Wax melt to scent candles?

[Ramr]

I have never used a wax melt for its intended purpose . But today I bought some thinking they smelled great and that I would toss them into a pound of melted wax and have thusly scented candles.

 

Will this work? If not, why not?

 

 

 

 

[TallTayl]

Depends on the wax used in the melt, the wax of the candle and the wick. 

 

I have used my beeswax blend melts in my beeswax candles successfully. The same melts were unsuccessful in a soy candle. Wick was too small. Have also tried some melts received in swaps in various candles. Some do ok. Others not so much.

 

You will have to experiment and see. 🤗

[Kerven]

Would probably work if the waxes are compatible. Although, the throw will be weakened. If the wax melt is 1.25oz and scented at 10%, that's .125oz FO and 1.125oz wax, which would be approx. .8% FO in the lb of wax. Honestly, I wouldn't count on any throw at that percentage. You'd need 7-8 melts of that size to get the equivalent of 6% FO needed for the lb of wax. However, assuming 7 melts are added, that's another 7.8oz of wax to the lb, bringing the total of wax to approx. 24oz... and that means the FO percentage gets adjusted to 3.6%.

 

That is, unless my math is wrong and I need to get to bed.

[Ramr]

Kerven, my head exploded reading that.

 

I barged ahead and tried it out. Melted the pound of paraffin (I think there was more, my scale is pretty unreliable) tossed in two little squares of melt. Hmm, could use more, tossed in another square of a complimentary scent. (I hope!). Threw in a couple droppers of vanilla and .... now we wait.

 

Talltayl, all this experimenting and testing. Oy! Not a hobby for the impatient. I can hardly wait for my candles to set up and as soon as I think they're solid enough not to spill if the jar tips over, I light them. And they burn crappy. Cause I don't think hot wax burns all that great, unless it's on your stove in your kitchen in which case it overheats and burns just fine. In a bad way.

 

This is a blend of smoky apple, spice and vanilla and I'm going to call is Bad Apple. It has a slight scent that I call tobacco, smoked, masculine. Sweet but with a little brute force behind it. If Rhett Butler was burning a candle when he swept you off your feet and kissed you while he didn't give a damn, this would be it. Says me.

[TallTayl]

 I read the original post as adding it to the melt pool. Kerven math if adding to the raw wax is spot on. The concentration of fragrance would be very very weak.

[Ramr]

Lesson learned. Three cubes of wax melt DOES NOT scent one pound of paraffin enough to create any throw. At all.

 

Today, since I had all these wax melts, I melted half a pound of paraffin and tossed in the whole box of melts (6 cubes) plus a cube from another package for good measure. Oh dear. At least on pour the aroma is ... chest congesting. We shall see how this works as candles. At 3 cubes per pound of paraffin, no, no scent. But 6 cubes per 1/2 pound of wax? Maybe.

[TallTayl]

Back to my original suggestion, drop pieces of the melt into the unscented candle melt pool as it burns.  That many melts to scent paraffin is pretty unthrifty. 

[Ramr]

I think I will stick with FO from now on. But I do like to try things!