Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Every now and then, I stumble on a survival hack that really makes me think, “Wait, why isn’t everyone doing this?” That’s exactly what happened when I came across this candle hack. In all the years I’ve been doing this, somehow I never heard about this one.
The idea is to use steel wool in place of standard candle wicks, which slowly burn up over time. The steel gets hot enough to vaporize the wax and sustain a flame, but it doesn’t actually burn away like other wicks. That means the wick lasts practically forever. All you have to do is occasionally add more wax to the candle container.
I found this trick on the Youtube channel, LastBush Survival, which has all sorts of cool survival tips and hacks. You can watch their video below. The video doesn’t have any audio, but I typed up the instructions for people who prefer to read. You can see the video and instructions below.
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1. Start by removing a tea light candle from its metal container and set the wax aside.
2. Use the knife on a multitool to carefully remove the small round metal piece stuck to the bottom of the candle. This is what originally held the wick in place.
3. Take a screw and poke it through the center of that round metal piece to create a hole. This hole is where you’ll insert your new steel wick.
4. Put on gloves and take apart a steel wool scrubber by gently pulling it apart with your hands.
5. Use scissors to cut a manageable piece of the scrubber, then twist the fibers together into a thick, sturdy wick a few inches long.
6. Insert one end of your twisted steel wool wick into the hole you made in the metal disk. Use pliers to crimp the metal tightly around the wick so it holds firmly in place.
7. Twist the wick tightly so it doesn’t easily fall apart.
8. Set up a small heat source like a mini folding stove with a tea light candle beneath it.
9. Place chunks of candle into a metal pot on the stove.
10. Allow the wax to melt completely into liquid form.
11. Pour the melted wax into a small round tin or similar heat-safe container.
12. Lower your steel wool wick into the hot wax (metal disk end first). Allow the wax to cool and harden.
13. Once the wax is fully solidified, your infinite candle is ready to use. Light the steel wool wick like a normal candle. It will glow and stay intact instead of burning away.
As the wax burns down, simply add a few more chunks of paraffin wax to the container so they can melt and refill it. The metal wick doesn’t disappear, so you can keep using the same setup indefinitely.
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