We’ve made a lot of fun candle DIYs on the blog, and since I’ve been more intentional about having natural-based products in my home, I thought I’d try making beeswax candles.
These beeswax candles are really easy to make yourself, non-toxic, and have a delicious honey smell. I love them!
Related: How to Make Candles – Beginner’s Guide
Supplies for Beeswax Candles:
-1/2 pound beeswax pellets (filtered beeswax is best)
-1/4 cup coconut oil
–cotton candle wicks
–wick stickers
–4 ounces glass or ceramic jars for the candles
–large glass jar
–bamboo skewers (or something to stir the wax with)
How to Make Them:
First, you’ll want to put your beeswax pellets into your large glass jar.
Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the height of the beeswax (but won’t spill out when the water starts to boil). Place your jar into the pot and heat the water until it reaches a low and gentle boil.
Allow the heat from the water to melt the beeswax, giving it a stir with a wooden skewer every few minutes. Beeswax is potentially flammable, so keep an eye on it while it’s melting, and make sure no wax pellets have scattered onto your hot stovetop.
One sign the wax is getting too hot in the jar is that it will start to smoke, so watch for that, too.
While your wax is melting, prepare your candle jars by adding a wick sticker to the bottom of your wick and placing it in the center of the bottom of your jar.
You could also use a wood wick for these. Wrap the wick around a skewer and lay it across the top of your jar to keep the wick in an upright position. You can tape the skewer in place (if needed) while it sets.
Once the wax is melted, turn off the heat and add in your coconut oil, stirring to combine. Adding some coconut oil to your beeswax helps the candle burn more consistently, and avoid tunneling. But, you can also make a 100% beeswax candle by omitting it.
Pour the wax and coconut oil into your candle containers and let them set for 1-2 days before using. Trim the wicks to 1/2″ long, and you’re ready to use your candle!
Yay!! They work! Depending on the kind of beeswax you use, the size of the wick, and the size of the jar, you may have to do some troubleshooting the first few times you make your candle.
How Do I Keep My Candle From Sinking in the Middle?
If you have a candle that tunnels down the middle and never reaches the sides, try a larger/thicker wick to get more heat to melt the wax more evenly.
Depending on how bad your candle is sinking (especially if it’s only doing it a little bit), you may decide to leave your recipe as is. You can scoop out and reuse the leftover wax around the edges each time.
If your candle is melting too fast and your flame won’t stay lit because the wax is drowning out the flame, try a smaller wick instead.
What if My Candle Cracks?
Some people report cracking problems at the top of their beeswax candles, or the candle might fall a bit in the center as it cools.
If that happens, you can reserve a bit of the wax/oil to remelt later and pour another thin layer (once it has cooled) for a smooth looking top.
If you want all the beeswax candle benefits without the work, you can buy some and support another candlemaker. It’s also fun to get some pretty candle accessories, and they make great gifts with a candle.
Can I Add Essential Oils to My Candle?
While the beeswax does have a light and pleasant honey smell when burning, it’s rather faint. So you can experiment with adding essential oils to your candles if you want a more noticeable scent.
Try 1/2-1 ounce of a stronger essential oil (like lavender or vetiver) per 8 ounces of melted wax, or even more for a lighter scented essential oil. I left my candles unscented, but I love the warm glow they put off and the faint honey smell.
Hope you have fun making your own beeswax candles! xo. Laura
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Get the How-To
Supplies
- ½ pound beeswax pellets (filtered beeswax is best)
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- cotton candle wicks
- wick stickers
- 4 ounce glass or ceramic jars (or leftover vessel )
- 1 large glass jar
- bamboo skewers (or something to stir the wax with)
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the height of the beeswax (but won’t spill out when the water starts to boil). Place your jar into the pot and heat the water until it reaches a low and gentle boil.
- Allow the heat from the water to melt the beeswax, giving it a stir with a wooden skewer every few minutes.Beeswax is potentially flammable, so keep an eye on it while it’s melting, and make sure no wax pellets have scattered onto your hot stovetop. One sign the wax is getting too hot in the jar is that it will start to smoke, so watch for that, too.
- While your wax is melting, prepare your candle jars by adding a wick sticker to the bottom of your wick and placing it in the center of the bottom of your jar.
- Once the wax is melted, turn off the heat and add in your coconut oil, stirring to combine. Adding some coconut oil to your beeswax helps the candle burn more consistently and avoid tunneling.But, you can also make a 100% beeswax candle by omitting it.
- Pour the wax and coconut oil into your candle containers and let them set for 1-2 days before using. Trim the wicks to 1/2″ long, and you’re ready to use your candle!
Notes
- This DIY makes two 4-ounce containers.
- If you have a candle that tunnels down the middle and never reaches the sides, try a larger/thicker wick to get more heat to melt the wax more evenly.
- Depending on how bad your candle is sinking (especially if it’s only doing it a little bit), you may decide to leave your recipe as is. You can scoop out and reuse the leftover wax around the edges each time.
- If your candle is melting too fast and your flame won’t stay lit because the wax is drowning out the flame, try a smaller wick instead.
Wow, this recipe looks like so much fun! I can’t wait to try it out!!!
So excited to try this!
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Hello, Goodness, your group seems to know so much concerning bees wax candles, wonderful..! For decades, all candles in our home have been bees wax. I’ve carefully wrapped and closeted many of these, in all shapes and forms. Now I’m discovering that some of the highly detailed votives appear to have (frosted?) on their exteriors. I’m wondering if you can offer advice as to how I might possibly return them to their former beauty..? Thank you.
-Elaine Manley, Oregon City, OR
Beeswax will develop a “bloom” or frosted look. You can run the beeswax under lightly warm water and lightly wipe the bloom away with a paper towel or cloth. You can find information online to read more about it. It is a common occurrence.
Hi
Simple lovely tutorial but I’ve made two now and both have tunnelled – any tips? They burn but not very brightly then it’s like the head/wick doesn’t reach the outer rim of the candle. I’m getting so confused what could be doing it and how to stop it! I just want to see a candle burn properly! 🙂
Hi! Try a bigger thicker wick that can burn a bigger flame to melt more wax all the way to the edge. I would call a candle supply making store in your area they will know exactly what to recommend, and have wicks for all kinds of wax candies–different waxes and jars need different wicks.
Oh, I love DIYs. Inspired me to make my own candles also 🙂
wonderful tutorials! It’s so simple making, thanks for sharing your idea…
I love all your DIYs!! I just started a blog myself (littlediyproject.wordpress.com) and this is so inspirational. Please go on and make many more people happy with your projects!!
Simple is always the best.. nice one!
https://lazycinderella.com/
Whenever I make candles I get a pretty annoying sink hole down the middle when the wax is setting. It can be solved easily with pouring a second batch of melted wax in the jar to fill the hole, but every blog I read about it nobody seems to have the same problem… pinterest-perfect, so to say 😉 did you experience something like this before? Or do you know how to avoid this? (I usually melt ‘existing’ candles instead of wax, maybe that has something to do with it?)
Many thanks!!
Elise
Hi! Try a bigger wick it will burn more wax and be stronger to prevent the tunnelling hole that you are having. I would call a candlemaking supplies store near you because they have wicks for all kinds of waxes and sizes and can offer you the wick type that will be best for your candle method. 🙂
It depends on what the “existing candles” are made of. Different waxes have different heat points. Some waxes do require 2nd pours aka top-offs. When you see that your candle has started to set, poke 2 to 3 holes with a wooden skewer around the wick, heat up the wax again, and do the 2nd pour.
I read somewhere it’s because you cool your candles too fast….you should put them in a warm place to firm up….and cure fir the appropriate amount of time.
My mom used to make beeswax candles all the time! You have inspired me to try making my own, these look great!
-Andrea @ www.morethanrubies.ca
Such a cute idea!
www.petiteandhungry.com
Hi again,
I just noticed you guys edited your blog post to remove the ‘toxin-binding’ claim. Seriously, Thank you!! I respect you for that.
~Renee
Hi Laura,
There’s nothing wrong with making beeswax candles – but there is A LOT wrong with making false claims about what they do for air quality. There is zero legitimate science behind your claims about ‘negative ions binding and removing toxins in the air’. If there were, would you mind citing your sources? Linking to another blog that repeats the same is called circular reasoning and as such, doesn’t count as a good citation. (I did happen to read that post as well, and there were no links to credible sources to be found.) And just because you read other sites that you ‘like & trust’, doesn’t make their (or your) claims true. Moreover, it appears the logical fallacy of Appealing to Nature is at work here. Natural does not equal safe, or better, or anything – it’s just ‘natural’, that’s all. It’s a biased way of thinking.
You all at ABM are in a position of power with your wide audience – I wish you would be more socially responsible about it.
It’s from Hobby Lobby! I just painted it gold 🙂
Laura
Do you have a FB or Instagram?
We do! Both are linked at the bottom of our homepage.
So classy (as always) Laura:) Love this DIY
Lovely! I LOVE the scent of beeswax candles. I used to make them when I was a kid. <3
Laura- can you tell me where you got the gold hand on the left?? I’ve been looking for one of those in that position for AGES.
Help a sistah out!!!
Great tip! And yes, that’s my feelings on conventional candles as well so I’m so happy to have found a more natural product I like too 🙂
Laura
Hi K!
I do understand what you are saying. I have read that the candles can be cleaning to air on several web sites that I like and trust (the same way a Himalayan salt lamp can be) but I understand that it’s not everybody’s point of view. Either way, the beeswax candles are a more natural way to do a candle DIY and I still love them for that reason as I avoid petroleum based products and artificial scents as much as I can in my home. Thanks for your input!
Laura
Thank you, I for one can’t do petroleum based products. I have Asthma. I now make my own beeswax candles, much cleaner air.