If you’ve ever spent a little time on FetLife or other kink-websites, you’ve probably seen beautiful pictures of models with a candle placed on their body, with wax dripping and running down over their body. Or perhaps you’ve seen a photo of a rope tie, where a candle has been incorporated into the knots.

What is Wax Play, and why try it?

Wax Play is sensory play. The sensation of the wax that drips over the skin is tantalisingly unique and sensual.
It can be a little painful, but a relaxing sensation.
For those amongst us who are interested in Wax Play, we believe that it is a safe and relatively easy tool to learn to use, and rather verstatile.

How:

There are countless ways to play with Hot Wax and we probably don’t even know the half of them – but we can share some of the most common.

We have seen Wax Play in two main ways:

With a wax warmer
Some people enjoy using a small pot to warm large quantities of wax at once The wax can then be scooped up and poured over the body. The advantage of playing in this manner is that you have more wax available at a time, and can be very precise in terms of temperature. However, this method obviously uses more wax and requires more equipment.

With a candle:
Candle wax is our preferred method Candle wax can be very erotic, the flickering flame is enticing, and can be a wonderful mindfuck if that is something you enjoy in your play.
There are many different types of candlewax which can be used. The most common are pillar and taper candles.

Shapes of candles.

In terms of the candle itself, there are a few specific shapes which are used for Hot Wax Play

Block: Block candles are cylindrical
Cylindrical candles are fantastic, because they are wide enough to allow a pool of melted wax to form, which means more wax can be dripped at once. They are also good for holding.
They are also available with several wicks, so you can make the wax drip in a steady stream

Taper: Tapered candles are the same shape as those which are placed in candlestick holders.
Tapered candles mean that the wax doesn’t have time to cool or form in pools inside the candle, so each droplet will be consequently warmer. There will be a continuous dripping of wax onto the body, if the candle is knotted into one of your uplines in your tie.

Types of wax:

Only two types of wax are safe for Wax Play. DO NOT USE any other type of wax. It might be that there are other opinions out there, but our experience is that these two are the safest and most suitable. If you find a candle which does not identify the type of wax used, then do not use it. Different types of wax have different melting points, and some of those are too hot for human skin.
You risk causing burns on the skin, if you use the wrong type of wax.

All our candles at Ropes & Riggers are made using 100% parrafin that has been approved for use on the skin. (Ph. Eur. certified) or 100% soya wax, or a mixture of the two types, and all with a melting point between 45 and 52 degrees C.

Soya:

Soya wax melts at an extremely low temperature, which means that the melted wax will be a little cooler on the skin. A 100% soya wax candle can sometimes have such a low melting point that after the wax has dripped onto the skin, it will not fully solidify again.

Paraffin:

Paraffin is a petroleum product and melts at a slightly higher temperature than soya.
We recommend 100% paraffin wax candles because they are more painful, and we are delightful sadists.

Mixed wax: Soya/paraffin candles can be fantastic because the resulting wax has a medium temperature level. Again, you do need to check the content and not purchase candles where the ingredients are not identified.

Do not use beeswax candles. The wax has a high melting point and will burn the skin.

To set up a basic Hot Wax Play scene you will need a few other pieces of basic equipment to hand, beyond your erotic self and the candles.

A lighter… of course! or a matchstick… they are just easier to use.

If you are playing in a Club, ask what the rules are for Hot Wax Play, as not all venues will allow it.

A cloth to catch the drops, a plastic bag, and a large towel. Hot Wax Play is messy! Even if you are careful about where you are dripping the wax, it will get everywhere when you scrape it off after. Which is why some venues do not allow Hot Wax Play. We use cheap fleece blankets because they can be bunched up around the mess afterwards and then discarded.

Some people enjoy using massage oil before Hot Wax Play. The oil will cause the heat to dissipate more, and will also make it easier to remove the cooled wax off the skin afterwards.

Some body parts are more suited to wax play than others. Wax is safe on most of the body Some parts of the body will obviously be more sensitive than others. You should have a talk about where the wax can be used, before playing.
Some people are okay with having wax dripped on their chests, others are not. If you are playing with someone who is new to Hot Wax Play, you should take a talk before the scene about whether they are okay to try wax in certain places or not. The same is to be said for wax on the anal region, or other intimate areas.

The back, chest and legs are the best places to begin.

We begin by dripping wax from a longer distance, as this allows more time for the drops to cool before touching the skin. We then move closer, after we have seen the reactions we are getting.
Some other methods for playing with the senses include adding a blindfold.

Removing wax:

Taking the wax off is the best bit. The options are endless, you can use your nails to begin scraping the wax off, or even a whip or flogger.
You can be careful or intense, which will of course affect the intensity of the scene.
We enjoy using a knife to scrape the wax off the skin, and in this way a whole new type of play is included in the scene. This is a whole different type of edge play, and we will not discuss it any further here.

After we have finished the scene, we normally try to wipe the last drops off using a wet sponge, and give good after care. 😉