Candles – Tips and Tricks for Leftovers

Managing your old used candle wax.

Candles are wonderful at setting the mood of a room, but once the candle burns down to the bottom it can be unsightly and hard to remove from the container.  Some candle containers are so delightful, so it is nice to reuse them.  Candles can also be messy and wax is difficult to remove if the candle spills over.  These tips will have you being a candle expert in no time!Getting to the old candle wax.

Sometimes the hardest part it getting to the old candle in the first place. Here are a couple of ways to remove the old candle.

• Put the candle holder into the freezer for a few hours.  Turn the holder upside down. The wax often just falls right out with a small tap.
• If this does not work, place a small amount of water in the bottom of the candle holder . Sometimes this will loosen it.

Great use for old candle wax:  If you can chip out some pieces of the old scented candle wax, add them to a 6-8 inch piece of old panty hose.  Tie a know in the piece and attach it to a closet hanging rail.  When the closet door opens, you will be greeted with a lovely candle scent.

Make room scents.  Set large glass candles that have just a bit of scented wax left in the bottom of the holder on the stove top while you are baking. The warmth of the oven will provide just enough heat on the stove top to gently melt the bottom of the wax and release scent into the air. You can set these candles in any area that will provide a gentle bottom heat to release the scent in the wax. The top of a water heater  or radiator also work well.

Make a new candle using a birthday candle.

Do you have an unsightly candle with a lot of wax left?  Make it into a new candle.  Here is how to do it.

Put the leftover wax into a clean small metal can such as a coffee can and the place it in a small pan of boiling water. The wax will melt very quickly but will be very hot, so use caution when handling it.   Using a thick pot holder,   pour the melted wax into the bottom of a clean candle holder.   Wait for the wax to harden to the point where you can insert the used birthday candle.

When the wax is firm enough to hold the candle straight, pour the remaining wax around the birthday candle, and let sit several hours to fully harden. You don’t need to bother with wicks doing the project this way and it burns very nicely.

Got some candle wax on your furniture or carpet?  No problem!

• On carpeting, freeze the wax by using a metal pan that is filled with ice cubes.  When the wax has hardened, take a small hammer and hit the wax to break it up. It should remove quite easily.  Anything left can be covered with a paper towel and ironed with a warm iron to suck up the excess.
• On a tablecloth, place the cloth in a freezer for several days until the wax hardens.  Now carefully scrape it with a dull knife.  Once again if any remains…put paper towels on both sides and iron gently to get the remaining wax.

Use left over candles for fire starters.

Save your empty toilet and paper towel tubes, then stuff them with waste paper, junk mail or even yard items like pine cones.  Then melt  small, leftover candle pieces in an old pot that is placed in a pot of water on the stove just until it melts. Pour  the melted candle over the tubes.  They make great fire starters for your fireplace or outdoor fire.

Make Tea light Candles from old candle wax.

Once you have used up most of your favorite candle with a scent but there is still too much left to throw away, purchase tea light molds and tea light wicks. Melt the remaining wax and pour into the tea light molds.  (affiliate link) You won’t waste your original candle and you will still get to still enjoy your favorite fragrance. 

Do you have some other ways that you use old candle wax?  Please share your comments below.

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