Rolled candles are made from sheets of wax, and as the name implies, the wax is rolled around a wick, much as you would roll al sheet of dough around a filling to make a jelly roll. This is the simplest method of making candles. It is easiest for beginners and a good way to introduce children to candle making.
Wax sheets are available at craft shops and from candle making suppliers and they come in dozens of lovely colors. There are two types of commercially prepared wax sheets for making rolled candles:
- The majority are made of pure beeswax, which, although more expensive, are longer burning.
-
The other is sheet wax, which is a mixture of beeswax and paraffin.
Most wax sheets for rolled candles are formed in a honeycomb pattern. This type of sheet is embossed with a hexagonal indentation which looks like the wax from a honeycomb. The most common size is 8”x16”. You can cut the sheets to suit your specific purpose. The honeycomb patterned sheets are rolled out under an embossing wheel. You can purchase these in the natural beeswax color or you can purchase them in various colors that have been dyed after the wax was bleached.
Another type of wax for making rolled candles is smooth and flat. These are useful when you don’t want a textured candle. The pure white smooth sheets make an elegant looking candle that give a stylish appearance.
Sheets of beeswax are ready for use. However, they need to be warm enough to be pliable before you start to roll. A blow dryer is a handy tool to keep on hand for warming sheets of wax. Beeswax is the easiest to work with because of its natural flexibility.
Paraffin blend wax sheets are used in the same manner, but paraffin tends to be brittle. Therefore a blend of straight paraffin will be a bit more difficult to handle, requiring extra attention in order to keep the sheets warm enough to be pliable. If your wax sheets have become cold and aren’t pliable enough to roll, you can do several things:
- Using your blow dryer, waft warm air over the sheets of wax
- Iron them with a warm iron between sheets of paper
- Quickly dip the sheets in hot water
Making your rolled candle:
- Make sure your cutting surface is properly prepared. It should be covered with a piece of heavy cardboard or a mat
- Decide what size rolled candle you want to make. Cut a wick 2 inches longer than the size of the finished candle. Set aside
- Warm your wax sheets until they are pliable enough to roll easily. Use a blow dryer or put them on a heating pad or warming tray
- Lay the sheet of was flat on a smooth surface, such as a countertop or a table. Then bend a 1/8 inch fold at the end of the short side to make a place for the wick. Press the sick gently into the edge of the wax before beginning to roll. Make sure the wick is firmly embedded in the wax
- Next, roll up the wax tightly, making sure that the wick is closely held in the wax at each turn. Keep rolling with a firm and even pressure. This is to avoid letting air bubbles form between the layers. Take care to roll in a straight line to keep the ends flat
- When you have rolled the entire sheet, press the final end into the candle so that it adheres to the last layer of wax
- Once you have finished rolling your candle, cut the wick to ½ inch in length and neatly trim the bottom end with your knife or razor to get a flat surface on which the candle can rest
