Learn How To Make Soy Candles at Home

How to make soy candles at home. Simple instructions for amazing results. It's Candle Making Time!

Learn how to make incredible soy candles at home. Simple instructions for amazing results. It's Candle Making Time!
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Best Fragrance Oils For Soy Candles

December 1, 2018 by SoyCandleMakingTime 169 Comments

Best fragrance oils for soy candles

Get started now with a basic soy candle making recipe!


Fragrance is the essence of scented soy candles, so obviously everyone that makes soy candles wants to make their candles the best scented out there! There are so many different fragrances and fragrance oil suppliers that it can be difficult to know which fragrances throw well in soy wax and which suppliers carry the best fragrances.

Hot scent throw is what every candle maker strives for. A candle can have an awesome cold throw, but then when you burn it for awhile it may do poorly with the hot throw.

This is why it’s so important to buy the right fragrance oils. There’s nothing worse than spending a bunch of money on candle fragrance oils and then finding out they do not have a good hot scent throw!

The thing with soy candles is that not all oils throw well in soy wax, so you need to make sure you buy fragrance oils that are made for soy wax or known to throw well in soy.

So I am going to list oils from a few different companies that sell wholesale candle making supplies . These companies are ones that I know sell fragrance oils that give a good hot throw in soy candle wax. These are oils that I have used and highly recommend. I have by no means tried all the fragrance oils that these suppliers carry, so that’ll be up to you if you want to try some other kinds. Many candle making suppliers carry 1oz samples of their oils, so it is wise to start with that and do some testing your soy candles before deciding on buying more in bulk.

And remember, just because a fragrance oil from one company throws awesome, that does not mean the same fragrance oil from a different company will do the same! Candle fragrance oils will vary from company to company (though some may use the same manufacturer, so might have some of the same fragrances).

When I was searching for a good coffee fragrance, I bought samples from 4 different places and none of them smelled the same. I thought that the coffee scent from Candlesoylutions in the list below was the truest black coffee fragrance (I do use the max amount of that one since it is harder to get any coffee scent to throw strong)

And to answer the question “Can I make candles with perfume?” No, most perfumes contain alcohol, and even if they don’t,  fragrance oils for candles are specifically made to use in candle wax.

List of Best Fragrance Oils for Soy Candles

Unless otherwise stated, these are all fragrances I have personally used.

Candle Science

Apple Harvest (recommended by group members)

Citron and Mandarin (recommended by group members)

Coffee (recommended by group members)

Coriander and Tonka

Grapefruit Mangosteen (recommended by group members)

Orange Chili pepper (recommended by group members)

Peach Nectar (recommended by group members)

Sunwashed Linen   (recommended by group members)

Very Vanilla (recommended by group members)

CandleSoylutions

Almost Paradise

Apple Pie

Apple Spice

Apple Strudel

Birthday Cake

Black Coffee (light throw)

Buttered Rum

Carrot Cake

Cherry Almond

Chocolate

Cinnamon

Cinnamon Spice

Clean Cotton

Clove

Clove Pomander

Cucumber Melon

Evergreen

Frankincense

Fresh Linen

Grape

Honeysuckle

Leather

Lemon

Lemon Cheesecake

Lemongrass

Lilac

Lilac Blossoms

Lime

Love Spell

Mistletoe

Nutmeg

Ocean

Orange Spice

Pumpkin Pie

Raspberry

Strawberry

Sugar Cookie

Sunflower (I used to have a perfume like this. On of my all time favorite fragrances!)

Toasted Hazelnut

Vanilla

White Cake

Wild Cherry

Candle Cocoon

Blatantly blueberry (recommended by group members)

Brandied Pear (recommended by group members)

Brewed Jasmine

Coffee pumpkin (recommended by group members)

Cranberry Compote

Crushed Strawberry and Rhubarb

Daydream Believer

Dewdrop

Ginger Chiffon (recommended by group members)

Malayan Mango (recommended by group members)

Masala Chai (recommended by group members)

Melon,Fig and Apricot

Peony White Tea (recommended by group members)

Raspberry Cordial

Solace

Vanilla Voodoo (recommended by group members)

Winter Woodlands Whisper

Brambleberry

Apple Pie

Blueberry

Espresso

Pumpkin Crunch

Relaxing (recommended by group members)

Rosehip Jasmine (recommended by group members)

Natures Garden

Christmas Cabin

Fresh Cut Grass

Leather Jacket

Oatmeal, Milk and Honey (More of a lighter fragrance, but it does smell good when burning)

Northstar Country Candle Supply

Baby Powder (medium scent, smells just like baby powder)

Midsummer Night (like the Yankee scent and very strong!)

Pearberry (not a really strong scent, but you can smell it and it smells nice)

Peak Candle Supply

Enchanted Apple (recommended by group members)

The Flaming Candle Company

Avocado Mint (recommended by group members)

Chili Pepper (recommended by group members)

Love Spell (recommended by group members)

Sweet Orange (recommended by group members)

There may have been some fragrance oils that I missed and there are definitely more that I will be testing, so check back as I will update this list as I test more candle fragrance oils.

If you know of some other best fragrance oils for soy candles, please feel free to share in the comments!

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Filed Under: Candle Fragrance, Frequently Asked Question, Soy Candle Making Supplies Tagged With: fragrance

A Soy Candle Making Business is Not Easy

November 28, 2018 by SoyCandleMakingTime 11 Comments

 Do you love candles? Maybe you’re thinking about making candles at home to sell. They are fun to make, it’s true! And it’s so lovely to have your house constantly be filled with those wonderful, delightful fragrances!

Personally, I did not realize all the work that goes into a soy candle business, or any candle business for that matter, because you soon realize that it is not just about making candles to sell. I don’t want to discourage you. A soy candle making business can be a nice profitable home business for you! But I want to make sure you realize all that goes into it, because if you are just starting out, or just thinking about starting, then you don’t know all the work that goes into candle making, marketing and selling.

I Closed My Candle Business, But….

This is the reason I decided to close my business after 4 years. If I didn’t have kids I may have stuck with it, but the fact that I have 3 boys (I only had 2 when I first started my soy candle business) and was working my business and trying to homeschool, and on top of that, living in a small home, I had to make a choice on what my priorities were and I decided I wasn’t enjoying the whole candle business all that much anymore even though business kept growing, so I closed the doors. In fact it was because of the growing customers that I decided to call it quits. The more customers the more busy it got and I didn’t have anyone to help me with it all!

That does not mean that you can’t do it, and enjoy it though! Everyone is different and this business can work for you!

What Goes into Making Soy Candles at Home to Sell?

Below is a rundown of all the things involved with making soy candles at home to sell along with marketing your business. If you can outsource a few of these things, it will make your soy candle business so much less stressful and you can focus more on your candle making!

  • Making soy candles from scratch (melting wax, preparing containers, placing wicks, cooling time, thinking up new fragrances, testing, testing,testing, cleaning up your mess, cleaning your tools)
  • Ordering supplies
  • Putting on tags and warning labels and any other decorations
  • Packaging your soy candles (mainly votives, tarts and tealights)
  • Packaging for shipping
  • Printing shipping labels
  • Creating and maintaining a website
  • Answering questions
  • Marketing your home candle business whether online or offline
  • Preparing for and traveling to craft shows
  • Did I mention maintaining your website?? 😉
  • Doing taxes……
  • Thinking and thinking and thinking about this, that and everything to do with soy candles!

As I said before, if you can afford to pay someone to do some of those things above, or you have a partner to help, a good size kitchen(better yet a separate area to work), then you will probably have a much easier time with your home candle business.

I know I might have caused some doubt in your mind of whether you want to even try this business, but really, you won’t know until you try. I loved it the first 2 years, it’s just that I had so many other things I was trying to do too, so the home candle business just didn’t end up fitting with the lifestyle I wanted.

I hope I’ve made you seriously consider some things and if you think you want to give it a go, then go for it! Procrastinating will get you nowhere, and, like I said, you won’t know until you try!

Learn how to make candles at home to sell by visiting the link below

Starting a Candle Business  Learn what you need to do to start a candle making business in this 3 part series. Don’t start your candle business without learning as much as you can first!

Until next time,

~Melissa

 What if you had a tool that could help you get started making soy candles for your business right now?

Would you like to save a ton of time that you could be using to work on starting your business instead of searching all over trying to find how to make this kind of soy candle, or that kind, or how to find the best wick, what supplier to use and so on, etc… etc…?  

That is exactly why I created “The Soy Candle Making Book”  You can order my book in paperback and have everything you need to make amazing soy candles that your customers will love!

No need to go searching around the net for every piece of information because it’s all right here!

Click Here to get this incredible book today!

Filed Under: Starting a Candle Business

Start a Home Party Business Selling Soy Candles!

June 25, 2018 by SoyCandleMakingTime 4 Comments

How to do your own home candle parties

Ahhh, home parties….. Makes you think of Avon, Mary Kay or Pampered Chef doesn’t it? Home parties are fun. I enjoy going and I enjoy hosting a party every now and then. My favorite is probably Pampered Chef and Tupperware.

I think home parties are a great business model. I’m not talking about businesses that rely on recruiting more consultants or “downline” either. But I respect the business models that have their main emphasis on the products, such as the businesses above. Don’t even get me started on these businesses that say they are all about the product, yet during the presentation you feel like you are being pressured to sign up to the business!

Anyway, that’s not what this is about!

I can’t say that I’ve done many home parties when I was selling my candles. In fact, I only did one. But, I’ve been to many parties from Patylite to Tupperware and all of the ones I mentioned above and I tried to incorporate some of the things that those companies do. I also found that when I did my party, it was surprisingly easy! I am naturally an introvert and do not like standing up in front of people talking. But I did it that one time and I actually enjoyed it! In fact, I really didn’t have to do a whole lot of talking. And once you get past the first few minutes and start having people smell the candles, they really do sell themselves!

Why do home parties work?

First of all, I’ll tell you why I go to home parties:

  • Fun to get out of the house! (I have 3 boys and I need the break! lol)
  • I usually go to a friends home party to help them out, but also because I really am interested in the product.
  • I am a fairly loyal party goer for certain products like Pampered Chef or Tupperware because I LOVE their products.
  • It’s a relaxing and usually fun atmosphere and I enjoy visiting with the other ladies.
  • Good guest discounts are another reason I might go.
  • And, just between you and me….. the… food…..well, Pampered Chef and Tupperware anyway, but it’s good to have snacks at any home party really! lol

Those are the main reasons I go personally, and I imagine that goes for most other party goers as well. I also book a party once a year for Pampered Chef and Tupperware(haven’t done one in awhile but I need to!), and I even booked a jewelry party for this fall!

Speaking of booking a jewelry party, do you know why I booked the party when that was the first jewelry party I had ever been to?

Because I saw some of the jewelry, tried some on, loved it, and wanted to get some for myself at a discount or free!

That is the beauty of  starting a home party business! Guests can see the products in person, touch them, smell them, try them on. And if you offer tempting rewards they may even want to book a party of their own which gets you a new set of eyes on your stuff and new potential repeat customers!

AND

If you offer a prize or entry in a drawing for your guests if they bring friends, that is a great incentive to bring in others that may not know you until they meet you at the party, and then of course there’s that wonderful opportunity of Word of Mouth advertising!

So now the question……

How do I prepare for a home party?

Preparing for your first home party can take some time, mainly because you’ll probably want to make sure you have business cards, figure out your pricing and discount tier/rewards for your hostess, and guest specials. I would also recommend making a brochure with all your products in it, contact info, hostess rewards info etc…..

Once you’ve figured out those things, then you’ll want to decide which fragrances you want to make and how many of each and each type of candle to bring to the party. You will also want to decide how you want to set up your display.

Let’s get into each of the preparation items:

Deciding on discounts, hostess rewards and guest specials….

This is where I just took a look at Partylite, Pampered Chef and a couple others to determine the best way to go about it, and what percentage they use for free products. The nice thing is, is that you are making your own products and there is no middle man to pay, so you get to keep all the profit minus hostess rewards and other discounts.

Take a look at The Pampered Chef host rewards program here: http://www.pamperedchef.com/host-a-cooking-party.jsp  You’ll see that the host/hostess gets at least 10% in free product, but once the party orders reach $200 it goes up to 20% and so on from there.

So let’s say you only sold 8oz candles (just to keep it simple for our example) for $7.50 each.

20% of $200 is $40 in free product for the host/hostess.

So that means after giving your hostess the $40 worth of free candles, you would end up basically selling the candles for around $6 per candle. Which is pretty good still! And you can also do a half price item too. You don’t have to follow the Pampered Chef hostess rewards plan exactly, but I think they know what they’re doing and it’s a pretty good place to start. Study their disclaimers and fine print too to see how they do things.

You can also take a look at PartyLite’s rewards program as well: http://www.partylite.com/regional/host-a-show?section=host .

Once you’ve decided on your rewards structure then you can figure out if you want to do any kind of specials for the guests. Some specials to consider doing are:

  • 60% off a certain fragrance or size, or just off 1 item
  • BOGO (Buy One Get One) half off or free
  • 20% off orders of $50 or more (or whatever price you choose)
  • Get a free _____ with every $50 order (or whatever price)

Those are just some examples. The sky’s the limit and YOU can decide however you want to do your party! A good thing to do is to coordinate your specials with whatever season or holiday is coming up so that people will be tempted to buy, say, a Spring fragrance or something to do with Christmas for example. You could have a sale in the month of December on Christmas fragrances and have plenty of those at your party for customers to buy on the spot!

What candles should you make, and how many??

This can be a tough one if you have a large variety of fragrances because you don’t necessarily want to bring 5 each of 20 different fragrances for each type of candle that you sell!! If you have a good variety of fragrances, then you’ll want to consider what time of year it is, what season, are there any holidays coming up?  It is spring right now, so you would want to bring a few of your spring type fragrances for sure and then maybe choose a few other popular ones, and one or two more unique fragrances.  Of course you can make as many candles as you want to bring and show off at your party too.

Another great idea, if you have lots of fragrances but don’t want to bring them all, is to make a sample of each. I did that using little plastic storage containers that came in a plastic case. I bought mine from Joannes and I’m sure you can find them at other craft stores such as Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, but here is one that is very similar (and lower price that what I paid for mine) from Amazon.com (the picture below is linked with my affiliate link, so if you buy from Amazon, I do make a small commission):

These little containers work very, very well, but I would suggest using a votive soy wax, or one that is supposed to resist frosting to pour into these so that they will last a lot longer without frosting like regular soy wax will do over time.  And of course, make sure to label each of them 🙂
For the party, make several of each fragrance so you have enough for people to buy on the spot and they don’t have to place a special order. So for example, I have these fragrances: Vanilla, Cookie Dough, Strawberry Rhubarb, Lilac, Melon, Grape and Clean Cotton

I might do something like this:

  • 8oz jars: 6 of each fragrance (depending on how many people I think might be there)
  • 16oz jars: 6 of each fragrance
  • 6 pack tealights: 8 packs of each fragrance
  • Votives: 24 of each fragrance
  • Tarts/melts: 24 of each fragrance

It really is going to depend on how many people you think might be there. And there’s nothing wrong with taking orders too if you run out of something there, or if you don’t want to bring all of your fragrances, but make sure to let your customers know, if you don’t have the fragrance they want, they can place an order with you. And make sure you have order forms for them. You can easily make an order form, or probably even buy some from Staples or Office Depot or someplace like that.

The point of bringing lots of product with you is so you can sell as many as you can on the spot. People are more likely to buy if they can buy it right then and take it home with them. Instant gratification! Many people don’t want to have to order and then wait a week to get their order, so having it right there for them to buy is going to give you more sales than only bringing samples of your candles and them having to place orders. And if there are people there that don’t know you, they will be more comfortable paying and getting their product right away than giving you money and not knowing if they can really trust you to get them their order.

This also saves you from having to get orders made on a tight deadline after the party! It’s a lot more fun if you can get the candles made first, then set up the party and not have to deal with a bunch of orders afterwards!

You’ve got your candles ready, now what?

Now it’s time to figure out how you are going to go about setting up your first home party!  What I did, is I asked a friend if I could use her home for my party, since my home was too small and cramped, and hers is always spotless and has more room 🙂   So you can start by just having a party in your home, hosting it yourself and inviting friends and family and neighbors, or you can ask a friend or family member if they would host a party with you and they will get host rewards.

You can do it as a party set at a specific time where you give a presentation, or you can do an open house style where guests can come anytime within maybe a 3 hour period. It’s really up to you. I like open house parties too, but I am more prone to make it to a party where you need to be there at a certain time. I guess to me, it just seems easier to me to forget about the open house ones since there’s not so much urgency to be there at a certain time? If that makes sense? But some people like open houses better since they don’t feel like they’re being sold to as much, or they don’t like sitting through a presentation/games etc…., and they can come and go as they please.

Brochures

I think you should have some kind of brochure. Keep it simple, it doesn’t have to be complicated, but just so you can give people something that has your products and pricing on it and some info about hosting a show. A few nice pictures will do and then they can have something to take home with them that has your info on it. For my brochure, I just made a single fold one. You can use your word processing program and whip one up pretty quickly.

If you really want to do something special with your pictures and the cover of it, and you don’t have Photoshop, you can use a free program the I use called GIMP.  It is very, very similar to Photoshop, but without the hefty pricetag. It works wonderfully and I’ve gotten it to do pretty much whatever I need it to do for me!

Here is an example of a single fold brochure I made awhile ago. You can also make a separate insert with more info to fold and slip inside:

Outside:

Candle Brochure Idea-Outside Single Fold

Inside:candle-brochure-ideas

What to Bring to the Party?

Here are some things you should have ready to go with you to the party:

  • Folding table (unless your hostess has a good spot for setting candles on)
  • Nice table cloth. You can use two different table cloths to create some color and depth.
  • Boxes to put on the table and under the table cloths to create some height and make your candle display look more appealing. Probably don’t want to go too high since people will be wanting to pick up and smell the candles, so make sure everything is still sturdy.
  • Candles!
  • Bags and tissue paper to package customer candles safely.
  • Bring any candle accessories you might want to sell too if you have them, such as wick trimmers, jar shades, etc….
  • Brochures
  • Candle burning instructions that you might fold and put inside the brochures.
  • Business cards
  • Receipt book
  • Order forms.
  • Pens/Pencils
  • Tickets for doing drawings or other game type accessories you might think of.
  • A few candles you might want to have burning during the party (have a nice tealight holder to burn a tealight in, votive holder for burning a votive and any other nice decor that shows off your candles!)

Game ideas

Games and drawings are a good way to get participation and break the ice with the party guests.  It’s also a great incentive for people to come if they might have a chance to win something.  Here are a few ideas for games and drawings you could do, but don’t limit yourself to these. I’m sure you can think of some creative ideas too!

Give out play money to each person that asks you a question about your candle making business, maybe $100 for each question asked. You can also give out play money to those that show up on time, rsvp’d , each friend they brought, or even wearing a certain color shirt (be sure to mention these things on the invitations).  Then, toward the end of the party, the person who got the most money wins a prize, like a free candle or 1/2 off their order or give them some options that they can choose from.

You can also give tickets for the same things as above and then do a few drawings at the end for certain prizes. That way, when someone does each of the things above (bring a friend, be on time, rsvp etc…) then they get more tickets which = more chances to win in the drawings. This is what I’ve seen done at Pampered Chef parties and it’s kinda fun. Usually at the end there are 3 or 4 drawings. One for 1/2 price item, another for free shipping (wouldn’t apply to you), another for $20 free product etc. etc. etc.

There are so many ways you could do it, those are just a few!

Another idea for breaking the ice is going around and having each guest introduce themselves and say something they love about the host/hostess, or just how they know the host/hostess and maybe their favorite fragrance.

Inviting Guests!

Well, you’ve got all your supplies, your candles are made, you’ve got your home ready (or you’ve set a date with a host/hostess). Now to get ready to invite guests! If you are working with a host/hostess, then  you will want to make him/her (we’ll say her, for the sake of ease) some invitations. Have her write down as many names and addresses that she can think of to invite. Also try and get phone numbers. You’ll have her email you or give you the list so you can fill out and send the invitations. You’ll also want to probably give her some open invitations in case she runs across people that she could hand them out to. Send the invites a week and a half in advance to make sure everyone gets one. Be sure to ask for an RSVP on the invite and, like I talked about earlier, it would be good to give an incentive for those that RSVP (maybe even a free tealight or votive to each person that does. If they show up of course!).

If your hostess has a Facebook account, you can also suggest she create an event and invite everyone on her Facebook list.  If she doesn’t know how to do that, you can ask if she would like you to show her.  I would say that you should mail the invites first and then one week in advance create the event and invite everyone.

The last thing you’ll want to do then is call everyone on her invite list, except those that already rsvp’d saying they won’t be there. Make the phone calls the day before the party.  Usually the hostess would do this, but if she is very uncomfortable doing it, then you could offer to do it instead or offer to do part of the list and she can do the other part. You could skip this part if you want to , but I highly recommend making those reminder calls. It can make a huge difference in your turnout because sometimes people might not have got the invite, or missed it in the mail, or they just plain forgot, but they really did want to come!

When you make the phone calls, this is what I would say “Hi, my name is _________ and ________(hostess name) is hosting a soy candle party through me. I am just calling to remind everyone of the party tomorrow at her house at ___ oclock. We are going to have a lot of fun with drawings and prizes and anyone that RSVP’s will be getting a free votive candle.  I hope to see you there! (if you get their voicemail)

If you do get a real person on the other end, instead of ending with “I hope to see you there” I would just ask if they are planning on coming or not “Do you know if you’ll be able to be there?” Something like that.

If the hostess is making the calls, you can have her say something similar to the above.

So that’s it! You’ve got everything ready and you’ve invited the guests and made your reminder calls. Now it’s time for the big day and you’ll just want to be at the party location probably 30min. or more before the party starts so you can set up your display. You might want to set it up at home a few times just to practice so you know how you want to do it at the party.

Party Time!

Now don’t overthink how to present your candles in front of the guests. It doesn’t have to be hard. Just be yourself and pretend you are just talking to a friend about them.  Here are some things to talk about:

  • What are your candles made of?
  • What’s the reason for using soy candles? Why are they different?
  • Optional: Give a little history about soy wax
  • Talk about the environmental benefits
  • How did you get into making the candles?
  • How long do they burn?
  • And last, give a little information about the benefits of booking a candle party with you tonight(or today)

After you go through your presentation, you can ask if anyone has any questions. And as I pointed out earlier, you can give rewards to those that ask a question, like maybe an extra ticket for the drawing for each question asked.

Try and make the presentation fairly short. You don’t want people to get bored. I know I am not fond of long presentations at parties. I just want to hear a little about the product and then be able to get up and check out the goods!

After the presentation and questions, let everyone know that they can check out the candles, open them up and smell them and that they can purchase them right there and take them home with them.  You could also pass one of each fragrance around if you like too. You’ll be surprised at how well the candles can sell themselves!

If you have samples of each fragrance with you, like in the little plastic jars I mentioned above, go ahead and pass those around as well.

When purchases are made, just have your receipt book handy and write up a receipt. It’s up to you if you want to take checks or not. You can even take credit/debit cards with your phone using the Paypal Here app, Paypal card reader, Square card reader and I’m sure there are others! I use the Paypal Here app with or without a card reader. 

At the end of the party, you’ll want to tally up the total orders and figure up your hostesses free product amount and any other rewards you might have for her if you are closing the party the same day. Be sure to ask your hostess if she wants to wait a few days for any other possible outside orders or if she would like to just close the party that day.

Well, I think that’s about it! I hope that helps you get prepared and gives you some ideas for your first party or your next party if you’ve already started doing them. Remember, this is YOUR business so you can feel free to do the party in a way that is unique to you! If this is what you want to do, start a home party business today and don’t put it off any longer.

Just relax, have fun and watch your candles sell themselves!


Want to start selling your own soy candles but not sure where to start?

Grab my book “The Soy Candle Making Book” and get started making some incredible candles that your party guests will love! This in depth guide will teach you all about soy candle making. Learn how to pick the right wick, the difference in soy waxes, what equipment you’ll need, where to buy supplies, how to test your candles,  tried and true recipes and more!

Click Here to learn more!

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Filed Under: Selling Soy Candles: Tips, Starting a Candle Business

Best Soy Wax For Candle Making

June 12, 2018 by SoyCandleMakingTime 18 Comments

Best Soy Wax for Candles

You’ve decided on soy wax for your candles or maybe you are switching from another type of wax. You google soy wax for candle making and find that there are many types to choose from! Which is the best soy wax for candles? At this point you may just choose one and roll with it. You may eventually find that you run into a few issues. Maybe it’s too much frosting. Maybe you don’t get the strong fragrance throw you were looking for. Sink holes, why are there sink holes???

You begin to wonder if you made a mistake and start looking for answers.

You search Google for “What is the best soy wax for candles” and find multiple articles with different opinions.

You ask in groups and find hundreds of different opinions there as well, though some soy waxes tend to stick out as ones that a majority seem to have the best luck with.

All this can be so confusing!!

The problem is, it is really difficult to say which soy wax is best. There is no “best” soy wax for candle making, only what works best for you.

Each soy wax has strengths and weaknesses. Different soy waxes have different melting temperatures, pouring temperatures and cooling temperatures.   Some soy waxes cool with smoother tops, while others have more of an issue with sink holes or frost. (there are things you can do to minimize the frost and sink holes). Some candle makers find that some soy wax  gives a better hot throw than others.

I know you probably came upon this article because you hoped I would give you the magic answer and tell you what the best soy wax for candle making is. I’m sorry to disappoint, but  I can list the types of soy wax and give you some idea of which ones I’ve used that have worked well, and which ones others tend to use most with great success. So far my favorite soy wax for candles is 100% Midwest Soy, P-100 Pillar Blend (great for tarts and votives) and Ecosoya Advanced.

Types of Soy Wax for Candles

Calwax CB3- Made from 100% hydrogenated soy and vegetable oils. Single pour

Candle Science Soy Wax on Amazon.com– This is actually just the Golden Brands 464 that they have on their website as well. It’s a little expensive for a 2lb bag of soy wax on Amazon, but if you have Amazon Prime, then it would qualify for free shipping, so it might be worth it depending where you live and if you are just wanting to test it out.

Cargill Naturewax C-1– This is actually a soy/palm wax blend. Description says it has great fragrance throw, and resistant to bloom or “frosting”. Also avoids wet spots by completely pulling away from the containers. This soy wax could also work for tarts and votives since it pulls away completely.

Cargill Naturewax C-3– 100% soy wax from Elevance. It is resistant to bloom or “frosting” and wet spots and is supposed to give an excellent scent throw.

EcoSoya Q210, Ecosoya Q220, EcoSoya Q230, EcoSoya Quantum– Ecosoya recently re-formulated their soy wax and these are the new formulas. I have not tried any of their new soy candle waxes yet so I can’t comment on them personally at this time.

Ecosoya Advanced Container soy wax– Made with pure soybeans and carefully selected botanical oils. Extreme resistance to bloom or “frosting”. Contracts slightly for a more even appearance. Smooth tops and consistent color retention.

Ecosoya PB Pillar Blend– Made from pure 100% soybeans and carefully selected botanical oils. Self-releasing from molds. This wax is for Pillars, votives, tarts and any other molded candles. Very smooth appearance and I personally know it makes beautiful votives and melts. Ships well in all climates.

P-100 Pillar/Votive/Tart blend This is a pillar/votive blend soy wax and is great for pillars, votives and tarts/melts. *I have used this wax and it works very well and cools to a nice smooth finish and has good hot throw

100% Midwest Soy This is an excellent soy wax for candle making that I have used for my containers since I started several years ago. Excellent jar adhesion and hot and cold throw. It is 100% soy wax, nothing added or blended. Since it is 100% soy, it can have more issues with frosting. I’ve found I have a lot less trouble during the warmer months so room temperature plays a big part if you are doing everything else correctly.

Millenium Blend – A container wax that is a blend of soy and other natural ingredients (no paraffin) to resist frosting or bloom. Long burning, good jar adhesion and color retention. This blend does give a nice smooth appearance and has a smoother appearance than some other soy waxes after it burns as well. It is a nice wax, but can have a little more trouble with “wet spots” (pulling away from the jar in some spots).

Golden Brands 416– A tart/votive soy wax that contains no additives and is natural and kosher.

Golden Brands 435– This is a soy/cotton blended wax that is also both natural and kosher. The cotton blend is supposed to help with an easier burn and reduce frosting.

Golden Brands 464– *Recommended by many in our Facebook group for soy candle making! I had trouble with it the first batch I bought, but I think it was just a bad batch because the second time I bought it, it worked out much better. The best pour temp for this wax seems to be 135 degrees F or higher.  Lower melt point than the 444 wax for better glass adhesion and burn time. This is a blended soy wax using a soy-based additive and is both natural and kosher. This soy-based additive enables the soy to be poured at a hotter temperature reducing frosting and increasing FO load. This wax blends well with paraffin, slack wax, and microcrystalline waxes.

Golden Brands 444 Soy Wax– Higher melt point than the 464 for higher fragrance load/stronger scent throw. This is a blended soy wax using a soy-based additive and is both natural and kosher. This soy-based additive enables the soy wax to be poured at a hotter temperature reducing frosting and increasing FO load. This wax blends well with paraffin, slack wax, and microcrystalline waxes.

Golden Brands 415 Soy Wax– A pure soy wax that has a higher melt point than 402 allowing for a higher fragrance load for a stronger scent throw. *I have tested this wax and I really like it. It cooled to a very nice smooth appearance with no frosting.

Golden Brands 402 Soy Wax– A pure soy wax that has a lower melt point for better glass adhesion (less “wet” spots) and better burn.

KY Soy 115– 100% soybean wax for containers. Fragrance load up to 10% (they state that tops may require a repour)

KY Soy 125– All natural soybean/cottonseed blend. Fragrance load up to 10%

KY Puresoy– 100% soy wax with no additives. Fragrance load up to 12%. They also state that tops may require a repour.

Nature’s Garden (NG) 100% Soy Wax– This is simply the Golden Brands 415 (see description above)

Soy 120 by Candlewic– This is an all natural soy based wax. Fragrance load is 3% which seems extremely low. They do suggest adding Palm Stearic or beeswax to it, but it can be used alone.

Soy 125 by Candlewic– This is an all natural soy wax made with soy wax and soybean oil so that it has a higher fragrance load than the 120. Fragrance load is 5-6% . The addition of Palm Stearic or Beeswax is also suggested which will give a higher fragrance load.

What do you think is the best soy wax for candle making? Leave a comment below!

Filed Under: Soy Candle Making Supplies

Can I use Essential Oils in Soy Candles-Is it Safe?

June 1, 2018 by SoyCandleMakingTime 14 Comments

Using Essential Oils in Soy Candles

Essential oils are the big thing right now. I don’t say it like that to down play them. I do believe they have their place in aromatherapy and other applications, but over the years you see trends come and go. Not to say that using essential oils should go.

Certain essential oils have some great benefits (I love Tea Tree oil!) and can be a great addition to a natural lifestyle, but caution should always be taken when using them. I am not an expert whatsoever, but I have researched enough to know that essential oils, though natural, are not always safe. I’ve read stories of people having bad reactions. Some of these stories were people using the essential oils improperly, but some of the stories were people using them in a way that they had been told was ok by a company or sales rep. Some people may be allergic to certain oils, while another person is not. You can even get sensitized to some oils after using it for a period of time.

My point is, I see this huge push for essential oil use. Some people want to have everything natural, even candles, using more natural waxes and using essential oils in candles. They don’t realize, however that just because something is “natural” doesn’t make it safe or effective to use and that it also depends on the form that you use it in.

I see these MLM companies pushing their products and making all sorts of claims, even going as far as to say that it’s ok to ingest essential oils, which, from what I’ve been researching, is not necessarily ok, especially on an ongoing basis. I think we need to view essential oils more like we view traditional medicine and take the same cautions and do the research on how to use them for certain things. They are highly concentrated and very strong. Some can burn your skin if used without a carrier oil. They enter your blood stream through your skin. We need to be careful with these claims of “natural”. Natural doesn’t always mean safe or effective.

One more thing to add. I think we need to remember that, yes, essential oils have been used for thousands of years, but how were they used? They didn’t have a commercial market for them like we do today. Usually it was the wealthy that were able to buy precious oils, and other oils were used medicinally meaning they didn’t use them all the time. They used them as we do traditional medicine today, only when needed. It would’ve cost too much to use them often anyway back then so I believe they used them sparingly. There are a lot of things that our ancestors did that they thought helped, health wise, that as time has gone on, people realized was not the right way to do things. (like bleeding people…..) So why are we so insistent that essential oils are some sort of great natural miracle. Has anyone talked to people throughout time to see how they were helped by them, or what some of the side effects were? Could some of it be superstition? Just something to think about.

We need to quit taking all these “natural” things and making them out to be miracle cures. They are not cure-alls.  Yes, some essential oils are great for natural anti fungal and anti bacterial. Those are proven and you can see the results pretty quickly (I’ve used Tea Tree oil for fungal infections, bug bites, etc…). Some are excellent for helping clear your nose up when you have congestion just by smelling them. But then we get into the other claims that don’t have much clear proof to back them up. Some oils like lavender may promote calmness, but I believe that is mainly a placebo effect. I’ve used lavender essential oil recently for about a month straight,at bed time, diffused, and have not noticed any difference in relaxation and sleep.  It smells good, don’t get me wrong, and sometimes just the smell of something can promote relaxation or energy, but that doesn’t mean there is any chemical reaction taking place in our body because of the makeup of the essential oil. I get that same peaceful or enjoyable feeling when I burn a beautiful smelling candle  or wax melt that uses fragrance oil.

Now, back to the point of this post and off my soap box for just a moment.

Can you use essential oils in soy candles?

Using Essential Oils in Soy Candles

You can…. but should you? There have been many, many candle makers that have tried using essential oils in soy candles in place of fragrance oils that are specifically made for burning in candles. The one thing I hear in our Facebook group of nearly 8,000 members, is that essential oils just do not give off much scent and they are too expensive for the amount of oil you need to use for candle making. I have tried a few essential oils in my soy candles in the past and the only one that burned with an ok hot throw, was Lemongrass. Thankfully lemongrass essential oil is a lower cost oil, but it is still more expensive to use than a fragrance oil.

The other problem with using essential oils in candles is that essential oils are volatile, meaning they vaporize very easily (which is great when diffusing). However, this also means that they are not as stable as fragrance oils, and when burned in a candle, the essential oil loses it’s aromatherapy properties making it useless for that purpose. Some essential oils can even become toxic when burned, which, of course, defeats the purpose of why one would want to use essential oils in their candles in the first place.

Where’s the Proof?

I’ve been doing some digging to find sources that confirm this and found that heat does break down essential oil properties which is why it is best to use them in a cool mist or other type of non, or very low heat diffuser. Below I’ve listed some links to a few sources that confirm this.

This first link is to the DoTerra website. I do not promote DoTerra. They are an MLM company, which in itself is not necessarily bad, BUT, I believe their oils to be very expensive considering there are many other non-MLM companies our there that sell quality essential oils without the high markup because of having to pay distributors. I do no believe them to have some “special” secret to making their essential oils that somehow makes them far superior to any other company that sells them for less. Expensive does not always equal better quality. It just may be better marketing…. Anyway, I do like that they explain a little bit about how temperature affects essential oils though. www.doterra.com/US/en/brochures-magazines-doterra-living-winter-2015-2016-ask-dr-hill

Here’s another one from Young Living. I have the same sentiments about this company as I do DoTerra. They are MLM as well, and have their oils marked up quite high because of it. I’m sure I will get some backlash in the comments about my statements of these two companies but so be it. I hate seeing people I know spending a ridiculous amount of money on essential oils (or other products) that I know they could get for half the cost from many other sources that have been around longer than these two companies! BUT, again, Young Living also states that heat does break down essential oils, making them less effective or not at all: www.youngliving.com/blog/essential-oil-storage-the-basics/

Ok, here is one more source. This one is quite technical, but I was able to pick out that essential oils do degrade when exposed to heat. Some may tolerate higher temperatures than others, but from my research in a few other places, they don’t do well once the temp gets to around 80 degrees F and above. This means that if you need to heat your wax over that temperature (most soy candle waxes need to be heated to at least 100 degrees F just to get to the melting point), it will begin to break down the essential oils as soon as you add it to the candle wax, not to mention the heat once you begin burning the candle.

From Wiley Online Library. Here’s the link to the full study on essential oil stability onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1541-4337.12006  “Ambient temperature crucially influences essential oil stability in several respects: Generally, chemical reactions accelerate with increasing heat due to the temperature‐dependence of the reaction rate as expressed by the Arrhenius equation (Atkins 2002). Based thereon, the van’t Hoff law states that a temperature rise of 10 °C approximately doubles chemical reaction rates, a relation that can be consulted to predict stability at different temperatures (Glasl 1975). Hence, both autoxidation as well as decomposition of hydroperoxides advances with increasing temperature, even more so since heat is likely to contribute to the initial formation of free radicals (Choe and Min 2006)”

Sorry to be a Party Pooper…

While it may be very tempting to use essential oils in your soy candles so you can market your candles as all natural or use the “made with essential oils” or “aromatherapy benefits” label, I do not recommend it. There are many great fragrance oils that are specifically made for burning in candles and are phthalate free. If you need to find a good fragrance oil supplier, check out our “Best Fragrance Oils for Soy Candles” article and be sure to sign up to our newsletter to get a complete suppliers list!

I am open to your views on this topic as long as they are stated respectfully. If you have evidence for or contrary to what I have shared above, please respectfully share in the comments. As I said before, I am not an expert on essential oils. I have only done what research I could to find whether they are truly beneficial for use in soy candles.

To begin making your own soy candles, check out our basic soy candle making recipe to get you started!

Filed Under: Candle Fragrance, Frequently Asked Question Tagged With: essential oils

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