D.I.Y Re- Wicking a Candle

Hello Everyone!

I've had this idea in mind for a while however, I didn't have the supplies to follow through with it..mind you all that I was missing was the wick...I really enjoyed doing this, I basically re-created a new candle with the scraps that I had accumulated!

Some materials you might need:

-extra candles (scraps)

- one jar where you are going to put all the pieces in

- soap and water (to clean the existing gunk off)

- scissors or a knife (to carve out spare pieces)

-wick (of your choice)

- glue gun (to glue wick piece/ holder down)

- Stove (to melt all the candle pieces)

- tongs or gloves to move candle off stove (be careful)

Basically this idea came into mind when some of my B &BW candles stop lighting..they got to a certain point and I could never re- light them. I actually was reading somewhere that your not even supposed to light them all the way because it can become dangerous. I would have much wax leftover but no wick in sight. I'm not sure if this is because I didn't light it property or take care of it, but all I know is that I was left with a candle that would not light!

..Does this happen to anyone else, or am I the only one with major candle issues haha?!

I had three candles that were duds; a mini Mango Cilantro, a medium Winter Candy Apple (from Christmas) and another medium Homemade Cookie candle!

Finally yesterday I was able to visit my local craft store (Micheal's) and pick up some candle wick. I was amazed at all the different styles..they had all sorts, I decided because this was my first time I would go with the wire wick that already had the stopper piece on it.

They had so many different assortments of the rope wick as well... flat wick, braided etc..This is the one I went with..

So this is already pre- measured and it has the silver stopper on it..this is what holds the wick in place, and is then glued down to the candle jar/ tin later on. It looks like I am going to have to trim this wick piece down when my candle is melted.

Basically the jist of this D.I.Y is essentially taking old candle scraps putting them into one jar, adding a new wick, melting the candle, and lastly trimming the wick to the proper height! It sounds like a lot of work but it's fun!

Step by Step Guide

 Gather all materials and start carving, put your scarps to one side

For the small candle I just used my scissors..I glided them along the circumference of the candle..this gets it loose and you can easily break it and pick up the pieces. For the the medium candle I simply cut a slit down the candle and this allowed me to pick up what was left in the tin!

 Finish doing that until your tin is completely empty! This is the tin I am going to create the candle with,however you need to get it clean in order to place the new wick piece in

See that metal piece (in the middle)..that's the old holder, the one you will need to remove

3) Next clean the jar in which you will be making the new candle

So here is what the medium and mini looked like when they were candle free. I had removed the wick holder in the mini but not the medium

I decided to use the tin Candy Apple to remake my candle..

here it is clean for the most part & wick removed! As you can see the new wick is ready to be put in place..

Note: Here is where I kind of made a boo-boo

I am going to put the pictures I took initially and then show you what I did wrong and how I corrected

There was still some sticky residue so I didn't bother adding any more glue, I just placed the new holder on top, and started surrounding it with the candle wax

Next it was ready for melting, I placed a tray on top of the ceramic plates so the tin was not directly on the stove

So basically when I put it on the stove the wick holder began to get wobbly because it was getting heated and the glue was melting. Soo here I took out the wick holder and waited for the whole candle to melt.

then I waited a few minutes and placed the holder back it and stabilized it

Instead of doing this you could also glue the holder down in a separate jar, melt the candle in a separate one as well..when the candle is all done melting pour in into the one with the holder and let it cool... this is probably what I should have done, oh well :)

To speed up the cooling I stuck it in the freezer!

I took it out maybe after 7 minutes, and then just rested it on the counter

Yayy all done! One last step though...

LIGHTT IT !!!

 Quick reminder- when you snip the excess trim off do not throw it away..you can put it on the metal holder piece you removed from the initial candle!!!!

This metal holder came from the Candy Apple candle, I just put the snipped extra wick on it...These holders sell for like $3.99 a box..no it's not expensive but you can save yourself some materials :)

I hope this was helpful, it looks hard and tedious but I swear its not! It felt long for me because I had to document everything while I was going.

Recap: Scrape out candle, place in empty clean container, melt, place new wick in the candle, let it cool, trim wick, and lastly burn it ..

Oh woww that was a lot of on and off typing haha...I can't wait to do it again. I absolutely love experimenting and doing crafts like these!

If you want to see how to make a candle with the other type of wick (flat/ braided) Click Here..super interesting, to be honest I didn't read all the text, the pictures gave me a good idea of what to do.

Hope you all have a great Night!!