Why You Must Use a Double Boiler Pot for Candle Making
Candle making is one of the most popular crafts around today. People who try their hand at making candles are finding that candle making is fun and easy to do. Some amateur chandlers (that's what candle makers are called) have even opened their own businesses selling their handmade candles.
Maybe you've been making candles that don't require you to melt wax. Gel candles, oil candles, and beeswax candles all use technologies that don't require melted wax. With gel and oil candles, a wick is suspended in fuel - gel or oil - which has been poured into a clear glass container. Often color chips or other colorful items are suspended in the fuel to make the candle more colorful and interesting.
Beeswax candles are simple to make - just roll a sheet of beeswax around a precut wick. Beeswax candles make popular craft projects because children can make them without having to pour hot molten wax into molds. Beeswax is an excellent candle fuel, burning long and evenly, and emitting a pleasant fragrance that releases a touch of honey into the air.
But if you're serious about the craft, you'll want to get a double boiler pot for candle making so you can make a greater variety of candles. Poured candles and dipped candles all require you to melt wax, and the best way to melt wax is using a double boiler pot for candle making.
How to Use Your Double Boiler
Candle makers have been using double boiler pots for candle making for as long as anyone can remember. A double boiler consists of two nested pans that sit one on top of the other. The bottom pan is the boiling pot, and the top pan is the melting pot. Fill the boiling pot with water and wait for it to boil.
Once the water is boiling, place a block of unmelted wax in the melting pot and put the melting pot in place over the boiling pot. As the level of the boiling pot recedes, keep refilling the pot so water continues to boil. The gentle, radiant heat created by the boiling water melts the wax at exactly the right speed and keeps the melted wax from getting too hot.
When using a double boiler pot for candle making, be sure to also use a candy thermometer in your melting pot so you can monitor the temperature of your melted wax. Wax should be held for pouring at a temperature of 165 to 185 degrees.
Always remove the melting pot from the candle making double boiler pot before adding fragrance to your melted wax.
