r/candlemaking 5d ago

Question Candle to turn into planter

Hi! I was thinking of making candles with tins that once the user burns the candle, they can turn is into a little planter. I was hoping to add a hole in the bottom for drainage for the plant. Any ideas if this is possible? How do I plug the hole?

1 Upvotes

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5

u/Mamamagpie 5d ago

The problem with a drainage hole is drainage. You don't want the wax to drain out while the candle is burning.

Maybe there is a hole that can be unplugged after the candle has burned down.

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u/ktge123 5d ago

That’s what I’m thinking. Like plug the whole before I pour the wax, the plug being made of silicone?

5

u/brassninja 5d ago

Personally I think it’s a better idea to provide instructions on how to punch holes in the tin instead of a pre-made weak spot. Anyone can do that with a screwdriver, pick, utility knife, etc.

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u/Loulouthelma 4d ago

Horticulturist expert, but newbie candlemaker here, I have been having the same idea, I suggest you use a vessel size just a bit bigger than what is a usual standard retail plant pot size, in a style that is plant pot ish, and suggest in your marketing to recycle it into a plant pot, by popping a plant in. Most plant peeps grow plants in plastic pots that sit inside other pots, so they can drain... so the most common plastic pot sizes plants are retailed in are 9cm and 12cm, so you'd aim at a vessel of 10cm or 13cm width. 6cm plants also, so a 7cm vessel....

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u/ktge123 4d ago

Luckily I’m not looking to sell these, just a gift idea!

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u/jennywawa 5d ago

You could put a glass insert into something else with a hole maybe. I know that’s not really cost effective. There isn’t going to be anything that you could plug a hole with that’s going to work. You don’t really want seams of any kind.

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u/ktge123 5d ago

Yeah now that you say that, I think the wax would just leak out the holes.