I am not a master, but I have mastered it! :)
Hello my dear DIY lovers,
you know me as a JESIN and RESIN artist and that's where my strengths lie. I imagined the candle pouring in a similar way, because it can't be that difficult to simply pour a scented candle into the beautiful JESIN container that I poured myself the day before. Well, that's what I thought and I made a few mistakes.
You can read my blog about the faulty candle pouring here. But this blog post is about how I mastered it (with the help of Chris from @soylight_ec)!
So prick up your ears, because here comes the absolute recipe to success for a super pretty DIY scented candle for your home !
The step-by-step guide to your candle of success
The first thing you need for the candle wax is a container. There are various options here, but for me personally the best option is the self-cast JESIN container. The JESIN material is flame retardant and super suitable for pouring wax into it. Not only does it simply look beautiful, but my favorite thing about it is the individuality of each container - a small work of art hand-poured from sustainable and eco-friendly material! Mega right? What a statement your candle makes when it not only smells amazing, but also looks great. A real statement piece for your home ...
I have already published how I water my JESIN containers in a blog post. You can read it here and make it yourself:
HOW TO POUR A CANDLE WAX CONTAINER?
In the following, I will explain and show you everything you need and have to do for a fragrant candle with 100 % success, joy and pride :) I want to mention that this contains not paid advertising, the companies do not even know I am recommending them ( shopping links are marked with a *).
MATERIALS THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED FOR A SCENTED CANDLE
Pouring a scented candle really depends on so many factors (I will describe them in the next part) and especially the materials are crucial. So here are my absolute top recommendations of products that I have used for my "breakthrough" for a working scented candle:
1) THE WAX
There really are so many different types of wax on the market, almost like the range of epoxy resins. At the beginning you don't know how and where and why at all. I'll spare you all that and recommend the following 2 types of wax:
Both are soft types of waxes that are ideal for pouring scented candles into suitable containers. Both waxes also give off a good fragrance. The CocoWax is very soft, so if I were u, I would go with the SoyWax.
2) THE WICK
Oh what a nightmare looking for the perfect wicks, because somehow they all make sense and then when you try them, none of them really work *haha*. So I've linked you my top 2 wicks here that have worked great for me:
a) WEDO COTTON WICK* ( in the case u are using the same size of the JESIN container, grab yourself the "WEDO 26", please add some stickers for fixing the wick to the ground of the JESIN container)
This wick is an absolute quality product, because it consists of 4 different wick fibers, which ensure an excellent stable wick construction and are free of harmful substances when burning.
b) WOODEN STICK* ( in the case u are using the same size of the JESIN container, grab yourself the 20x150x1mm, the small stand for the wick is included in this case)
This wick is a double wick made of rosewood and is really beautiful to look at in the candle. If you pre-treat it, it is a real dream. To achieve a more beautiful flame and a more even burning of the wooden wicks, you can soak the wooden wicks in candle wax, scented oil or cooking oil. Suitable cooking oils are liquid coconut oil, olive oil or sunflower oil. The test in olive oil - for at least 24 hours - has achieved the best results.
3) FRAGERANCES
You can find a wide variety of fragrances for scented candles online. I use essential oils for my scented candles. Here* you can find a selection of fragrances for candles.
4) TOOLS
To pour the candle wax you need a few more accessories, but that's not a big deal because you can find them in a normal household.
- Pot
- Bowl (for the water bath to heat the wax)
- Silicone scraper for stirring the candle wax
- Soup ladle for pouring the wax into the container (yes - there are far more professional accessories, but I wanted to keep my inventions under wraps)
- Thermometer ( I use a laser thermometer)
If you cannot do without them in the long term, it is better to buy the accessories separately, because once you have used them once for candle wax, it is better to continue using them for this purpose, as it is difficult to remove 100% of the wax again.
So much for the products! But how you process the products is actually crucial. So it's not just the quality that counts, but also the "how".
HOW TO POUR A SCENTED CANDLE CORRECTLY
It's crazy how many things you actually have to consider when making a scented candle, because even if you have really great "ingredients" and think "This will be 100% something!", there are just soooo many things you really need to know. So let me explain step by step how to do it right.
1) WARMING UP THE WAX
I didn't know, for example, that you can only heat the wax to a certain temperature. If you exceed this recommended temperature, you destroy the wax and it loses its properties, such as absorbing essential oils.
The soy wax I linked to above has a maximum temperature of 85°C! The wax should not be heated above this temperature.
The maximum temperature for heating coconut wax is 75°C.
After my first attempt at making scented candles I completely messed it up, the second time I simply worked with a water bath, as the temperature is a bit more controllable here than putting the pot directly on the stove.
Please allow the wax to melt slowly. Stir it gently.
Check the temperature of the wax from time to time with a temperature gauge to ensure that the temperature is not exceeded.
2) ADDING THE FRAGRANCE
So here we are... who would have thought that you actually have to stir in the fragrance oil for at least 5 minutes after adding it to the wax! Well, I didn't - because the first time I tried it, I simply added fragrance oil, stirred once and that was it. NO, please don't do what I did. Stir the fragrance oil into the wax for max. 5 min.
It's easy to specify the quantity, as this is between 5-10% of the total amount of your wax. So if you have 1 kg of melted wax (and you need about 1,250 g of wax in raw mass) and want a very intense fragrance, simply add 10%, which would be 100 gr of fragrance oil. Oh yes, that's quite a lot. But it's worth it!
Please do not add too much scented oil, as this will prevent the candle wax from burning properly.
3) FIXING THE WICK AND CASTING THE WAX
There is a wick holder (if you choose the cotton wick) that is essential. This is because the wick needs to be stable and straight in your candle container when you pour the wax and it hardens. It's a wick holder that you place on your containers and simply push the wick through the hole...
How many wicks do you actually need now?
Chris ( from @soylight_ec) told me that the standard wick, not the one I recommended above, but the much thinner and simpler one, has a burning radius of approx. 3.5 cm. That's really not much...but you can work out roughly how many normal cotton wicks you would need.
In the case of my container, which has a diameter of 15 cm, you would need either
a) 4 normal cotton wicks
b) 2 WEDO wicks / Wooden wicks
You can compare the placement of the wicks to the holes in a jacket button, i.e. not too far to the edge, rather closer together in the middle of the container.
The cotton wicks also have adhesive dots for the candle wicks. It is a double-sided adhesive sticker that you simply use to fix the wick to the bottom of your container.
4) POURING IN THE WAX
It would be nice if the container is heated in the oven at 60°C beforehand, so that you can "prepare" the container for pouring in the wax. This prevents the wax from cooling down quickly and results in a better scented candle. And I'll say it here: cooling the wax quickly is absolutely counterproductive! So please don't put it outside in sub-zero temperatures or in the fridge. Just let the wax harden comfortably at room temperature.
5) LIGHTING THE CANDLE FOR THE FIRST TIME
I didn't know that you should really leave a scented candle to rest for 7 days before lighting it. Of course, I didn't do that on my first attempt either - impatient as I am. So give the candle some relaxation and rest before it has to perform for you. You'll thank her for it - gkaube mir !
FAZIT
Pouring candles is almost an alchemy and I actually underestimated it. My greatest respect goes to all those who mastered it. My empathy goes to all those who - like me - got it all wrong the first time. And I share my joy with all those who have now gained knowledge after reading my blog post to make it better now!
So - now I'm at the end of my tether and have told you everything I know. The best proof is my candle, which I enjoy every day and when it's finished burning, I simply use the JESIN container again and pour myself a new scented candle! How great!
For the sake of completeness, I would like to mention here that you should of course always provide instructions for use if you sell the candles commercially. Safety first.
So - grab your JESIN, pour a nice, individual container and off you go with your very own scented candle!
Yours, MRS.COLORBERRY