Making Soy Candles - Behind-The-Scenes

Full disclosure: I never wear an apron, have my hair down (or make-up on for that matter,) stop to pose for a camera, or get to work on this glorious screened-in veranda when making our candles. But I wanted to tell a visual story of our process - all the tools and equipment shown are those we use every day - and give you a look into the craft of candle-making. But make it pretty because the internet.

Have you tried to make candles before? I always feel like a bit of a jerk when I tell people “Making candles is no joke! It’s a lot harder than people might think…” I’m not proposing that it’s rocket science, but you need to know what you’re doing and if you’re making large quantities at once, you gotta be paying attention.

A few of the most important factors to nail down when making candles:

1) Temperature - This is by far the biggest factor to a successful finished candle. Different waxes need to be melted and poured at different temperatures. And if you’re adding scent, different options need to be added a different Temperatures. I’d say this is the most challenging part about making candles and can result in some trial and error (i.e. wasted wax… lots of wasted wax.) But testing formulas and recipes is just the only way to nail it down.

2) Quality of Wax - This likely doesn’t come as a surprise but cheap, crappy wax is not going to give you a nice candle. Premium Eco Soy wax and Pure Canadian Beeswax are the only ones we use. We tested different types of soy wax and the difference from the cheap stuff to the premium blend was unmistakable.

3) Wick Size - If you’re seeing a common theme here, there are also a variety of different wick materials, sizes and quality available to candlemakers.

 
 

Our Staples for Making Soy Candles

  • stainless Steel Pour Pots

  • Thermometer

  • Measuring Cups

  • Stirring Spoons

  • Scented Oils

  • Premium Soy Wax

  • Cotton Wicks

  • Wooden Popsicle Sticks

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A big roll of brown kraft paper is also aways on hand because honestly, pouring candles by hand can get a little messy. We’ve definitely gotten less “drippy,” but it’s pretty nice to just roll up the used piece of paper at the end of a good candle sesh and you’ve got a clean work surface to start the next batch.

So that’s a little (glammed up) glimpse at making our Soy Candles.

up Next…

The next blog post is going to be a guide to getting the best results out of your candles. I’ll be sharing some Do’s and Don’ts about burning and proper care.



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