How to Use Wax Seals

Did you know? Back when seals were a big deal and were mainly used to officiate documents in a person’s name, they were usually destroyed after said person has passed away to prevent forgery or misuse of the seal.

Nowadays, with the existence of gummed envelopes, seals are mostly used as a form of decoration in sealing envelopes, gift wrapping, custom jewelry etc. However, the fact remains that seals - especially wax seals - give off an air of sincerity, originality, and authenticity to one’s recipient. Do you know anyone whose face doesn’t light up at the cool sight of a wax seal? Cos we don’t!

If you’re ever curious about how wax seals are created, this article will show you how.

Firstly, you’ll need the items below:

- Fire source (you may use just a lighter/match, but we highly recommend a candle on standby as well)
- Seal
- Sealing wax

Optional:
- Spoon for sealing wax
- Stove for sealing wax

Step 1: Trace the Seal

This step is mostly for beginners, but it is good practice as tracing around the seal lightly with a pencil will provide you a rough guideline as to where and how big the blob of wax to be. This way, you won’t use too little or too much wax!

Step 2: Melt the Wax

The sealing wax we’re using here is a wickless wax stick. We prefer wickless wax as wicked wax sticks often leave a sooty residue in the hot wax. Some feel that the soot adds to the personality of the wax, so it’s really up to you.

Hold a match/lighter near the tip of the wax stick to melt it. As the wax begins to drip, make sure you’re aiming for the traced shape on the paper.

Drip enough wax to cover the shape. (At this point, you may remove the heat source.) Then, stir the wax blob gently with the same tip of the sealing wax stick to remove air bubbles and/or to shape the blob slightly, but don’t take too long as the wax will start to cool and harden.

If you’re using a spoon, place the tip of the wax into the spoon and heat up the spoon, or place a candle beneath the little stove and place the spoon on top to heat it. Once enough wax is pooled in the spoon, carefully pour it to fill the initially traced shape.

Step 3: Seal

Now this is the part you’ve all been waiting for - it’s super fun and greatly satisfying! Gently press the seal into the wax for 5-10 seconds before removing it, and voila!

You may leave the wax seal as it is, or you could also look into painting the raised details with sealing metallic ink or permanent paint markers such as Pentel or Sakura Paint Markers which you can get here. Alternatively you could use the Manuscript Sealing Metallic Ink which comes in Silver or Gold to apply color to the depressed surface.

Simply press your seal onto the surface of the ink pad prior to sealing. You can also pour the wax over flattened dried flowers or string over your envelope or parcel.

Happy sealing!

 Tip: To ensure your wax seal is always correctly used, you can use a permanent marker to mark the right side up!

Choosing a Wax Seal

Wax seals come in many designs and sizes, it's important to note that the larger the diameter of your seal, the more wax will be required to form your seal. Among the popular designs we have are alphabet initials, nature motifs, Japan motifs and wedding themed ones. You can view our collection of wax seals here.

Customizing Your Own Seal

You can also create your own custom wax seals with us using your company logo or initials for weddings! All you need to do is to email us your artwork (within a circle) in Illustrator or PNG format. Please ensure that your lines are thick enough otherwise the raised surface will be too faint.

It will cost RM65 for a 23mm seal which come with one wax stick (gold/silver/copper/red)

However, should you require us to create a custom design for you, there will be an additional fee between RM20-100 depending on the complexity of the design.

To custom make your own wax seal, send your designs/enquiries to support@stickerrificstore.com with the Subject: Wax Seal Order. Thank you so much for reading!

Text by Natalie Hew
Photography by Szetoo Weiwen