Recycling broken crayons?

I would like to do this tomorrow with dd. I know it can be done in the oven, but with as hot as it is right now, I'd hate to heat up the oven making it even hotter in here.

I know it can be done outside, but I'm wondering how long it will take using the sun. Has anybody ever done it this way before? We live in PA if that matters

 

Here in AZ it only takes about an hour or two in the direct sun.

 

You are supposed to do them on the stove? LOL, I used a microwave. Mine turned out crumbly though.

 

Do you have one of those electric candle warmers? You can use a small glass dish on one of them and melt the crayons down. Then either pour them out into a mold, or if the glass is small enough, let it harden into a circle crayon. I did this with the clear glass miniature flower pots. Started with one, let it harden, melted in a new pot and poured it on top of the first one, added two more colors this way and made a rainbow crayon. I just sat it in hot water to make it "pop" out of the pot, lol.

 

If you have tons, you can put all of one color in one cup of a muffin tin, another color in the next, and so on and make six or twelve different colors that way, each in the shape of the bottom of the muffin tin. Or you can mix the pieces and make rainbow crayon circles. Personally, I think I would use the paper muffin tin liners to be sure to be able to get it all out of the muffin tin!

The smaller you break the pieces, the less time it takes!

I was determined to recycle crayons into more crayons! So I bought one of those crayola crayonmaker thingies. It heats the pieces with a light bulb, and you pour the liquid into the attached molds, which are the exact size and shape of new crayons. Actually, I bought one machine and it never worked, but I found another one on sale and have made TONS of "new crayons" with them. I have found that adhesive name tags (like the ones you get when you go to a convention or something) are just the right size to make a wrapper for crayons after you run out of the ones in the box with the machine. I don't know if they make this machine anymore, though... I regret not getting the fun shaped molds at the time.

You could use a new crayon as a shaper to make a crayon mold out of clay.

I've found that only Crayola crayons melt well enough to recycle without separating into "color" and colorless wax.

 

At Christmas time, my kids and I did these in a muffin tin. I used the paper liners but still ended up with wax all over it, so make sure you use and old one.
We made ours in the oven. I never thought about using the sun. Thanks for a great idea!

 

Do you have a toaster oven? That would work or even a crockpot maybe?
For the crockpot:
Place a small muffin tin in there (6 hole one) , in a water bath (no more then 1/2 way up the muffin tin) and turn on high until melted. Hint...place a long row of paper towels across the top before putting on the lid (so its suspended above the tin), it will help soak up the steam so it won't end up in the muffin tins.

You could make a simple pizza solar oven (Science project too perhaps?) and use that:

http://www.solarnow.org/pizzabx.htm

YouTube version (I like to see it being made) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbwliZJiHe8&feature=related

 

We used an electric skillet, an old one that we bought at the Goodwill.

 

You can use either metal or those new silicone cup cake tins, put the broken crayons in their, put it in your car in the sun, and in about an hour or two (or in the oven at 250 for a few minutes, or in the microwave - not the metal tins, of course), you will have melted crayons. Put the tin in the fridge for a bit, pop the crayon circles out, and viola - new art supplies!

 

I bought a throw away cupcake tin at a dollar store. We broke the crayons this morning and set it on the front porch in the sun.

After just about two hours they are already starting to melt. I think having them in the metal tin is working.

Thanks for all the ideas.

 

I was able to melt a crayon on the dashboard of my car in a few hours...but that might not be what you're attempting. LOL!

 

do them in an oen it doesn't take long, spray your mini muffin molds so they don't stick. It doesn't take very long.

 

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/frugalfun/ht/Make_Crayons.htm

 

I used little paper dixie cups in the microwave. you can just tear the paper off of this little crayon "disk".

 

we just put ours outside and bingo one hour they are melt faster then any oven and neat for the kids to watch.

 

We also used candy molds - neat little shapes. Give them to the missionary kids when they came to our church

 

LOVE the candy mold idea! We are going to do that! Thanks for the idea!