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!
Soy wax is a softer wax and doesn’t take as much heat to melt. Therefore soy candles generally need a cooler burning wick depending on how much fragrance oil and dye is used, the more used, the hotter the wick most likely that you’ll need.
So soy candles burn longer because the wick is not burning as hot and therefore the wax is not burning off as fast as regular paraffin candles. This is why soy candles burn twice as long as regular candles! Isn’t that awesome?
Here is a question I was emailed recently about scent throw in soy wax melts. She has been trying to make good tarts since last October but hasn’t been able to figure out what’s wrong. We emailed back and forth and I was finally able to give her a solution after ruling out some possibilities as to why her soy melts/tarts were not giving any scent throw.
Question:
I use soy golden blend 444- I ordered a lot so I am trying to make it work for me-I add FO at 185 – started out using 1 oz then 1 1/2 oz. then 2 oz FO. I have allot of different FO scents that I try-some come from Natures Garden-Peak-LoneStar. Anyway I am not getting much scent throw-I make Melts not candles and I have tried everything I have read about..
I want this to work for me but I am thinking about giving up-It has been over a year now trying different things-I even have added paraffin to it, etc..I use a double boiler to melt my wax and I get the temp. correct..What could I be doing wrong? Any suggestions as to what I should do differently? I have spent allot of money and need to get some return if possible-I want a good product to sell and want people to want it for the scent throw, I can’t sell something I don’t feel is really great myself…
Anyway wanted to ask you what Could be the problem with the scent throw..I need to stand right over it to smell it..Oh and I use electric plug ins as a melter along with a ceramic burner that uses a tealight candle as a source of heat to melt the melts, So by using two different things to melt them in for testing I feel as if I have that covered ..I am in hopes you read this and say you know exactly what I need to do to fix this. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated..Thank you..
So we emailed back and forth, me asking what fragrances she was using in order to determine if the fragrances might be the problem since some fragrances just don’t give off much hot scent throw, and some don’t do well in soy wax. Although, with melts this is not usually as much as a problem as with wick candles because the melts or tarts melt down all the way releasing the fragrance more freely. So from what she told me, she was heating the wax and cooling it just fine, pouring at the right temp, stirring completely and all that.
At first I was a little stumped because a couple of the fragrances she mentioned were ones that I have had great scent throw with, but I did not buy mine from the same fragrance suppliers that she had listed above. In fact the only one of those suppliers I’ve bought fragrance oils from is Natures Garden and I think I only have 2 fragrances from them. So after much thought and then finding that I did have one fragrance oil on hand that she had listed, I made my own test batch of soy wax melts using votive wax and also another using container wax. I tested the Muscadine Grape and after letting them sit for 24 hours, I test melted one in two different burners. Sure enough, no scent throw!
I have never really had a problem with scent throw in my soy wax melts, so I couldn’t figure out what was wrong until I tested that fragrance. Then I thought it had to be the scents that she had bought. Fragrance oils can vary greatly from one company to the next, so it’s good to buy from companies that have oils specifically for use in soy. Also, like I said above, some fragrances just aren’t very strong and aren’t going to throw well no matter what you do.
So anyway, I decided to send her a 2oz sample of my Crushed Strawberry and Rhubarb from Candle Cocoon since that one has a very strong throw and you just can’t go wrong with it!
So this is the email I got back from her after she received her sample and made some tarts with it:
Hey, Well I sent a package to my daughter-n-law to try..Smells up her whole house! I was looking at the place where you buy from, It is like 30.00 for 16 oz..But It would be worth it to get a good scent throw..You have made me very happy, I can make a melt that smells good, I was ready to give up, now I am excited thanks to you…..Anyway wanted to update you, I am So thankful you did this for me, Thank you…
I was so happy to be able to help her out with this! It made my day! This is why I started this website, because I love helping people. If you have a question or problem with your soy candles, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am here to help, or at least try. I’ve made successful soy candles for several years and I remember what it was like when I first started out and had to dig and dig for answers.
As with any other candles, soy candles must be burned properly to get the most out of them, and for safety reasons. Here is a rundown on how to burn soy candles.
Soy candle wax has what’s called a memory. That means that when you burn a soy candle and then extinguish it, the next time you burn it, the soy candle wax will melt across as far as it did the first time.
This is why it is so important to allow soy candles to burn all the way across to the edge of the container the first time you burn it before putting it out. This ensures that your soy candle does not “tunnel” as it burns, leaving wax along the sides of the container. A good rule of thumb is to burn your candle 1hr for every inch wide that the candle is. So if you have a 3inch wide soy candle, you may need to burn it for at least 3 hours for a good melt pool.
Speaking of melt pools…
This is where the scent is in scented soy candles. A good melt pool will give off the best fragrance throw. 1/4in deep for the melt pool is what I aim for in my scented soy candles when the candle is burning.
Too shallow of a melt pool will keep the candle from releasing the best amount of fragrance into the room. Too deep of a melt pool means the wick is too big for the candle and the candle will burn too hot , which means the soy candles wax will burn up too fast and the wick would need to be trimmed much more often.
Another tip is to keep your soy candles away from drafts to prevent smoking and soot. Soy candles produce little to no soot when burned properly, but any candle will smoke and create soot if exposed to too much air, which is what happens if there is a draft.
Keeping your wick trimmed to about 1/4in. will also keep your soy candles from smoking and causing soot.
And most importantly, keep your soy candles away from anything flameable, and out of reach of children and pets.
You may notice some variations in the color of soy candles, especially candles that use 100% soy wax with no other additives. This is called “frosting”. It looks like small, whitish crystals that form on the top of the wax or the sides of the jar. It is similar to how chocolate sometimes forms that white frosted look. I’ve always tried to minimize this as much as possible, but it is very normal for soy wax to do. 100% soy wax candles also tend to frost over time, but this in no way affects how the candle burns.
Two ways to help minimize or eliminate frosting of your soy candles:
Those are the most likely causes of soy candle frosting. Now, some colors will frost over time and there’s not much you can do about it. I just tried to educate my customers about the character of soy candles so they know what to expect.
Now if your candles do frost after they’ve cooled, you can just take a blow dryer to the tops and just remelt the top layer and let it cool again and that usually fixes it.
If you don’t need 100% soy wax, you can also try kinds that have the natural oils added. One kind I’ve tried is the Millenium Blend Soy Wax by Enchanted Lites. I didn’t have much luck with it though and didn’t like the way it handled, so I just went back to the 100% Soy Container wax by Enchanted Lites. I have read in forums that some people really like the Millenium blend though, so you really just need to test it out yourself because there are so many factors involved as far as climate, humidity.
What is the difference between essential oils and fragrance oils? Is there a difference? Here I will answer that question for you.
Essential oils are concentrated oils extracted from different kinds of plants. The “essence ” of the plants fragrance. Essential oils have been used throughout history for medicinal purposes. Some common essential oils used for aromatherapy in candles are:
These are just a few essential oils for aromatherapy that can be used in candle making. I’ll be honest, I never really got into using essential oils in my soy candle business, but I did use Lemongrass and I definitely didn’t need to use much of it to achieve a strong scent throw! Plus Lemongrass is one of the lower cost essential oils. I may try some different essential oils in the future though.
Use essential oils for your soy candles with no dye for a truly natural soy candle!
Fragrance oils are oils that are manufactured and artificially created to mimic natural fragrances. There are countless kinds of fragrance oils to choose from and fragrance oils tend to be much less expensive than many essential oils. In my experience even though essential oils tend to be more expensive, you usually use less so for some essential oils, it can actually cost less using essential oils rather than fragrance oils, but you definitely need to test, test, test, to make sure you’re getting the fragrance throw that you’re looking for.
Fragrance oils do not have the aromatherapy benefits of essential oils, so if you are wanting to make aromatherapy candles, you will need to use essential oils.
There are also different grades of fragrance oils by concentration. Usually very cheap fragrance oils are probably more diluted than more expensive kinds and you’ll need to use more to get a good amount of fragrance throw from your soy candles.
So that’s the difference between essential oils and fragrance oils. One is all natural, directly from the plant, and the other is artificially manufactured.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me!