Maybe you have been one who has been hunkered down in your home as the snow blows and then ice takes out your power lines, turning your home dark. A hurricane or tornado will create the same situation. You may be without power for a period of time, if you don’t have backup lighting available. The good part is, all is not lost, in your house you likely already have the makings of some makeshift light sources. While Jesus is the Light of the world, and you can be “His little light” not only for your own family but to minister to others just by having some homemade emergency candles on hand.
A candle or lamp requires two simple ingredients which have been used over the past several thousand years:fuel and a wick.
A surprising number of items you already have in your house will make a makeshift wick. If you have any cotton twine or a heavy cotton of butcher’s twine that would be your best choice. But if not, you can cut a strip out of an old cotton shirt or if you have an old string mop lying around her cut out a few pieces of the mop as your wick. If you have some Borax in your house take 1 cup and boil in water adding one tablespoon of salt and soak your new wick for an hour and create a brighter light. Also, if necessary, you can take paper products and wrap them as tightly as possible as a wick, the advantages of the materials readily available, the downside is these tend to burn faster than the other options.
Next, you’ll need to locate fuel options for your lamp. Here are some ideas.
Nearly every home has some cooking oil, either fresh or used which is an excellent fuel source in an emergency. Just pour the cooking oil into a glass container such as a jar, punch a hole in the cap of the jar and put the cap on and pressed a wick through the hole into the oil. Give a few moments for the oil to soak up the oil and light.
That old can of shoe polish sitting around is also another emergency candle waiting to be used. Nearly all shoe polish is made out of a combination of oil and wax and simply flatten the polish in the container, cut a small hole in the top, place a with you the hole into the wax. Heat the wax up first with a match in the container so the wick will be able to suck up the fuel before lighting.
A stick of butter will also work, just take a soft quarter pound stick of butter, insert a whack and white for instant light. Make sure you place the butter in a safe container made of glass or metal.
If you have some bacon grease, simply take the container, punch a hole in the top, and insert a wick and the fat from the bacon grease will give you significant light. Just make sure you’re using a glass or fireproof container.
Vaseline is another option, simply open the container, take your wick and roll into the Vaseline material and stick one in the bottom of the container, cut a hole through the top and you will have an excellent light source. If the Vaseline is in a plastic container you will need to remove the product and place in a safe container.
Crisco or other shortenings make the longest burning candles. One option is to place your wick deep into a metal can of shortening, soaking the entire wick, creating a long-term burning light that could go for several days. An additional option if you have extra candles available in different places, simply remove shortening from your large container and re-create the process with a smaller supply. You want to be sure that you eliminate all of the air bubbles in the shortening to improve the burning.
Whenever you’re burning candles, regardless of the type, be careful to keep away from small children and pets. And, remember heat will rise so don’t place them where something from above the flame may catch fire.
Ideally you want to store backup lighting options, check out the CEN article on preparing candles in advance, because if you are caught without backup light these options will help. Additionally, use this information to guide your neighbors in creating their emergency lighting sources so you can help light up the neighborhood, as the Lord taught, "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,” (Luke 12:35 NIV)
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