New to candle making

[poppie88]

Long story short, I recently started a new job that I work 12hr shifts. So every other week a have 5 days off, and 3 of those days fall during the week when everyone else, including my wife is working. I was walking around Hobby Lobby and for something to do and came across candle making. I bought a little starter kit, and needless to say after about 4 more trips to the store I've made a dozen or so candles. Just a real fun Hobby I've found. So I've been testing my candles out and some smell great, while others don't smell at all. I want to find some online places to order supplies since Hobby Lobby is expensive and probably sell low grade material. I have a couple questions for the veteran candle makers if you can help me out.

 

 

My goal is to eventually sell the candles in a local friends shop. I don't want to start off crazy maybe three-four different fragrances and 8 oz candles. I will be using soy wax.

 

1.)  What is a reliable and well prices online store to get supplies?

2.) I'm kind of torn between wicks. I was thinking of the wooden wicks. Anyone with experience can tell me if they would work in a 8 oz tin can? Pros/cons?

3.) I've read on different websites about how much wax makes this amount of candles and how much fragrance per pound of wax to add, but it seems everyone has a different opinion. Can anyone share with me what portions work for them? Like how many 8 oz candles can you make with a pound of soy wax? How much fragrance per pound of wax?

 

 

 

Thank you for any and all help!

[TallTayl]

Welcome Poppie!

Settle on in with a nice big cup of your favorite beverage and take some time to read through the veggie wax forum here. You will find many recommendations that seem to conflict with the exact same common theme: test test test.

Peak Candle (the sponsor of this board) and many other online vendors listed in the suppliers list offer a number of soy options in small quantities along with equipment, excellent fragrance oils and containers. You're super smart to turn to professional grade materials

Tin cans may give you extra challenges as you learn the process. The material variances, thermal properties and dimensions are challenging, even for seasoned chandlers.

Wood wicks are not the easiest to learn either as they have natural variances in performance.

But... As you begin, i heartily encourage you to pick one wax, one container and a small set of fragrances that are easy to get early successes with and have at it. Be prepared to cure your candles for a week, sometimes more, before test burning. Unfortunately chandling is not an over night hobby to income generating venture. If/when you decide to sell your candles, make sure you look into product liability insurance to cover yourself.

[kandlekrazy]

Good advice from Tall, the only thing I would add is to try to find your supplies close to home.  Shipping charges can really cut into any profit once you start selling, especially on your wax.

I'm lucky enough to have a supplier 4 hours from me and shipping is reasonable on 50# of wax, so I chose a soy wax they carry.  Fragrance is different, you'll find that out soon enough!

[Shoegal]

You have two great answers so far. I pretty much get everything from Peak or Candle Science. I like Candle Science because I'm in Nevada and I get everything the next day. Plus they have tons of great tutorials that can help you get started. Just watch their shipping fees at checkout and make sure everything you're ordering is coming from one warehouse. I have tried wooden wicks and I do like them, but they can be unpredictable so you really have to test thoroughly. A pound of soy wax will get you about 3 8oz candles in the tins. You can figure this out by looking at the description for your containers and taking a look at the wax weight to fill line. For example, an 8 oz tin will hold approximately 4.8 oz of wax. So, 4.8 oz of wax per candle x 3 candles = 14.4 oz wax. That's a starting point. You may have to tweak it a little. Also, you can weigh a full candle and an empty container. The difference in the weights will be the weight of the wax.  Most use 1 oz of fragrance per pound of wax, which is about 6%. When you start researching, you'll learn that more fragrance oil does not a stronger candle make. 

 

Soy wax is tricky, but if you embrace frosting, pay close attention to your wicks and test a whooooooooooole lot, it's a great wax. Just be ready to invest a lot into this ol' hobby. You need to test every fragrance in every jar with your wick choices. Once you find a combo that work, you'll need to make several more candles using your recipe and then several more with the recipe every time you order a new batch of wax. It's addictive and it's expensive, but man is it fun!!!

[poppie88]

Thanks for all the amazing feedback. I'm thinking of ordering a 5 lbs bag of wax and maybe 3 fragrences and start from there. I really don't want to stray from 8 Oz candles so I'll look for the best container and stick with that for a while. When you say test the candle how do you go by doing it. Do you make one candle with the recipe you want to use, test that candle then if it comes out to you're liking make a batch of them?

[Faerywren]

When I test I usually make 2 or 3 candles. With my containers, that is about a pound of wax (I use a blend of soy and paraffin). I make sure the scent throw is strong and that the wick performs well. Keep in mind that some scents are soft and delicate (powdery florals, for instance) and won't blow the doors off no matter what. Other scents are strong and can be used at a lower percentage. As others have mentioned, it's an expensive hobby and you won't make money with it right off. It is fun, though, and when you get all the variables right and make a great candle, it's a rush. 

[poppie88]

Awesome! I think that's what I'll do. I'll make 3 candles and keep one and give the other two to my sister and mom. See how they work out then go from there!

[TallTayl]

I don't give any away until i dial in the wick. It took a few tries to see what wick series and sizes worked in my container before adding in fragrances.

You will have many variables to control when making candles. The most important to my learning have been the following:

Wax (with soy batch to batch variances mess with burn in in addition to brand and type)

Wick series/manufacturer

Wick size

Container width

Container depth

Container shape (squares are harder to wick than round for instance)

Container sides. Curved or tapered sides are more challenging than straight sides.

Container material (glass behaves differently than metal, which is different from cast iron which is different from aluminum)

Fragrance

Color

Try to change only one variable at a time so you know what is really happening.

Pick a wax, wick, and container. Make a candle or three. I do unscented to get a solid baseline. Figure out the wick for that combo.

Then try a fragrance in two or three candles. Cure and Burn one and see if the burn qualities changed. If they don't burn as well, figure out the wick. Retest by burning the candle at the recommended burn times from start to finish. Candles burn at the top very differently than at the mid point and at the bottom third.

REpeat for all new scents, colors, containers, etc.

Hang onto one for a month or six, then burn it. You sometimes see they burn quite differently over time.

Some fragrances i need to wick down. Others need to be wicked up a size or two. I don't give anything away until i am confident it burns properly from start to finish, nothing worse than giving away candles and having them tunnel and flame out. Well, worse would be burning way too hot and sooting, smoking or catching fire.

Don't be in a hurry. mastery of chandling takes a long time.

[sporadic]

Welcome to the world of candle making!  You can find some great beginner tutorials here:  http://library.rusticescentuals.com/

[Candle guy]

When testing candles, would it be a good idea to reuse the same glass containers over and again or would that mess up the integrity of the glass?

[chuck_35550]

I started with a kit from Cajun candles. It was a votive kit that had 12 molds with wick pins, color, wicks, wax and choice of fragrance oils. It was successful and fun. Not to mention the cost was reasonable, even with shipping. Now some 9 years later and thousands of dollars of stuff and a full basement/lab of materials; I am still pursuing the perfect candle. Wholesale and retail accounts are a lot of work for one guy but its paid for most of my obsession. Consider a kit and start slow.

Steve