Learn How to Make Soy Candles for Calming Scents

Soy candles make lovely additions to your decor and help create a calming and soothing ambiance that’s welcome on the best days and essential on those challenging days.

But, as wonderful as candles are, there are downsides.

• First, they don’t last forever. Every time you burn your candle, it melts down until it eventually burns so low that it won’t burn anymore.
• And second, they’re expensive to purchase! Just one lovely candle can cost more than a few trips to Starbucks.

If you love candles as much I do, I have the perfect solution: make your own! A few benefits of making your candles:

• You can save a considerable amount of money by making your candles.
• If you’re sensitive to fragrance, you can leave it out.
• Customize your candles in size, scent, and container to match your decor.

This post will give you everything you need to learn how to make candles yourself to enjoy them even more! So let’s get to it!

Wait, Is it Even Worth The Effort to Make Homemade Candles?

YES! It is incredibly easy to make hand-poured soy candles for home use. And it is so much cheaper to make your own

No joke, I saw a hand-poured 8-ounce candle for 37 dollars (CDN) during the holidays, and I just about fell over. I understand profit margin, but our mantra is if you can make it for less, go for it.

We did the math, and each candle, without fragrance oil, cost $8.00 CDN ($4.50 USD). That’s a HUGE difference! The cost will be higher when you add in the cost of fragrance or essential oils, depending on what you decide to use. Still, they do not cost $37. Geez!

The variance between CDN and USD doesn’t just include exchange – supplies, in general, are far less expensive in the US, so the cost is even BETTER for our friends over the border.

Collect All The Materials You’ll Need To Make Soy Candles

You don’t need a lot of supplies to make soy candles.

You will need these candle-making supplies for this project:

• Wax of your choice (we used soy wax pellets)
• Wicks (we used cotton)
• Containers (We used 8-ounce amber glass jars)
• Fragrance (optional) See our note below about essential oils.
• Jar Labels (optional, see below for free template)

You’ll also need a few tools to help you get the job done:

• Wick holders (you can also use masking tape, or two small dowels tied together to rest across the top of the candle to keep the wick in place while it sets)
• Large pourable glass heat-proof container (like a large measuring cup)
• Thermometer
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks (or use premade wick tabs)
• Paper towel
• Long Tweezers if you are using sticky tabs, it makes it far easier to get those tabs center at the bottom of the jar.

What is the Best Wax for Homemade Soy Candles?

For our candle-making adventure, we like to use pure soy. Freedom Soy Wax is the best way to start making soy candles for beginners. Here are just a few of the benefits:

• Freedom Soy Wax is 100% microwaveable, making it easy to do small-batch candle-making.
• Freedom Soy Wax has excellent fragrance-throw, both cold and warm. This will ensure your candles smell amazing.
• You can get perfect sidewall adhesion if directions are followed correctly.
• Tops usually do not pit or create sinkholes.
• You can add up to 10% fragrance to your candles to make them super scented!

What About Other Waxes?

We prefer to use pure soy wax in our handmade candles, but there are other waxes on the market that you can use, like beeswax or paraffin. All wax varieties have pros and cons.

There are different steps required and processes for different types of waxes. Although this post focuses entirely on soy wax candles, you can find guides online to help you use waxes such as paraffin and beeswax.

Least Naturally Sourced Option: Paraffin Wax

Paraffin is the cheapest (and most commercially used) wax for making candles. It has some great qualities, such as:

• No odor
• No color
• Burn consistency

However, it also has some drawbacks, such as that it’s fast-burning, creates smoke, and isn’t eco-friendly because it’s a by-product of oil production.

Beeswax

Beeswax makes natural candles that are eco-friendly. It’s a more complex type of wax that has many benefits:

• Beeswax is slow-burning
• Very easy to find
• It doesn’t produce smoke

On the downside, beeswax is more expensive than other waxes and doesn’t hold a scent.

Choose the Correct Size Wicks for Your Soy Candles

There are different wicks to choose from. Two of the most popular are standard candle wicks and wood wicks.

It is essential to make or purchase the correct size wick for your candle container or pillar candles. Choosing the right size wick will ensure the following:

• Wick will not be self-extinguishing 
• Even melt pool from edge to edge, ensuring burn
• Safe temperature (too many wicks can cause overheating)
• Reduce smoke– no soot while burning
• The best possible burn time 
• How long your candle burns will also need to be considered when choosing a wick.

So how do you choose the right wick size for your container?

Unfortunately, choosing a wick is more complicated than you might think. 

You must ensure that your wick burns hot enough to create a large enough pool of melted wax to burn well but not so hot that it’s a hazard.

Different waxes will require different types and thicknesses of standard wicks.

In this blog post, we’ve recommended the right size and type of wicks for the 8-ounce containers and wax we used to create this tutorial. We tested the supplies numerous times through LOADS of batches, and they all worked perfectly.

But if you want to make a different size candle or use another wax, check out this guide: Choosing the proper wick for your candle.

Be Sure to Choose Heat Proof Containers

Making soy candles is an easy process that starts with choosing your container. The best choices for safe candles are glass or tin containers:

Glass Containers or Jars

If you choose a glass jar for your soy candles, be sure it is 100% heat-proof, or you will run the risk of the glass cracking when the wax is melted and heated.

Mason jars, jam jars, or even commercially purchased candle-specific jars will be safe for your candle-making. You can also use tea cups or cut wine bottles to make lovely decorative candles.

These jars will be heat-safe and will not crack when exposed to melted hot wax.

Tin Containers

Tin containers make excellent soy candle holders. They are less expensive than glass and have no risk of breaking if overheated.

Fragrance Oil vs. Essential Oil For Soy Wax Candles

So what’s best, fragrance oils or essential oils? Well, that is up to you, but there are pros and cons to both. When I first started making soy candles, I used essential oils, but I did have challenges. I now make my candles either scent free or use natural fragrance oils.

Fragrance Oils

Fragrance oil does have the benefit of being less expensive than essential oils. You can also use floral blends to buy your favorite beauty product scents. But fragrance oils can also release toxic carcinogens into the air, and if you’re like me, they can trigger headaches. So keep that in mind.

You can also find “natural” derived fragrance oils on the market, which smell just like the real thing. I have tested a few without triggering a migraine. Your mileage may vary, but I do like that they tend to cost less.

Essential Oils Can Be Challenging in Candle Making

Essential oils will sometimes not play well with some waxes. Some essential oils (especially citrus oils) have a shallow flash point and will evaporate in hot wax before the candle is even poured. They can also cause tunneling and create problems with how the wax hardens.

An ounce of essential oil can also be much more expensive than a similar-sized fragrance oil.

With all that said, adding essential oils and skipping the fake scents makes eco-friendly natural candles.

How Much Fragrance Oil (Essential Oil) and Soy Wax do You Need to Make Homemade Soy Candles?

Before you place your order for wax, wicks, and essential oils, you will need to know how much of each product you need to get through your project.

So how much essential oil or fragrance oil can I add to my candle?

Different waxes will have volume % allowances for fragrance oils. The wax we use and recommended in this post will allow for a 10% volume of essentials or fragrance oils. Using 10 ounces of wax, you can safely add 1 ounce of fragrance oils.

How much wax do I need?

Five pounds of Freedom Soy Wax made twelve lovely candles.

The Complete Guide to Soy Candle Making

The candle-making process for soy candles is simple but requires you to pay attention to your actions. I’ll keep this super simple by using what you likely already have (eg: a microwave) instead of adding in other things like a double potboiler.

Step 1: Place the Wick of Your Choice in your Container

Use a dab of hot glue to stick your wick to the bottom of your container. Give it a few minutes to cool/dry as your wax cools just a little bit (more on that in step 4). We used sticky tabs because they came in a kit with the wicks, but a glue gun does the job just as well.

Use a wick holder to secure your wick in place and keep the wick upright so you can pour the wax without your wick bending and falling in.

No wick holder? No problem. You can also use a bit of masking tape to provide support to center the wick while you pour the wax. Leave the tape in place until the candle has solidified.

Step 2: Slowly Melt Your Soy Wax In 1-minute increments

Add the soy wax flakes or pellets to your glass measuring cup and microwave in one-minute increments. Stir thoroughly between each increment.

After two one-minute increments, I recommend reducing the cooking time to 30 seconds with each increment until your wax is fully melted.

It took us 4 minutes to melt 4 cups of wax pellets.

Step 3: Allow The Soy wax to cool to 160F

Once your wax is melted, use your meat thermometer to check the temperature. You want your wax to be 160F.

Once the wax reaches that temperature, you can begin adding fragrance oils. (up to 10% of the wax volume) Stir gently until the oil is incorporated into your wax.

Note: This step is optional if you don’t plan to add fragrance.

Step 4: Pour the Wax

It’s time to pour the wax into your glass container!

For best results, pour right away into your prepared jars or containers. With other waxes heated to a higher temperature, it’s a good idea to wait a minute or two to let the wax cool. Still, as Freedom wax melts at a lower temperature, you can pour it immediately after adding your fragrance oil.

Save any remaining wax in your glass measuring cup because you may need it to fill in pits. We’ve found that freedom wax is pretty reliable in NOT creating holes and pits, but temperatures and room humidity can cause anything to happen.

Step 5: Let the Wax Cool for at Least 2 hours

Stop pouring the wax around ¼” below where you want the top of your soy candles to be. Let it fully cool. This will take about 2 hours (more if you’re making large candles).

Step 6: Fix Uneven Spots or Holes

If you find areas with uneven spots or holes in the top of your soy candle, you can quickly fix it. I like to do a shallow second pour on top to eliminate those so that my soy candles look smooth and professional.

Let the second layer dry completely, and trim your wick to the length you want.

Note: We made 24 candles in 12 different batches, testing adhesion, scent throw, etc., and not once did we end up with uneven tops. We did not encounter any pitting. We can say without any reservation that the Freedom Soy Wax is indeed perfect for beginners.

Step 7: Cure Your Soy Candles for at Least Two Weeks Before Using

One of the tricks to learning how to make soy candles is to let them cure for a couple of weeks after you make them. This will help them burn better and longer, and it’s essential for scented candles. Let them cool completely before moving them to cure.

The curing time allows the fragrance to deepen so that it smells better and has a better throw when lit.

And that’s all it takes to learn how to make candles at home!

In full disclosure, it’s one of those crafts that can take a time or two to get the hang of, so if your first batch doesn’t seem quite like what you had in mind, give it another try.

Step 8: (Optional) Make Labels for Your Candles

Fancy candles have fancy labels, so you know they’re fancy! Well, we can be fancy, too! I used 2×2 kraft labels from Avery. You can make your own design, or download the PDF template here.

You may need to download the font to get it to look the same as mine, but it is available for free here: Daydream Font.

Printing labels can be tricky, but the best tip I have is to choose “Actual Size” or “Full Size” or “Scale: 100%” in your print options. Choosing “Fit” (usually the default) or “Shrink to Fit” will probably cause your labels to misalign.

FAQs

Projects like learning how to make candles scream, “I have a question!” Check to see if the answer to yours is below, and if it’s not, please leave it in the comments so I can answer it!

Can I melt my wax using other methods?

Absolutely! Another standard method for melting wax is in a double boiler on the stove. However, I try to avoid that when I can simply because I have found that it takes longer to clean than a single glass measuring cup does.

Can you blend wax types?

Yes, definitely! Some blends make the best candles. Soy and paraffin are standard blends that commercial candle makers use. You could also blend beeswax and soy wax to make some great candles! It takes testing, practice, and a bit of guesswork, but many guides online help you with wax blends.

How many candle wicks should I use?

That will depend on how wide your container is. The goal is to melt the entire top layer from edge to edge. 

If your candle container is too wide for the number of wicks you’re using, you notice “potholes” of wax which will cause your candle to burn unevenly and will shorten the life of your candle.

Can I add decorative elements to my homemade candles?

Yes! A word of caution, though remember whatever you add to your soy candle will eventually burn, so be selective about what you add. I recommend small items such as small dried flower petals (my favorite is dried rose petals), cloves, cranberries, or citrus peels.

I hope this post gives you everything you need to start making your handmade candles!

Soy pellets vs. soy flakes?

Soy flakes are easy to measure and melt, but condensation can ruin your candle batches. In addition, flakes measured without a scale can be inaccurate. On the other hand, beads and pellets are also easy to melt and measure but tend to be more consistent with less moisture content, which helps alleviate condensation. 

Never Buy Expensive Candles from the Store Again!

You can see from this post how easy making your soy candles can be.

You can make your beautiful soy candles for a fraction of the cost of buying ones, and since you control the level of essential oils, you can customize the scent.

Happy candle-making! Oh, and don’t forget these homemade candles make lovely Christmas gifts.

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