Decongestant Wax Melts

This is actually the item that got me started on the idea of a DIY Christmas. I was just happily scrolling through my feed on Facebook one day when I saw an image very much like this:

 

Now, there was something about this that I liked, but also something kind of disturbing. Put a petroleum based medicine in water, leave it on an open flame in your baby's room then close the door and wish them the best of luck? Yeah, no.

A little research and I found out two things very quickly. 1) Vicks VapoRub is not intended for babies and it's actually harmful to them. 2) The good people at Scentsy hate this idea and will void the warranty(?) on your warmer if you try but have a similar decongestant melt they'd be happy to sell you. I, however, was not deterred.

The season was changing and in spite of high humidity I was really stopped up at night. So, I ran over to the local Family Dollar and bought a generic warmer. At first it totally worked. Kind of. I mean, if you're ok sleeping next to a lit candle. Then after a few hours I woke up to some popping noises. I didn't see anything and there were no marks of where the oil had popped up out of the warmer, but I was not comfortable trying that again when I went to bed.

Rather than just putting it in the lose column I really went down the rabbit hole. I took a tea light out of it's tin cup, removed the wick, then put it and a teaspoon of Vicks in the warmer. Eureka! After a few hours sitting next to me while I studied it gave off a pleasant, decongesting aroma and remained stable, without any pops or splashes.

This gave me some hope, so I got a wax melter nightlight. We all know where I went to get it. I went into the heart of darkness. The evil empire. Walmart. I'm never proud of my decision to shop there (a subject I'll surely revisit at a later date) but I knew that I could find this weird little item quickly, easily and cheaply.

As I was using it, though, I was still reading. I was not the only one who'd discovered this trick and a lot of people had blogged about it. Many had small children and were using Baby Vicks or mixing their own essential oils. I'm not sure exactly when or how, but as I was starting to think about what I was going to do for Christmas gifts I decided to go natural and get some essential oils. So, the ideas merged. 

I stopped by Family Dollar again and picked up a great little ice tray for only $1. It's a little different from the average ice tray. It has a rounded, silicone bottom that you push up on to release the ice and I think I'm in love with it. So, with much less thought than I should have used, I started in on this.

As one blogger had used a large, religious style, candle in a glass container I decided that would be fine. Sure, it takes a while to melt but they're unscented, cheap, readily available and I wouldn't need to get out the double-boiler. This, kittens, was a terrible plan.

Almost as soon as I got it home I started thinking about how on earth I was going to be able to pour hot wax out of it? I put off starting this project just to avoid dealing with it. I probably should have not attempted it. Instead I sat the candle in a pot of hot water on the stove and prepped everything while I waited.

I washed and dried my new little ice cube tray then put four drops of each of the following essential oils in it:

Tea Tree

Eucalyptus

Peppermint

Rosemary

Since I was working by myself I thought that putting the oil then wax in would be better than wax first. I didn't want to be playing "Beat the Clock" trying to get the oils in before the wax dried.

If you're thinking about making these yourself, you can certainly alter the line-up of oils. Some people like to use lemon or wintergreen to replace rosemary and peppermint respectively and the amounts are completely up to personal taste.

When the wax melted I took a deep breathe, braced myself, and with an oven mitt on each hand pulled the candle out of the pot and began pouring it into the ice cube tray. The wax got everywhere! Only now some of it had overflowed the ice compartments so it was oily wax. All. Over. The. Counters. There are no pictures of this. I just had no time. I was too busy wiping up wax and shouting profanity.

After a significant amount of cleaning

How else did I think it was going to work? Any sane, rational person when they realized how unwieldy an eight inch tall, glass cylinder with a squared lip was going to be, would have rethought it. Not me. I need to make the mistake before I see the solution. 

On the bright side, the ice cube tray was perfect! The ice compartments themselves each hold about one tablespoon and when it cooled off and I was able to chip the extra wax off the top, they came out nearly perfect. Only a couple had a slight fault, which surely had more to do with the big waxy mess than anything else. In two the oil and wax hadn't mixed together properly and so the top (what had been the bottom as they were drying) never solidified fully. The rest looked perfect, but due to losing so much oil in the waxy mess, weren't very potent.

My second batch, I obviously needed to find a better source of wax for. It should be unscented but the color can be anything. After some thought I went in hunt of an unscented pillar candle that I could grate (my mother later recommended putting it in a plastic bag and wacking it with a hammer) into my Pyrex measuring cup (that has a spout!) and I placed it into a hot water bath to melt the wax. Simple plan!

Unfortunately, it is really hard to find a big unscented candle these days. Know what's easy to find? Unscented tea lights. They're all over the place and super cheap. I got a big bag of 30 for $2.

I figured since each compartment holds one tablespoon and there are 21 compartments in the ice cube tray that I'll need just over 1 1/4 cup to fill the tray. I could melt the tea lights just a few at a time until I had that amount so that I'd waste as little as possible.

A quick search on The Google told me that one liquid teaspoon is the equivalent of just under 100 droplets. That measurement seems quicker to get and a bit stronger than the first batch. So, I knew my measurements which felt like half the battle.

Everything went according to plan! I was able to use a low pan that the handle of my Pyrex measuring cup went over, which meant the handle remained a reasonable temperature and I could hold it without a even an oven mitt.

The oils measured nicely and stirred in smoothly after the wax melted. (I was sure to take off the plastic top that pours by the drop. That would have taken too long.)

When it was time to pour, it was a dream! I just picked up the measuring cup and started pouring with hardly any overages.

I did find that I had a little too much wax. (Evidently, my math is not as good as I think it is.) I got out my trusty silicone cupcake tray and poured a few extra in there. I'm still not sure if those can are better as gifts or keeping for myself.

Since I used the same cupcake mold to make my decongestant shower melts and these are likely to wind up in the same gift package, I think having a different look might be important, but the symmetry of having them look alike, since they're both decongestant, has an appeal too. Ultimately I'm deciding against it because they are a little to wide to fit in the nightlight wax warmer and wouldn't want that that to happen to someone I've given a gift to.

With no cleanup at all!

Waiting for them to cool they look a little shiny and greasy, but I'm taking that to mean that they'll be nice and strong. Unfortunately the melts in the ice cube tray aren't firm enough to come out in one piece, though. (The problem isn't in the silicone because it's flexible enough to peel up from around the wax.) I decided to try freezing them to see if that would help.

A few hours later they popped out perfectly! Which is nice, because not only is Christmas coming but the season of dry, forced hot air has begun in the south. Happily I can go to bed tonight with my humidifier going and one of these little lovelies melting in my nightlight.

Check out my other Christmas gift DIYs!

Decongestant Shower Melts
Fizzy Bath Salts
Peppermint Sugar Scrub

*****Only after I finished this project did I start reading about toxins and ingredient sources in candles. While I don't think that discount store tea lights are "dangerous", in the future I will either use a non-toxic, organic tea light or use the wax mix recommended by The Hippie Home Maker.  As always, I think that you should make educated decisions that are right for you and your family.