How to make beeswax candles with an easy DIY tutorial.
I’ve been making my own handmade candles for years now. First, I started off making my own rolled beeswax candles. My kids and I have been making these together for over 10 years.
Next, it was homemade soy candles. I’ve been making my own soy candles for years, too.
But now I’m going to share with you my favorite natural candles of all. Beeswax candles are the healthiest candles I’ve come across yet. And they’re so easy to make!
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to make your own homemade beeswax candles with just a few ingredients and simple supplies.
Watch the Video
Why Should You Learn How to Make Beeswax Candles?
Beeswax candles are beautiful and natural, and they make great gifts!
But more importantly, beeswax candles are non-toxic, and they can actually purify the air in your house!
Natural beeswax candles are cleaner burning than paraffin candles, so you can feel good about using them.
Learning how to make your own candles is a useful skill that’s also easy to learn.
This post contains affiliate links below. Read my full disclosure here.
What Do You Need to Make Beeswax Candles?
As I mentioned above, you only need a few basic supplies to make these easy beeswax candles.
- 1 pound beeswax
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- wax melting pitcher and saucepan for double boiler
- candle wicks
- 8 ounce jelly jars or 4 ounce canning jars (or any size you have available)
- glue gun and glue sticks
- clothespins
- essential oils, optional
A note about scenting beeswax candles with essential oils: it takes a lot of essential oils to scent candles. For this reason, I usually don’t add them to my homemade beeswax candles.
Usually, I just leave the candles as they are, with their delicate, natural honey scent.
But if you want to add essential oils, you could try about 40-55 drops of essential oils (or even up to as much as a tablespoon or two). You may need to experiment to see how many drops you’ll need.
Because it takes so many drops of the essential oils to scent the candles, I would use cheaper essential oils for this.
How to Make Beeswax Candles
Learning how to make beeswax candles is easy and fun. Here are the simple steps for making your own.
1. Heat up your glue gun and stick the wicks (these are the wicks I use) to the bottom of the jars. Try to keep the wicks in the center of the jar.
2. Fill your saucepan or pot about half full of water, put it on the stove, and bring water to a boil.
3. Pour 1 pound of beeswax pellets into your wax melting pitcher or other container (I bought this candle making pitcher almost 7 years ago, and it’s still working well for me).
4. Set the container with the beeswax into the boiling water in the saucepan to create a double boiler effect. Turn the heat down so the water is just gently boiling or simmering.
5. Allow the beeswax to melt. Stir occasionally. I use a wooden skewer or a wooden spoon from the thrift store for this.
6. After the beeswax has melted, add the 1/2 cup of coconut oil. Stir to combine, and wait for it to melt. Then add any essential oils, if using.
7. Quickly pour the melted beeswax and coconut oil into your jars. Work quickly because beeswax starts to set up very fast.
8. After pouring the wax into your containers, center the wick with a clothespin (see the video if this is unclear), or use a pencil or bamboo skewer to center the wick.
9. Allow the candles to sit undisturbed while the wax sets up and hardens. Then trim the wicks to about 1/4″ to 1/2″ long.
10. I usually wait a day or two before burning the candles for the first time. This allows them to cure. When burning for the first time, it’s a good idea to let the candle burn for a couple of hours.
That’s all there is to it!
How to Make Beeswax Candles
Ingredients
- 1 pound beeswax
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- wax melting pitcher and saucepan for double boiler
- candle wicks
- 8 ounce jelly jars or 4 ounce canning jars or any size you have available
- glue gun and glue sticks
- clothespins
Instructions
- Heat up your glue gun and stick the wicks to the bottom of the jars. Try to keep the wicks in the center of the jar.
- Fill your saucepan or pot about half full of water, put it on the stove, and bring water to a boil.
- Pour 1 pound of beeswax pellets into your wax melting pitcher or other container.
- Set the container with the beeswax into the boiling water in the saucepan to create a double boiler effect. Turn the heat down so the water is just gently boiling or simmering.
- Allow the beeswax to melt. Stir occasionally. I use a wooden skewer or a wooden spoon from the thrift store for this.
- After the beeswax has melted, add the 1/2 cup of coconut oil. Stir to combine, and wait for it to melt. Then add any essential oils, if using.
- Quickly pour the melted beeswax into your jars.
- After pouring the wax into your containers, center the wick with a clothespin (see the video if this is unclear), or use a pencil or bamboo skewer to center the wick.
- Allow the candles to sit undisturbed while the wax sets up and hardens. Then trim the wicks about 1/4" to 1/2" long.
- I usually wait a day or two before burning the candles for the first time. This allows them to cure. When burning for the first time, it's a good idea to let the candle burn for a couple of hours. That's it!
Different shades of beeswax will give you different shades of candles. I used white beeswax for some of the candles in this post, and the darker ones were made with yellow beeswax.
Supplies Needed for This Project
- 1 pound beeswax
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- wax melting pitcher and saucepan for double boiler
- candle wicks
- 8 ounce jelly jars or 4 ounce canning jars (or any size you have available)
- glue gun and glue sticks
- clothespins
- essential oils, optional
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This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure here. Sharing here.
Jody Schiavelli says
December 5, 2019 at 5:45 pmGreat tutorial on Candle making with Beeswax. I like your idea of wiping out the melting pot with paper towels when you are finished pouring the wax. Those wax soaked towels make amazing natural fire starters for your fireplace, or grill. I use them to light the bee smoker when working my hives. Just roll them up while they are still damp with wax and let them harden. You can clip them down into 1 or 2 inch pieces and store in a small bag for future use.
Joy Kincaid says
December 6, 2019 at 12:17 amThank you, Jody! And thanks so much for sharing that helpful tip about the fire starters!
Lisa L Lombardo says
September 26, 2019 at 9:49 amYour beeswax candles look so beautiful! I saw your post featured on The Homestead Hop this week…congratulations!
I would love to have you share your talent with us on Farm Fresh Tuesdays! We have a Sweet Maple Giveaway going on until Monday, Sept 30th! I hope you’ll stop by and enter for a chance to win some sweet mapley goodness!
Joy Kincaid says
September 28, 2019 at 4:42 pmThank you, Lisa!
Alice says
September 20, 2019 at 7:42 amI’ve never made my own candles before but this would be awesome to try to make at home. thanks for linking up with us at #OMGHWW
Joy Kincaid says
September 20, 2019 at 11:18 pmI love how easy they are!
Clearissa Coward says
September 19, 2019 at 4:37 pmLoved this tutorial. My husband and I were discussing candle making just yesterday. I can’t wait to show him your tutorial. Thanks for sharing with #omhgww
Clearissa Coward says
September 19, 2019 at 4:43 pmCongratulations for your feature on Wordless Wednesday at Oh My Heartsie Girl. Check back next week to see your feature. Thanks for sharing with #omhgww
Joy Kincaid says
September 19, 2019 at 6:58 pmThanks so much for the feature, Clearissa!
Joy Kincaid says
September 19, 2019 at 6:58 pmThank you! They’re super easy to make!
Samantha Horning says
September 18, 2019 at 3:08 amThis is so awesome, I can’t wait to try it out with my kids! I had no idea it was so doable!! Thanks for sharing!!
Joy Kincaid says
September 18, 2019 at 4:50 pmThey’re so easy and very doable! 🙂 Have fun making them!