Making beeswax candles with coconut oil is an easy way to dip your feet in to candle making—this article shares my recipe!

Beeswax and coconut oil candles recipe

Have you ever heard of Burt’s Bees? Burt’s products are popular for a reason. Many of them are made out of beeswax, which is a naturally produced wax that can be used for so many things. From Burt’s website:

“Beeswax is another natural solution to a common cosmetic problem: holding ingredients together. An excellent binder, Beeswax works with the same efficacy and flexibility of harsher synthetic formulations. It helps seal in moisture and keep skin conditioned. And, of course, it looks, feels and smells delicious.”

Beeswax does smell delicious, and it has benefits beyond being a beauty-product binder; when in a candle, it also purifies the air as it burns. Using beeswax in a candle was definitely something I wanted to try, so I decided to begin experimenting.

Why add coconut oil to beeswax candles?

The first beeswax candle I made looked good, but it was kind of a bust when it burned. Beeswax is very hard, which makes it difficult to melt. You need to add a softer material in that has a lower melting point to ensure the beeswax can melt evenly.

You can easily soften your beeswax candles by adding an oil, and I don’t think I used enough oil on my first candle attempt. So I had a hard time getting a good flame and noticed that the wick was only melting in a deep circle around the wick (also called “tunneling”). Coconut oil is a perfect oil for your candles

I also didn’t use a thick-enough wick, so that contributed to some of the tunneling as well. But the recipe I outline in this tutorial yielded a success for my beeswax and coconut oil candle. But before we get to the recipe…:)

A critical safety note!

Beeswax is flammable. I read never to melt beeswax in a pan on direct heat. I watched mine closely while I was melting it using a double-boiler method. Here is the double boiler I made using a pan and a big pot.

Here are the supplies I used:

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• Beeswax
• Coconut oil (We buy this kind in big containers)
• Double boiler or the hillbilly double boiler I used (here is an affordable one)
• Candle container
• Disposable aluminum tin
• Kitchen stove, water, measuring cups
• Square cotton-braided wick. (I used this brand, #4. It also comes in #2 and #6, #8, and #10)
• Scissors and pen or pencil

Like making candles or want to try your hand at other candle recipes? Check out my roundup of DIY scented candle recipes you can make at home.

And here’s my Beeswax and Coconut Oil Candles recipe!

(Do not use any appliances or work with new materials without proper training, precautions, and supervision from a professional. Make sure you research fire safety and take all necessary precautions before working with beeswax. If you’re looking for a professional-quality candle recipe to sell, you may want to consult a candle-making professional. Read my full terms of use here.)

Step 1: Measure the beeswax to coconut oil ratio for your candles

First I figured out how much of each ingredient I needed for my container. I knew that I had to use coconut oil to soften the beeswax to ensure proper melting…but what was the right beeswax to coconut oil ratio for candles? I did a bit of experimenting on that front.

After varying levels of success, I settled on working with 8 ounces of beeswax and 8 ounces of coconut oil (8 ounces = 1 cup). The key to good consistency is a 50/50 beeswax/coconut oil mixture. And make sure there is room at the top of the jar so the wax doesn’t overflow when you pour it in.

I measured the beeswax and coconut oil—the type of wax I used came in 1-ounce blocks, so it’s very easy to measure. To speed up the melting time, I cut each block into chunks. (Beeswax pellets would melt even faster.) Then I put the beeswax chunks and coconut oil into the disposable aluminum tin and set it aside.

Step 2: Heat water in a double boiler

Remember—never melt beeswax in a pan on direct heat. Instead, use a double-boiler method. If you don’t own or want to buy a double-boiler, you can use a method like I used: a shallow pan and a big pot. I filled my big pot with about 4 inches of water and brought the water to a boil.

Step 3: Melt the beeswax and coconut oil mixture

When the water in the big pot reached a boil, I placed my pan on top of my big pot and set the disposable aluminum tin in the pan (not the big pot). To speed up the melting process, I added 1 cup of water to the pan as well (not the aluminum tin). That way, as the big pot boiled, it heated the water in the pan, which helped the beeswax melt.

I stirred the mixture as it melted, ensuring I monitored how it was progressing the entire time I had the mixture on my double-boiler. Don’t walk away from this while it is melting! Since beeswax has a higher melting point than coconut oil, this may take several minutes depending on the size of your beeswax chunks.

Step 4: Cut and prep the wick

While the mixture was melting, I cut my wick based on how tall the candle jar was, but I left a few inches on the top so that I could wrap it around a pen or pencil for stability (more on that later). A note about wicks: I used a cotton square-braided wick. Below are general guidelines for the # wick you need for your candle size.

• #1 wick size = Candle diameter of 1 – 1.5″
• #2 wick size = Candle diameter of 1.5 – 2″
• #3 wick size = Candle diameter of of 2 – 2.5″
• #4 wick size = Candle diameter of 2.5 – 2.8″ (what I used)
• #6 wick size = Candle diameter of 2.8 – 3.2″
• #7 wick size = Candle diameter of 3.2 – 3.5″

Once the mixture was nearly completely melted, I carefully dipped the wick to cover 75% of it with wax. I let the excess drip into the aluminum pan, and after a few seconds, I grabbed a paper towel and I ran my fingers from top to bottom to straighten out the wick as the wax dried.

This helps to make the wick very straight and helps when setting it in the candle container. (An alternative option is to use wick stickers, which will hold the wick in place while setting it, but I didn’t want to buy any.)

Step 5: Now it’s time to pour the beeswax and coconut oil mix

I wrapped the white end of my wick (the end without beeswax on it) around a pen with the straight, waxy end dipping down into the center of the candle container. Once the wick was in the correct position, I gently poured about a 1/2 inch of the beeswax/coconut oil mixture into the candle container.

At this point, I let my mixture harden for about 15 minutes; the goal here was to set the wick and ensure it stayed put while I poured the rest of the candle. This process looked something like the pic below.

After the wax solidified enough, I finished the candle. I split the remainder of my mixture into two pours. After the first half, I gave the candle another 5 minutes to solidify. The last thing I wanted was for the new pours to melt the wax on the bottom, which would send my wick floating around.

Step 6: Let the mixture solidify, trim the wick, and wait…

And then I was done! I let my newly made candle rest for 24 hours. Then, I trimmed the wick and lit it. I made a few in mason jars and old containers. I just used an old Yankee Candle holder for the one below. (Related: Check out my tips for how to get sticker residue off of glasses and jars so you can upcycle them, as well as my tips on how to clean old candle wax out of glass containers.)

Pin my beeswax and coconut oil candles recipe!