Reusing / remaking a candle in a broken glass jar?

[Confusedandshaken]

I ordered a large scented candle in a glass holder. It arrived with the top of the jar smashed to smithereens so about an inch of wax is protruding out of the broken glass.

I've contacted the seller and received a full refund but if possible I would like to salvage something as it's a discontinued scent that I really love.

Can anyone tell me a safe way of getting the wax out of the jar so I can use it to make some smaller candles? I've never made candles before so no advice will be too basic! Please share your knowledge with me.

If you sit it in a bowl of hot water it might release the wax enough so that it would lift out by the gently pulling the wick. Then you could just set it on a saucer instead of having to melt completely to make new candles.

If you warm it up around it so the outside layer starts to mela can you slide it out of the jar? After removing all of the broken glass!

That should say ‘melt’ not ‘mela’!

I am wondering if you can very carefully put the broken candle in a pan with hot water slightly below the level of the glass, and gently heat to a point where the wax will release from the broken jar. Easiest thing to do would be to re-house the candle in a suitable container, but if you wanted to, and the wax was dried off in case of any wetness, you can melt the wax in a ramekin or similar (you can cut it into chunks to make it easier) but you will need wicks (string or similar won't work) and something to hold the wick in place whilst the wax sets.

This is probably a stupid idea but I'd take it outside, lay it on a bin liner and tap the glass with my rolling pin.

As a pp said, you can then just use the candle as is or possibly replace the jar.

@dudsville

This is probably a stupid idea but I'd take it outside, lay it on a bin liner and tap the glass with my rolling pin.

As a pp said, you can then just use the candle as is or possibly replace the jar.

This.

I've had one smashed too. The replacement came today. When I get chance I'll look into salvaging it if possible

Haven't done it, but saw something recently on facebook where lots of people said freeze it and the wax will contract and come away?

Oh the sheer freaking genius of the Mumsnet hive mind. I love it. It hadn't even occurred to me to use it as a pillar candle!

I took two of the excellent ideas on here, reserving the third in case the first two failed. I wrapped the damaged candle in bubble wrap and froze it for an hour. Then I took the candle (still in the bubble wrap) outside and tapped the jar lightly all over with a heavy hammer. The glass fell away cleanly from the frozen wax leaving a perfect candle. There were a few tiny shards of glass stuck around the top end which I removed with a damp piece of kitchen roll.

So now I have a perfect pillar candle with very little effort and only a tiny amount of blood loss!

Thank you everyone.