Everyone loves candles, especially when it's full of your favourite scents!
Soy candles are so fun and easy to make at home. Making your own candles is also a great way to save money and make homemade gifts for family and friends!
This homemade candle recipe is so simple and only uses soy wax and essential oils or fragrance oils. We have chosen lemongrass, patchouli and ylang ylang essential oils to create an earthy aroma.
What is Soy Wax?
Soy wax is a great environmentally friendly alternative to paraffin wax. Soy wax is obtained from soy beans and then purified and solidified into soy wax flakes.
Soy candles have a longer burn time compared to other paraffin wax candles. They also provide cleaner burning as soy candles do not release as many toxins and pollutants.
Making your own soy candles is very simple and a great way to start making scented candles at home!
Let's have a go at our scented candle recipe...
Equipment:
To make our soy wax candles, you will need:
- Digital scales
- Digital thermometer
- Silicone spatula/ spoon
- Heatproof bowl
- Plastic measuring jugs
- Glass candle container
- Pre waxed candle wicks
- Wick stickers
- Wick holder
Ingredients:
- Soy wax flakes 250g
- Lemongrass essential oil 12g | 13ml
- Patchouli essential oil 9g | 10ml
-
Ylang ylang essential oil 4g | 4ml
Method:
1. Prepare the container
- Before making the candle, make sure your container and wick are ready
- Place a wick sticker on the bottom of your wick and place it to the bottom of the container
- Lay the wick holder on the top of your container, with the wick in the centre hole
2. Heat the soy wax
- Weigh the soy wax into a heatproof bowl
- Heat the wax in a double boiler or place your bowl of soy wax over a saucepan with boiling water
- Continuously stir the wax until it has fully melted
- Once the wax has completely melted, remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool
3. Add the essential oils
- In a separate bowl, weigh the lemongrass, patchouli and ylang ylang essential oils
- Test the temperature of the soy wax, you want it to be about 57°C
- Once the melted wax has reached this temperature, add the essential oils
- Continuously stir the mixture while it cools to avoid it solidifying on the edges
4. Pour the wax into a container
- Test the temperature of the wax, it should be around 40°C
- Once the wax has cooled, slowly pour it into your container
- Make sure to hold the wick holder as you pour the mixture to keep the wick centered
- Leave the candle to set for 2 weeks and trim the wick to about ½ an inch
- Test the candle by burning it for around 4 hours (you want the candle to melt to the edges)
TIP: We have chosen essential oils that have a lasting scent. However, essential oils are not typically as strongly scented in candles as fragrance oils. This candle has a gorgeous aroma when burning, but it may not fill a room as strongly as fragrance oils.
If you are using a wider jar, you may need to use two wicks to ensure the candle melts to the edge of the container.
Essential Oils VS Fragrance Oils
When making scented soy candles, you can either use essential oils or add fragrance oils. However, there are some key things you should know before deciding which one to use.
Fragrance oils are most common in candle making as they create an amazing scent throw. When used in candles they can fill a room with the aroma. However, they are a synthetic fragrance.
If you are looking for natural and pure oils, then essential oils are the best choice. Some essential oils also provide additional aromatherapy benefits. However, they do not create as strong of a scent throw as fragrance oils. The scented candle will give off a nice aroma, but it won't be as strong as a fragrance oil candle.
If you choose to use natural essential oils, we highly recommend sticking to fragrances that are base notes and middle notes. This includes scents like cedarwood, sandalwood amyris, lavender, patchouli and lemongrass.
Making candles with top notes like citrus oils, can create a beautiful cold throw, which is when the candle is unlit. However, once you burn the candle, the delicate fragrance gets lost and is not as prominent.
We’ve created some beautiful essential oil blends we love using in our soy candles:
- Fir needle essential oil 6g
- Vetiver essential oil 6g
- Clary sage essential oil 6g
- Cedarwood essential oil 6g
Continue Reading
Now you know how to make soy candles, why not continue reading?
- Want to know more ways to bring your favourite scents to your home? Take a look at our room spray recipe!
- Learn how to use essential oils in soap making with this blog!
- Love making cold process soap? Try our new dandelion soap recipe!
Let us know how you got on with our soy candle recipe in the comment below!
