Minimum Amount of Wax?

[jeni18]

Hi there, I hope this isn't a question that's been answered 100 times but I've searched and searched and can't find it anywhere. I am very new to candle making (one batch so far), and as I am still in the experimental phase would like to conserve wax. I am using GB 464. I would like to know if you need to use a minimum of 1 lb. of wax per batch or are there any risks in using a smaller amount, say 1/2 or 3/4 lb.?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I apologize if this has been answered dozens of times already!

Jennifer

[topofmurrayhill]

Hi Jennifer. Welcome to the board.

The main risk is that the weighing of ingredients gets less accurate with smaller quantities.

Let's say for example your scale reads in increments of 1/10 ounce (0.1 oz) and you want to use 1 oz FO per 1 lb of wax:

• For 1 lb wax you weigh out 1.0 oz FO on your scale. That means the actual weight is between 0.9 and 1.1 oz, which is +/- 10% error.
  

• For 1/2 lb wax you weigh out 0.5 oz FO. That means the weight is between 0.4 and 0.6 oz, which is +/- 20% error.
  

So, the ability to make small batches accurately depends on the readability of your scale. The better your scale, the smaller the batch you can make.

Edited September 29, 2009 by topofmurrayhill

[SliverOfWax]

Fragrance oil should always be measured in grams, not ounces or parts thereof.

[sherry]

Fragrance oil should always be measured in grams, not ounces or parts thereof.

SliverOfWax;why the scents have to be measure by grams instead of ounces, is there a reason

[jeni18]

Thanks Top. I have a pretty good Escali digital kitchen scale so I think I'll be able to do fairly precise measuring. If it's a disaster with .5 lb then I'll abandon that plan. Thanks so much!

[chuck_35550]

I use grams for soap making but also check the oz weight to see how accurate or how much difference between the two units of measurement. But soap making requires much more accuracy in ingredient quantitites because of the outcomes. Gram weight is most accurate. HTH.

Steve

[SliverOfWax]

What Chuck said: accuracy.

It applies to candles as well as soap.

[topofmurrayhill]

Accuracy comes from the scale, not the units. The reason grams is more accurate is that a scale typically has its best readability in metric mode. If your scale can read to 0.1 oz or 1 gram, metric is better. However, someone weighing to .01 oz is still getting much better accuracy than you.

[SliverOfWax]

Trust me, Jeni. Go with grams.

lol

[jeni18]

OK - so back to my original question: is there an amount of wax - in ounces or grams - that is considered to be the minimum one should use in a batch of candles?

[Stella1952]

Many scales do not measure parts of grams, but they DO measure parts of ounces. I don't think that, unless one is making a minute amount of candle wax, that the error + or - between using grams and ounces to measure FO is gonna make enough difference to quibble about. I think this would be far more critical when making cosmetics or soap, but not candles.

Sorry, but I'm not getting a triple beam scale to make candles! I don't think that level of exactitude is necessary to making a successful, high quality candle.

Jeni, I personally do not make less than 1 pound batches for the reasons Top mentioned to you earlier. A slight miscalculation in a larger quantity is less critical than in a small batch.

Edited September 30, 2009 by Stella1952

[jeni18]

I know I'm inexperienced, but if different candlemakers use different percentages of fragrance, it seems possible to make a batch using 1/2 lb. (or 226.8g) and measure out 14.2g of fragrance (or darn close) and still come out with a decent candle.

Sliver - do you have an opinion on a minimum quantity of wax (in grams of course )

[Ring of Fire]

OK - so back to my original question: is there an amount of wax - in ounces or grams - that is considered to be the minimum one should use in a batch of candles?

4 ounces.

[Stella1952]

it seems possible to make a batch using 1/2 lb

Of course it's possible. You asked for opinions and you received them. You could make a batch with 1 ounce of wax if you like! Why not simply try it and see for yourself what suits YOU the best? Wasting wax during the learning phases will be the least of your expense, I promise!

[chuck_35550]

I use 8 oz all the time when testing and for custom orders. I never measure out a full 16 oz of wax to make a couple of 8 0z candles. For instance, I have 2-12oz Salsa jars that hold 8 oz of wax comfortably. I measure out 15 oz of wax and add 1 oz of fo or 1.25 0z and pour up the jars on the scale. I have never had a problem with the quality or a difference whether pouring 8 oz or 5 pounds. You'll find other people who simply eyeball the amounts and never measure anything, because they are so familiar with wax and fos. Personally, I measure for the purpose of maintaing and insuring quality and quantity of my candles.

Steve

[jeni18]

Of course it's possible. You asked for opinions and you received them. You could make a batch with 1 ounce of wax if you like! Why not simply try it and see for yourself what suits YOU the best?

Sorry Stella, didn't mean to upset you so much. Since your response at one point said exactitude isn't important then said it's risky not to be exact I was unclear what your point was.

I kind of thought the point of forums such as this were to get tips based on other people's experience. Of course I could try it myself but I figured people that look to answer questions on message boards are looking to provide some (friendly) help.

[jeni18]

I use 8 oz all the time when testing and for custom orders. I never measure out a full 16 oz of wax to make a couple of 8 0z candles. For instance, I have 2-12oz Salsa jars that hold 8 oz of wax comfortably. I measure out 15 oz of wax and add 1 oz of fo or 1.25 0z and pour up the jars on the scale. I have never had a problem with the quality or a difference whether pouring 8 oz or 5 pounds. You'll find other people who simply eyeball the amounts and never measure anything, because they are so familiar with wax and fos. Personally, I measure for the purpose of maintaing and insuring quality and quantity of my candles.

Steve

Thanks so much!

[Carrie]

I kind of thought the point of forums such as this were to get tips based on other people's experience.

You can read about candle making all day long, that doesn't mean you know how to make candles. You need to get your equipment dirty, make some things on your own and figure out what works for you.

I can tell you exactly how I make my candles and you can do the same exact thing where you live and they will come out different. I can try to teach you till the cows come home. At some point you have to try it yourself and see if it works for you.

This may be a "teaching" board but we can't provide all of your answers, some of them only come from experience.

[SliverOfWax]

I know I'm inexperienced, but if different candlemakers use different percentages of fragrance, it seems possible to make a batch using 1/2 lb. (or 226.8g) and measure out 14.2g of fragrance (or darn close) and still come out with a decent candle.

Sliver - do you have an opinion on a minimum quantity of wax (in grams of course )

I keep wax melted whenever I'm making candles, regardless of how many candles I'm making. If I'm pouring a tester, say an 8 oz mason which holds 6 oz of wax, I mix only enough fragrance oil to make that single 6 ounce candle. I use 4627, so I generally (though not always) start with 8% fo. So 6 x .08 x 28.35 gives me what I need.

Edited to add: It's not so much a difference in chandlers as it is a difference in fragrance oil.

Edited October 1, 2009 by SliverOfWax

[Sharon in KY]

Since I use 1.5 FO per lb it's about 1oz wax to .1 FO. I know that others would do different but I do what ever I think works for me. You can use how ever much you want....

[jeni18]

You can read about candle making all day long, that doesn't mean you know how to make candles. You need to get your equipment dirty, make some things on your own and figure out what works for you.

I can tell you exactly how I make my candles and you can do the same exact thing where you live and they will come out different. I can try to teach you till the cows come home. At some point you have to try it yourself and see if it works for you.

This may be a "teaching" board but we can't provide all of your answers, some of them only come from experience.

I asked one question, and it wasn't even about technique. Thanks for your input.

Edited October 1, 2009 by jeni18

[jeni18]

I keep wax melted whenever I'm making candles, regardless of how many candles I'm making. If I'm pouring a tester, say an 8 oz mason which holds 6 oz of wax, I mix only enough fragrance oil to make that single 6 ounce candle. I use 4627, so I generally (though not always) start with 8% fo. So 6 x .08 x 28.35 gives me what I need.

Thanks so much, this is really really helpful. When I bought all the equipment I thought I would need I only bought a pot that holds about 1 lb. of wax; now I'll get a bigger pot so I can make multiple fragrances at once (I can't believe I didn't think of that before). I am making them for personal use (no eBay business in my future) and I only make tea lights and 1.9 oz jars so as you can imagine 1 lb. of one scent while experimenting yields too much (not to mention I don't have anywhere to put them). Again I really appreciate you helping and not just telling me to try it myself!

[topofmurrayhill]

I know I'm inexperienced, but if different candlemakers use different percentages of fragrance, it seems possible to make a batch using 1/2 lb. (or 226.8g) and measure out 14.2g of fragrance (or darn close) and still come out with a decent candle.

If you have a scale that reads 0.1 gram units, it's fine to make a 1/2 lb candle. The accuracy for the smaller measurement in your example is +/- 0.7%, which is very good. You could make a smaller candle than that with reasonable accuracy.

Since the subject came up, let me also clarify the two main ways of calculating the FO amount:

Method 1 - You can choose the amount of fragrance to use per amount of wax (such as 1 oz per pound). For that method, you simply multiply the FO amount by the wax amount.

Method 2 - You can choose the percent concentration of FO you want in the candle (the percentage of total candle weight). There are a few ways you can approach calculating that, but we don't have to get into it unless you want to.

The example that Sliver used is actually Method 1, not the percentage method. What her math is doing there is calculating ounces of FO (.08) per ounce of wax, which is exactly the same method as ounces per pound. With a simple conversion (.08 x 16), all she's saying is that she wants to use 1.28 ounces FO per pound of wax. The units you choose don't really matter.

The actual percentage of FO in her candle will be 7.4%.

Edited October 1, 2009 by topofmurrayhill

[Ring of Fire]

Jeni, your question was perfectly fine to ask. The answer isn't rocket science like some would have you believe.

Just be glad no one told you to do your own search (even though you did with no success) because this here search feature leaves a lot to be desired.

Edited October 1, 2009 by Ring of Fire

[JacquiO]

You can do less than a pound batches. It doesn't matter what units you use for measurement. If you use 1oz FO per pound of wax then if you make a 1/2 lb batch use .5 oz FO. If it's a 3/4 lb batch is .75 ounce of FO. If you use additives just half the amount.

Candle making is simple and you don't need to be as accurate with weight as you do with soap making. I often measure my FO with a fluid ounce measuring cup and my additives with teaspoons and tablespoons.

The only thing you want to avoid is max-ing out your wax's fragrance load. That's when you add too much FO to the point where the wax can no longer absorb the fragrance. You will get a pool of greasy FO at the bottom of your candle.

What you may want to do is keep a journal of your candle making experiments and record what measurements you use. That way if you get good results with your test batches you can duplicate your results even with larger batches.

You can always PM me if you need help doing the math.

Good luck and have fun.

Cheers,

Jacqui

Edited October 1, 2009 by JacquiO