Scents to add to Soy Wax?

[SarahKate1993]

Hello, I'm new to making candles and wanted to make some as Christmas gifts to my family. I'm having some difficulty with the math.

I want to make twenty-four 12oz candles in the basic quilted-design glass Jelly jars. (I'm always super ambitious about my crafts, haha)

But on this forum I just read that people have issues with EOs as the scent? Can you guys link me to where you buy your scents? I wanted to make Cinnamon, Vanilla, Clove candles. Vanilla can be tricky, I would prefer to avoid the super artificial birthday-cupcake-icing kind of vanilla scent.

And if you don't mind, how many lbs of soy wax chips should i buy for the 24 candles, and how many drops of scent should I add to each one?

Thanks!

 

[shunt2011]

I would recommend checking one of the candlemaking suppliers and see what they recommend. Fragrances have different usage rates. Nature's Garden Candles, Peak Candle are two that I can think of off the top of my head. They both also have some really nice fragrances.

I wouldn't use EO's in candles. I've not tried but heard they are very difficult to use. I've only tried some wax melts so not a lot of experience.

As for how much wax, I would just multiply the ounces you need per jar and the times 24 then divide by 16. Not sure weight wise how much wax a jar will hold but just doing 12 x 24 divided by 16 I came up with 18 lbs. Hopefully someone more familiar with doing candles pops in.

 

[Chefmom]

Essential oils are not designed to survive the combustion of a candle. While some are used in the formulations of fragrance oils it is best to use fragrances designed for candles for candles and if you want to use essential oils for aromatherapy or scent, to use a steam distillation or tealight warmer for the best disbursement.

The big 12 ounce jelly jars probably hold somewhere around 10 ounces of wax. The 12 ounces is fluid ounces and wax is lighter than water, so a guesstimate would be 10 ounces by weight for a finished candle.

A google search for candle suppliers will bring up a big assortment of suppliers with fragrances and waxes and wicks etc for candle making. Not all fragrances work well with soy wax so you will need to do a lot of reading, then testing on your own for a good combo with the wax that you choose. Wicking is what always makes us pull our hair out, it takes quite a few tests in the beginning to determine what type of wick will work with your wax, your chosen container and the fragrances you choose as well. Each change will change the way the candle works, or doesn't work.

Scent isn't added in drops, not for a 10 ounce candle. A good starting point is 6% fragrance which loosely works to be 1 ounce of fragrance oil added to 1 pound (16 ounces) of wax.

 

[green soap]

The only EO I have gotten to stick on soy candles is citronella.

I had a lot of FOs (fragrance oils) destined for soap which I discontinued using. The suppliers were Camden Grey, Brambleberry and Candle science. Every single one stuck in soy wax, I had quite a variety as far as types or scent. Good hot and cold trow with most. Candle science spice scents (spice market) and others are wonderful. Vanilla? I like Camden Grey's vanilla lace. It smells like vanilla flan.

I used FOs from 1 to 1 1/2 oz per lb of soy wax, depending on scent.

I have a pictorial on how to do the wicks but I don't know how to upload it here.

 

[lenarenee]

Last year I dabbled in candle making but quickly realized I'm not willing to spend the time and money perfecting candle skills for a product that's really not necessary - especially here in fire-prone S. California. I'll stick with soap and lotion.

However I have 7 or so pounds of Golden Wax 444, and I would like to make candles for my own pleasure. Would anyone be willing to share the "recipe" to help me make a successful wood wick candle? (as in...size of glass container, source for wooden wicks with best sound, etc)

I don't want colored candles - the most important thing to me is the sound of the candle. Scented would be nice, but not necessary. I know scent can clog the wick. Multi-wick is fine with me.

I made 6 candles last year and they were mostly successful, but the sound sure didn't match the quality of those very expensive name brand candles I don't want to pay $40 for!!! There's such conflicting information on candle supply websites regarding temperature to add fo, temperature to pour...etc., that I really don't know which to trust.