Amt of Wax vs FO

[arkangel]

I'm about to pour my first soy candles this weekend. I did receive the wrong wicks in the mail :undecided but was able to pick up some locally that I think will be ok replacements for a start.

I used the calculators here and my 3" diameter containers that are 4.5" high should use 16 oz of wax according to the calculation. If I go by the formula 1oz of FO for every lb of wax, that means I use a whole ounce of FO for this container?? It seems like an awful lot of fragrance oil given the volume of the container.

Does that sound right?

Nancy

[Jami]

Just a suggestion but try filling with water then pouring out into a measuring cup to get an idea how much it might take before you mix everything up and realize it wasn't quite so accurate. I have done this before just to get a rough idea on what my jar would hold if it wasn't on the packaging.

Jami

[Lady_Sudz]

1 oz. per pound of wax is standard..

some go even higher with some scents..

Now the 1oz..is by weight not volume!

HTH

[arkangel]

Just a suggestion but try filling with water then pouring out into a measuring cup to get an idea how much it might take before you mix everything up and realize it wasn't quite so accurate. I have done this before just to get a rough idea on what my jar would hold if it wasn't on the packaging.

Jami

Thanks, but now I'm even more confused. If I fill it with water and measure how much water goes into the container, then do I use the shredded wax per the same *volume* as the water, or do I weigh the wax??

I'm assuming the weight of the wax would be different than the volume that would fit in the container? I'm confusing myself more trying to explain it :undecided

[mkpk]

It is the weight of wax and fo. The water idea is just to give you a general amount. Always weigh your ingredients, I found this out the hard way. Its not 16 fluid oz., its 16 ounces net weight. Hope this helps. I have found some other calculators that have helped me figure out the fo percent I want for any amount of wax. I will look for it and if you are interested I'll post it for you. This all can be very confusing, slowly, but surely, I'm learning more everday. I guess I actually learn more from my mistakes than my successes at this point, probably b/c I have more the first. Good luck!

[Jami]

Thanks, but now I'm even more confused. If I fill it with water and measure how much water goes into the container, then do I use the shredded wax per the same *volume* as the water, or do I weigh the wax??

I'm assuming the weight of the wax would be different than the volume that would fit in the container? I'm confusing myself more trying to explain it :undecided

I didn't mean to confuse you. I was trying to help you get an idea of how much the container would hold. I have a digital scale that I put my measuring cup on then hit tare to take the weight of the cup back out. Then I add my melted wax to get an exact amount. I calculate my FO based on the weight of my melted wax.

An example is: if I pour 15 oz of melted wax and my wax will hold up to 10% max load of FO. I know I can put up to 1.5 oz of FO so I then weigh my little masuring glass for my oil, hit tare and pour my oil any where from 1.2 to 1.5 oz (8 - 10%). Some oils are much stronger and don't require the max and you learn those as you go. Your wax should tell you what the fragrance load is. Mine say 1 - 1.5% per pound.

I hope this helps clarify the amount of wax vs. FO.

Jami

[arkangel]

OK, thanks - so when I ordered the FO samples from candlescience and they are 1oz each - is that weight or volume???

[Angie W]

Most suppliers go by weight.

[Cetacea]

you have to multiply the water weight by .8 to get an approximation of the amount of wax. The simpilest way is to just fill the container with melted wax.

hth