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How to make wax fire starters

level:
Beginner
time:
25 minutes
result:
12 fire starters
Wax fire starter with rosemary and cinnamon stick on a log

Start a cozy fire this winter with these simple-to-make wax fire starters. These are a great project for repurposing leftover wax, wick trimmings, and paper towels from candle making. 

Ready to get started? Here’s what you’ll need.

Additional Items Needed:

  • Cinnamon sticks
  • Whole cloves
  • Rosemary
  • Paper towels or paper
  • Muffin liners
  • Muffin pan
  • Scissors

Optional Items:

  • Additional dried herbs and spices
  • Small pine cones
  • Wood shavings
  • Twigs

Directions:

STEP 1: Prepare the muffin tin and fillings

Place the muffin liners into your muffin tin.

Cut the rosemary into smaller pieces and trim the metal tab off of your wicks. Add the cloves, cinnamon sticks, rosemary, paper towel (or paper) strips, and wick into the liners. 

Pro Tip!

We added leftover paper towels that were originally used for wax and fragrance oil cleanup during candle making. It burns well and scents the fire starter. Plus, it meant we could skip tossing them into the trash can.

Placing muffin wrappers into muffin tin.

We kept our fire starter mix pretty light and simple to leave room for your own creative touch. Other items you might want to add include things like small pine cones, wood shavings, twigs, and various dried herbs and spices. Don't be afraid to fill your tins pretty full; the more items you put in your fire starter, the better it will burn. Bonus: many of these items you probably already have in your pantry or in your backyard!

Rosemary and cinnamon in a muffin tin.

STEP 2: Weigh and melt your soy wax

Place the large pouring pitcher on your digital scale and tare the weight. Weigh 19 oz. (539 g) of 464 soy wax in the large pitcher and set aside. 

Melt the 19 oz. (539 g) of wax with a double boiler or on a hot plate until it reaches 150°F (65.6°C).

NOTE: The more items you use for your fire starter filling, the less wax you'll need. 

Pouring wax into melting pitcher.

STEP 3: Pour wax into prepared cups

Remove the pouring pitcher from the heat and pour carefully to keep the spices and herbs from rearranging too much.

Pouring wax into muffin tin with fire starter filling

STEP 4: Cool and ENJOY!

Let the wax cool overnight and use to get your next fire started! We found these worked best using some kindling with the fire starter.

NOTE: Only burn these in a wood burning fireplace or in an outdoor fire pit. Do not use in a gas burning fireplace or wood stove.

Wax fire starters in a muffin tin
Closeup of a wax fire starter

If you're not as concerned about the aesthetics of your wax fire starters, you can use all items recycled from your candle making.

For these alternative fire starters, we used recycled leftover wax, wick trimmings, and paper towel that was used for wax and fragrance oil cleanup.

1. Make sure paper towel is cooled and dried out and cut it into smaller pieces; we packed the paper towel tightly into an 8 Bar Circle Silicone Mold.

2. Reheat wax to 150°F (65.6°C), pour into mold leaving some paper towel sticking out.

3. Pop in a wick and let cool.

Wipe out wax from your pour pitcher with a paper towel and save the paper towel for an even easier fire starter
Did you make it?

Show off your take on these wax fire starters and all your handmade creations, with the CandleScience community by tagging us @CandleScience and using the #CandleScientist hashtag on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We may feature you in our Stories or on our website!