How to melt natural sealing wax?

Sealing wax can be melted to make wax seals on envelopes and invitations or perhaps to personalize bottles of wine.

There is synthetic sealing wax mainly used with a glue gun and traditional natural sealing wax. L'Ecritoire exclusively offers the second option!

L'Ecritoire's natural wax is made in France from maritime pine resin, basin lime and natural dyes. But how do you melt this precious colored stick? 

First, we break a small piece of sealing wax that we place in a metal or porcelain spoon. We put the spoon under a candle, a bit away from the flame to prevent it from blackening. A few minutes later, the wax is malted and it is possible to pour it in the desired place. The ideal temperature for using wax is around 120°/130°C. You can judge the temperature of the wax by observing its fluidity.

The wax seal stamp, whether brass or pewter, should alway be very cold and dry. And it is also important that the wax is not too hot either in order to prevent de seal from sticking especially after a few uses. Too hot wax will also tend to lightly burn the paper of your beautiful envelope!

We are often asked why our wax sticks don't have a wick? Or why not put the wax stick directly under a candle or a lighter? 

While a wick is undoubtedly much more convenient to use, it also creates very unsightly charring of the sealing wax, which is caused by the burning. It is the same when the stick is directly under a candle or a lighter. 

So the next question is, how to make many wax seal stamps? 

When you want to make many envelopes for an invitation or special event, melting the wax with a spoon wan be quite long. It is thus possible to melt the wax in an old saucepan over low heat or to use an electric sealer. An electric sealer is, at its name suggests, a small machine for heating the wax at the right temperature and having a lever allowing the wax to flow very easily. The purchase of an electric sealer is essential for everyday use but quite expensive. On the other hand, L'Ecritoire offers the rental of its electric sealer, weekly for example, allowing you to easily make many invitations.