The Candlemaker's Companion: A Complete Guide to Rolling, Pouring, Dipping, and Decorating Your Own Candles

After learning the hard way that making even a simple candle in a salsa jar can go wrong in interesting ways, I opted to buy some books on the topic starting with this one and the Encyclopedia of Candlemaking Techniques. The encyclopedia was shorter, so I read through that first. There were a lot of pictures, but I didn't feel like I had a good grasp on what was being shown since that boiled down to "I'll show you how to make this specific type of candle."This author provides a lot of information on what you need, what waxes and wicks to use and why they matter. She also includes practical tips and warnings as well. The text is fairly thorough and she encourages you to do more research as well as record your own attempts and experiments.While there aren't a lot of pictures and the ones that are provided are not colored or photos, I find that they adequately illustrate her point.It takes a bit to get to the actual candle making instructions (that doesn't start until chapter six), but I feel like I had a far better idea of what to do by the time I got there.

I grew up making candles with my mom by dipping wicks into tall containers of melted beeswax. I’ve recently gone natural with essential oils and decided that I wanted to start making my own container candles. I figured it would be a breeze but after several failed attempts at making scented candles, I decided to look for a book. Just got this today and have read through the whole book and gotten lots of great information. Yes, you can find tons of info and tutorials online (which I also did) but this handy little book gives you math calculations on percentages of wax, additives and scents. It does not mention soy wax, assuming because it’s a little bit older of a book. I’ve gotten great info and I like having a book that I can have open while I’m making candles. It covers everything from votives, rolled candles, container candles to pillars. It has recipes for decorative wax making, suspended dried flowers and other items and I enjoyed reading the history of candles as well. There are no pictures but there are hand drawn diagrams. I think this a great book for beginners like me!

I have been making candles for less than a year now and have had my share of trial and error. This book is a treasure for all candlemakers! It is not a new book but it is the best one I have found on my newly found hobby! It explains in detail about candlemaking and then some. I am so glad that I bought it and higly recommend candle makers to buy for reference.

This book is not only an excellent reference for how to make all types of candles, it is very well written and fun to read. The book is full of interesting facts about candles, waxes, additives, even the history of candle making. It goes into details about all the different aspects of candle making. It explains the reasons for different additives, how to use scents, the different types of wax and what they are used for. This book was really fun to read, and I learned n a whole lot about candle making. I did not realize how much there was to it. I highly recommend tis book. Go ahead and buy it, You will be so glad that you got it.

This was my first candle making book and it gave me all the basic instructions to making candles and I still use it for reference. Betty talks a bit about most types of candles and gives us lots of useful information. Well written, uncomplicated, simple and educational.

I loved this book because it had all the info, including little bits of history thrown in about candle making. It gave great descriptions and sketches about each step in the process, and was written in an easy to read format. Definitely an awesome book for those people who are starting out, trying to find their way in the candle making world. Happy crafting!

My copy arrived with pages 17-40 missing, and pages 41-64 duplicated. Not acceptable.

The book Candlemaker's companion has important technical aspect.It is not full of nice pictures, no gallery, no fancy step by step. Therefore this book is for people that already know how to make candles. What we all beginners need is something simple and practical with good ideias, so you can create your own ideias. Anyway I give 5 stars to this book because shows in details what the other books don't. For instance, she explains all troubleshooting, the cause, the solution, how much of wax you need, she explains thousands of tips and informations that others books don't. It is not a fancy book because do not present beautiful pictures but the information inside is very valuable, something that no nice pictures pays off. The information contained in the book is a must for people involved in making candles. This a technical book and used as a library to check and read, as much as information as better for us. In my case I am a beginner now, but I will be a "veteran" in the art of making candles and soon. Thanks Betty.

I can't rate this little book highly enough. It might not be so good for a total beginner (a candle-making kit, complete with instructions, might be better in this case) but if you've moved to the next stage and want to know more, this is the book for you. It's crammed with useful advice which is easy to follow and and covers every aspect of the craft that I am interested in, from the technical stuff (different types of wax, additives, wicks etc) to the fun part (decorating candles). One word of warning - if you want lots of colour photos, this is not the book for you (there are none, just helpful sketches to demonstrate technique etc). It's probably also worth noting that the author is American so it references suppliers etc in the States. However, it's still the best candle-making book I have found so far.

Has been used several times now and shared around, a useful book if you are interested in knowing how to make candles or even know more about them

Really easy to follow book with lots of advice and instructions. I have;t had the opportunity to put anything I have learnt into practise yet though so ca't update you on my newly found skills!!

Perfect for starting your own candle business!Very detailed with all the secrets of the trade.Got it just for interest as a hobby but the book surprised!

I haven't read all of this book yet but as far as it goes it seems to be very good, I imagine anyone who is passionate about candle making would find this very useful.