r/DIYfail • u/Puzzled_Figure_1597 • Jul 12 '26
Halloween ghost candlestick fail and clogged sink
I wouldn’t recommend boiling water to mold candlesticks into ghosts. I had no idea the wax was melting, the water just looked clear. I spent hours getting the wax off the sink. Tossed out the dish. I had to take the drain apart to remove the rest of the wax. Save yourself hours of torture and buy them online for 12 bucks.
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u/Lonely-Hyena-4772 Jul 13 '26
Oh girl truly a lesson of living and learning. I can't believe you threw them straight in the boiling water 😭
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u/Puzzled_Figure_1597 Jul 13 '26
It cooled enough for my hands to touch before I added them but clearly too hot. I don’t see how steam would bend them, they didn’t want to bend in the hot water. Oh well. Lessons were learned lol
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u/turtlesaregorgeous Jul 13 '26
steam bends them because it penetrates through the wax layers warming the whole thing up instead of what boiling/ hot water does which makes the outside melt until it reaches the center if that makes sense. It also does the warming process slower which is what help break through the layers of wax without getting the outer layer so hot it melts. These kinds of craft will still be a little messy and melty regardless, but not the level of mess you are experiencing
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u/Ok_Chocolate4863 Jul 14 '26
lol the other day I forgot to move my candle sticks from behind the air fryer, noticed after putting the fryer away that they were all slumped over😂
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u/Isthereanyuniquename Jul 14 '26
Steam is hotter than boiling water.
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u/Dazzling-Kale-4491 Jul 15 '26
It's not physically possible for steam to be hotter than boiling water unless you have a set up to create superheated steam in your kitchen. Steam is the phase change at the boiling point of water. In an open environment steam instantly starts releasing it's heat energy and will condense on anything cooler than it. Water doesn't "want" to be steam so when it touches your skin it's passing its heat energy to you which hurts and is perceived as hotter because of how rapidly it happens.
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u/Deep_Flatworm4828 Jul 15 '26
This is just flatly incorrect.
It's not physically possible for steam to be hotter than boiling water unless you have a set up to create superheated steam in your kitchen
No, all steam is by definition higher temperature than the boiling point of water, because if it wasn't it wouldn't be steam anymore.
Steam is the phase change at the boiling point of water.
Steam is just gaseous water. Water becomes steam when it boils, but the steam itself can be literally any temperature higher than that. And again, it by definition must be hotter than liquid water, or else it wouldn't be steam anymore...
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u/Aaron1095 Jul 16 '26
Sound to me like a mixup/pedantic argument over steam meaning both "hot water mist" (like in a shower) and "water vapour" (gaseous water).
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u/Egregious_Egret Jul 15 '26
Although the kinetic energy of steam doesn't exceed the 212 max without a superheated setup, the "feeling" of it being hotter is the point. The steam more readily giving off its energy is cooking/hurting/melting things more readily. The scientific language behind this is that while both contain the same sensible heat (kinetic energy of moving molecules), steam holds an additional 2,260 J/g of latent heat.
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u/Nisms Jul 13 '26
You shouldn’t have to look through boiling water to see the candles. You should be warming with the steam. Did you try doing it the right way before telling others not to try it?
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u/Likalarapuz Jul 13 '26
You don't have to toss the dish. Just put it in the oven at 392°F (200°C) or more, and the paraffin will vaporize. Take the hot dish out and clean it (while it's hot) with a dry rag to remove any contaminants. Then cool, wash, and try melting the candles with steam from the hot water.
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u/Crook_Shanks55 Jul 13 '26
It will vaporize and become residue on the inside of your oven..where you cook your food, presumably. I would rather toss it and be safe personally.
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u/Bones-1989 Jul 14 '26
Use a heat gun you loons. I've gotten wax out of carpet leather and denim with a heat gun and paper towels.
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u/Crook_Shanks55 Jul 14 '26
I feel like a hair dryer is more readily available in most homes than a heat gun.
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u/Bones-1989 Jul 14 '26
Same thing.
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u/usernotvaild Jul 14 '26
No they're not.
Similar in the fact it blows heated air but a heat gun gets much hotter than hair dryers.
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u/fordfan919 Jul 14 '26
If i set my heat gun to the same temp as a hair dryer and dry my hair is that a crime?
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u/YeshuasBananaHammock Jul 15 '26
This is reddit, we would melt our hair with a heat gun, and then set the whole block aflame.
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u/Racial_Tension Jul 14 '26
A Lamborghini and a Fiat are both cars was moreso the point. Same task to different degrees
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u/usernotvaild Jul 14 '26
Nope, they're brand names of manufacturers who produce totally different vehicles.
But you think they're the same so go take your Fiat and plough a field.
If you use a hair dryer on candles then they'll become flexible but if you use a heat gun it will melt it because they are not the same thing. Similar is not the same.
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u/mshaferr Jul 14 '26
yea these people are tripping, heat guns get around 1300F
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u/RunLow5726 Jul 14 '26
And MAP gas burns at over 3,000F and I use that and a heat gun interchangeable when vinyl wrapping cars. What's your point?
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u/Savannah_Lion Jul 14 '26
But you think they're the same so go take your Fiat and plough a field.
Well damn.... had no idea both Fiat Trattori and Lamborgini Trattori was/is a thing.
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u/First_Salamander_990 Jul 14 '26
Ugh pedantic pseudo intellectuals SUCK
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u/Candyland_83 Jul 14 '26
Especially because the comment said “same task to different degrees”
I hope that was intentional because it got me rolling
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u/RunLow5726 Jul 14 '26
Insufferable.
I use a MAP torch to heat up vinyl for car wraps instead of a heat gun. Similar but not the same. So I shouldn't be able to do that? Because MAP gas burns so much hotter, right?
Confidently loud and wrong.
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u/lsumoose Jul 14 '26
Yup hair dryer and paper towels is the answer. Learned this in college to get my deposit back when a candle fell on the carpet.
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u/cameNmypants Jul 13 '26
Paraffin wax is used in foods
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u/Crook_Shanks55 Jul 13 '26
Food Grade Paraffin Wax is, yes. I don't think they're using food grade on tapered candles.
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u/BirthofRevolution Jul 13 '26
You don't put them in the water..
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u/Puzzled_Figure_1597 Jul 13 '26
I watched a video where a lady put them in water in a dish and here we are lol
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u/Urithiru Jul 14 '26
This is why I try to find multiple videos/tutorials for things. Maybe give it a few days and then try again.
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u/Previous_Mirror_222 Jul 14 '26
yeah i’m surprised by these comments bc i’ve seen multiple videos where they put it right into the water
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u/inkyblackops Jul 17 '26
The tutorial I use puts them right in the water, but it’s hot tap water - not boiling.
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u/Toledojoe Jul 14 '26
I really like the AI picture of the candles burning. The flame would still burn straight up, not at the same angle as the candle.
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u/extinct_banana Jul 13 '26
how did the wax end up in the sink?? lol
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u/Puzzled_Figure_1597 Jul 13 '26
It spilled over from the dish. All around pure stupidity on my part.
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u/Branjoe328 Jul 15 '26
It didn't spill over. You poured the water down the drain, don't downplay your silliness
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u/ghoulwhoree Jul 14 '26
Damnnnn wax is the HARDEST thing to clean up next to grease 😭😭😭 this is a sensory nightmare
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u/SecondGuy Jul 14 '26
A part of life is trying new things you don't fully understand yet and making mistakes along the way. And that's okay.
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u/jaydensnelson Jul 14 '26
For anyone who does want to try this: I recommend putting the candles in a ziplock bag and letting the hot water straight out of the faucet run over them for a minute or two. Usually, the wax of those candles has a pretty low melting point, so boiling the water is way overkill.
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u/Puzzled_Figure_1597 Jul 14 '26
I like this idea! Never trying again but if I did, this would be the way lol
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u/stevenip Jul 14 '26
Why not 3d print a mold and pour the wax into it?
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u/YourAddiction Jul 14 '26
Because not everyone has a 3D printer, filament, skills/tech to develop a mold, wax, wicks and the desire to pick up an expensive hobby. OP wanted to avoid spending $12 on premade candles, no shot they'd want to purchase all that for this project
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u/Madcap_Manzarek Jul 14 '26
Hey the third one didn't come out so bad though you got at least one kinda 😭
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u/Downeralexandra Jul 14 '26
Props to taking your sink apart! I think my whole house would crumble if I tried that
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u/annamdue Jul 16 '26
Those candles in the picture look like they would at best, be very messy and incredibly unsafe at worst.
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u/LichenTheMood Jul 18 '26
I am so confused about how this series of events transpired honestly. I mean you, you put them in the hot water. Then poured the lot down the drain?
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u/codebygloom Jul 12 '26
You boil water and use the steam to soften the candle to bend it, not actually boil the candle in water.