BDSM Hot Wax Play

 

Beeswax candles melt at a much higher, and damaging temperature; beeswax itself only melts 10 degrees hotter but they typically have more temperature raising additives than paraffin based candles. Colorants and perfumes can raise the melting point although they apparently don't do so by much. Metallic chips in candles can get very hot and cause burns. Stearine is used as a hardener in candles and can raise the melting point substantially; long burning candles have too much stearine and will cause harm. The top should always test candles by dripping wax on the back of the hand. The greater the height wax is dropped from, the more time it has to cool. Wax temperature can exceed the melting point if it is not in equilibrium with solid wax; if you use a pot of some sort to heat the wax, be very careful about temperature (a thermometer is a good idea). Taper candles apparently produce hotter wax than larger and enclosed candles where the wax pools and reaches equilibrium with the solid paraffin.   Avoid areas with hair - it is hard to remove wax from these areas and you might permanently remove the hair (although if you use a low temperature wax and remove the wax with a flea comb you can probably get away with it).  There is a little metal ‘dodad’ at the bottom of the wick of many candles. If the wax has melted down to the ‘dodad’ it may fall onto your sub and cause burns. Removing the ‘dodad’, however, poses a fire hazard. The ‘dodad’ is there partly to hold the wick in place while the candle is poured but it has another function which is to spread the heat from the wick and keep the wick from burning down within a quarter inch of the glass; without it, the glass is likely to break from the heat; even with it, don't trust glass, particularly untempered glass, to contain a burning candle. Mason jars will probably withstand the heat better than many other jars, since mason jars are intended to be heated, but they may be exposed to temperatures, and temperature differentials, beyond what they were designed for. Use of an open flame around alcohol (as might be used in a scene for its sanitizing, cooling, and/or stinging properties) can pose a substantial fire and burn hazard. Candles left unattended (perhaps while you sleep) can pose a serious fire hazard. At the very least, put the candle in a metal container. Sir Michael describes in an article how a pillar candle, which they forgot to extinguish before going to bed, split down the side exposing more wick resulting in a larger flame which quickly burned down to the furniture underneath and set their dungeon on fire causing $10,000 worth of damage before the smoke detector woke them up. The area directly over the candle can get hot enough to ignite even at a considerable distance from the candle; use a metal baffle, or at least a piece of aluminum foil, if you are burning a candle without several feet of clearance overhead.

You can purchase bulk paraffin, stearine, wicks, and candle molds at some crafts stores and make your own candles to fit your own needs. You can also purchase paraffin at many grocery stores along with other canning supplies. You can purchase bulk paraffin, stearine, wicks, and candle molds at some crafts stores and make your own candles to fit your own needs. You can also purchase paraffin at many grocery stores along with other canning supplies. Used wax may be remolded into candles (don't add even more sterate or other additives unless that is what you really want) the heat from the molding and/or burning processes should kill most nasty pathogens. You can hold scraps of wax over a burning candle to quickly increase the size of the pool of paraffin; give this wax a little time to reach equilibrium with the solid wax. Wax melted in this way will have some black carbon contamination (which may affect the melting point) and if you add too much wax this way you may actually extinguish the candle. Also, wax may be easier to remove from hairy areas while it is still slightly warm and if it has been applied thinly. Fully refined paraffin melts at 130-135 degrees F. Beeswax without additives melts at around 143-145 degrees F (lower if refined) but more temperature raising additives are typically used when making candles. Spectrum's Hot Wax article gives the results of some experiments on wax and downplays the affect of candle composition while emphasizing candle shape.