Louis is getting ready to cut the candles on our new saw. This of course was "new" 17 years ago! The candles in the photo range from 4"X6" to 8"X24". Did you know an 8"X24" candle weighs 36.6 lbs? Louis continues to be a part of Park Avenue Candles today. Thank you, Louis!
Once we had decided to manufacture giant pillar candles, the research began to find out what exactly were we getting into. In the 80′s, computers and the web were not what they are today. So, it was off to the library and then phone calls to candle making supply companies for brochures.
At the same time, I made a mold in the garage from a piece of PVC pipe. The store had some broken and partially burned candles which were gathered, melted in the kitchen, and poured into the makeshift mold. The candle was beautiful. It all seemed so easy. If the ancient Egyptians could do it, how hard could it be?
So, we got some raw wax, wick, dye, additives, pots, ladels, thermometers, scales, measuring spoons… and the list kept growing. We hadn’t even figured out the best way to melt the wax and commercial wax melters were expensive, but a crock pot was obviously going to limit production of large candles. Most crock pots wouldn’t hold enough wax for even one fairly big candle.
We gathered enough equipment to start and rented a small working space. Now, fully committed, the real fun began. Melting candles (with the right wax and additives) and repouring is one thing. Developing a suitable wax and additive mixture for candle manufacture is quite another.
When problems arose, help was hard to find and in many cases not very comforting. For instance, asked, “what to do about bubbles on the surface of a candle?” A candlemaker with 30+ years of experience replied, “put it on the shelf and sell it!”
We did overcome the bubble issue and others for future blogs. This was our introduction to the complexities of candle making, which turns out to be a balance of art and science.