Classic Altar Candles
From Recycling to Manufacturing: The Story Behind Our Classic Altar Candles
Our journey into candle manufacturing did not begin with a desire to make candles.
It began with a desire to reduce waste.
For many years we were concerned by the amount of candle wax being discarded by churches. Whilst candles play an important role in Christian worship, large quantities of wax often remained at the end of their useful life. We believed there had to be a better solution than simply throwing it away.
The first challenge was learning how to collect and recycle candle wax on a national scale. Through years of trial, error and refinement, we developed what remains, as far as we know, the UK's only nationwide church candle recycling service.
Once we had mastered the collection and processing of used candle wax, we faced a new challenge.
What should we do with it?
Our original plan was simple. We would collect the wax, process it and supply it to an established candle manufacturer who would use it to make new church candles.
The difficulty was finding a manufacturer willing to do so.
Despite considerable effort, there was little interest in incorporating recycled church wax into candle production. As the quantities of wax we were collecting continued to increase, it became clear that if we wanted recycled church wax to find its way back into church candles, we would have to find another solution.
That was the point at which we decided to learn how to make candles ourselves.
Reviving a Traditional Craft
What initially appeared straightforward quickly proved otherwise.
Traditional church candle making is a craft that has largely disappeared from the United Kingdom. Much of the knowledge, equipment and experience that once existed has been lost over time.
We therefore began the process of learning from first principles.
Using the recycled wax we had collected, together with carefully selected raw materials, we experimented with a variety of traditional candle-making techniques, including moulding, dipping and drawing.
Some methods worked better than others. Many mistakes were made. Some candles were excellent. Others were not.
Gradually, through persistence and continual refinement, we learned how to produce high-quality church candles with the appearance, performance and consistency required for liturgical use.
We began selling small quantities and quickly discovered something interesting.
Customers liked them.
More importantly, they came back and bought them again.
Solving the Next Problem
Whilst we had learned how to make excellent candles, we faced another challenge.
We could not produce them in sufficient quantities to make candle manufacturing commercially viable.
At the same time, we were observing wider changes within the candle market.
Crude oil prices were rising. Supply chains were being disrupted. Brexit, the pandemic and international conflicts were all contributing to increasing costs. Churches were facing higher prices year after year.
At the same time, many customers were expressing dissatisfaction with the quality of some machine-produced candles available on the market.
We began to recognise a gap.
Churches deserved genuine choice.
They should be able to choose between machine-made candles and handcrafted candles. They should be able to choose between different wax compositions. They should be able to choose products that reflected their priorities, whether those priorities were affordability, sustainability, tradition or performance.
To achieve that vision, we needed to scale up.
Investing in the Future
Having spent years learning how to make candles, we were finally in a position to specify the equipment, raw materials and manufacturing processes needed to produce high-quality handcrafted candles efficiently and consistently.
This investment was not simply about increasing production.
It was about making handcrafted candles affordable.
By designing our manufacturing process around traditional candle-making principles whilst improving efficiency wherever possible, we have been able to reduce costs without compromising quality.
The result is our new Classic range of handcrafted altar candles.
Containing a minimum of 10% natural beeswax, Classic candles combine quality, value and sustainability in a way that would not have been possible at the start of our journey.
More Than a New Candle
The introduction of Classic is not simply the launch of a new product.
It is the result of years of learning, experimentation, investment and problem solving.
It also provides a platform for the future.
Because we manufacture ourselves, we can produce shorter production runs, develop new wax blends and respond to customer requirements in ways that would be difficult for many larger manufacturers.
This flexibility recently enabled us to help an Orthodox Catholic church recycle its spent beeswax votive candles into new beeswax votives, ensuring valuable materials remained in active use rather than being discarded.
The same flexibility has also enabled us to introduce our new Eco Option.
By selecting this option, customers choose to incorporate an additional 25% recycled church candle wax into their handcrafted candles, helping to breathe new life into old church candles and increasing the proportion of sustainable and recycled waxes within a Classic candle to as much as 45%.
Looking Ahead
Our story began with a desire to reduce waste.
Today, that remains our objective.
We want to increase recycling. We want to increase the use of sustainable and recycled materials. We want to provide churches with greater choice. And we want to do so without compromising quality or affordability.
The introduction of the Classic range is an important milestone, but it is only one step in a much longer journey.
We are already working on new wax blends, new products and future developments, including 100% beeswax candles.
The challenge that started with a question about waste has grown into something much larger: a commitment to helping churches choose candles that are not only fit for worship, but fit for the future as well.