How to Make Your Own Candles - Votives

The ideal pouring temperature for votives is 175 degrees F, so you will need to remove the double boiler from the heat source to allow the wax to cool to 175 degrees F (170 to180 degrees F is an acceptable temperature range for pouring votive candles). However, we are making simple, stress free votives here, so don’t spend too much time worrying about the temperature of the candle wax before you pour it. (My favored method for votives is to wait to pour until I can just begin to see the wax solidifying (congealing) on the inside surface of the melting pot.)

You need a spouted container to pour votives. You can also use a wood stirring stick or a chopstick for added pouring control to reduce dribbles.

To check temperature of wax, immerse thermometer in wax, taking care not to let it touch the bottom of the melting pot.

Set: After making the first pour of wax into the votive molds, let the votives stand undisturbed while the wax shrinks and they cool completely. It generally takes a votive about an hour to an hour and a half (my experience is usually no longer than 2 hours, although some people report cool times of up to 4 hours) for the wax in the mold to cool and shrink.

As the votive cools in the mold, the wax shrinks creating a depression in the center around the wick.

2nd Pour: The “second pour” is made after the wax in the votive candle mold has cooled completely. The reason for making a second pour (pouring more wax into the mold after the first pour wax has cooled) is that the wax from the first pour will have shrunk into a sink-hole around the wick. This is normal, as wax expands when melted and contracts when it cools.

The 2nd pour of a votive candle fills the depression in the center of the candle where the wax has shrunk.

To make the second pour for a votive candle, re-heat the remaining wax and pour it into the depression of the cooled wax in the votive candle mold.

When making the second pour, fill the votive mold up to the rim, and just a bit higher, taking care not to fill it so much that wax dribbles over the edge.

The correct level of wax for the 2nd pour of a votive creates the slight lip at the top of a votive.

Wait another hour or so for the candle to completely cool in the votive mold, and then remove the votive from the mold. Before burning the candle, trim the wick to 1/2 “ (our pre-tabbed votive wicks generally run a little long, so you will likely need to trim the wick down to 1/2 ” before burning your new votive)