How-to: Save and Store Melted Wax for Future Craft Projects

beeswax stored for the next project

So you made candles, or preserved autumn leaves, or cooked up furniture polish, or crafted modeling wax for the kiddos, and now you’re left with a crock pot or bain-marie half-full of melted beeswax (or its vegan wax substitutes).

Here’s the easy way that I store my leftover wax, measured into known amounts so that future projects are easier to put together, and pretty enough that the wax can be stored right out in the open, leaving more storage space for my fabric stash:

melted beeswax stored in silicon molds
Portion melted wax into silicon molds or muffin tins to harden for easy storage.

To easily save and store your wax, you simply need to know that you can pour melted wax into any mufifn tins, ice cube trays, or novelty silicon molds and pop it out when hardened, leaving behind no residue.

beeswax ready to melt
Melt down chunks of beeswax like these, and re-harden them in molds that allow for better portioning and more efficient storage.

Therefore, you probably already have in your house molds of the perfect size to store your leftover melted wax. If you primarily use your wax in bath and body recipes, choosing mini muffin tins or ice cube trays will allow you to store your wax in small portion sizes.

If you primarily use a pot full of melted wax at a time, choosing cupcake molds or mini loaf tins will allow you to store your wax in large chunks.If you buy wax wholesale, as I do, in a big box of bits and pieces and chunks of random size, melting down your wax and hardening it in molds like these will allow you to store it much more efficiently, taking up much less space.

I live in a small house, and my own storage space for stuff is pretty tight, so I’ve learned that if I pour my wax into novelty molds, so that the hardened wax comes out shaped like leaves, and flowers, and LEGOs, I can store the wax not on a shelf in my craft room, but in a little basket on a shelf in pretty much every room in the house. The wax looks pretty, smells like honey, and it’s easy to gather up when I’m ready for my next project.

Avatar photo

Written by Julie Finn

I'm a writer, crafter, Zombie Preparedness Planner, and homeschooling momma of two kids who will hopefully someday transition into using their genius for good, not the evil machinations and mess-making in which they currently indulge. I'm interested in recycling and nature crafts, food security, STEM education, and the DIY lifestyle, however it's manifested--making myself some underwear out of T-shirts? Done it. Teaching myself guitar? Doing it right now.

Visit my blog Craft Knife for a peek at our very weird handmade homeschool life, and my etsy shop Pumpkin+Bear for a truly odd number of rainbow-themed beeswax pretties.

2 Comments

Leave a Reply
    • Thanks! It makes it easier to relax and let my kids play and experiment with the melted beeswax whenever I’m doing something with it in the crock pot, because I know I have an easy way to remove and store the excess.

Comments (Keep It Civil...)

Reader Question: Homemade Modeling Clay Recipe?

What to do with a Wooden Pallet: 6 Crafty Projects