You Can Make A High Quality Soy Candle

As somebody who owned and managed my own soy candle business, and producing my container candles for eight years, I've discovered some guidelines  to produce a great quality soy candle that I'd like to share with others who would like to try making their own soy candles.

Supplies Required for making soy container candles

• Candle fragrance oil
• Melting pot (Presto pot works great) and pouring pot
• Thermometer
• High temperature proof jars
• Wicks
• Wick tabs or silicone glue
• Soy wax
• Candle dye (optional)

Begin with a heat resistant jar that won't shatter with the heat of an open flame. Canning jars work excellent for this, or other containers created specifically for candles. Ensure they are clean and dry. Start to melt your soy wax at about 200 degrees, I used a Presto pot, knowning that worked excellent for melting wax and giving consistent, steady heat.

Before making candles, I thought a person could use of just any kind of wick, in any sort of jar. Believe it or not, your wick selection is one of the most critical factors to a top quality candle, and getting it correct is harder than one might think.

When I mention wick sizes, I'm discussing the diameter of the wick itself. For simplicity sake, have a wick that has already been tabbed and primed.  Simply attached to the center of the jar bottom using either wick tabs, double sided tape, or silicone glue obtained in most hardware retailers.

The majority of candle difficulties result directly from a candle not having the correct sized wick. Initially, you'll need to get quite a few wick sizes, and by experimentation (as well as test burning), find the appropriate combination. If you burn a candle and the wick drowns out in the wax, that wick is simply too small for the jar and you will need to go up a size or two. If the flame burns too big, as well as hot, and produces a full melt pool too quickly, you'll need to decrease your wick size.

Ideally, you would like your wick to create a melt pool at the rate of an inch of diameter for your respective jar being used, each hour. As an illustration, if the circumference of your container is 3 inches, it ought to take your candle 3 hours to reach full melt pool that is completely liquid from edge to edge of the jar, or very close to that. You are going to only get it correct by pouring quite a few candles with different sized wicks and executing those test burns to find it.

Obtaining correct wick size is furthermore a candle basic safety problem, therefore this is the most important facet of candle making. Adding to the problem, is when you do find the right wick size for the fragrance oil you are employing; you may find that another fragrance oil may need a different sized wick. The same is true if you change your brand of soy wax. For simplicity sake, once you get your initial candle burning correctly, make use of that formula as a starting point for your next scents. In most cases, that formula will work, however be ready to do more testing if it doesn't. You may have to "wick up or down" on your next fragrance oil.

Whenever you invest in your wax, make sure it is for container candles, and not tapers or molded candles. Even though soy wax is made for those applications, it is a completely different kind of wax with different properties, and will not work correctly for jar container candles.

Metal pouring pots need to be used and have measuring lines that display pound increments in liquid form. Using dyes or colorings is optional, many people prefer to leave them uncolored, with soy wax that will be a white.  If you desire to use dye, now is the time to add it. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for the amount to be added per pound of wax. If you're using color dye chips, allow a few minutes for them to melt completely. Bright colors are very troublesome to get successful in soy wax,  in hardened stage, soy wax is pure white, thus reducing most colors to various shades of pastel colors.

Bright colors can be done, but dye powders or liquids will be needed  to get them, and the more intense shades often have a frosty look, known as "bloom." This is a property to soy wax;  a person can either learn to live with the frosty look, or drive yourself mad trying to make a candle lacking it. Frosting or bloom, does not affect the performance of a candle in any way; it's simply a cosmetic issue. Excessive amounts of dye can cause a wick to clog – drowning the candle, so be careful not to use too much, test your candles with a test burn.

Scented fragrance oils will also determine the success or failure of your candle. Get great quality oil, the best your can afford. The usual amount of scented oil is 1 ounce of oil to 1 pound of liquid wax; however a person can add a maximum of 1 1/2 ounces of oil to 1 pound of wax. Resist the temptation to add more, as it will not make a stronger scented candle. Wax only physically holds so much scented oil (you can check with the soy wax manufacturer to find out what that maximum amount is for that brand) if you exceed that amount, can you find yourself with a fire hazard. In my experience, going from 1 ounce to 1 1/2 ounces per pound, did not increase the strength of the candle scent.

Pour the fragrance oil into the melted wax, stirring constantly for 3 minutes to ensure the oil binds with the wax. If you discover the oil separating at the top of your finished candle, this could be the problem – not stirring enough.

Frequently soy wax manufacturers recommend the wax be allowed to cool until it's in a slushy stage, before pouring into the jar. Other people simply pour their wax slowly into the jars at this point.

Using a metal hair clip worked well to hold secure the wick over the top of the jar while it was cooling. A small wooden dowel, or a clothespin can also work. Allow the candle to cool. If you get sink holes once the candle has completely cooled, simply use a heat gun (sort of like a blow dryer), that can be bought at craft stores, to reheat the top of the candle until the sink holes are filled in.

Trim your wick with sharp scissors to about 1/4 inch. Place the lid on the jar and let it cure for about two weeks in a darkened room. You can burn the candle immediately, but the scent won't be anywhere near as strong and beautiful, as when you let it cure.

Making a high quality soy candle is possible, but it takes practice, patience and testing to get the wax, jar, scent, dye and wick combination perfect. Start with high quality supplies. Once you master the process, your quality of candles can be better, in many cases than candles purchased in stores.

If you find this is something you love doing, you may want to consider making it into a home-based business. Check out a related article Seven Different Ways to Create Sensory Attractivenesses to Your House

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