can you burn? does the glass have a point where it get too hot and will break? or the oil can bubble/sizzle up? By grease: did you mean bacaon fat? thank you. PS: I add scent to candles, you use less when then candle wax is a little cooler, otherwise you're cooking the scent. spearmint and sage is great for headaches, nausea, muscle pain rosemary, mint and sage great for extreme muscle aches Pine for colds. mix in a scent you enjoy, like rose, is you don't like the smell or want to add softness to a medicinal mix. and remember, it won't cure your headache if spearmint gives you one. these cures work by being absorbed thru skin or nose, but being harsh smelling isn't the same as haing a Negative reaction. Aso, these are medicinal. watch how many drops you use and how much COMBINED oils you take throughout the day. AND ALSO MAKE SURE TO AVOID oils that are Expellants!!! they're good for getting rid of congestion and BABIES. Just don't buy them.

[steam_cannon]

As with anything involving fire, use your best judgment. But in my experience I use wide mouth jars and candle size wicks so I haven't had the glass get too hot, even when the fuel is running out. I guess as a rule of thumb, if you can put a candle in the jar you can also make it an oil lamp. Regarding grease, I've used bacon fat, butter fat, tallow, cooking oils... Crisco smells awful IMO, but is fine for outside. And as a general rule of thumb with any kind of candle, if you are worried about your walls getting smudged, cooking oil scent, or fire, then don't use these indoors. If you worry, don't make yourself worry :)

[iarkus]

My grandma used to just perforate lid of a jar and insert wicking through hole. you can fill the jar with just about anything - grease or wax of any kind. As long as there is enough oxygen, it will burn for a long, long time.