Candle making supplies in NZ: where to buy wax, wicks, jars and fragrance

What do you actually need to make a candle?

Five things, and only four of them are consumables. Wax, a wick, a container, fragrance if you want scent, and something to melt the wax in and measure its temperature. Everything else sold under the heading of candle making supplies is either a convenience (wick stickers, centring tools, pouring jugs) or a refinement (dye, labels, lids). A first batch does not need the refinements.

• Wax. Container soy is what most New Zealand makers pour, and what most beginners start with; what the waxes actually are covers the differences that can be measured. Beeswax and coconut blends are the usual next steps.
• Wicks. Cotton wicks come pre-tabbed in series (the shops below list ACS and CDN cotton wicks, and wood wicks). The series and size have to match the container diameter and the wax, which is the single thing beginners get wrong; the suppliers' own wick guides are the place to check.
• Containers. Glass jars, tins and tealight cups. Buy the container before the wick, because the wick is chosen for it.
• Fragrance oil. Sold in small bottles for testing and larger ones for batches. Suppliers state a maximum load for each wax; stay inside it.
• Equipment. A pouring jug, a thermometer and a double-boiler arrangement or a wax melter. Candle Creations also lists wax melter hire.

Where do you buy candle making supplies in New Zealand?

Should you buy a kit or the parts?

A kit for the first batch, parts after that. A kit's one real advantage is that someone has already matched the wick to the container and the wax, which is the mistake that ruins first candles. Candle Creations, Candle Supply NZ and PureNature all list candle making kits. Once you know which container you like, buying wax, wicks and jars separately is cheaper per candle and lets you change one variable at a time.

What does a first batch need in quantity?

Less than you think. Wax is sold by the kilogram and a kilogram fills several small jars, so a single bag covers a first evening with plenty left for a second attempt. Buy one size of container and one wick series sized for it, and one or two fragrances in the smallest bottle. The thing to buy more of than you expect is wicks, because a wick that drowns or tunnels is cheap to replace and a jar of wax is not. Why candles tunnel explains what you are watching for on the first burn.

Can you learn in person?

Yes, in Auckland at least. Candle Creations runs a candle making class each month in its Auckland showroom, where you make a candle and some tealights, and says it will run a private evening for a group of ten or more. PureNature lists workshops in its learning section. Outside Auckland we have not found a regular supplier-run class, so the suppliers' own tutorials and recipes (Candle Creations and PureNature both publish them) are the practical alternative.

Buying NZ-made, or making it yourself

Making candles is a different pleasure from buying them, and this site is about the second. If what you want is a well-made candle poured in New Zealand without the thermometer, the makers we name are where to start, and how to tell a candle is made in NZ is worth reading before you trust a label. If you do start pouring, candle care applies to your own candles exactly as it does to anyone else's.