This article will detail how to make long burning emergency candles for when there’s an electricity outage or an emergency, and you need to keep some lights on.
The issue with power outages is that we never know when they will occur. Even with adequate warning of an impending storm, we often get caught off guard if the electricity goes out.
When amid the icy winter storm season, it’s essential to know what you can do if you can’t find a flashlight or candle or if you require more heat on a chilly night.
We will provide six emergency candle ideas on how to make them using common home ingredients in most people’s cupboards. Candles are an essential part of every emergency kit, but if you don’t have some on you, you don’t need to worry. We’re going to cover DIY candle making with household items here.
Let’s dig in and look at the six simple candle hacks for emergency lighting.
Making a Homemade Wick
Tightly twisted paper towels, toilet paper, wrapped newspapers, cardboard, twine, cotton balls, cotton thread, cotton balls, or any cotton fabric, such as strips from an old t-shirt, can all be used to make handmade wicks.
In a pinch, even tampons will suffice. The object serves as a wick for some of the candles listed here. Make sure you have matches or a lighter on hand at all times.
How To Make Long Burning Emergency Candles
Here are the six best ways to make long burning emergency candles:
1. Orange
You may have seen an emergency candle hack involving an orange and a little cooking oil such as canola or olive oil. That’s because it works. An orange is a great candle holder, with a decent burn time. It’s also technically a scented candle, so if you’re into scented candles, try this out.
By slicing the orange and removing only the top half of the peel and the center core, you may produce a quick candle with only a little oil.
A bigger orange will produce a longer-burning candle, but clementines are quicker to peel and perform just as well but with a shorter burn period. The light is faint, similar to a tea light, but you may add extra oil to lengthen the burning period.
2. Butter
There’s nothing more fundamental than a candle. This is the next best thing. All you have to do is cut a rectangle or half a stick of butter into a wick and light it. And you’re finished. Plus, you have just something as good as a candle. This is a great candle holder for a long burn time.
You can place and ensure the butter is on a glass or metal surface, and each tablespoon should provide roughly one hour of light.
Also, use a square of toilet paper cut into quarters to build a wick; one of the quarters may be twisted into a thin rope and folded over to form a fishhook shape.
Lastly, puncture a hole in the butter and insert the paper fishhook. Ensure the wick is about a quarter of an inch above the butter.
3. Tin Can
If you have no fresh oranges or butter, look in your cabinet for canned tuna, salmon, anchovies, or oil-packed seafood.
With a screwdriver, make a hole in the top of the can and insert a wick, spreading the oil up into the top, then ignite and enjoy.
4. Crayon
A crayon, while not the first thing that comes to mind, is a self-contained candle: all you have to do is light it. The wax keeps the flame burning while the paper wrapping functions as an exterior candle wick.
Make careful to briefly melt the bottom of the crayon, so it sticks to a fire-safe surface like an Altoids tin or a glass plate. Cut the wax crayon at the top of the wrapper to create a wax stick enclosed in paper.
Wait for the paper to catch after lighting a match over the candle. It should last around 15 minutes. To build a bigger candle or an excellent fire starter, wrap many crayons together with foil.
5. Cheese Wax
Cheese wax might be a pain to work with when attempting to slice cheese for eating, but it’s also a perfect material for producing an emergency candle.
Any waxed cheese will suffice if the wax can be sliced off and molded into a cylinder before inserting a wick. The larger and longer-lasting the candle, the more wax you need, but even the little Babybel cheeses work well.
Cut some open to produce many little wax candles or one larger candle. Make sure your candle is held on a flame-resistant base once again.
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6. Cooking oil
If none of these items are available, you may make an emergency candle out of a new or used cooking oil and a flame-resistant container.
Small glass cups or jars, such as mason or jam jars, aluminum cans, and even an aluminum foil cup encased within a metal muffin tray, work nicely.
You can use a paper clip to hold the wick in place if you don’t have a lid to thread it through.
Are Emergency Candles Even a Good Idea?
You may have started asking this question after all the DIY survival candle-making methods. Candles were the way to go for emergency lights generally. It was primarily due to the high cost of flashlight batteries and the lack of readily available rechargeable batteries.
Not everyone can afford and has solar-powered flashlights. Keeping this in mind, you can also consider using flashlights, headlamps (on Amazon), oil lamps, LED lamps, glow sticks, and propane lamps as alternative light sources.
The advantage of using an emergency candle is that they provide light and warmth and they don’t require batteries or electricity. Candles also provide an extra layer of safety as a backup light source in case the power goes out during bad weather or other emergencies.
They are easy to store and carry around for emergency situations, making them ideal items to keep on hand at home or when traveling.
The obvious disadvantage of using candles as an emergency lighting method is that they might cause a fire. You should never use candles in certain situations, such as after an earthquake or when there is a chance of a gas main breaking.
However, candles have several advantages that make them a viable alternative, and being inexpensive is on top of it. Candles may also provide heat, which can be life-saving if you don’t have another heat source.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the most common questions related to emergency candles that you may have:
What are emergency candles?
Emergency candles are lit for use during power outages or other emergencies when the lack of light could be dangerous. They provide a long-lasting and safe source of illumination in dark environments without electricity.
How long do emergency candles burn?
Depending on the type of candle and wick, most emergency candles can last anywhere from 7-9 hours when burning continuously.
What materials are used to make emergency candles?
Emergency candles are usually made with a combination of wax, wick, and some type of fuel, such as vegetable oil or paraffin. There are also other materials you can use to make an emergency candle.
Why shouldn’t you burn a candle for more than 3 hours?
Burning a candle for more than 3 hours increases the risk of fire due to heat buildup in the wax and wick, which can cause it to ignite.
There can also be excess carbon buildup. It is also not recommended to burn a candle for more than 3 hours in order to preserve the life of the wick and wax.
Is it OK to let a candle burn all night?
No, it is not recommended to leave a candle burning all night. It can be dangerous if left unattended, and the risk of fire increases significantly with prolonged burning.
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Last Words
Aside from the materials mentioned here, you can also use lip balm containers, shoe polish, or vegetable shortening like Crisco as emergency candles.
Now, you must place a candle in the center and ignite it. You may use Crisco to fill a Mason jar and put a taper candle in the center.
Ensure there are no air bubbles and that the shortening level is approximately an inch below the taper. It will burn for a very long time, possibly up to 100 hours.
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