How many times have you been online or in a cool Witchy shop and found yourself mesmerized by the big, fat, colorful pillar candles?  If you’re there in person with the candles I’m sure you’re holding them, smelling them, and thinking about where you’ll have room for such a magickal candle.  Then you get it home, you light it and for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how long you burn it at a time, you enjoy your candle and it’s warm scent in your home or at your altar.  But often these large pillars never burn all the way down and you almost always end up with left over wax.  Sometimes these candles can cost as much as $20 if you get one that’s handcrafted and 2-3″ of wax that doesn’t melt can be quite a waste.  But for just a little money, not only can you reuse that wax and keep the magickal scent going, you’ll also be able to do something good for Mama Gaia by not tossing out big hunks of wax!

This all started for me when one of my favorite candles didn’t burn all the way down last year.  I had bought a candle for Samhain from White Magick Shoppe, one of my favorite Pagan Etsy shops (who you’ve seen on my altar just about every Sabbat for over a year).  The candle wasn’t being used for my Samhain ritual but rather my small altar at my desk, this way I could smell this unbelievably awesome candle all day while I worked.  One day while burning it, thinking I still had a good amount of time left on the candle, it decided to go out.  I tried relighting it a handful of times and tried to get more exposure of the wick in hopes of getting something going, but it was to no avail.  I ended up leaving the hunk of wax sitting on my desk for a few days until I decided what to do with it.

It was time to recycle that wax!

Use it in a tart warmer or oil burner.
This is the easiest thing to do with your scented candle wax that gets left behind.  Wax tarts are those little 2″ round scented pucks that are basically candles without a wick.  You place them in the dish of a tart warmer and typically a candle, usually a tea light or a small votive candle, is placed in the bottom cavity of the warmer to heat the wax in the dish above; there are electric ones now that just need to be plugged in and a heating element does the rest.  The tart warmers can be quite inexpensive and can be found for $20 or less in stores like Wal-Mart or Target.  Nice “witchy” ones can be found in gift shops and new age stores and some candle shops, like Yankee Candle, often have some really cool candles at Halloween time.  Once you have one you will save tons of money on candles, believe me!

You’ll need a cutting board and knife to do this (be aware that once you use this cutting board and knife for candles it’s best to keep them for this purpose only in the future and not use them for food again, no matter how much washing you do).  Carefully cut the remaining wax in small 1-2″ chunks and discard any remaining wick found in the candle.  Place your chunks in a small sandwich baggie for storage and use one or two in your tart burner at a time.  They will melt down and fill the room with rich scent, and when the candle in the warmer dies out the remaining wax will harden in the dish and you can simply keep using it by placing another candle in the bottom of the warmer.  Add more wax to the top as needed.  You’ll be amazed at how far this will extend the life of your scented candles!

Make new candles.
This process takes a little more time, a more tools, and a little more patience, but it’s a great way to use your wax remnants.  For this you’ll need a small pot, a dish that you can place on top of the pot to make a double boiler, a plastic stirring spoon, candle holders or molds, new wicking with either weighted bottoms or candle adhesive to hold them in place.  You’ll also want gloves to protect your hands from the hot wax, newspaper to protect your counters and, depending on your confidence with your ability to pour candles, some sort of funnel.  Again, once you use these things for candles don’t use them for anything else in the future.

Start by preparing your molds or candle holders.  Place wicks securely inside with candle adhesive (both adhesive and wicking can be found in most hobby and craft stores or online through candle making sites).  Cut the wick long so that it hangs outside of the mold or holder; you can always trim it down when the candle hardens and this way it is far less likely that it will fall into the candle as it’s being poured.  You can also tie the wicks to a dowel or chop stick which can rest across your mold/holder to prevent the wick from falling in.  Have them near by at the stove placed on top of old newspaper to catch and drips.

Cut up your candle and remove any old wicking from inside the candle.  Place about 2-3″ of water in your pot and bring to a simmer on your stove (do not create a rolling boil because this can create too much heat).  Be sure to test your double boiler set up before hand to make sure the water isn’t touching to bottom of your bowl!  Trust me, I speak from personal experience when I tell you hot, boiling water touching the bottom of a glass bowl full of candle wax will make for a big dangerous mess in your kitchen.

When the water starts to simmer place the bowl on top of the pot and place your wax in the bowl.  The bowl will slowly warm from the water in the pot and the wax will melt.  Stir constantly to make sure the wax melts all the way through and stays as a liquid.

When the wax is melted completely remove the bowl from the heat (be sure to wear oven mitts because it will be hot) and then carefully pour into your molds or holders, using a funnel if you feel you need to.  Leave the candles to sit and dry/harden overnight.

This is a great way to also create brand new candles from old candles.  If you have a bunch of white candle remnants hanging around to recycle and you need to make a meditation candle, use this wax just like this but while stirring the wax to melt add frankincense and myrrh oils or herbs and let it “cook” into the wax and then pour into your molds/holders and, voila!  New meditation candle!

Make a wax poppet.
In the movie “The Witches of Eastwick”, when pressed to do a spell to make Daryl go away the women gather together items to make a spell poppet, or voodoo doll, out of wax.  The wax is simply cut up white candles melted in a double boiler on the stove and then shaped as needed.  It’s really that simple!  You can either use a whole bunch of candle remnants from candles the connect to your need (blue candles and rose scented candles for healing, for example) and melt them all together in a double boiler.  Take the bowl off the pot and let it cool for about 5 minutes.  Keep an eye on it because you don’t want it to get too hard to work with but you need it solid enough to shape.  When the consistency is right, start molding it into a gingerbread cookie shape.  When it cools some more you can cave a face into it, add symbols or names to it, and carve out a cavity for stuffing with herbs like you would normally place inside a cloth poppet before sewing closed.  Then away you go!  When your spell is complete you can totally melt down the poppet to release it’s energy in a bonfire or fire place.

What if I have spell candles left over?
Typically it’s a good rule of thumb to never use a candle used in spell work for anything else.  Personally I think that if you’re going to take the wax and create a new candle for the exact same type of magick, that’s completely acceptable as long as you cleanse the candle completely before using.  After your candle is made and completely cooled and hardened wash it with blessed water, clear with white light and your intention, and then charge for it’s intended purpose.  This way if you have a bunch of pink and red candle bits left from love spells and you need another candle for a love spell, melt those all together and use them to create the new candle that you need.

What if my candle wax is in a commercial glass jar holder?
Many of the larger glass jar and tumbler candles will inevitably have a few inches of unmelted wax at the bottom by the time they go out.  These are perfect for using in a tart warmer.  Simply take a large mixing bowl and place your candle jar in the center.  Use hot but not boiling water to fill the bowl around the jar so that there is enough water to be in line with the wax in the jar.  Let this sit for about 5-10 minutes.  With a knife (one not for cooking or eating) very carefully begin to run it along the inside of the jar between the wax and glass.  The wax will begin to separate from the glass and you can either pull it out or use the knife to break it up into a few pieces for easier removal.  Allow the wax to cool, cut into 1-2″ pieces, store in a baggie, and use in your tart warmer.

When you recycle your candles you’ll save money, you’ll save the earth, and you’ll gain more life from these wonderful smelling wax creations that we Witches love so much!