Waxcycling.

Howzit?
I don't know if this applies to anyone else but I am surrounded by candles. Hemmed in, you might say, by wax. My mother is big into candles, and so we always have quite a few lying around.
If you've ever burned a candles all the way down, you'll know that there is quite a bit of wax left over. Instead of throwing that away, you can quite easily melt it down and recycle the unused wax into new candles!

Step 1 What you need:

Of course, in order to the coolest candlemakin' mutha on the planet, there's a few things you need:

*A Pot. Best to use one that you don't ever want to make food in ever again.

*Water. Boil it. Also best to use some you'll never want to drink again.

*A secondary container, like a tin can or bowl. make sure it fits in the pot, and won;t float or flip over when there's water surrounding it. Still best to use something you never want to eat out of ever again.

*Cutting/Mixing Implements. Need a sharp knife for sizing up the wax you're melting, a duller knife to cut it up once it's soft, a spoon for mixing, and some, um, grabbers. Forceps. Clamps. Whatever. something to hold the tin can while you're fiddling with the wax inside. Use stuff you'll never want to put in your mouth again.

*Gloves. Pretty self explanatory, I mostly use them so I don't have to carry the wax with grabbers/forceps/clamps, I can just pick up the can and pour. easier in every way. Use gloves that you'll never want to wear to a Ball again (where else do you wear gloves?)

*Stove/Warming Plate/Campfire/Iron Forge. A source of heat. No, you can't just stuff the wax in your pants. (but to each his own.) If you absolutely must use the stove to cook edible food on again, you'll need some:

*Tin(Aluminum) Foil. Use this to cover the other burners, so you don't get wax down in the workings of the stove. Don't plan on wrapping up your takeout with this foil ever again.

*Candle Containers. Since you're recycling old candles, you can use the cups they came in.
*Wicks. I use Shoestring. Screw borax and salt, you don't need that crap to make a good wick, just some string. (And the will to survive, but that has nothing to do with candle making.)
*Wax. (See the next step.)

Comments

[UglyStupidLumberjack]

Aglet = plastic at the end of a shoelace.

[cheese10]

Great instructable! Great sense of humor as well. We should sooooo be best friends.

[snazzyjazzy]

Awesome. Love it.

[katmckee]

I like this instructable! nice way to recycle candles without buying a mold and wicks...  I have made lots of candles, and always had to stick a chopstick in the cooling wax next to the wick to keep big airholes from forming. Maybe that is for bigger candles. 

[Kaelessin]

Awesome! Heh I agree with you on the mesmerizing qualities of small flickering flames! One thing to note . . .cotton wicks work a lot better(though do NOT buy them pre-made . . .cotton string or twine is all you really need) especially if they're impregnated with wax beforehand. The reason they're called "wicks" is that they wick(or draw) molten wax up through them to where the fire is and it's the wax that burns first; then, when the candle has shrunk too much for the wick to draw the wax to its tip, the tip burns off and so on. While nylon shoelaces work, they will not allow your candle to last as long since it will not draw the wax up. The wax melts down the sides instead of burning off. 'course if you've got cotton shoelaces then everything's peachy :) *hopes this didn't sound condescending . . .*

[dung0beetle]

soda can tabs is what my sister uses to hold the wick

[ChrysN]

Great idea. I always thought you needed fancy wicks but if you can use regular string or shoe laces it makes it much easier. Thanks!

[fultron89]

Yeah, you can pretty much DIY most of it, the only thing you might want to actually buy is the little flat things on the bottom of the wick. They help the wick not to be pulled up through the still . You could use something else, but if you're careful, you don't need it at all. Thanks for reading.

[ironsmiter]

even that little metal tab is DIYable. any old piee of sheet metal will work, then drive a tiny nail through it, and presto... insta-wick holder. Scissors work pretty well, for cutting them out of the bottom of soda cans too(and if they're good scissors, can be used to put an X in it, to grab the wick)

[LinuxH4x0r]

Nice. I usually just add chunks of wax to other candles while they burn.