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percentages: anyone have a handy-dandy chart?


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When we say that we add a percentage to the wax, do we have to calculate it from the TOTAL wax plus fragrance oil amount?

 

Meaning, that if we have 10 percent fragrance oil, don't we have to first calculate the wax PLUS fragrance oil, to get the total weight, and then backtrack? If we just use the wax weight, it won't be a percentage of the total weight. Ugh did that make any sense??? Am I missing something?

 

So, if we have 3 pounds of wax (48 ounces), we can't just add 4.8 ounces of fragrance oil. We have to do a little math and add 5.3 ounces (total weight 53.3 ounces so that would be 10% fragrance oil).

 

Also wondering if anyone has seen a chart that does that math for us.

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I make my own chart. This is what I do. You first need to know how much scented wax fill you need for your jar or candle mold. So if I need 12oz of scented wax for my jar and I use 6% FO I figure 6% of 12 oz will be my FO or .72oz. That leaves 11.28 oz wax I need.

 

Then I make a chart for all my jars and how many candles I will be making in that scent. I normally do up to 6 at a time in one scent so I make a chart from 1 - 6 candles. So if that day I am pouring 2 Christmas Tree candles and 5 Cranberry I just look at the chart to see how much FO and how much wax I need. Works great and I don't waste wax or FO that way.

 

I taped my chart above my candle pouring station so I always have it there as a reference.

 

Whenever I switch jars I just make up a new pouring chart for those jars. If you know how to make calculations in an excel spreadsheet it makes it super easy to simply switch out numbers and let the chart calculate the new %'s for you.

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I prefer the method of adding the % of FO to the wax weight of the candle. It's easier for me. 10oz of wax with 6% FO requires .6oz FO. Simple!

 

Since we're on the topic... Which method is "best"?

The largest difference I see between the two is the final % of FO in the finished candle. One method results in a slightly less % than desired, while the other method is more precise.

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This is a subject that comes up over and over throughout the years - it confuses the crap out of me 😂

Somewhere in here is a really good thread on the methods and for me when I first started out I just went with adding my percent of FO to my total wax because it was easy and I despise math 

I always make a pound batch minimum - sometimes a half because my jars it works out that way- 1 pound fills 2 smaller jars or 1 larger one so Using soy I went with 1.5 ounces per pound of wax so I have a total of 17.5 in my pot when I'm done - 16 ounces of wax - 1.5 ounces of FO 

the conversion calculator that I have used that people posted on here to figure out what percent of FO that is comes to 8.57% FO 

Here is the link - I put in 1.5 is what percent of 17.5

http://www.onlineconversion.com/percentcalc.htm

 

now I have been told that is right by some  and that it's wrong by others so in a nutshell 🤷‍♀️ But it works for me.....it's consistent and I think that is what matters 

 

Not being a soap maker and dealing with many conversions and having almost failed math this is a tough one for me seriously @Candybee.....if I did it your way by backing out 1.5 from 16 and used 14.5 ounces of wax and added 1.5 ounces of FO to make 16 total -that would make it more like 9.3 percent correct? Or am I still not wrapping my brain around this correctly?

Been at this for 10 years and it's sad I get confused on this part!! 🤣🤣

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It is a semantics exercise, really. One perspective/calculation is a percent of fragrance as proportion to the entire mixture in the pot. The other is the percentage of fragrance as a proportion of wax. Neither is wrong. Though, most wax recommendations are written x% of fragrance per lb of wax.

 

So long as you are consistent, the final difference in percentage is minuscule. 

 

I'll look for the thread where we worked out the math. 

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4 minutes ago, GoldieMN said:

I get where you are coming from @Candlesinflorida!  Even with the chart, I sometimes start questioning then get out paper/pen/calculator and start figuring, refiguring, . . . lol!*shudder*

GoldieMN

 

Me too. I use spreadsheets with formulas for almost all of my complicated calculations. 

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I do as you do Moonshine.  I make batches in full amounts like 1 pound of wax equals 1oz oil...2 pounds equals 2oz oil and 1 1/2 pounds wax equal 1 1/2oz oil and I can even do  1/4 pound batches.  That is my extent of math.  I can't futz around with all those odds amounts of waxes needed and don't have the patience and can never figure it out anyways.  I always do have left over wax and have all these little dixie cups with left over oils that I use for top offs and always need the extra wax.

 

Trappeur

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On 12/21/2017 at 6:20 AM, TallTayl said:

It is a semantics exercise, really. One perspective/calculation is a percent of fragrance as proportion to the entire mixture in the pot. The other is the percentage of fragrance as a proportion of wax. Neither is wrong. Though, most wax recommendations are written x% of fragrance per lb of wax.

 

So long as you are consistent, the final difference in percentage is minuscule. 

 

I'll look for the thread where we worked out the math. 

Greeting talltayl!  Did you ever get a chance to find that thread?  Been swimming through this ocean of info here on craftserver and only found this one by title.

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