Wax uses?

[LazySod]

Ok, a bit of background .....

SWMBO used to be obsessed with ornaments years back, but then, onto the horizon came CANDLES.

Now every level surface in the house is littered with them, white candles, church candles, chocolate candles, vanilla candles ..... the list is endless.

Now, after years of me being dragged around putrid smelling shops, the house has reached the point of saturation.

SWMBO now has to ponderously chose which of her OLD candles to ditch, before she can refurnish that square inch of surface with any new aquisition.

So now, every once in a blue moon, she ditches a perfectly good candle which i rescue from a fate worse than incineraton.

Now, bearing in mind that to even the suggestion of lighting one of her beloved candles in situ would result in a night on the sofa, you will note that the resued candles are VIRGIN, so to speak.

My question is ..... what do i use all this FREE (a term used in it's loosest form) wax for?

The latest 'rescuee' is 5" tall and 5" diam.

 

[Toddy]

Brush or dip the ends of green wood pieces to allow them to dry out slowly without cracking.

Make cardboard and wax firelogs, firestart trays, or dip pine cones in the melted wax for really neat firelighters.

Melted and a little turps and some soft soap added to make leather cream.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[LazySod]

Cardboard and pine cones to cottect then.

One question, if i use a 'cup cake' firelighter in my hobo stove, am i left with a load of gunk in the bottom?

 

[Toddy]

Well mine works without leaving anything but some gunk in the bottom of the foil case......I use the ones from the apple pies my son loves....and a very sooty base to the pot.

It might be worthwhile figuring out which candles are paraffin wax and if any are beeswax.......if Mrs Lazysod likes them that much she may well have picked up something really useful too.

atb,
Toddy

 

[Northern Giant UK]

I seem to remember that you can make a pretty good wood polish by mixing equal parts of melted candle wax, linseed oil and terpentine (not terps substitute).

Hopefully someone will put me right if I'm wrong.

Kev

 

[LazySod]

I can guarantee that Mrs Lazysod ain't coaxed me into buying any beeswax.

I was thinking more of the paper bun cases, so i guess there would be very little evidence left of the firelighter.

 

[LazySod]

I seem to remember that you can make a pretty good wood polish by mixing equal parts of melted candle wax, linseed oil and terpentine (not terps substitute).

Hopefully someone will put me right if I'm wrong.

Kev

That would be a very helpful thing to know if..... we had any real wood furniture in the house.

(Can't ever remember seeing any Turps that wasn't a substitute.)

 

[Northern Giant UK]

(Can't ever remember seeing any Turps that wasn't a substitute.)

I usually keep some handy. . .add a few drops to a tub of light my fire and it works quite well.

Kev

 

[LazySod]

I've been put off Maya dust by a few threads on here, whats your take on it?

 

[Northern Giant UK]

Well I have to agree with the threads really, a bit of vaselined cotton wool is far cheaper and does better in most cases. I got a tub to try and found that it isn't nearly as flammable as advertised (unless you add terps that is )

Kev

 

[LazySod]

<crosses Maya dust off his xmas list>.

 

[SimonM]

Egg box filled with saw dust and them melted wax poured over make a good fire starter.

Leave a tuft of cotton wool sticking out the top and they light with a ferro rod.

Simon

 

[LazySod]

Egg boxes, saw dust, pine cones and cardboard ...... ok, got it.

 

[Mesquite]

Egg boxes, saw dust, pine cones and cardboard ...... ok, got it.

Where's the sticky backed plastic?...... opps sorry thats Blue Peter

 

[Diligence]

well - my Father used to like making fire starting eggs....lint from the clothes dryer, mixed with melted wax. Everyone of his bags had a few of these eggs.

Me - I like vaseline and cotton balls myself, or bits of inner tube....

so as not to completely hijack the thread:

I agree with Toddy, melt that stuff down and use it to treat the ends of the sticks you have drying to prevent checking and cracking.

D

 

[Chips]

Egg box filled with saw dust and them melted wax poured over make a good fire starter.

Leave a tuft of cotton wool sticking out the top and they light with a ferro rod.

Simon

Just an idea, would the wax not be more efficiently absorbed into the wood if you heated the sawdust and wax together, then scraped it into eggboxes?

 

[hiho]

Where's the sticky backed plastic?...... opps sorry thats Blue Peter

beat me to it

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Keep some of the "old one's" in case of powercuts

 

[LazySod]

Keep some of the "old one's" in case of powercuts

Best advice yet, have you seen my lecky bills?