Candle & Soap Making

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Make Outdoor Citronella Bucket Candles

By David Fisher, About.com

2 of 8

Priming your wicks

Priming wicks

Priming large wicks

David Fisher
For this project you will probably have to assemble and prime your own wicks. I have not found them commercially available, so I prime my own.

I usually use MC-1 size wick for 4" metal buckets. I had some MC-3 that I wanted to try as well. So I made two with MC-1 and two with MC-3. The MC-3 wicks were a bit too big in my opinion. The melt pool was completely across the top and about 1/2" deep. The MC-1 wicks were much more appropriate.

To prime the wicks, cut them to length and soak them in some melted wax for several minutes. You will see small air bubbles streaming out of the wicks. Stir the wax a bit and press on the wicks a bit to make sure that the wax soaks in well.Lay the wicks out straight on a piece of foil or wax paper to harden.

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