Introduction: 8 Hour Mini Recycled Survival Candles in 10 Steps!

About: Woodworker, Photographer, Camper, Hiker, Canoeist, Hunter, Gardener, Bee Keeper and general outdoorsman. I enjoy teaching myself new things and learning from others.
8 Hour Mini Recycled Survival Candles

This Instructable will show you how to make 8 hour survival candles out of everyday items. These candles can be made for next to nothing, bring light in dark times, and bring warmth to you and your family when survival situation takes place. Just follow the following steps and you will become hooked on recycled survival candle making!

1. Find, pick up, ask for used candles:
Used Candles are found all over the place, from your own home to friends family and even businesses. Just ask for them most people are looking to get rid of them or have no use for an old candle. Their loss your gain!

2. You will need to buy wicks: I found the most cost effective way was from buying them from a certain online retailer that rhymes with Blamazon dot som.

3. Find yourself some glass jars: I used baby food jars but I have also experimented with mason jars for larger longer lasting recycled candles.

4. Break up those candles!:First you have break something down before you can make it into something useful again. I used a chisel and hammer to break up all the used candles into easier to use/melt pieces. Be sure to take out old wicks and metal sinkers out of old candles while you are breaking them up.

5. Start boiling that water:Fill a pan about 3/4 the way full of water and bring it to a boil. Then fill a mason jar with pieces of broken candle to weigh it down. If you don't do this step your mason jar could tip over due to the boiling water rising around it and making it unstable and causing it to break or splash hot water all over you, and ending your fun candle making afternoon on a bad note.

6. Get a stir stick!: I cut a piece of wooden rod to use as my stir stick. It works great for moving pieces around and stirring the hot wax. Once again be careful not to mix to quickly or force a piece to move inside the mason jar this may result in the jar falling over and you losing your knuckle hair due to hot wax, trust me.

7. Carefully Add Wax as you go: Keep adding wax to your mason jar until it is the melted wax reaches the 3/4 of the way full mark. keep cooking in the boiling water until completely melted.

8. Stick Wicks into jars:Be sure to fasten a toothpick to one end of the wick to keep it straight inside the jar during pouring of the hot wax and cooling of the wax as well.

9. You guessed it, pour the hot wax!:Pour all the wax into as many of the small containers as you can. Double check the wicks and make sure they are straight, then refill the mason jar with pieces of broken wax until full and set back into boiling water.

10. Check mini survival candles: Once cool check the candles, you may notice that the wax has made a "crater" in the jar. That happens because the wax takes up less space once it solidifies and because the outside of the jar is becomes cooler faster that tends to be where the wax holds it position first. Easy remedy is to add more wax into crater until full.

That's it your done! feel free to mix and match candles types and smells. Enjoy feeling secure that even if the power goes out you will always have a heat and light source that you can rely on!