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People recommending 12% fragrance


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I'm in a few groups on Facebook, and there are always lots of people struggling with hot throw. Every single time, without fail, everyone responds with, "up your fragrance to 12%." Now, I'm still a newbie myself, so I really don't have any room to talk. But that hardly seems like it should be the only solution? Throw more fragrance at it. MORE FRAGRANCE. Pretty much every supplier I've seen recommends 6% for almost every wax. Maybe a bit more for soy sometimes. I was just wondering what some of you more experienced chandlers thought about that.

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Many of us use the standard 6% fragrance load. For some soy waxes the average goes up to 8%. These are just averages thou and some FOs only need as little as 3% while others may need 9-10% Those are generally the exceptions.

 

If you are making candles for personal use you could use whatever FO load you want. But if you go over the manufacturers recommendations for that wax by adding more FO it may cause oil seepage which can get quite messy. Plus burning a candle with a that oil floating around could become a potential fire hazard.

 

I find the majority of FOs I only need 6% FO load for my wax. Since I run a small business if I were to load all my candles at 12% I would not be in the business long.

 

Another factor to keep in mind is more does not necessarily equate to a stronger throw. Often subtle fragrance notes can be lost when an overloaded fragrance burns in a candle. That's something new chandlers have trouble wrapping their head around but it can happen.

 

The only time I would use more than 6% is for the occasional FO that is light. I even use the same % for my wax melts and they are strong at 6%.

 

I suspect the 12% FO load started around the time the super waxes started coming out a few years back with the 10 and 12% FO load capability.  CB Advanced was one of the superwaxes that Ecosoya came up with to compete with the other manufacturers. FOs that threw well in CBA only required 6-8% depending on the FO. Not all FOs worked and certainly loading them up to 12% didn't help either. Just because a wax may hold up to 12% FO does not mean it should have 12%. It's really not necessary. And its a waste of money. A bad habit that will ruin any profit of a candle biz.

 

Edited by Candybee
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6 minutes ago, Candybee said:

I find the majority of FOs I only need 6% FO load for my wax. Since I run a small business if I were to load all my candles at 12% I would not be in the business long.

 

 

That's what I was thinking! I usually do about 9% in soy, but I plan on doing 6% when I try out 6006. 12% just seems like it would be so expensive....

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Personally, I never go over 6%. I figure there are way too many great FO's out on the market that if I need to go above that to get a good throw, I don't need that scent. Of course, I don't work with soy, so there is that aspect of it also. 

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More fragrance changes the dynamics of the candle system. It lowers melt point, for starters. You could achieve the same by adding another liquid oil for much less $$.

 

Before tossing in more fo, which could cause other problems, like sooting, id change wicks and see if that fixes the throw. In my waxes often a slightly bigger (not necessarily hotter, just able to consume more wax) wick makes all the difference in the world. 

 

ETA, some fragrances actually inhibit the burn, meaning more of the problematic fragrance only compounds the problem wasting more $. 

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1 hour ago, Jcandleattic said:

Personally, I never go over 6%. I figure there are way too many great FO's out on the market that if I need to go above that to get a good throw, I don't need that scent. Of course, I don't work with soy, so there is that aspect of it also. 

 

Yes! I stay around 7%, and go up or down 1% as needed. The few times I've gone higher than 8%, the results have been terrible. Call me a lazy chandler, but if a FO isn't working at 8% with a wick/wax/container combo that I know is good, I'm moving on to a different FO. Like Jayne said, there are so many great fragrances out there, why waste time and money?

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Forgot to add there are only a few waxes that hold 10% and a whole lot fewer that may hold up to 12%. So I just don't understand why some assume you can load up any wax with that much FO. Its a newbie mistake or at the very least one a seasoned chandler won't make.

 

Can you imagine the price I would have to charge if I loaded all my candles with that much fragrance? *shudder*

 

 

Edited by Candybee
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I just put the figures into my candle cost spreadsheet and a $12 candles would go up to $15. That's an increase of a little more than 25%. That's for a smaller 12 oz candle. I imagine the price would be even larger for a 16 oz or more. It adds up.

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26 minutes ago, Candybee said:

Forgot to add there are only a few waxes that hold 10% and a whole lot fewer that may hold up to 12%. So I just don't understand why some assume you can load up any wax with that much FO.

 

I would need to roam around some supplier sites to back up my claim here, but I know I've seen some of these higher percentages being recommended.  I've never used 12% myself in any wax, but I know I've read it on wax sale pages before.  I believe someone here not long ago said they followed supplier's guidelines and OD'd their candle with f/o.

 

 

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To follow up on this topic of using supplier's guidelines ... I advise to always not only find more than one source of information, but seek out the manufacturer's information directly. 

 

I have been using GW464 and I was using 6%, but my most recent batch was a bit different and I increased it to about 2%, adding a small amount of stearic acid to try to adjust for the composition change (something that was mentioned in this thread in regard to adding more scented oil). 

 

The manufacturer suggests a fragrance load of 7-9%. 

 

Some sources say you can add up to 2 ounces per pound ... that seems like a heavy load to me.

 

Here are some examples (quotes) from a couple of online suppliers' websites in regard to how much f/o to use in this particular wax ...

 

It is most common to add 1 to 2 ounces of fragrance per pound of wax (For a stronger scent throw, we recommend 2 ounces of fragrance per pound of wax).

Cal Candle Supply

 

Max Fragrance:   12% or 2oz./lb.

Candle Science

 

 

In my mind, it is the manufacturer who most likely has done the more thorough testing, so I think it's important to seek out the original guidelines and then do your own tests.

 

 

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2 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Potentially. An awful lot of variables to consider before a final answer, though. 

 

GW464 by itself is a soft wax, which some sources have noted could over time allow scent to sink ("drift"), and the manufacturer suggests a threshold of 9% fragrance load. 

 

Some suppliers seem to feel that 2-oz. of fragrance oil (just over 12%) could be added to this wax as a matter of course. 

 

I've never used that much f/o in this wax, but I did read a post here not that long ago where someone had and it didn't work out, so that might be a clue that the 2-oz/pound information is not correct. 

 

 

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On 3/2/2018 at 10:10 AM, LittleMissSunshine said:

I'm in a few groups on Facebook, and there are always lots of people struggling with hot throw. Every single time, without fail, everyone responds with, "up your fragrance to 12%." Now, I'm still a newbie myself, so I really don't have any room to talk. But that hardly seems like it should be the only solution? Throw more fragrance at it. MORE FRAGRANCE. Pretty much every supplier I've seen recommends 6% for almost every wax. Maybe a bit more for soy sometimes. I was just wondering what some of you more experienced chandlers thought about that.

I'm pretty new myself. I just started back in Summer of 2017. I'm still struggling with that same "how much" question. My tactic now is to just knock it up a notch each batch until I get there.

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I can't seem to get much throw at all, most times none. I can smell the fragrance on the finished candle and when I'm cooking it, but rarely does it fill the room the way I'd like. The most successful throw I had was a pillar scented with Lush & Lily Peppermint at 3%. Now that one REALLY filled the room. My father said it smelled like peppermint. I thought it smelled like kerosene!  Maybe I'm just too demanding on myself. I don't know.  

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On 3/2/2018 at 8:34 PM, birdcharm said:

To follow up on this topic of using supplier's guidelines ... I advise to always not only find more than one source of information, but seek out the manufacturer's information directly. 

 

I have been using GW464 and I was using 6%, but my most recent batch was a bit different and I increased it to about 2%, adding a small amount of stearic acid to try to adjust for the composition change (something that was mentioned in this thread in regard to adding more scented oil). 

 

The manufacturer suggests a fragrance load of 7-9%. 

 

Some sources say you can add up to 2 ounces per pound ... that seems like a heavy load to me.

 

Here are some examples (quotes) from a couple of online suppliers' websites in regard to how much f/o to use in this particular wax ...

 

It is most common to add 1 to 2 ounces of fragrance per pound of wax (For a stronger scent throw, we recommend 2 ounces of fragrance per pound of wax).

Cal Candle Supply

 

Max Fragrance:   12% or 2oz./lb.

Candle Science

 

 

In my mind, it is the manufacturer who most likely has done the more thorough testing, so I think it's important to seek out the original guidelines and then do your own tests.

 

 

 

 

It should be noted that CS is not recommending you use 2oz/12% fragrance load. They are listing the manufacturer Golden Brands information on the wax which reads the wax may hold up to a maximum of 12% fragrance load.

 

The link to Cal Candle Supply doesn't work so I don't know what the supplier suggests.

Edited by Candybee
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10 hours ago, Candybee said:

It should be noted that CS is not recommending you use 2oz/12% fragrance load.

They are listing the manufacturer Golden Brands information on the wax which reads the wax may hold up to a maximum of 12% fragrance load.

The link to Cal Candle Supply doesn't work so I don't know what the supplier suggests.

 

Sorry about the link not working properly, I quoted what they said on their page in regard to f/o in that post, which is a recommendation for "stronger scent throw" 2-oz. per pound. 

 

I never saw that Golden Brands stated 12% -- before I purchased my first box of soy wax, I went around to various websites, as well as the Golden Brands site and copied information.  The page that used to have guidelines for their 415/444/464 series waxes is longer working, but as I mentioned before, for the 464 wax, the usage recommended was 7-9% ... for 444, it said 9-11% and for 415, it said 8-10% ... I did not see 12% mentioned.

 

On Peak's website, they showed 6-9% for all three of these waxes.  There are other suppliers also showing 12%, however, but I've yet to figure out where this information originated.

 

I'm not intending to be difficult, but this is a safety issue and I think it's important to know what is safe and what is not in terms of fragrance load.  When I see a manufacturer state one thing and then see resellers state something else, it makes me wonder where the aberrant information is coming from, esp. when I see it repeated on various sites.

 

 

 

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16 hours ago, TallTayl said:

So often the fo is not even the problem. It comes down to the wick choice for that particular wax, fo and container. 

 

 

This cannot be stated loudly or strongly enough! Or said too often, because it is so true. 

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12 hours ago, birdcharm said:

 

Sorry about the link not working properly, I quoted what they said on their page in regard to f/o in that post, which is a recommendation for "stronger scent throw" 2-oz. per pound. 

 

 

I believe it when you say you read this on other sites. I just wanted to clarify that it is not a statement on the CS page you linked.

It's no joke that the capacity issue often gets confused as the recommended usage amount. I think its important to clarify to new chandlers starting out that there is a difference between recommending 12% FO load and the capacity of the wax to hold a load of up to 12%. Capacity only has to do with how much FO a wax may hold before leakage occurs and not necessarily how much you should use.

 

 

 

 

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On 3/4/2018 at 9:42 PM, birdcharm said:

I never saw that Golden Brands stated 12% -- before I purchased my first box of soy wax, I went around to various websites, as well as the Golden Brands site and copied information.  The page that used to have guidelines for their 415/444/464 series waxes is longer working, but as I mentioned before, for the 464 wax, the usage recommended was 7-9% ... for 444, it said 9-11% and for 415, it said 8-10% ... I did not see 12% mentioned.

Candlemaker's Store Natural Soy 444 claims it "can hold up to 15% fragrance and has an incredibly hot throw".  Someone please tell me what FO means.

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