Your Workspace and Tools
It is not necessary to devote a space in your home just for candle making unless you plan to make a lot of candles to sell. Your kitchen will do just fine for making candles for yourself or to give as gifts.
Prepare a steady work table by covering it with several layers of newspaper. If using your kitchen counter, protect the counter surface with heavy cardboard or even a piece of plywood under the newspaper to prevent heat from damaging the surface.
Always have hot pads available—the mitten type that covers your entire hand works best. Wear a heat and moisture resistant apron over your clothes if possible.
Use a plastic washbasin to stand or sit the mold in before filling with wax. That way, if it leaks the wax will be contained in the tub instead of running off the counter and onto the floor.
Have a table or counter space where everything you will be using is laid out and waiting. You don’t want to have to go hunting for a necessary tool while your wax is heating.
Choose a sturdy metal pot with small handles for melting the wax—a metal stock pot with “ear” type handles works well—and have a lid that fits the pot snugly. A metal coffee pot with pouring spout works great as long as the top opening is large enough.
Have a box of baking soda on hand in case of fire.
Use a wooden spoon that is long enough to reach to the bottom of your pot without getting your hand into the wax. A metal spoon will conduct the heat to your hand.
Use a thermometer—a glass clip on type works well—when melting the wax.
A long metal knitting needle works well for making a hole in the depression created in the bottom of the candle as the wax cools. After making a hole with the needle, fill the depression with hot wax.
A cheese slicer or a knife will work for trimming the mold seam from the candle once it is cooled, and keep an assortment of soft cloths and paper towel for polishing the finished candle.
You will probably want to keep your candle making tools separate from your regular kitchen items because once coated with wax, they will not be useful for cooking unless you spend a lot of time removing the wax.
