Making Wax

! Warning – Be careful melting wax ingredients. Read all safety instructions on heating devices. Never leave a hot device unattended. Avoid cooking over open flames. Hot wax can cause severe burns.

There are a few options for melting your ingredients together, but the most important aspect of whatever method you use is to have accuracy and consistency with your temperature.

An electric hot plate (with a cooking pot) or an electric cooking kettle (eg. Presto) are excellent and affordable options. These options have a dial with graduated temperature controls. We do not recommend slow cookers because the temperature controls are not great and they heat slowly.

Whatever solution you use, be sure it can sustain temperatures between 160°– 200°F. If your device does not have temperature markings, use a meat thermometer to make note of where your dial needs to be to avoid boiling.

Cooking equipment

Heating

Electric hot plate or kettle - As mentioned earlier, temperature control is key to cooking wax and casting with it. Both electric hot plates and kettles typically have dials with graduated temperature control.

A kettle has an advantage over the hot plate is that it’s all self contained. While a hot plate may give you more surface area for smaller tins, electric kettles can be large enough to fit a few smaller tins instead if you’re experimenting with different waxes.

You can find these devices at homegoods retailers or maybe even your local Goodwill store.

Double boiler - Cooking wax over an open gas flame should be avoided. If you’re using an electric stove, you can set up a double boiler over a large pot. An important factor to consider with this option is the length of time you need to cook your wax and the amount of water that’s evaporating from your pot.

Whisk

Wax ingredients have a tendency to separate when left alone in the pot. A whisk is a great tool for quickly mixing everything back up and relatively easy to clean off caked on wax.

Silicone spatula

A silicone spatula is a good alternative to a whish and is especially useful when cleaning out melted wax in a pot. The flexible spatula also makes it easy to break off caked on wax.

Clean tray

Keeping your wax free of debris is key to a clean looking sculpt. By keeping all your wax tools in a dedicated space you can prevent your tools from getting dirty and contaminating your batch. Some options include a lunch tray, take-out containers, or even just a sheet of parchment paper.

Wax Making Steps

! Warning – Be careful melting wax ingredients. Read all safety instructions on heating devices. Never leave a hot device unattended. Avoid cooking over open flames. Hot wax can cause severe burns. Wear a dust mask when working with talc.

1. Pre measure all of your ingredients into separate containers.

2. Set your pot to about 170°F. If you don’t trust the dial on your heating device, get a cheap meat thermometer to make sure you’re in the ballpark.

3. Add the wax ingredients in the following order until each ingredient is completely melted: Carnauba, Candelilla, Beeswax / Microcrystalline, Paraffin.

4. Add the talc. Wear a dust mask when pouring talc into your batch. After pouring the talc you’ll notice it start to settle at the bottom of your pot and you’ll see it clump to the bottom of your mixing tool. This is expected early on, however after 4 hours you should notice that the talc no longer settles. This is the consistency you want to aim for.

5. Add the colorant. See below for a note on ratios. Crayons are a great source for coloring your wax. You can find bulk single color crayons at art and school supply retailers.

6. Filtering the wax. You shouldn’t need to, but in case particulates or clumps appear in your batch, you can filter it through panty hose or tshirt.

Below, from left to right. Carnauba wax melts first; beezwax melts quickly; paraffin - the largest portion of wax - takes a while to melt; the talc is added all at once and stirred to mix with the max.

Crayon Ratios

Different color pigments have different potencies. For instance, you need many more white crayons to have a similar impact on the color as a quarter of a black crayon.

For example, to achieve a middle gray, use 5 white crayons and ¼ black crayon.

Red and blue have similar potency. Yellow and adjacent colors have less potency.

Tips

• Setting a lid on the pot can reduce the time it takes to melt each ingredient by retaining a much heat as possible

• As you melt more wax, the temperature may be lower at the surface than below it. So always take temperature readings after thoroughly mixing

• Whether pouring or injecting wax, you’ll want your melted wax to be deep enough that you can easily draw up a good amount of wax. If your pot is too wide and you’re not melting a lot of wax, it can be too shallow. As an alternative, you can use a smaller pot so that the depth of the melted wax is greater. If you’re using a Presto pot, you can get a stainless steel snack bowl or deep individual muffin tin to place in and heat up with the rest of the pot.