How To Make Soy Wax Candles

In case you didn't know, I love candles. Whenever I am going to shops or craft fairs, I look out for candles and such like to purchase for my room, the disadvantage being of course that candles are quite pricy. I saw some soy wax candles being sold for £10 each so I was intrigued to do a bit of research to find out why soy wax candles are so expensive. Turns out, they are incredibly easy to make and cheap to purchase the ingredients.

Soy wax candles are supposedly one of the best type of candles to make as they burn cleaner, longer and without producing black soot like the paraffin candles do. They also 'throw scent' further than other candles so are nicer to smell. You can read more here. I purchased all of the ingredients off Amazon for less than £20 with free delivery (which arrived in a couple of days) so I was a happy bunny! I've linked all of the products I used so you can use the same if you desire.

What you will need

Soy Wax Flakes*

Candle Wicks**

Fragrance Oils***

Cups/Jars to hold your candle

*Wax flakes are reccomended as they melt easier and smoother. 

**I linked the 200mm ones I bought, as it is easy to cut the wicks down so it gives flexibility on height of candle jar. 

***I linked the Lavender scent, however there are SO many other fragrances. I have Lavender, Fresh Linen, Gingerbread and Jasmine as my starter scents and they all smell lovely. Make sure you pick the 10ml to start off with as they are less than £2 and you don't need a lot to have your desired scent!

Method:

Stick your wick to the centre-bottom of your candle cup/jar. The ones I have linked above have metal bottoms so it makes sticking them down so much easier! I used superglue to do this which worked really well, but don't use a hot glue gun as the hot wax will melt the glue when its poured in and the wick will fall out of place.  

Fill your jar up with the amount of wax flakes you need, then repeat this process. This is because the wax will reduce by half when you melt it so you want enough wax to be in your candle! Put the wax flakes into a glass bowl and melt it over some boiling water on the stove. Alternatively you could melt it in the microwave but this method is safer as you don't want you wax boiling.

After the flakes have all melted remove from heat and wait a few minutes for the wax to cool down slightly. This means that the wax won't crack when it sets in your candle jar. After a few minutes have passed and the wax is still in liquid form, add your fragrance oil. I used about 10 drops for my candle and it was quite strong so adjust this for your scent.

Stir this round and pour into your candle jar. The wick will start to bend so position two pencils/pens either side of the wick to keep it in a straight line and then leave for 24 hours to set. The wax will look set in about 30 minutes so you can remove the pencils then but leave it to set fully before burning.

Enjoy your candle!