How to stop 464 soy wax candles melting in summer heat

[Linda99]

Hello 👋 

I am in desperate need need of your help ! I make soy candle with 464 soy wax. . Right now I add 1 kg stearic acid to 50kg of wax ... But still finding customers candles have melted in the summer heat in transit.. has any one over come this problem at all ... Would love your feed back and troubleshooting guide .. 

 

Thank you x 

[NightLight]

You need to add harder wax like palm and test if it can withstand summer travel.

And or design a candle for summer to take the heat.

[Laura C]

Hi @Linda99. As you know soy waxes are on the softer side and have a lower melt point unless they are blended with additives or a harder wax like palm as Nightlight mentioned. Do some searches on here on the subject and you should find some helpful info, I'm pretty sure I have made posts on this subject.

 

I can tell you this from experience, adding Universal Soy Wax Additive (USWA) to your wax will make it harder and less likely to melt in the heat. I used to live in South Florida where it's summer all year long and had problems with melting candles and it helped with this problem but can create another problem if you aren't careful. Be aware, too much USWA in your wax blend will create wicking problems. The harder your candle gets, the harder it is to properly wick. You have to test, test, test the wax blend and your wicking in order to get the right combination. I just about drove myself crazy 🤪. And on top of that, this was around the time wax manufactures started changing their waxes to meet new regulations, particularly soy wax manufactures. LOL!

 

In the end, I didn't get it perfect but ended up with some blends that worked pretty well. I was using a mix of soy and coconut waxes. There's also the option of trying a little wax melt or pillar candle wax to harden up your soy wax. Those waxes probably have other additives in them that you may or may not need and again could cause wicking issues. It's a guessing game until you put the science into play and start experimenting with the different products and combinations. After all, candle making, well, high quality candle making is a scientific journey. Have fun and label and document everything! 😊