Honestly, this thing is a gamechanger. Hello, everyone welcome back to my channel and welcome to today’s video. If you’re new here, my name is Georgina co-owner of ivy and twine candles, and I make videos all about making and selling candles and as you’ll have seen from the title of today’s Video I’m going to be talking you through some great tools and pieces of equipment which will really help you if you are just getting started in your candle making journey or if you’re just looking to step up your game.
I will be leaving links to all of these products in the description box below if you would like to check them out. However, just as a little disclaimer, there will be affiliate links in there, which means that for every product purchased, I will earn a small commission. However, that doesn’t affect the price on your end. Ultimately, it just means you will be supporting my channel if you do use any of those links. So thank you in advance to anyone who does before we get started, though I’d, just like to ask you to subscribe if you haven’t done so already.
I post videos every tuesday, however. So be sure to click the little bell if you’d like to be notified when I do post a new video. And be sure to give it a big thumbs up if you do enjoy this video, so more like-minded people can see it. So first up today, and probably most importantly, is My three liter metal jug – and I have one of these here – to show you now. Obviously it doesn’t actually hold three liters of hot wax, but from this container i can get about 15 candles worth so it’s. A really great size, if, like me in the beginning, you’re using the van marie or double boiler method.
This jug is also perfect for that, because it actually has a heat resistant handle, which I think is made of plastic, but it is heat resistant. So it just means you’re not going to be potentially burning your hand when you’re taking it out of the potter pan that you’re using. Next up is my trusty buffalo soup kettle. Now if you are currently using the double boiler method to melt your wax you might be looking at ways that you can increase the amount of candles that you can make at any one time.
So it was actually a couple of months into my candle business that I bought my first soup kettle after seeing a recommendation in a facebook group that iI’m in, and I now have two and if I’m honest, I’m actually tempted to buy myself another one if it wasn’t for the fact that I am still working in my kitchen and my house and obviously space is a bit of an issue.
Then I probably would have already bought myself another one. They are, in my opinion, the best thing for melting your wax. At the time I bought my first one I believe they were only about 40 pounds, but I think they may have gone up slightly. But there’s 10 different heat settings and once I get it to the right temperature using my thermometer. I just put it down to one or two and then it keeps at that temperature for me, which is perfect. Next up on my list of must-haves, is my digital meat thermometer that I use, and I actually have two of these – and I spoke about this in my – how to get better hot, throw video which you may have seen.
If you’ve not I will leave a link to that in the description box below as well for you to have a look at. So these thermometers are digital and they come with a probe which I leave in my soup kettle, whilst the wax is heating up and then it actually has an alarm on it, which, when it obviously gets up to that temperature, it lets off a really quite annoying but helpful alarm sound. So that no matter where I am in the house, or even if I’m out in the garden, let’s say i can hear it going off, and I know that I have to come in and turn down the thermostat.
Obviously, to stop it going above that temperature next up are the wick centering tools that I use now. Obviously, there are so many ways that you can actually center your wicks and I’ve seen people use things like clothes, pegs or pencils, and when you are very first getting started, obviously it could be tempting to just use things that you already have In your house, however, from my experience, they can move around a lot when your candles are setting, and obviously you don’t want that. However, with these because of the different grooves that it has, it means it can actually fit several different sizes of jars and it stops the wick from moving around at all. So I have bought so many of these myself.
I probably have about 100 of these downstairs currently and I think they’re great value for money. If you’ve ever come back to your candles once they’re set, and you find that there are wicks that are completely off-center and the candle is basically unsellable then you will relate 10 out of 10 would recommend okay.
Next, I want to talk to you about this bad boy, which is my piston funnel. So this is something which would normally be used by bakers I believe. However, it is perfectly suitable for using with your candle making when you’re pouring your wax into your jars or vessels. Honestly, this thing is a game changer, and I actually can’t believe that when I’d, not long started, I was pouring my wax into my jars just from a jug like this like just free hand, and I would make so much mess.
There would be wax like around the top of the candle jar and dribbling down the side of it and then all over my work surfaces, which was just a nightmare to clean up, and I found that after my candles had set I would have to go back like the next day and clean up the outsides of the jars, basically with like a hot cloth, and it just took an age. So honestly, if that’s you just do yourself a massive favour and get yourself a funnel, because it will make your life so much easier in terms of using it.
It’s obviously pretty self-explanatory, but does come with this handy stand. So you can obviously pop it in there and whilst you’re, adding your fragrance oils or you’re waiting for your wax to get down to that temperature to pour it um.
And then you just push it down uh to release the wax out of the bottom, but honestly I love it so much. Just next up is my scales. Now I know I’ve said it before, but whenever you’re taking any measurements in candle making, whether that is a temperature or the weight of your wax and your fragrance oils, it is so important to get those things accurate and that’s because it’s, not only the difference between an average candle and an amazing candle, but also it’s a difference between a candle being safe to burn and not being safe to burn.
So it’s not something to be taken lightly, pun intended. So for your oils, whether you’re using fragrance oils or essential oils, I would recommend using a set of scales like this one, which are actually called pocket scales, because they are so small.
But they are actually accurate to 0.01 of a gram which makes them perfect for measuring out your oils, especially if you’re, only making small batches and then obviously, you’re only going to be using a small amount of fragrance oil or essential oils. So this just means that you are still going to be getting accurate readings and then obviously, for weighing your wax, you’re going to need something a little bit bigger than those scales. So here are the scales which I use. They are still digital and they are very accurate, which is, of course, what you need, and what I like about these ones specifically, is the number on the display stays around for a good length of time. And there is also a plastic screen covering the display, which obviously protects it in the likely event that any wax is spilled.
On the scales. Another tool which I’d recommend if you are a beginner to candle making, is a heat gun, and this is the one which i use here and it’s great for going over and smoothing any uneven finishes on your candles, and I wanted to include this one just because IO know it’s not a groundbreaking um tool or discovery when it comes to candle making.
However, when you first do a google search for heat guns, you will probably be met with kind of industrial size heat guns, which can be priced anywhere from 30 to 50 to 100 pounds. So I just wanted to highlight the fact that it is 100% not necessary to spend that much on a heat gun. This one cost me about 15 pounds and it’s great. I’ve had it for well over a year, and it does the job. To be honest, one thing I will say though, is to just be careful when you are using it. You don’t want to be using it too close
obviously, to the candle surface, or else you might have wax kind of splashing up and over your candle jars, so just make sure that you’re using them a good distance away from your candle jars and that you’re using them.
In a circular motion, as well, rather than just keeping them on one place, next up are my wick pads, also known as stickums, but these are what I use to attach my wicks to the bottom of my candle jars. I’ve used various different things in the past, like glue, dots or hot glue gun, but personally I just find this is the easiest way for me to attach my wicks to my jars. I’ve never had any issues touch wood of wicks not staying adhered to the jars using this method and it’s also just the easiest for me. I don’t need to pull out a hot glue gun every time that i’m making my candles. I can simply just take off the paper side of one of these and then attach the wick to the jar.
So have bought these ones specifically from candleshack. They are just the best size for me for my wicks and they just come in this really handy roll of stickers. However, I will leave a link below to these exact ones as well as ones which i have previously bought from on amazon, because i know that is often times the most convenient way for you to get your supplies.
And finally, we have our silicon mats, which again are really generally used by bakers. I believe so they don’t tend to come up in search results when you are looking for candle, making equipment or tools per se, but these are so handy and will save you so much time and effort when it comes to cleaning up after Candle waking – and this is obviously so important if, like me, you are still making candles in your kitchen at home.
They are heat resistant. So obviously you don’t need to worry about putting your jugs with your hot wax on them. They will be fine and for me, they just clean up so much easier than my kitchen worktops ever did so guys.
That is it for today’s video. I really do hope that you enjoyed it and you found it useful, especially if you are a beginner to candle making. Let me know what you thought of it in the comment section below and, as I said before, be sure to give it a big thumbs up.
If you did enjoy it, so youtube knows to show it to other people like you and be sure to go over and follow us on instagram at ivy and twine candles, and i will see you in the next one bye guys.
UK LINKS
3L Jug: https://amzn.to/3t2zTdu
Buffalo Soup Kettle: https://amzn.to/3tY6lPo
Thermometer: https://amzn.to/3dWHkyA
Wick Centring Tools: https://amzn.to/2S8Lqer
Piston Funnel: https://amzn.to/3eADBFR
Pocket Scales: https://amzn.to/3tYRe86
Large Digital Scales: https://amzn.to/2PvOlNk
Heat Gun: https://amzn.to/3vl35xK
Candle Shack Wick Pads: https://candle-shack.co.uk/products/15mm-adhesive-wick-pads?variant=8965690916927
Other Wick Pads: https://amzn.to/3sQiTa8
Silicone Mats: https://amzn.to/32RZtqN
US LINKS
3L Jug: https://amzn.to/3u21nRC
Soup Kettle (similar): https://amzn.to/2R2LLyC
Thermometer: https://amzn.to/3aKofgN
Wick Centring Tools: https://amzn.to/2R0O8SL
Piston Funnel: https://amzn.to/3u0IpuD
Pocket Scales: https://amzn.to/3gLZ0hY
Large Digital Scales: https://amzn.to/32VrQo5
Heat Gun: https://amzn.to/32SXYJ6
Wick Pads: https://amzn.to/3aFjIvZ
Silicone Mats: https://amzn.to/3euukz6
HOW TO GET BETTER HOT THROW: https://youtu.be/OAGu8i5q8f4
Check out these readymade candles too
Originally posted 2021-05-16 23:06:12.
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