The time of the year for giving gifts to the left and right is around the corner. For some people it's Christmas, for others - Winter Solstice, for someone else - the time of the year to spend with family and friends. I pretty much can't stand being surrounded by people who panic buying gifts, so before this beautiful holiday you can find me at home crafting. Some people watch TV or run around shopping malls while I turn my small apartment into atelier. This year it started in the kitchen, making soaps and candles. And,of course, I can't just do something without experiments. I've learnt not to believe everything what's online, so I had to check different methods and see how they actually works.
To scent candles and add healing properties to homemade soaps I'm using essential oils, but there was always a question about the color - I mean, I want my crafted goodies look interesting as well. Last year for coloring candles I used crushed crayons - colors are bright for those candles, but they kind of don't look very natural. So, I found online that adding powdered spices is a great option to add color to soaps and candles. While it's not a bad idea for soaps, it's not a good one for candles - candles that are colored by adding powdered spices to melted wax don't burn well.
For coloring soaps you can use almost anything natural as soap picks up the color from any natural abrasive material you add to them. A few ideas here:
- dried peppermint leaves will turn the soap light green,
- grated orange peel will add orange color,
- bees pollen will turn your soaps - golden brown,
- spirulina algae powder will turn the soap dark green,
- cinnamon will make it dark brown, but as I find soaps with cinnamon powder too scratchy, I've replaced cinnamon in soaps to cocoa powder.
Although the process of making soaps and candles is pretty similar (that melting, color and aroma blending part), not everything what works with soaps works well with candles as well. Powdered spices will add color, but I usually have a wish to make candles that also burn well, not just look good. So I needed a new solution and came to infused oils!
Infused oil added to candles brings two great benefits: natural color and aroma. Win-win. And, by the way, you can use infused oils for your homemade soaps as well.
Preparing natural colorant infused oil:
Firstly, you need oil you are going to infuse. I love using grape-seed oil for infusions because its own natural color and aroma is very light, but as I didn't have any grape-seed oil at home I used unrefined canola oil that I use for cooking.
Secondly, but not least importantly, you need natural material that will bring color, aroma or both. I used cinnamon+cloves in one, coffee grounds into another one and orange peel into another one.
Step 1: put oil into heat-proof dish and prepare to heat it in water bath.
Step 2: add into hot oil natural material for infusion - coffee grounds, cinnamon etc.
Step 3: Let it sit without boiling on a low heat for about 15-20 minutes (just check from times to times, stir the mixture and smell it and you will find out the right time for heating it).
Step 4: Remove from the heat, let it cool and leave for a few more hours (or days).
Step 5: Strain the liquid to get rid of grounds or peels - whatever you are using. And it's done!
Cinnamon+ cloves was ready very fast. With coffee grounds infused oil I fell in love and it also was ready very fast. Orange peels didn't make the oil aromatic nor it gave a specific color - heating the oil didn't really help, so I let the oil with orange peels in it to sit for about a week - it gave aroma, but the color remained the same canola-oil-yellow which, by the way, looks very nice - soft and naturally bright yellow - in candles.
Melt wax, add infused oil, stir well and fill into candle containers.
Basically, infused oils is on the top of my natural candle colorants. Although, you can also melt wax and mix it with powders, for example, cocoa powder for deep, dark chocolate color, and then dip in the mixture already prepared candles to coat the outside of the candle in a different color.
Just one more thing to add here: think about oil infusions in advance as some of them might get the most intensive aroma and color after about 2-4 weeks sitting in a sunny windowsill, not if you heat the oil for 15 or more minutes.
Here is my previous post about soap making: 4 original soap recipes (with organic soap base) You can find there peppermint, cinnamon-vanilla, bees pollen and orange peel soaps.
And here are few pictures of my soaps and candles - latest edition: experiments and outcomes. I'm just a bit sorry for the picture quality.
The leaf shaped soap was poured into leaf shaped container, but the ornament at the top of it was made later by scraping it into soap by a toothpick. The top of the leaf is made with spirulina algae powder, the bottom - with cocoa powder. The spirulina part was lighter green at the beginning, but longer it lives, darker the color gets.
These little cuties were made in chocolate sweet forms. Just pour melted soap into empty candy shapes and you get soap that looks like candy. For two colors, just use soap with different colors -pour in one, let it harden and then pour the next one. Green is with spirulina powder, brown - cocoa powder.
For making these you can firstly make some soap in a darker color, let it harden and then cut it in different shapes, put them in containers and pour over melted transparent soap base.
The heart shaped candle in front of the picture was poured into toilet paper roll that's fixed into heart shape using adhesive tape. After hardening, the candle was dipped into cocoa powder + cinnamon powder + melted wax mixture to get different outside color. As the candle is already burned you see that the outside part with powders is too thick to melt well. Dipping the candle in this mixture once or twice would be good, but for this one it's simply too much so the candle wouldn't burn well.
These were poured into drinking glasses, firstly pouring a bit of wax inside the glass, then sticking dried herbs (pressed in books) to the walls of glass and then filling the glass until the top. The one on the left side is made with orange peel infused canola oil and then the bottom of it dipped into cocoa powder - wax mixture. The one on the right has light brown color from cinnamon-cloves infused oil.
Take in account: the color intensity depends on how much of infused oil you add!
This is cinnamon-clove candle, decorated with cocoa powder - wax mixture pouring it on the two sides of the candle and letting them run downwards on the two other sides. The shape comes from a small juice pack with the top of it cut off.
This candle was made pouring white wax into paper muffin shape. One muffin paper wouldn't be enough to keep the shape when the hot wax is poured in, so I put together 3 papers and put it in a glass to fix the shape not allowing it to widen. After the candle hardened it was dipped into cocoa powder - wax mixture, then over another burning candle I melted the outside cocoa powder layer, so it blended well and kind of looks like cappuccino. Well, too much of work for such a small candle...
Take in account: if you make candles in difficult shapes or with many small details like this one, before removing the candle from its shape, put it in a freezer for a few minutes - it helps to remove the candle easier without damaging it.
These two were poured into toilet paper rolls. On the left side - coffee candle (obviously with two kinds of color intensity) and with orange peel infused oil at the bottom, on the right - orange peel infused canola oil candle dipped into wax with cocoa powder.
Take in account: if you are using toilet paper rolls as candle containers, you need to think in advance about suitable thing to put under the toilet paper rolls - cardboard base is the best one. Put a toilet paper roll on the cardboard, pour inside just a little bit of melted wax to cover the bottom and press the roll against the base. Hold if for a while until it hardens. Don't fill the entire roll with hot wax without fixing the bottom.
Take in account: sometimes after removing candles from their shapes you discover that they are not that smooth as you wished and there are small holes. I this case dipping helps to get a smooth surface. Prepare the dip and dip the candle in for 1-2 seconds, take it out and hold for a few seconds to cool and then repeat the process again, if needed.
I hope this info helps! Let me know your experience and experiments making soaps and candles in your kitchen!
These candles, decorated with with hand-made charms and tiny ribbons, are waiting for holidays:
These candles, decorated with with hand-made charms and tiny ribbons, are waiting for holidays:
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