So Steve worked today, even though it was Sunday. I don’t mind every once in a while, it’s double time. Anyway, he came home with three orders totaling 12 candles. However, only one of those is a pint sized. He felt the need to share with these guys at work that I also make 1/4 pint size (4 oz.) that are only available at fairs. And, of course, they’re nearly all scents that I don’t have in stock, so you can guess how I’m spending my evening.

Anyway. My point.

I had filled my old pot with water and placed in it a candle I wanted to melt down. It’s easier to melt down existing candles that are considered bad (wick pulled free, didn’t harden perfectly, etc.) and then make a small batch starting with that. So I put the candle without a lid inside this pot of water and put the burner on low. As the water gets warm and hot, it is supposed to slowly melt the candle so I can pour the wax out.

So yeah, I went to check on my first one and when I touched it… POP!! Scared the freaking crap out of me - the jar broke forming a “V” shape of a broken piece of glass. I am just VERY glad that it didn’t explode or anything. So I ended up prying the wax out of the glass so that I could use it.

Anyway… this reminded me of something that happened not long ago…

So we were watching a movie when we heard the sound of glass breaking.

Steve says, “I thought something like that was going to happen.”

I had to say, “then why didn’t you say something or turn it off!?”

Yes, the natural bayberry candle that I’ve made exploded. At the time I made it, I did not realize that the wick I was using would not work properly with this 100% natural wax and it did not burn properly. So I put it on my candle warmer in an attempt to melt it down, pour it out, and start over with the natural wicks I now have. Or pour it into my actual warmer jars I use.

Well, apparently, because the house was so cold, the top of the candle would not melt. I had figured it would because this wax melts more easily than my normal paraffin. I was apparently wrong. The pressure built up about halfway up the candle and the jar exploded.

Here’s where the glass and wax hit on the floor. I had to sweep up, scrape up, sweep, sweep, scrape, and sweep. The really stupid part of all of this? I had JUST swept and mopped about 4 hours prior to this.

And when the jar exploded, the wax went right into the sink. Yes. That was fun.

Well, luckily, the natural bayberry wax does melt easier and a couple of pots of boiling water poured down the drain (after scraping out all the wax in the sink) took care of the drain.

Another shot of the mess.

I took a photo of what it looked like under the candle warmer, too, but it was quite blurry, so I’m not posting it. However, the wax was extremely built up under there and inside the warmer, I just threw the warmer away.

Thankfully, natural bayberry wax is very (VERY) brittle and chopps up easily after it’s hardened. This is the wax that came out of the sink. There was a nice mess on the rest of the counter as well as on the floor. The floor took a while. With our ugly flooring in there, it’s hard to see this wax on the floor.

Finally, I salvaged all the wax I could and put it in a pot to melt down the rest of the way. And I issue a warning to Anita: don’t try this at home!!! You know, since she has the other bayberry candle like this. :\

So there you have it, my friends, what NOT to do with candles.

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