The Recycapple Candle

[Nifty]

Well, y'all got me sufficiently freaked out!

I had 3 taper candles in the big thick jar, melted a ton of leftover candles, and had poured them in. All the wax was about 90% solid until I read all the posts, pulled out the 3 taper candles, remelted the entire thing again, and put one single taper candle in the middle.

Here it is after burning for about 3 hours. Looks like I'll need to do either 2-3 of these smaller taper candles, or get a bigger wick.

 

[Hinotori]

That wax pool looks like you could get away with 2 wicks of that size in there.

 

[Hinotori]

Usually if it's too hot, the glass breaks and spills wax out which could become a fire hazard as it's paraffin. There isn't usually an explosion unless it's those crappy gel candles they had back in the 90s - 00s. Those things burned extremely hot and had a habit of shattering and throwing shards and flaming gel a few feet from the candle.

I have a ceramic plate for under my candles. I had a glass taper holder break in two when the wick got down to it. That one would have started a fire but we heard the pop and saw the tapper butt fall out and tip over.

 

[Hinotori]

Oh! My husband suggests buying some wick and some of the cool silicone candle molds you can get off Amazon. No glass to worry then. Just have a plate under.

 

[Nifty]

Oh! My husband suggests buying some wick and some of the cool silicone candle molds you can get off Amazon. No glass to worry then. Just have a plate under.

All great advice, thanks!

Any good links to products you suggest?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

You can use just about anything as a form for your candle. An easy one would be an empty cardboard cream container. Or a plastic container that is wider at the top. Perhaps a sour cream container? The wax should not be hot enough to melt the plastic when it is poured. You can then slide the cooled candle out of the form.

I would opt for pouring the wax into a previously used candle jar, and then set that jar into a container that would contain any spills if the glass DID break. Candles should never be used unless you are present anyways. A bit of caution is always prudent, but I'd not worry overly much.

You could go to the Salvation Army, or any similar place and buy some used cookware to cast your candles in.

If you wanted to get artsy, you could do some sand casted candles.

 

[flowerbug]

That's one of the main reasons I have olive oil lamps for emergency lights, especially for the bedroom. If they get tipped over, the oil smothers the flame and it goes out. They can give a decent amount of light- enough to read by, and you can use other oils- I've heard of people using castor oil or cod liver oil- although they sound like they wouldn't smell that great. You can use rancid oil too- the fuel itself might stink, but the burning fuel won't. My only problem is that olive trees won't grow here. I plan on experimenting with sunflower seed oil, since I have an oil press and sunflowers grow easily.

Here's some more information about oil lamps and some simple DIY lamp ideas: https://www.primalsurvivor.net/vegetable-oil-lamp/

for as little as we need emergency lighting i am willing to use and LED lamp and the computer's UPS backup battery as power for when we need it. i haven't had to use it yet. i do have some old railroad lanterns that i could use if i had oil in them. i've used them before when i've been camping and liked them because they were enclosed, but the fire hazard i would rather just use and LED light now instead. my flashlight will go almost a whole week off one D cell battery, etc.

 

[Britesea]

We have power outages frequently enough that I've got a few things in place: I hate trying to cook in the dark, with just a lantern at my elbow- you can't see INTO the pot easily. So I have two inexpensive hanging oil lamps on the ceiling. Works a treat!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I saw a neat idea a year or so ago. Lay in a few high powered solar landscape lights. Put them out to charge in the day, then bring them inside, stick the posts in a bucket of sand, or a jar, and you'll have light for the night. Next morning, rinse and repeat.

 

[wyoDreamer]

For emergency lighting, my DH grabs his Milwaukee Battery Operated Light Stand from the garage, lol. He uses it when working out in the outbuildings. It sure lights up a small living room.