This article will detail the six ways you can make an emergency candle a fail-safe for when there’s an electricity outage, 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. Many of the items here might be helpful on a camping trip.
Also, we will provide six emergency candle ideas on how to make them using common home ingredients in most people’s cupboards.
You will very certainly have at least one, if not all, of these items in your home right now. A wick and fat or wax to set it in are all that these candles require.
But remember to always keep an eye on burning candles and never leave them alone. To support the candle in any setting, place it on a fire-resistant surface such as glass or metal.
Let’s dig in and look at the six simple candle hacks to keep your place lit.
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.
6 Ways for DIY Emergency Candle
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.
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. But cutting a rectangle or half a stick of butter into a wick, light it. And you’re finished. Plus, you have just something as good as a candle.
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 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 candles or one larger candle. Make sure your candle is held on a flame-resistant base once again.
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 obvious disadvantage of using candles as emergency lights 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.
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.
You can look at these articles, which you will find as exciting and informative as this one:
- Can Candles Go Bad? Yes, and Here’s How to Fix That
- Why Does Salt Make Candles Burn Longer?
- How to Use an Oil Lamp: Important Tips You Need to Know Now
We hope you’ve gained a lot from this article, and if you liked it, please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, and Instagram. Also, consider sharing this content and subscribing to get 255 free ebooks.
