Making Marble Effect Candles - How to Dye a Candle to Make it Look Like Marble

Discuss these topics on the Message Boards
Copyright © 2003-2004 CandleHelp.com

This is a fantastic project, and it's amazingly easy! It only takes about a minute to make one of these candles, once you’re started, but it looks like you spent hours on each one!
You can use almost any candle, as long as you have a container big enough to dip it into. You can use inexpensive candlesticks, floating candles, fancy tapers, votives, small pillars, seasonal candles like Easter egg shaped candles, or for Halloween, bat shaped candles. The possibilities are endless!

What You Will Need - Supplies

Candles to Dip

Color Dye Chips

Steamer Pot or old Sauce Pan to create a double boiler

Standard Size Melting Pot with pour spout

Wood Stir Sticks, chopsticks, toothpicks, or something else to stir the dye with

Pliers

Scissors or Craft Knife

Also a good idea to have around:

Paper towels

Wax Remover

Aluminum Foil

Newspaper, butcher paper, or scrap paper to cover work surfaces

Fire Extinguisher (just in case)

How to Set Up Your Work Area

Put down newspaper or butcher paper on tables and countertops to catch spills and for easy cleanup.
Have paper towels and Wax Remover on hand for cleaning stovetops.
Wrap stove burner bowls in tin foil to catch drips of wax, and for easy cleanup afterwards.

Choosing your Melting Pot

This project requires you to completely submerge your candle in the water, to get full coverage of the marbled look on your candle. When choosing a melting pot, choose one deep enough to allow you to completely submerge your candle. Also remember that your submerged candle will displace the water, raising the level. So choose a melting pot deep enough to allow you to completely submerge your candle without water spilling over the edge.

Fill Melting Pot with Water

For this project, you will use your double boiler, but instead of filling the melting pot with wax, you will be filling it with water.

Fill the bottom part of your double boiler (the steamer pot or the deep sauce pan) with about two inches of cool water, and place on the burner set to high temperature.

Fill the melting pot with water and place it in the steamer pot. Do not fill it to the top, because when you dip your candle, it will displace some of the water, bringing the water level up.

When the water in the steamer pot begins to boil, set the burner to medium or low. The water in the melting pot will heat up, but do not let it boil.

Drop Wax Chip Shavings in Water and Stir

While your water is heating up, drop some dye chip shavings into the melting pot. You can get shavings off of the dye chips with a Craft Knife or a pair of Scissors.

The dye chips will melt on the surface of the water. Start with a few shavings and see how much coverage on the surface of the water you get.
Use the wood stir stick, chop stick, or toothpick to stir the dye on the surface of the water. If the dye chips melt and form into large pools on the surface of the water, break it up with your stirring implement. Heat the water in the melting pot to 135 degrees F. This is the point at which the wax dye chips will melt. If the water gets too hot, it will cause the dye to coat the surface of the water, not form into little dots of color on the surface. When the dye is too hot, the candle will have less of a marbled effect when you dip it; it will have more of a washed effect. Also, the higher the temperature, the more quickly the candle you are dipping will melt away in the water. Just around 135 to 145 degrees F gives you time to dip your candle without it melting, and keeps the dye the proper consistency on the surface of the water.
This water is the correct temperature and the candle dye is maintaining its drop like shape. Very little wax has melted off of the dipped candles to coat the surface of the water.
This water is too hot and the candle dye is dispersing to coat the surface of the water, losing its drop like shape, and wax has melted off the dipped candles to coat the surface of the water as well.

A sparse spattering of melted dye on the surface of the water will give you a sparse marbling on your candle. A thick coating of melted dye will coat more of the surface of your candle. You can experiment with the different effects of different amounts of dye in your melting pot.

Continued On Page Two (click here to see it)

See Also
Candle Making Supplies
Birthday Candles
Floating Candles
Sculpture Candles
Vigil Candles
Wedding Candles
Wedding Candles

Link To This Site

Interesting Products

Conditions of Use
You use this site and the information on it completely at your own risk. It is your responsibility to verify all information on this site before using it. Any advice, recommendation, tip, tool, guide, tutorial or suggestion may be subject to error or omission. You understand that all information is provided without express or implied warranties. The staff of CandleGoodies.com can not be held liable for incidental, consequential or indirect damages resulting from your use of this site or the use of information contained on the site.