Pyrotechnics, both large and small, have long been an integral part of almost any holiday. Moreover, we are talking not only about fireworks, but also including sparklers, crackers and firecrackers.
The key to safety when using pyrotechnics is, first of all, strict adherence to the operating instructions. However, there are situations when it is necessary to improvise in order for the holiday to really succeed. For example, a purchased firecracker has a too short wick, and it is dangerous to use it, but I really want to. Then there is a way out: make a wick for firecrackers with your own hands.
There are several ways to do this. The difference in them mainly lies in the choice of combustible substance.
Therefore, each method has its own characteristics:
You can independently make not only the wick, but also the firecracker itself. There can be several options for fillings: these are sulfur from matches, and saltpeter mixtures, and much more. If you understand chemistry, you can easily choose the right composition. The body is also made from improvised materials. It is possible to make it from cardboard, foil, small plastic jars ... It all depends on what effect you are counting on.
Making a firecracker without a wick is difficult, but possible. True, it’s not very clear why the wick is preventing you ... And there are much more ways to make it as it should be, rather than vice versa. But still there are such options.
Our faithful friends, matches, will come to our aid. We clean off sulfur from them, usually one whole box is enough. Then we carefully grind it into powder and pour it onto a piece of foil about 10x10 cm in size. Next, cut out the side of the box - phosphorus cherkash. We clean it from the remnants of paper. Cut into two or three parts and put to the sulfur powder. We wrap the foil to make a small square with a flammable core inside. Ready! In order for the firecracker to detonate, you just need to hit it with a hammer.
Another way is to use napkins, electrical tape, caps and small stones for making. First you will need to exfoliate the napkin. Cut the resulting thin part into eight equal squares. Grind the contents of the caps in the center of the cut out piece of napkin, and put the pebbles on top. Wrap the resulting mixture so that the shape of the firecracker resembles a small onion. For tightness, wrap the tail of the bulb with electrical tape. To detonate, throw your invention against a wall or throw it hard on the pavement.
And yet, we will include one in our list of recipes, how to make a firecracker with a wick and gunpowder. Take a piece of thick cardboard and roll it into a cylinder. Choose the parameters of the piece yourself, it will serve as a case for the future firecracker, respectively, it should not be very large.
On the one hand, we make a plug. It can be made from plasticine or the same cardboard. If you prefer the second option, coat it well with glue so that the plug stays in place at the right time. Next, we make gunpowder. It can be made from potassium nitrate, coal and sulfur. The proportions must be observed as follows: six parts of saltpeter, one part of coal and the same amount of sulfur. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. The quantity depends on the size of the case. We fall asleep our gunpowder inside the case and proceed to the manufacture of the wick. Any method can be used, but the option with a rod from a handle and sulfur from matches is still recommended.
The length of the wick should be such that you have time to move to a safe distance. We are preparing a plug for the other side of the case. We insert it and make a hole in it that matches the diameter of the wick. If it turned out more, we additionally wrap the wick with paper so that it is tightly fixed in the cap of the firecracker, and the design itself is airtight. Firecracker is ready.
If you are not eager to make a firecracker or its components yourself, then you have a direct road to a pyrotechnics store. There, experienced sellers will tell you which wick is best suited for your product. Usually wicks and strings (for professional fireworks) are sold in skeins, meaning either mass use for big holidays, or cut off as much as you need.
In order not to make a mistake with the choice of the wick, decide for yourself how many firecrackers will go into action, and how far you will have time to move away from the moment of arson. If in doubt, ask a professional for advice. Let him give you comprehensive recommendations on exactly how many centimeters of wick you need to purchase. If you don't want to leave the house in search of the right product, online stores also have plenty to choose from. At your service there will always be a manager or administrator who will give you no less detailed information about the quantity, quality and cost.
How to make a candle wick at home.One of the most important tasks when creating a candle is choosing the right wick. If the wick is too thick, then the flame of the candle will be large and smoke, if the wick is too thin, then it will burn faster than paraffin or wax, and the candle will “choke”. For the manufacture of the wick, a natural cotton thread is used, which does not smoke or crack when burned.
The ability to properly make a candle wick is a guarantee that the flame will be beautiful.
So let's get started:
1 option:
To make a braided or twisted wick, take 3 pieces of cotton cord or yarn. Mix 1 tbsp. l. salt, 2 tbsp. boric acid in a glass of water. Soak the cords or yarn in the solution for 12 hours. Hang them up to dry. When dry, twist or braid them together to form a wick. The wick is ready! Cut the desired length with scissors (candle length + 10-15cm).
To get a waxed wick, dip the already twisted wick into the melted wax until it is completely saturated. In order not to miss this moment, keep an eye on the bubbles, as soon as the wick starts to blow bubbles, you can pull it out. When pulled out, straighten the wick and place it in the water. Then lay it out on wax paper to dry. Already finished wicks can be twisted into coils and stored until the right moment.
Option 2:
First, we take out the wick from another candle. To do this, you can buy household candles: they are very cheap and soft. The wick is very easy to get out of them - you just need to pull the tip of the wick.
If we need to blow something up and not get injured, then we need to ensure the harmless detonation of the pyrotechnic charge. The most primitive way to do this is to make a fuse, one that we can light at a harmless distance. Here are a few methods for preparing the wick.
1. Bickford cord. We take ordinary insulation from the wire or several straws for drinks fastened together. We fill them with crushed heads from household matches, gunpowder or other combustible mixture. This method is comfortable because our wick will not be able to blow out the wind. Even if it rains, he will not be able to soak such a wick. So that the "stuffing" of the Fickford cord does not burn out too quickly, it is allowed to tamp it. If we didn’t have gunpowder and nothing else besides matches, we can spare ourselves the need to scrape the heads off the matches. We break them off primitively, lay them out in a row and wrap them with tape.
2. Jute wick. We take a jute rope, soak it in a solution of sodium or potassium nitrate and dry it thoroughly. The wick is ready for use.
3. Stopin. In order to make such a wick, we also need a jute rope, but shabby cotton is also allowed to be used. We soak a not too thick rope in a solution of saltpeter, dry it. But that is not all. Now we will mix the organic glue with the powder pulp. You should get a homogeneous thick mass. Through this mass we need to stretch the rope. When everything hardens, the wick is allowed to be used.
4. Hunting matches themselves serve as a wonderful wick. They do not go out and burn for approximately 20 seconds. But so that our charge does not detonate ahead of time, it is necessary to monitor the sparks flying off the matches.
5. Poplar fluff. An extraordinary summer version of the wick, from the fact that poplar fluff is released in June. But making a wick out of fluff is easier than everyone else and nothing needs to be impregnated. Primitively we will collect fluff, take it and wrap it inside with a folded tube of newspaper or paper.
You will need
1. It turns out that even the well-known lighter, which will burn invariably and everywhere, also needs to be taken care of. In particular, she needs to change the wick. Yes, Zippo advertises that the wick will last forever, but if you use not the purest gasoline, the impurities contained in it can contribute to the burning of the wick. When ignited, the wick may spark, or it may not ignite immediately at all - this means that it is time to change it.
2. Try to pull the wick up a little with tweezers (finally, at a non-burning lighter). When the wick stretches up a little, cut off the upper part with scissors - the one that protrudes above the edges of the windshield.
3. If this procedure does not help, or if you decide to replace the entire zippo wick, first of all, pull out the lighter-insert. To do this, with one hand, grab the windshield - the upper protruding part of the lighter, and with the 2nd - the lower part of the body. Now look at the bottom of the insert. Did you see the screw head? It is he who holds the wick. Loosen the screw carefully.
4. Now it is allowed to remove the felt pad from the insert. After that, using tweezers, remove the cotton filler and the old wick from the body. Take the newest wick and thread it through the insert, carefully insert it from below into the hole, pick it up with tweezers from above and pull it up.
5. When inserting the cotton filler back into the body of the lighter, place the long part of the wick between its layers. Carefully cut the top of the wick flush with the edge of the windscreen.
6. Replace the felt valve and secure the structure with a screw. The screw must be tightened sufficiently so that the lighter is coolly inserted into the body. Before inserting the lighter into the body, check that the flint is free in place. If there is a need for this, insert the newest flint. Assemble the lighter and see if it opens and closes nicely.
Poplar fluff is an annual misfortune of cities where poplars are planted in large numbers. During his “departure” there is no escape from him anywhere! If you show imagination, it is allowed to use poplar fluff with benefit and pleasure - for example, for the manufacture of genuine panels. Soft and fluffy white down is a beautiful natural material for creativity!
You will need
1. Put a carbon paper and a photo or picture on a blank sheet of paper. Transfer the silhouettes of the image of the kitten onto a blank sheet of paper, not forgetting the eyes, nose, mouth. Cut out the resulting silhouette; carefully cut out the eyes with small scissors. It turned out a sample for the panel.
2. Apply the sample on a dark base, with the support of chalk or a white pencil, circle the silhouettes of the sample, strictly draw the silhouettes of the eyes.
3. First make the eyes of the kitten. Poplar fluff flagella are used to make silhouettes. In order to make them, you need to take a small ball of fluff, stretch it and roll it between your fingers to the state of a rope. Apply a small amount of glue to the eye area and carefully apply a poplar flagellum along the silhouette. To make pupils, roll up small balls and fix them with glue inside the silhouettes of the eyes.
4. The torso and head of the kitten are made as follows: the silhouettes are circled in the necessary places with glue, and after that flagella from fluff are superimposed. Inside the silhouettes, the surface of the base is also smeared with glue, and after that, with the help of tweezers, fluff is laid out. The more fluff, the whiter and furrier the kitten will turn out. The muzzle is two loose balls rolled from fluff. The nose can be “drawn” by pushing the fluff to the sides with the back of the tweezers or the tips of the scissors. Whiskers and claws on paws are made of flagella.
5. Lastly, it is allowed to make a landscape: grass, clouds, etc. In order to fix the image, and also so that the panel does not gather dust, it is recommended to insert it into a decorative frame with glass.
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Note!
In a similar way, it is allowed to make an image not only of a kitten, but also of another animal: a dog, a bunny, a polar bear and other white-colored animals, and not only animals - what fantasy tells!
At the current time, the production of candles at home has become famous. The necessary thing for this is a wick. It is allowed to extract it from ready-made, store-bought candles, but it is not always of great quality. Consequently, it is allowed to make a wick with your own hands.
You will need
1. Pour one and a half glasses of warm water into a cup or other dish, dissolve 2 tbsp. tablespoons of salt and 4 tbsp. l. Boers. Soak the thread or tourniquet in this solution for 15 minutes.
2. After soaking, hang the thread on a clothesline to dry clothes in a dry room. In order for the thread to dry completely, let it hang for five days.
3. Melt the wax in a specially prepared dish. Secure the thread with a paper clip. Dip it in melted wax 3-4 times. It is necessary that the future wick be completely covered with wax. Later, hang it up again on a clothesline to dry. In a few minutes, the handmade wick will be ready.
4. To make a candle, cut the required length, not forgetting the reserve. It is allowed to keep the finished wick rolled into a skein.
5. To create a colored fire, one teaspoon of chemicals can be added to the mixture for soaking the wick. Let's say strontium chloride will give a red flame, table salt - clear yellow, borax - yellow-green, potassium nitrate - violet.
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Note!
When creating a wick with a colored flame, it is impossible to apply several chemicals at the same time, because. it can cause a chemical reaction.
If you have oranges or lemons and obscene candles at home, then make genuine candles from them to decorate your home and ceremonial table. Their production will take a little time at all, and the result will certainly please you.
You will need
1. Cut the orange into two identical halves and carefully scoop out all the pulp with a spoon. You won’t need it much more, so you can squeeze juice out of it or eat it easily. It is allowed to use not only this fruit, but also lemon, tangerine or grapefruit. The result is a half, similar to a saucer. Now take paraffin or candles, put them in a saucepan and melt over a hefty low heat or in a water bath.
2. Make a wick from a slice of kapron thread, its length should be slightly larger than the height of your candle. It is allowed to take already prepared wicks from candles that have been melted if they are suitable in height. Then with one hand hold the wick in the middle of the “saucer”, and with the other hand carefully pour melted paraffin into it. It is necessary that a small slice of the wick remains on the surface. Wait for the paraffin to harden, this usually takes a few minutes.
3. This candle looks amazing on the table and has a great smell. If desired, it is allowed to lay out a few stars of cloves or slices of cinnamon along the edges of the peel. It remains only to light a candle and arrange a romantic dinner. Do not forget about safety precautions when using a candle, be careful with fire.
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As you know, candles can be made at home. Basically, they are all made from paraffin. Now I bring to your attention a water candle. Make it much faster and much easier. Go!
You will need
1. First you need to cut out a circle from a plastic bottle equal to the diameter of the stack. After that, take a clerical knife and make a small hole in the middle of this circle.
2. The next step is to pull the wick out of the candle. This can also be done with the support of a clerical knife. After that, take a perforated plastic circle and stick a wick into it. For this, it is allowed to use a primitive rod from the handle.
3. Now we pour water into the stack. After that, we pour vegetable oil there. Its layer should not exceed 5 millimeters.
4. After that, we take a circle with a wick inserted into it and wipe it thoroughly so that there are no traces. Then we put it in a pile with water and vegetable oil. Your candle is ready! It is allowed to try to set it on fire. Is it on? I think how! Luck!
Helpful advice
The candle will stop burning when the oil runs out. If this happens, diligently pour it into the water candle, pulling out the plastic circle with the wick in advance.
Do you want to create romance in nature? But there is nothing at hand. From a dilapidated bowl and a candle, you can create a unique designer accessory, one that will delight you and your companions on a chilly evening.
You will need
1. Take a mug, rinse, clean. Dry thoroughly. Cover with blue paint. Leave to dry for 2-3 days.
2. Using a match or a toothpick, apply small white or yellow dots - these will be stars. Dry thoroughly.
3. Cover your product with clear varnish. Insert a candle inside. Ready! Enjoy the charming romantic mood while the candle wick is smoldering.
Gel candles add originality and mystery to any interior. They will create a romantic atmosphere and serve as a good present. Making gel candles with your own hands is very easy. In the presence of imagination, they will turn out to be not almost trashier than those sold in stores. In addition, the production of candles is an interesting process, to which children can also be involved.
You will need
1. Mix glycerin and gelatin in a mug or other bowl, pour a glass of cold water and leave for 1 hour. During this time, the gelatin will swell.
2. In a glass, the one that will later be a candle, put decorative elements, say shells. When you wake up to fill with liquid, they can float up, therefore it is allowed to stick them on superglue or pour a gel mixture into them and force out the air. Lower the wick into the glass and fix it on a pencil or stick so that it stays even.
3. Heat the mixture on a steam bath so that the grains of gelatin are completely dissolved. Care must be taken that the solution does not boil.
4. After that, add a few drops of essential oil and dye to the gel mixture. These ingredients are not indispensable, they are allowed not to be used.
5. Carefully pour the mixture into the decorated glass, making sure the wick stays upright. After this, you need to leave the candle for a while, let it harden.
6. Check and make sure the mixture has set. DIY gel candle is ready!
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Note!
The amount of essential oil should match the size of the candle. It is allowed to add about 5 drops to a small glass.
Helpful advice
To speed up the process of solidification of the candle, it is allowed to put it in the refrigerator.
The candle is one of the great inventions of mankind. For many millennia, it was necessary to somehow feed the burning lamps, pour melted fat or oil into them. Such a lamp had to be re-mounted every time. He smoked heavily, and the smoke had a persistent unpleasant odor. From all these inconveniences, the invention of a candle saved. Now, candle making is more of a wonderful hobby - a way to realize your creative potential. One of the difficulties on the way of mastering this revived craft is precisely the manufacture of the wick.
Traditionally, a wick is a piece of fabric or thread of various thicknesses and weaving densities. Its material absorbs flammable liquid and helps it rise up. From the molten liquid, even more combustible vapors spread between the fibers of the wick fabric and around it. The wick is easy to set on fire, vapors and flammable liquid burn, illuminating the area around. But to set fire to the mass (oil or fat) into which the wick is lowered can be difficult, and sometimes impossible.
Thanks to the special design of the wick, kerosene or other highly flammable liquid (such as alcohol) does not immediately ignite, and their combustion in more advanced burners can be controlled.
In a candle, the wick is impregnated with wax or paraffin. Thanks to the correct wick (material, density, thickness), the flame is even and illuminates the room without soot or flashes. Paraffin or wax gradually melts, turning into a liquid state, is absorbed into the fabric and fuels the flame with combustible vapors. So the candle gradually burns out, remaining stable enough not to melt completely.
Thanks to the correct selection of the diameter of the candle and the thickness of the wick, as well as its exact position in the middle of the candle, a long-lasting and reusable device is obtained.
Wicks for oil lamps were made from any absorbent fabric of plant origin. Oil or fat was placed in a shallow vessel. At its edge, a twisted piece of fabric pre-soaked in the same flammable liquid was placed. For lack of a better one, they were, in general, tolerable lamps. However, they still had quite a few shortcomings. Firstly, such a bowl with a burning wick is difficult to move - it is easy to spill melted fat, and even more so oil. Secondly, the flame of such a lamp constantly smoked. And the fat also spread a very noticeable unpleasant odor. However, such lighting devices were often used by whalers in distress or Arctic explorers as early as the beginning of the 20th century.
For candles, wicks began to be made from a specially prepared thread or twine, also of plant origin. Unlike an oil lamp, combustible material now began to flow gradually, it became possible to choose the correct diameter and structure of the wick. In addition, the candle can be moved, although rather carefully so as not to extinguish the flame with a stream of air.
Wax (specially processed wax) is used to make a wooden wick for candles.- a torch, simply - a dried sliver. Of course, it must be specially prepared. The splint must be taken well dried, then it must be impregnated with wax and only after that rolled into wax. Such a candle, if all the parameters are chosen correctly, burns evenly and for a long time.
Modern candles can be equipped with a reusable wick. The candle and fuel material are burned, but the wick remains and can be used to make a new candle. The material for such, one might say, an eternal wick, is fiberglass. In this case, you have to replace the candle. This approach can be justified for decorative candles with a complex shape.
Sometimes a purchased candle also has to replace the wick. One of the reasons for the emergence of such a need may be non-compliance with the technology of preparing the wick, primarily its insufficient drying. It happens that this element does not quite correspond to the candle for which it was applied. For example, a thread that is too thick can form a ball of soot at the end and will smoke a lot. Or it turned out to be thin, and the flame is filled with melt.
To replace the wick, you need to prepare a small set of tools:
Most often, the wick can be removed quite easily, you just need to hook the edge of the metal cup, which many candles have, or pull the protruding end of the wick. But there may also be difficulties. In this case you can use a heated wire, it must be held with pliers. And heat over a flame, for example from a gas stove. The wire must be immersed in the candle at the point where the wick comes out, and then pulled out. Turning the cooling wire, remove it too. A new thread can be inserted into the hole formed. To do this, again, you can use a piece of wire. A new wick must be glued to it. The end free from the thread must be heated again and stretched through the candle, so that the glued thread takes the desired position. Next, it remains only to cut off the protruding ends. The wick should protrude 6–8 mm.
Nevertheless, cotton or linen thread has remained the main material for the wick for centuries. The selection of its parameters, as practice shows, is not as simple as it might seem at first glance.
It is, of course, possible to correctly observe the ratio of the material and diameter of the candle with the indicators of the wick. In industrial conditions, where everything is standardized, errors are practically excluded. For various candles, a specially prepared thread of various knitting, thickness and density is supplied. But in the case of self-production, you will have to go through a thorny path of trial and error.
Cotton thread remains the most mastered material for candle wicks. It can be twisted, braided or crocheted, thus expanding the application options for different candle weights and candle diameters. Moreover, threads can be woven with different densities, and this, as mentioned above, is very important, since the molten masses from which candles are made behave differently.
For a candle with a diameter of 2 to 7 cm, a wick of 10–15 threads is usually used. If the candle diameter approaches 10 cm, 25 threads will be required. A product larger than 10 cm in diameter must be equipped with a wick of 30 threads.
When making a wick at home, of course, you will have to rely on your experience, which is not gained immediately. Like any hobby, candle making (and wick making in particular) requires patience.
When making a candle, it is important to place the wick clearly in the middle, otherwise the product will flow unevenly and burn out faster than required. It is convenient to use a plastic cup or any other hollow plastic product as a mold for casting. In this case, it is necessary to make a hole in the lower part and, after tying a knot on the wick, insert its second end into this hole from below. Pulling it out to the top of the future candle, fasten it by tying it to some spacer, for example, from a toothpick or pencil. Pour the melted candle mass carefully, trying not to move the wick.
The finished candle should be removed from the mold after the candle mass has completely solidified, it is quite simple to determine this by the temperature of the mold surface. While it is hot, it is better not to touch the candle.
Creating a wick is not only about making a thread of the required density and thickness. In order for her to become a candle wick, she must be prepared for this. So that the wick does not burn out immediately, but performs its function, the thread must be impregnated.
In the case of a wax candle, impregnation with the same melted wax is sometimes sufficient. Wax is melted on fire in an enameled plate. The thread is placed in a plate and allowed to soak. The procedure must be repeated three to four times, until air bubbles no longer appear in the liquid wax. After that, it must be suspended until the wax is completely hardened. The thread for storage can be wound loosely on the bobbin, laying layers of paper. It is better to store in a cool place so that the wax does not spread. When necessary, you can cut off the pieces you need in length with scissors.
Someone is trying to acquire skills that will help them survive in a global catastrophe. Someone just found a new hobby. And someone managed to turn this hobby into a profitable business, creating real works of art. What is this about? About independent From this article you will learn how to make a wick from threads.
If you can still achieve some variations in the material for creating a candle, then you will not succeed in eliminating one of its components. It's about the wick. About that, at home, we will talk further. And now just consider what kind of important thread this is.
It may seem logical that the wick should be contemporary with the candle, but it is not. Candles appeared a little later. About fifteen centuries later. At first, wood chips were used as a wick. Later they guessed to use pieces of cloth. This was in those days when candles had not yet been invented, and for lighting they used small bowls with a liquid combustible substance (mostly fat), which were mercilessly smoked and smelled disgusting.
However, if you think that the wick is the simplest particle that can be made from anything, then you are deeply mistaken. It is not as simple as it might seem. In order to know how to make a wick with your own hands, you must definitely understand how and why it burns.
In order for a wick to be of high quality, it must consist of several interconnected fibers. This is important in order for capillary forces to come into play, which raise the liquid fuel to the source of combustion. At the molecular level, a candle wick serves as a kind of pumping substation, which allows, among other things, to better saturate the liquid with gas. As a result, the vapor pressure increases and the flash point decreases. All these processes, of course, take place at the microscopic level, but this does not make them less interesting. And their understanding will help to make a high-quality wick, the most suitable for a single product.
Throughout history, people tried to make a wick with their own hands from everything that burns. Thin wood chips, pieces of fabric, braided threads and even compressed poplar fluff - this is an incomplete list of materials.
Today, the most reasonable option seems to be the use of cotton thread or fiberglass. The fundamental difference between these materials is that the cotton burns out completely, while the fiberglass wick remains. If suddenly you have a legitimate question about who needs it and why, then, perhaps, you are not aware of a new fashion trend - the manufacture of figured candles with a frame. You bought, for example, a candle in the shape of a cute cat, and when it burned down, you find a frame in the shape of the skeleton of this same animal. Some connoisseurs of such ideas are simply delighted.
When thinking about how to do it, pay attention to the fact that its size and diameter must be selected in accordance with the size of the candle itself. If it is too thin, it will simply go out. And if it is too thick, it will smoke mercilessly. In automated production, these parameters have long been calculated. But when you make a candle wick with your own hands, most often you have to achieve the desired proportion through trial and error.
Another trick is that a long wick smokes too. And as the fat, wax or paraffin burns, it inevitably lengthens. This problem had to be dealt with manually. The houses always had scissors with which they cut off the ends of the wicks. They were called so - wick scissors.
In our time, this problem was solved in a very original way. The candle wick (which in the vast majority of cases is a thread woven from fine fibers) began to be made using the asymmetrical weaving technique. As a result, the tip bends to the side and burns out completely on its own.
If your candle will be made from wax, you will need a thick wick with a loose (not tight) weave. If paraffin or various fats will serve as the starting material, the diameter of the wick should be small, and the individual threads should be twisted quite tightly.
This is done because these substances have different viscosities. In order for the wax to successfully rise through the capillaries of the wick, sufficiently wide passages will be required. If the same ones are left for less liquid paraffin, then it will simply lack the necessary traction, and the candle will burn dimly, unevenly, or even go out altogether.
When you make a candle wick with your own hands, remember to impregnate it before using it directly. This process is not particularly labor intensive. However, it will take time, since the impregnated wick must be thoroughly dried.
Impregnation is carried out so that the wick burns better and less sagging of wax or paraffin is formed.
Solutions can be used in various ways. Here are a few options.
The wick is immersed in the solution for at least 15 minutes. And then hung out to dry. It is recommended to dry the blanks for at least five days.
Among home craftsmen, a solution that requires fewer specialized chemicals is popular. And although it is somewhat inferior in quality to the mixtures described above, but since we are still talking about how to make a wick at home (trying, as far as possible, not to turn the house into a branch of a chemical office), we will also consider this option.
It is done as follows: take 2 tablespoons of ordinary table salt (not iodized), add 4 tablespoons of borax there and stir it all in one and a half liters of warm water. When the solution becomes homogeneous, you can send blanks of wicks there for soaking.
For better preservation of the wicks, after complete drying, they can be additionally impregnated with melted wax. To do this, dip them in pre-melted wax three to four times. After this procedure, the wicks must be dried again. However, waxing is needed only if you want to prepare your material for the future. The wick will be able to perform its direct function in the candle you have made without this final touch.
Once you have figured out how to make a wick at home, think about where you can apply it. In truth, working with candles is a very exciting activity. And from a cute hobby, it may well transform into a decent source of income.
Candles are of different types. The most simple - economic. Their only function is very mundane - to provide light in the event of a power outage. They have the simplest cylindrical shape and a boring translucent white color.
Table candles are already more attractive. In their manufacture, various dyes are used. Their shape varies from cylindrical to twisted. Such candles may well serve as an important element in creating an atmosphere for a romantic dinner.
They are made with the addition of substances that have a pleasant smell. In some cases, they can also be used in aromatherapy. Thus, you can not only improve your mood, but also improve your health.
Gel candles are also very popular these days. Firstly, because they are unusual, secondly, because they are beautiful and, thirdly, because they burn absolutely without any smell. It's easy to make them. All you need is a transparent container (preferably in the form of a bowl), some colored sand, beads or decorative figurines (this already depends on the flight of fancy), a wick and a molten gel mass, with which the composition is poured.
So keep it up! All in your hands.
