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Home » Homesteading » Survival » Making 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles

Making 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles

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So quick & easy making your own 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles. They cost under $2.00 each too. Toss in a box of matches inside before you close it up so you will always be prepared! #survival happymoneysaver.com

Save money and be prepared by having these 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles on hand.  I have seen stores charge a lot of money for survival long-burning candles, but you can make your own for less than $2.00 per jar and it is so easy to do!

I swear I am reaping so many benefits from doing this Happy Homesteading series of posts, as I get to learn these new skills and find out to to survive on my own a little bit more. Plus doing these projects are so much FUN!

Making 50 Hour Soy Candles

All you need are some half pint glass canning jars, a 5 lb. bag of soy wax, some wicks, aluminum foil and a #10 can.

WAX: I found that the most cost effective price for soy wax was on amazon : The Milliard Wax 5 lb. bag is $12.99 plus free shipping if you have amazon prime. I checked my local craft stores and unless you have a coupon this is still a better deal. I used soy wax because it is all natural, renewable, non toxic, burns clean, helps support the American farmer and has a longer burn time than many other types of paraffin waxes.

WICKS: I ordered these Candlescience 6 inch Soy wax coated candle wicks for $8.99 (50 pack).  I think you might be able to also find a smaller pack of 6 inch wicks at your local craft stores for less, but since I get free shipping with Amazon prime, I love ordering my items online, saving a trip.

GLASS JARS: The 5 lbs of soy wax will fill 13 half-pint sized glass canning jars. You can buy these half-pint jars online at Amazon, or at your local Walmart/Target store for around $8-$12 a case. Also keep your eyes out on craigslist or yard sales for canning jars. Luckily I had a box of unused jars sitting in my garage from a time when I was going to make some jam and didn’t (ahem.)

#10 CAN: You can use a double boiler pan if you like,  but for ease in cleaning I wanted to use an old #10 can to melt my wax in. I can throw the can away or reuse it again the next time I make candles. If you do use a #10 can, make sure and bend one of the edges so it will be easier to pour the hot wax in the jars.

2013-05-15-15.25.03

How To Make 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles

Melting Soy Wax for candles

Start a double boiling system by bringing a larger pot of water to boil. Only fill it half-way so when you add your can of wax the water won’t overflow. I filled my number ten can with 2.5 lbs of soy wax flakes.

While the water was heating up, add the wicks to each of your jars. Tip: if you have a hot glue gun add a drop of hot glue on the bottom of the metal part of the wick and stick it straight in the center of the jar. It helps the wick to hold up straighter after you pour the wax.

Once the wax is melted, using hot pads I poured the wax into the jars with wicks.

How to keep candle wicks straight

To help hold your wicks straight while it cools poke hole in a little square of aluminum foil, thread the wick through and seal around the jar.

Trimming candle wicks

I then melted the other half of the soy wax flakes and poured them into jars as well.

After they all cool, trim the wicks to 1/4 inch. I just set the scissors across the jar so all the wicks would be the same size after being cut.

So quick & easy making your own 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles. They cost under $2.00 each too. #survival happymoneysaver.com

Then enjoy your 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles! Just put the lids on them (adding in a pack of matches) and pack them away until your next power outage or disaster. Then you will have heat as well as light for up to 50 hours each candle.

Note: I did add some essential oils to one of the candles and it smelled lovely. I was thinking that if there was a power outage or disaster it would be better to have non-scented candles so it wouldn’t give me a headache, so keep that in mind. And only use products that are safe to use with melted oil so you don’t get exploding wax or something.

WORTH THE COST? YES – can cost as low as $1.18 per candle, which is an amazing price for Soy candles with a 50 hour burn time.

WORTH THE TIME? Yes, for the amount of money you can save, and how quick and easy it was this is very worth the time.

Price breakdown:

  • I paid $12.99 for the 5 lb. bag of Soy wax
  • I paid $8.99 for 50 soy wicks ($0.18 each wick = $2.34 for 13 wicks used)
  • I had the jars sitting in my garage.  If you didn’t you would pay $8-$10 at Walmart or online.
  • Note: I was able to fill 13 jars  with the 5 lb.s of wax

Final cost for me was $1.18 each candle, but if you needed to purchase the jars it would run you $1.79-$2.00 per jar.

How To Make 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles

DIY your own survival candles with these easy instructions. 
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: homemade diy
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Candles, survival
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 13 candles
Author: Karrie

Ingredients

  • 5 lbs Soy wax
  • 13 wicks
  • 13 glass pint jars
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Start a double boiling system by bringing a larger pot of water to boil. Only fill it half-way so when you add your can of wax the water won't overflow. I filled my number ten can with 2.5 lbs of soy wax flakes at a time and did this twice.
  • While the water was heating up, add the wicks to each of your jars. Tip: if you have a hot glue gun add a drop of hot glue on the bottom of the metal part of the wick and stick it straight in the center of the jar. It helps the wick to hold up straighter after you pour the wax.
  • Once the wax is melted, using hot pads I poured the wax into the jars with wicks.
    To help hold your wicks straight while it cools poke hole in a little square of aluminum foil, thread the wick through and seal around the jar.
  • I then melted the other half of the soy wax flakes and poured them into jars as well.
  • After they all cool, trim the wicks to 1/4 inch. I just set the scissors across the jar so all the wicks would be the same size after being cut.

Notes

Enjoy your 50 Hour Soy Survival Candles! Just put the lids on them (adding in a pack of matches) and pack them away until your next power outage or disaster. Then you will have heat as well as light for up to 50 hours each candle.

2013-05-17-14.58.38

Have you ever made your own homemade candles? Any other tips or tricks you have found to save even more money?

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July 10, 2013
Homemade, Homesteading, Survival

Comments

  1. Julie-ann Scott says

    January 8, 2021

    How much essential oils do you use and when is it added please

    Reply
  2. Kathleen R Barquet says

    April 27, 2020

    Loved you rendering and candlemaking posts. For the jars, many brands of pasta sauce and other products come in actual canning jars. That will also cut the cost.
    – Kitty

    Reply
  3. Grace says

    July 24, 2019

    5 stars
    Made these and the work great, thanks!

    Reply
  4. DavetteB says

    May 13, 2017

    I love the idea of 50hr candles. I’ve seen similar ones made with Crisco (or generic shortening).
    I also like the tip of taping the matches right to the holder. If you have stick matches you can dip them in wax to make them waterproof.

    Reply
  5. Brandi P says

    June 17, 2016

    at what point do you add the essential oil and how much?

    Reply
  6. KK says

    March 10, 2016

    The soy wax link you provided is now selling it for $29.99, not 12.99. FYI

    Reply
    • Jaimie says

      March 3, 2020

      $61.95 now for the 5 pound

      Reply
      • Kay says

        May 25, 2021

        Get off Amazon and explore candle companies. That’s more money than a 45lb box of 464 soy wax. The only catch is that you pay for shipping. Around $100 all said and done. I use $2 a pound in pricing. Not exact but darn close. You can buy scents, wicks and anything you need.
        Try Candle Science, The Candlemakers Shop, Pro Candles and Aztec Candles just for starters. Take it to the next level and have fun. Amazon free shipping is a hook when dealing with candle supplies like wax . Some Amazon product like wicks I use for certain things but always check the price and quality, not to mention quantity of the pro candle suppliers. You’ll also find ways to fix most candle problems in Candle Sciences help page.

  7. Terri says

    March 5, 2016

    Thank you so much for this tutorial. I am making my candles today as my “Survival Saturday” project! I ordered from Amazon as you recommended and so far I am having fun! Thanks again for making it so hassle free!

    Reply
  8. allen says

    November 9, 2015

    Thanks for the detailed candle article and instructions! Where else can we sell our candles other than Etsy?

    Reply
  9. Tammi Richardson says

    November 4, 2015

    When you burn the candles to they smoke?

    Reply
    • Karrie says

      November 9, 2015

      I didn’t notice any real smoke except maybe when lighting and snuffing it out.

      Reply
  10. Tiffany says

    October 28, 2015

    If you were to use Beeswax in place of Soy would the burn time be about the same? Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Happy.MoneySaver says

      October 28, 2015

      I am not sure because I am not tried it before. Anybody else tried it?

      Reply
  11. Lori says

    August 30, 2015

    Thank you for this awesome tutorial! I followed your instructions and just finished making 26 survival candles! Final cost for me was about $1.50 each, which is much cheaper than any others I’ve seen for sale. We’re a prepper family so this was a fun weekend project for us. : )

    Reply
    • Karrie says

      August 31, 2015

      How awesome!

      Reply
      • Lori says

        September 5, 2015

        I just finished burning one of my candles and I only got 35 hours of burn time. I didn’t burn it continuously, through, just for a good part of the day for a few days. I wonder why mine burned faster. I had the same jars, wax, and wicks. Do you think it was because I didn’t burn it continuously? Or maybe because it’s the hottest part of summer? I’m not a very experienced candle person so I’m not sure!

      • Happy.MoneySaver says

        September 6, 2015

        Sorry, I am not sure why you only got 35 hours from your candle. Next time you burn another one let me know how it does.

  12. Alyse says

    August 16, 2015

    I just saw this and love the idea. Out of curiosity, how long do they take to cool? I was thinking about making these at a church activity and I was just wondering if I would have time for them.

    Reply
    • Karrie says

      August 18, 2015

      a few hours 🙂

      Reply
  13. Sara Dougla says

    April 11, 2015

    I see in your recipe that you stated you used 2.5 lbs of the 5lbs in the bag, for 13 pint-sized jars.
    Is what you stated right, and that you had extra wax left over? Or did you use all the wax for 13 pint-sized jars?

    Reply
    • Happy.MoneySaver says

      April 13, 2015

      The 5 lbs of soy wax will fill 13 half-pint sized glass canning jars. I used only half of the wax at a time so it wasn’t filled too full.

      Reply
  14. Dana says

    March 23, 2015

    Just a side-note: whenever I buy candles (from tea lights to fancy dining room tapers to basic power-out candles) I freeze them for four hours or more. Overnight works well.

    They then burn twice as long. (I have never burned them frozen, they might then burn even longer-or not at all!)

    I tried an experiment with my fancy tapers, and burned them at dinner after having frozen one pair (actually, I had forgotten about the little experiment until I burned them!) the difference was drastic to say the least.
    It’s worth making space in the freezer overnight.

    Reply
  15. Angie E says

    March 23, 2015

    My question is, How do you get the wick to burn the whole time down and not fall in and not get the whole use of the candle. For some reason mine are not burning the whole wick down & I can’t figure it out. Please email me your answer.

    Reply
    • Karrie says

      March 23, 2015

      I usually cut the wick if it’s too long so it stays straight/not bending. It seems to always burn all the way down for me this way. Thanks for the question.

      Reply
  16. Rachel says

    March 5, 2015

    Silly question, but what is a #10 can?

    Reply
    • Happy.MoneySaver says

      March 5, 2015

      You have probably seen a #10 can before but it is usually not labeled. They look like metal cans of coffee that you might see at your local grocery stores or if you ever seen food stored in bulk it usually is in one of those cans. It is about 5 times as large as a metal soup can and holds more food for a longer amount of time.

      Reply
  17. Pat Jackson says

    March 3, 2015

    What step do I add the essential oils?

    Reply
    • Happy.MoneySaver says

      March 3, 2015

      I added in some essential oils into the individual jars before adding in the wicks. That way I could control how many candles I added them to. 🙂

      Reply
  18. hj bussard says

    February 10, 2015

    How hot do candles get I want mine to heat up a little green house 6 ft wide x 2 ft deep and only 2 ft high.

    Reply
  19. Emily says

    February 5, 2015

    This is so late to the thread but I just used up my paddywax soy candle which cost me £15-16 and as much as I loved it, was I grudging having to pay it again. This is perfect, I’m going to use lemongrass and verbena essential oil and hopefully it’ll smell as good 🙂
    Thank you for all the creative ideas, I am now obsessed with this blog!
    xox

    Reply
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Karrie

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I'm Karrie. Come join me on my money savin' adventures but beware: you may find yourself wanting backyard chickens, making freezer meals and dancing along with me to 80's music.
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