Few days ago, we have bought new fragrance oil for our soy candles. We tried new set of scents like coffee, vanilla, fresh bamboo and okada. All of these scents smells great and it is our first time to smell those scents though we have an idea how's vanilla and coffee was.
As usual I took photos how we do it and having an idea right now on making candles give as a little clue and tricks also to improve the finish of our candle. As I also said before that soy wax was so hard to work on, we chose to try it again 'cause I don't want to use parrafin. Today I'm gonna be sharing how it looks like after few days of curing it. Anyways curing of candle must be atleast 5 days before trying to light it up for the first time.
Materials we used:
Soy wax
Fragrance oil
Wood wick and sustainer
Double boiler (stainless whisking bowl and any wide vessel for boiling of water)
Measuring Pitcher Big
Stainless Stirring Spoon
4oz glass jar with lid
Digital weighing scale
Heatgun
Procedure:
1.Clean and arrange your glass first. Every glass has the capacity of 100 grams so we have to multiply in by 6 less 30 ml of f.o. The calcution would be 600-30=570. We ended up weighing wax around 180-182. When you add your f.o it will be included on the net weight so better to measure it accurately.
2.Next pre heat your double boiler and transfer your wax to your melting pot. It will take several minute to fully melt the wax so don't you dare to set the flame of high setting it.
3.It is very important to have a digital thermometer like this candy thermometer that we have. We place it on wax once it is completely melted.
4.Wait until your wax reaches the melting point around 180-185 F. At this point we turned off heat and trasfer it on our measuring plastic pitcher.
Note: It is recommended to use stainless pitcher but we don't have yet that one so I guess this one will work too. But make sure that you have a heat resistant plastic like we had. Melted wax was so hot and an ordinary plastic will melt eventually.
5.Allow to cool down your wax and don't remove your thermometer. Keep an eye and when ot reaches the suggested pouring temperature, add in your fragrance oil and gently stir it for atleast 2 minutes.
Note: Do not use water based scent because wax cannot be blended with water like. Always remember use oil based scents. Binding f.o and wax were not succeed eventually and it will always depends on the behaviour of your wax with the f.o.
6.Many methods on pouring the wax on your vessels needed to be try for yourself. To this candle we tried different temperature around 100, 110, and 130 F.
7.Carefully pour wax on glass jar and weigh it to ensure the right grams for each jar. Repeat the whole process for the entire wax. You can add the remaining wax left on your pitcher until it is still warm.
Tip: Wax are oil too so to clean your utensils get the same water on your double boiler and use it to melt all the grease left on your pitcher and melting pot. Add liquid soap and do circular motion then wipe using an old cloth and wash thoroughly with water or use a tissue and simply wipe it away.
8.Avoid the candle to touch and move while it is not yet hardened. You may checked after 2-3 hours to see what would be the finish product.
9.Troubleshooting is important and the no.1 tools we have? The heat gun, it really helps you to melt your wax and to avoid some imperfections like sinkholes, bubbles and rough tops.
These are the examples of the problems that occures after few days of curing our candle.
Sweating, Shrinking and Rough Tops
shrinking
sweating
rough tops
It is kinda frustating to see it happens again but we have the best looking candle on our first batch. It is decently has smooth finished and the cold throw was there.
10.We will cure our candle atleast 2 weeks or more. Just make sure to place it on a cool and dry place. Weather changes and shrinking of wax was just natural. I think we just needed to be used to it so it will not bother us anymore.
We've made 24 pcs of scented soy candles. Are you thinking what would be the next step we will do by these candles? :) Secret for now guys, I will glad to share the next step. Thank you for dropping by and stay safe!
(this candle was the first batch that we've made last month and up to now the flame looks elegant and no soothes at all.)
