New in the candle world! Need help lol

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PaTT

New Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2021
Messages
3
Reaction score
2
Location
Dominican Republic
I just tried making my first candles yesterday. Everything went great, or so I thought. I used 10g fragrance for every 100g soy wax according to one website I found and poured the fragrance at 60/70 Celsius. I left it overnight since it was pretty late and it stayed there for like 8 hours. When I went to take it out of the mold, it looked like this on the top of both candles. This one was worse tho, any tips on how to avoid this? I’m thinking maybe it was the fragrance? Any advice would be appreciated!
C433285D-1945-4693-B4DA-4FE208BB2D7A.jpeg
1F4EF52D-7B82-4780-AC9D-E9B85223EE4A.jpeg
 
What wax and fragrance did you use? How long did you stir it once the fragrance was added? What temperature was the wax when you poured it into the mold?

ETA: Also, what type of color did you use?
 
What wax and fragrance did you use? How long did you stir it once the fragrance was added? What temperature was the wax when you poured it into the mold?

ETA: Also, what type of color did you use?

I used dye chips to colour, stir it for about 2 mins when I added the fragrance. Poured it into the mold at about 58 Celsius to be exact. I’ll attach a picture of the wax used, I bought it off Amazon since I live in a little island in the Caribbean and we don’t have an specific store for candle making supplies plus the shipping from other websites can be pretty high.
Also, the fragrance was from a small company here in my country that makes fragrances for soap and candles (the only thing I could buy here). I’ll be buying different fragrances from other suppliers that are only for candle making to see if that was the problem.

1D0169FC-06CE-40DF-A5EF-835BB192A055.jpeg
 
Try adding the dye when the wax is at 175 (80°C) and the fragrance at 160 (71°C) and pour once you have stirred the fragrance in for at least 2 minutes.

I think your temperatures are just a little bit low. I don't think it's a problem with your fragrance, as long as the vendor says it's for candles you should be fine. You can try a different fragrance and color if you like, but be aware that changing those may affect the wick size you need (if you plan on burning them).
 
Fragrances don't have to specifically be made for candles to be used in candles. As long as it's not a water based fragrance it can be used in wax applications.
In my experience, if the fragrance is oil based, the seller will say it can be used in candles (gotta increase sales!). I'm trying to remember if I've ever even seen an oil based fragrance that the vendor specified is not to be used in candles, or didn't specify at all, and I don't recall any. When I ask people if their fragrance is for candles, what I am trying to determine is whether they've used something like cologne as fragrance. I've seen people ask if cologne can be used, and I've seen people ask if water soluble fragrance can be used, not knowing the difference. If it's oil based, I can almost guarantee that the vendor or reseller has put "also for candles" on the product information page or label. If someone is very, very new to all this, if I ask "is it alcohol or water based?" they may have no idea what that means. The only (nearly) surefire way for me to determine what they have is to ask if it's for candles.
 
I have had candles come out with that look when i let the wax cool down too much and the dye chips had not been incorporated well enough.
 
I have had candles come out with that look when i let the wax cool down too much and the dye chips had not been incorporated well enough.
Yup. That'll do it. That's why I recommended higher temps. I don't use liquid dye very much but it may do the same thing. I have heard that fragrance does too sometimes, but I've never had that happen to me.
 
Yup. That'll do it. That's why I recommended higher temps. I don't use liquid dye very much but it may do the same thing. I have heard that fragrance does too sometimes, but I've never had that happen to me.
I had not heard about fragrance doing that! That is interesting. Thankfully I have not had that happen to me either. I am very careful about my temps now so i don't waste my supplies. :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top