DIY Tutorial: How to Design a Candle with Twists and Bends

Learn how to twist and bend taper candles to create your own unique and stylish spiral designs with Lex Pott

A fun and funky way to add personal style to traditional taper candles, designing twisted and shaped candles not only adds a bit of flair to your dining table or mood lighting, but they make for great handmade gifts too.

These playful candles have taken over social media in the past couple of years, and one person behind the movement is Rotterdam-based product designer, Lex Pott (@lexpott). Reworking raw materials to create unique and stylish home accessories, Lex is renowned for his candle designs—each crafted with individual forms and shapes.

In this tutorial, he shows you two techniques to twist and bend taper candles to make your own handmade creations. Watch the tutorial below.

Materials you will need:

- Two pillar candles (one to bend and one to twist)
- Warm water in a bowl or dish (between 50-60°C / 120-140°F)
- Cold water in a bowl or dish
- A rolling pin

Design One: Bending the Candle

1. Submerge the candle in warm water

In order to manipulate and shape candle wax, first, it needs to be warmed up. This can be done in warm water, ideally at a temperature of 50-60°C (120-140°F). The candle should be submerged in the water for five minutes so that the wax becomes flexible.

Tip: If you see wax on the water, it means the temperature is too high.

2. Create a bend in your candle

Once you’ve pulled the candle out of the water, you’ll only have around thirty seconds to bend and mold your candle into the desired shape before the wax becomes too cool and inflexible, so it’s best to plan what shape you’d like to make beforehand.

Like Lex, you could bend the end of the candle to create a stylish base.

3. Set your shape

To set your shape, submerge the candle into your other bowl of cold water. Hold the candle in the water for twenty to thirty seconds. You’ll know it’s ready when you can’t bend the wax.

Design Two: Twisting the Candle

1. Warm the Candle

Again, to reshape your candle using twists, the wax needs to be warmed up to make it malleable. So, repeat the process of submerging it in warm water (50-60°C or 120-140°F) for five minutes.

2. Flatten the candle

Begin to flatten your candle from the center using a rolling pin. Be sure to rotate the candle, rolling it on both sides to create an even surface.

Leave a space of approximately two inches at the bottom of the candle so that its original round shape still fits into candle holders.

3. Create a twist

With one hand steadying the top of the candle, use the other hand at the bottom of the candle to gently twist. You can create as many twists as you like, as long as the wax is still warm and malleable.

You could also combine this technique with the bending technique to create twisted bends in your candle.

4. Set your shape

Finally, it’s time to set the shape again with cold water. Submerge for ten to twenty seconds until the wax is no longer flexible.

If you enjoyed this tutorial and want to learn more about Lex’s process of exploring form, function, and color to create a framework for product design, check out his online course Product Design: Experiment with Color, Material, and Shape.

Improving your design and craft skills with these resources

1. From crochet to cake design, learn to make your own handmade gifts with Domestika's online craft course bundles.

2. Embrace the DIY attitude and express your creativity with these free tutorials to craft original presents.

3. Get inspiration for your home decor by learning about eight timeless interior design styles.