When an extended emergency occurs, using the resources you have on hand or around your property may be your only option and hope at surviving.
Emergency lighting will be an important aspect of your preparedness supplies. If you find yourself without lighting, with a little creativity you can make your own candles using bush craft techniques, or with items found around the home.
- Finding a wick may be your largest challenge. You can purchase wicks in bulk to have on hand in the event that a disaster occurs, or find a suitable alternative.
- Cotton string or twine
- Paper towel
- Torn pieces of cloth
- Shoe lace (with the plastic coating cut off)
- Old cotton sock (that is clean) torn into strips
- Cotton towel torn into strips
Whichever alternative wick you choose to use, ensure the wick is a suitable size to burn the candle. Further, remember to prime the wicks by soaking them in melted wax and stirring for a minute or two and allow to dry. This makes the candle burn more efficiently. When placing the wick in the melted wax, be very careful not to burn yourself. Tying the wick to a pencil that will sit on the top of the container or mold is a good way to ensure the wick stays in place and your fingers are away from the hot wax.
Here are five easy ways to make candles if you happen to find yourself in a pinch:
1. Candle Stubs – The easiest way to make a new candle is to cut up older, burned down candles, melt the wax and make a new one. Old candle stubs can also be used as a base with other candle waxes poured on top.
2. Broken Crayons – When I was a child, my church showed me how to do this and I never forgot it. To make a crayon candle, simply remove the paper from the crayons and place them in a container to melt such as a used metal coffee can, soup can, etc. Place the container in a pot of hot water (resembling a double broiler method) and allow water to come to a boil. Melt the crayons over medium heat. Pour into the desired mold and add a wick. Be sure that the wick is fairly centered and running the entire length of the container. Allow the candle to sit until it has hardened. On a side note, one fully in tact crayon will burn on its own for 30 minutes.
3. Lard or vegetable oil – Used cooking oils and even oil-packed canned goods can be used to create lighting. Canned meat in oils are great for a makeshift candle.
- Simply trim your wick to about double the size of the can.
- Hammer a nail through the middle of the can and wiggle it around to make a larger hole.
- Stuff your wick inside the hole and leave about 1/2 a millimeter exposed.
- Place the can in a dish and light it up.
- The candle should burn for a few hours.
- The food content can be eaten after the oil has burned out.
4. Vaseline – This economic, multipurpose prep is another household item that can be used as a makeshift. The vaseline candle will burn on it’s own for 30 minutes. As well, this method can also be used as an easy firestarter. All you need is some used foil, a cotton ball and some vaseline. To see directions for how to make this type of emergency candle, click here.
5. Bayberry – Early colonists used these berries as a way of making candles. Note that large quantities of bayberries are needed to create one candle. In fact, four pounds of berries produce approximately one pound of wax. Bayberry wax is collected by boiling the berries. The waxy substance rises to the top of the water. This is skimmed off and made into candles. Bayberry candles give off a delicious scent that many enjoy and are virtually smokeless. The directions are below:
- Boil your bayberries in water to cover.
- Chill and remove the sheet of wax that forms on the top.
- Melt a candle stub (white) or a cake of paraffin to make a candle base.
- Add the bayberry wax and strain through cheesecloth. Keep on the back of the stove.
- Add your wick into a desired mold and then add melted wax. Allow to cool.
If you don’t want to go to all the trouble of making your own wax. you can buy pre-made bayberry wax. Bayberry wax is very brittle, therefore, keep your candles small or make tapered candle sticks to ensure the candles stay in tact.
Getting creative and thinking outside of the box could help you meet some of your basic survival needs. Using the aforementioned ideas for making candles can help keep the lights on when the lights go out. Candles do emit carbon monoxide, so please keep you and your family safe by ensuring that candles are placed in a well ventilated room and never leave a candle burning unattended.
I like the information on the bayberry. Remember it might pay you to stock some wicks, they are very inexpensive. Check the internet under candle wicks.
Howard
hi howard
well you can always use string instead of wick it is much cheaper and you should have some around your house
Wow, I hadn’t heard all of these. I’ve shown my children a couple of alternatives in the past and will have to melt some crayons now and try the canned meat one.
Two other ones that I’ve tried is a little oil in a shallow dish with a “wick” something like a strip of paper towel twisted and set in the dish with an end sticking out, also a birthday candle in a small can, like a tuna can, with rolled up cardboard surrounding it and wax poured into this. Probably not enough of a discription to try these, but they are also easy alternatives.
One problem with the canned meat idea…after a few hours in the temperature danger zone (41-140F), that canned meat will not be safe for consumption any more. Not to mention any rust you might be introducing to the meat when you poke the hole in the can (tetanus). I would suggest removing the meat and saving the leftover oil for a candle. Plus, your body needs the lipids that the candle would have used for fuel anyways…
You forgot one of the most ancient way of making a candle or lamp…OLIVE OIL lamp. You will only need a canning type jar, olive oil, a wick of some sort, and a piece of wire. See link below for complete (with picture) directions.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/Make-Olive-Oil-Lamp.aspx
hi sets, here’s a link to the emergency candles that ive made for around the house.
ken
http://gardenforyourlife.blogspot.com/2012/08/howdy-lets-make-emergency-candle-in.html
these seem really fun to do and r good for an emergency like no electricity and u need light. THANKS FOR THE IDEA!!!
Take an ordinary can of Crisco, remove the lid. Take an ordinary candle and cut its length to the height of the Crisco can. Push the re-sized candle down into the middle of the Crisco can until it touches the bottom. Light the candle. Volia! a 100+ hour candle.
In a pinch, you can also build a solar oven from a cardboard box, a sheet of glass (from an old photoframe perhaps?) and some aluminum foil. There are plenty of tutorials online on how to build these, and even in winter the inside gets hot enough to melt wax. Its not the heat of the sun, but rather the radiation that does the job, so you’re good to go as long as its not too cloudy outside and you keep your cardboard box out of the wet snow.
I like the crayon one, its easy and only takes 10 minutes
Making candles is so relaxing! I’m a candle maker newbie… I want to share something I found: a free email minicourse about candle making… 10 free email lessons and then they try to sell an ebook with a lot of free bonuses… they also teach you how to make it a profitable business… I found the free stuff very valuable anyways… http://www.leadvision.it/candlemaking4you/op.asp Hope it helps!
You guys are idiots. Burning wool socks creates high levels hydrogen cyanide, which can be fatal if too much as inhaled, and minimal amounts can kill unborn children.
Would be
This is a good article. I’ve published 2 books on Amazon — “Candles” and “Olive Oil Lamps &c.” — on these same topics. Two points on wicking. (1) Fuel is lifted to the flame by capillary action. So the wick needs to be a natural fiber (cotton). Synthetic fibers (nylon, Dacron, polyester, etc.) will melt in the heat of the flame. Thus endeth the capillary action. Thus endeth the flame. (2) A single strand from a cotton-string floor mop makes a good wick. For one buck at the Dollar Store you can have a lifetime supply of wicks. A third point is that you need to try some of these things NOW while the lights are on and the pressure is off. See what works for you. What really works. It’s like sex. Reading about it and doing it are two different things.
I used to work at a factory that made all sorts of candles. A few safety tips I’d like to point out.
One: Hot wax can cause bad burns. Be careful handling it, and be aware that it will also heat up any containers you are pouring your wax into.
Two: NEVER pour hot wax into a cold or cool glass container. It WILL break. ALWAYS pre-heat glass containers. The best way is to put thoroughly washed containers to pre heat in the oven for a minimum of ten minutes before you pour. Also make sure you don’t use glass that’s too thin. Thin glass will shatter. Canning jars are good, as they are made to withstand heat. Be sure to check for cracks.
Three: Melted wax is very slippery and greasy. Wipe up spills promptly and use something to absorb any residual greasyness, like clay cat litter or sawdust. Watch your step!
Four: Candlewick is usually attached at the bottom end to a little metal gizmo called a “sustainer”. This goes into the bottom of the jar, and a little bit of wax is poured over it to anchor it to the bottom so it won’t float during the rest of the pour. The wick itself should be measured so it’s about two inches longer than the rim of the jar, and is fastened to a stick of some sort that will rest across the mouth of the jar.
Once the wax holding the sustainer has cooled just enough to stick, lift the wick upright with the stick, hold it in place so it’s centered and straight, and begin pouring your wax carefully. Once the jar has been filled to about one, one and a half inches from the lip, you’re done. The wax will stay soft enough to be able to adjust the wick for some time.
As your candle cools, the wax may contract. Top off with additional wax as necessary.
Five: Make sure there are no air bubbles and no water, as these can overheat and can cause your candle to explode.
Hope these help…and have fun!
PS: Wax, and especially hot wax is extremely flammable. Treat it like a grease or petroleum fire.
As to how hot to get your jars, it depends on the melt point of your wax. Check the packaging if you have bought it commercially, or use a candy thermometer.
Wax should also be heated in a double boiler to prevent scorching. A crock pot might work too.
I didn’t see anything about bees wax.?