Published by Kevin Fischer on
If you’re new to candle making, it’s easy to get caught up in all the “lights and cameras” of running a candle business.
After a few pours, you might realize how complicated candles really are, especially if you’re using soy wax or any other vegetable wax.
Here are six common pitfalls new candle makers should avoid, and what to do instead.
Let’s dive in!
1. Using the wrong amount of fragrance oil
How much fragrance oil should you use?
If you’ve never made candles before, a common rule of thumb is:
- 1 ounce per 1 pound of wax OR
- 28 grams per 454 grams of wax
An even easier way to figure out how much to use is multiply the wax weight by .0625.
Always measure fragrance oil and wax by weight, not volume:
Adding more fragrance oil doesn’t necessarily increase the scent of the candle, and can even backfire and cause the candle to burn poorly.
Think of fragrance oil as the fuel and the candle as the delivery system: adding more fuel doesn’t make a vehicle perform better.
Building amazing candles requires mastery of the following skills:
- Measuring the right amount of wax
- Choosing the right wick
- Conducting a proper hot throw test
2. Using the same wick size for every scent
The candle wick is usually the most difficult part of creating a candle that burns safely and smells great.
Unfortunately, finding the right wick size and series is a lot of work! Don’t fall into the trap of using “any old wick” for your candle just because it can be a lot of work.
Many candle communities don’t stress the importance of DISCOVERY in the design process. In fact, a lot of beginners are just looking for a “candle formula” that doesn’t require testing: plug and go.
Fragrance oil changes how a candle performs two different ways:
- The “fragrance load”, or the raw amount of oil in the candle
- In the relationship with the wax
…and every fragrance oil is different!
The right wick size for a candle can drastically change depending on the candle’s fragrance oil and how much.
If you build a successful candle with one wick, once you swap the fragrance or change the fragrance load, you may need a different wick series or size.
Too many candle makers overlook how sensitive a wick is to the fragrance and continue using the same wick for every design in that wax.
3. Burning the candle before curing completes
One of the 20 skills every candle maker must master is patience.
Why?
Every candle needs to cure before being burned.
Candle curing is the process of the wax solidifying at a molecular layer to resist thermal energy and disperse fragrance molecules evenly throughout the hardened blend.
In more general terms, you need to wait to burn the candle to see how it really works.
Wax expands as a liquid and contracts as a solid. Most wax may appear to be completely solid a few hours after pouring, but actually isn’t completely hardened until a fairly long period of time after.
Longer cure times raise the amount of heat needed to melt the wax, which means your wick may appear “too hot” right after the candle cools and be “just right” once the initial curing completes.
Curing accomplishes two goals:
- Substantially hardens the wax (so the thermal energy required to melt it is even throughout)
- Spreads fragrance oil more evenly through the candle
Candles burned too soon after they’re poured may smell good, but typically don’t respond accurately to the wick size and series to judge a successful test.
How long should you cure? Depends on the wax:
| Wax Type | Typical Cure Time |
| Soy | 14 days |
| Paraffin | 3 – 5 days |
| Parasoy | 7 – 10 days |
| Palm | 5 – 7 days |
| Beeswax | 10 days |
4. Using the wrong materials
The internet carries a surprising amount of “tutorials” for candles that include troublesome supplies.
Poor supply choice can lead to fire hazards and poor performance – the opposite goal of a candle. What should you watch out for?
Crayons don’t work well for coloring or melting. Their properties are much better for coloring books than candles since they clog candle wicks (even wood ones). They may burn for a little bit, but will ultimately fade.
Food coloring, like crayons, won’t color your wax. Wax is an OIL based product, meaning the color needs to dissolve in OIL. Most food coloring is “water soluble”, meaning it can dissolve in water, but will not mix with oil.
Plastic containers will melt. Remember, candles are very hot and a lot of the heat transfers directly into the walls of the container.
Thin-walled glass jars may actually explode if they receive too much heat. Don’t use these if you’re just starting out. If the container isn’t thicker than a wine glass, it’s too thin to use for candle making.
Excessive leaves flammable material in candles are often shown as decorative. Cute, yes, but potentially dangerous in the hands of a beginner who may get carried away and put too much in the wrong places and cause ignition.
Glitter, sadly, will also clog your wick. You may use it in wax melt design more effectively, or sparingly on the edges of a candle, but if too much is present your wick will stop and your flame will extinguish.
Unsealed metal tins will actually leak when the wax melts. You’d be surprised how good wax is at finding escape routes!
5. Starting with way too many supplies
Skip this if you’re making candles for fun, but read on if you want repeatable designs or wish to own a candle business.
The unlimited amount of combinations of wax, wicks, containers, colors, and fragrances means candle making is a great place to express your creativity.
But there’s a downside.
Beginners often get caught up in creation-mode and forget how complicated getting ONE candle design to work well is.
If you’re constantly changing your inputs and trying new things, it can be overwhelming to find something that works.
The best advice for starting out is to KISS.
KISS?
No, not “kiss”, the verb or the band, but K.I.S.S.: Keep It Simple Stupid (or Keep It Simple Silly, depending on your audience).
Simplifying your first approach to the craft helps you learn the critical skills of adjusting wick sizes, testing, and judging success. Adding too many variables, or changing things too often, limits your chance of succeeding before you understand how everything fits together.
Candle making is hard, and if you don’t believe that now, buckle up! Anyone can pour wax into a jar, add a wick, and call it a day, but mature candle makers know that’s only the first step.
After that, you need to make sure the candle meets the industry standards for safety and your own standards for performance, which leads to the final mistake…
6. Burn testing
Testing candles is one of the most critical skills of the craft.
The reason is simple: you can’t possibly know if your design meets safety and performance standards until you burn the candle.
Burn it once?
No. Keep burning it until one of two things occurs:
- The candle is completely used up, or
- It fails to meet your standard of SAFETY or PERFORMANCE
Many beginners burn their candle for 30 minutes, upload a picture of it to Facebook for feedback, and call their testing complete.
This is the worst way to test a candle (besides NOT burning it at all).
Testing requires you to establish a cadence of burning it over a set period of time, multiple times. Even though a candle may appear fine during the first burn, candles are notorious for changing throughout their life.
Full melt pools are not an indication of success.
As the candle reaches the halfway point or even nears the bottom, heat transfers less to the air and more to the walls. Previously melted wax turns into a liquid quicker, and the overall temperature can rise significantly.
Your wick is responsible for delivering a standard of safety and performance throughout the candle’s life, not just near the top.
If you’re new to candle making, join thousands of others in our (extremely affordable) online course: Soy Wax Candle Making Fundamentals
