How to Make Candles With Olive Oil
When the power goes out, one of the must-haves in your emergency kit is backup lighting. Candles can be expensive and do not provide much light, and you can't always depend on flashlights to work when you need them. Lighting made from olive oil, on the other hand, is made entirely of materials you already have in your house, can burn for longer than most candles and is gentle on the environment. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- All-cotton string
- Copper wire
- Glass jar / aluminum container
- Oil
- Matchstick
Instructions
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1
Cut a length of copper wire as tall as the glass jar. Create a hook on the upper end to hold the wire on the lip of the jar. The hook also pulls the wick up from the jar to light.
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2
Take the other end of the copper wire and wrap it in a coil to make a wick stand. Make it about one or two inches tall, or enough so a quarter inch of wick protrudes from it. Use a matchstick as a guide for a tight coil.
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3
Cut a piece of string for the wick. The length doesn't matter too much, except if it is too long. In most cases, two inches works perfectly. Insert the string into the coil and pinch the top of the coil to keep the wick in place.
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4
Add oil into the jar until the level reaches just under where the wick is pinched by the coil. Compared to a wax candle, an oil candle may be a little more difficult to light. A few ounces of oil should burn for several hours.
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Tips & Warnings
You can substitute a cotton string with a cotton ball. Take a section of cotton ball and twist it to create the wick, and then douse the cotton ball in the oil. This works best in smaller containers. You don't need the copper wire to hold up the wick.
Olive oil is preferred, but you can use other cooking oils as alternatives, as well as grease or liquid fat. Canola oil or corn syrup will likely produce a pungent aroma.
Using too much oil will put out the flame of the wick.
A wick that is too long will produce smoke.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit candle image by Alexander Bykov from Fotolia.com
