How To Make Soy Candles
Making Soy Candles Is Easy!
If you can make candles with paraffin wax, you can make candles with soy wax. Making candles is kind of like trying out a new food recipe; sometimes you have to try things one way then the other to see which works best for you.
We are assuming that you have all your materials: double boiler, wax, thermometer, fragrance oil, and color drops (Materials are outlined in the ebook Easy Candle Making)
• To melt the soy wax, you can use the double boiler; that is, you can put your wax (about one pound) into a small pot which has been placed in a larger pot half filled with water and place on the stove burner. Be sure your small pot can easily hold the melted wax without overflowing onto the stove.
• Place your thermometer inside the small pot to monitor the heat of your melting wax.
• Allow your soy wax to heat to minimum 150 degrees Fahrenheit but no higher than 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Like ordinary cooking oil, if you heat the wax higher than 180 degrees Fahrenheit, you risk burning your soy wax and maybe causing a fire. Burning your wax will give it a yellowish tinge which is rather ugly.
• Once the wax is melted, you can add a few drops of your chosen color and mix. Adding the right amount comes with experimentation. It’s better to begin with not enough rather than too much (like mixing color in icing for a cake)
• If you want to add fragrance, now is the time to do so. Remove the wax from the heat first, let it cool to about 140 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Then add about 1.12 ounces of fragrance oil per one pound of soy wax. The rule of thumb is to add no more than 7% fragrance by weight or you risk having the fragrance “bleed” throughout the candle.
• Next step is to pour your melted into your molds. Precaution: Make sure your wax does not cool off too much before you pour it, for you risk having cracked candles. Again rule of thumb is between 95 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Once the wax is in the mold, allow the wax to cool normally on its own. Putting your wax/mold in cold water at this point may cause the candle to crack. (Full details are provided in the ebook “Easy Candle Making” which is ready for download.)
Why choose soy wax?
You may want to choose soy wax rather than paraffin wax for a few reasons:
1. First of all, soy wax, made from oil extracted from the soybean flakes and hydrogenated, is a vegetable wax. Because it is natural, the soot from a soy candle is white while the soot from a paraffin candle is black and somewhat sticky.
Although soot is not harmful to humans, white soot is cleaner than black soot. As a result, soy candles are becoming more popular even though soy wax is a bit more expensive than paraffin wax.
2. Soy wax is a natural product easily grown mainly in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana, USA. Therefore it is a “green” product and using the soy does not harm the ecosystem.
3. The soy candle is made by using the same techniques and equipment as the paraffin candle.
Differences between Soy Wax and Paraffin Wax:
Because soy wax is softer than paraffin wax, soy wax will not work well for making certain types of candle such as novelty candles.
It also does not work well for pillar candles or to make taper candles.
On the other hand, soy wax is great for floating soy candles providing they are at least 3 inches in diameter.
To summarize: soy wax and paraffin wax both hold scent and color the same when making candles. Although soy wax and paraffin wax are both “natural”, soy wax burns cleaner and people are becoming addicted to them.
So if you wish to experiment, it is great to make a new kind of candle and offer variety in your candle making endeavours whether your candles are for pleasure or for business.
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