HOW TO MAKE SOY CANDLES WITH ESSENTIAL OILS

1. Prepare your jars.

If repurposing old jars, make sure they’re clean and dry.

2. Measure out your wax.

I recommend weighing wax with a digital kitchen scale.Tare the pouring pot first (tare just means hit the “tare” or “weight reset” button with your empty pot on the scale so that the scale doesn’t count the weight of the pot itself). Reset the scale to 0, then fill with wax until you’ve reached your desired weight.

*Note: Even though I use a 4-pound pot, I usually make my candles in two-pound batches so I can do a wider variety of scents. Two pounds of wax will fill approximately four or five 8-oz Mason jars (jam jars or half-pints) or 8 to10 4-oz jelly jars.

3. Melt wax in pouring pot or double boiler on the stove.

Never heat up a pouring pot directly on the stovetop. Always fill another pot with about an inch or two of water and place pouring pot in the pot. Melt wax on high until wax has completely liquified. Use a kitchen thermometer to check the temperature of the wax. For best results, allow it to reach 180ºF and then take it off the heat and allow it to cool a bit before adding your essential oils.

4. While wax is cooling, prepare your wicks.

Center and glue wicks to the inside bottom of jars using a glue gun. Place wick holders (or clothespins) across the tops of jars to keep wicks upright and centred.

5. Allow wax to cool to roughly 130ºF.

Once cooled, add essential oils. You’ll want to add about 100 drops of essential oils for every pound of wax. Yes, you read that right. I told you you need to use a lot! Mix in essential oils using a wooden spoon or mixing tool. (If you’re adding fragrance oils, now is the time to add those in too).

6. Pour wax slowly into prepared jars.

Allow to cool completely before moving the jars (sort of like leaving the jars to cool on the countertop after canning). Trim wicks to desired length, put custom labels on your jars.

These homemade soy candles with essential oils are a safe, healthy and all-natural alternative to store-bought candles. And they make a great homemade gift!

ESSENTIAL OIL COMBINATIONS FOR SOY WAX CANDLES

Candle-making is by-and-large an exact science. The creativity lies in coming up with different essential oil combinations to use in your homemade candles.

The following are some of my favorite essential oil combinations that I use in my own homemade candles. Feel free to follow these recipes or create your own combinations!

1. LEMON & LAVENDER

I like blending 3 parts lavender and one part lemon, so 75 drops of lavender and 25 drops of lemon. But you could do it the other way around if you’d like a more “lemony” scented candle. I also like to add bergamot and/or vetiver essential oil to this combo.

2. ORANGE & CINNAMON

I usually mix equal parts orange and cinnamon bark essential oils, but I also like to add clove, nutmeg or ginger to this combo for a warm, “holiday” scented candle.

3. ROSEMARY & CEDARWOOD

This is a new favorite of mine. I really like the combo of rosemary and spruce or fir needle as I find it woodsy and manly. But I’ve recently discovered cedarwood essential oil and it’s one of my new all-time favorites. You can also mix a combination or rosemary, cedar wood and spruce or fir. These are all earthy, woodsy scents and they make a great combo if you’re looking for a more rugged, “manly” candle.

Of course, the possibilities are endless when it comes to essential oil combinations, so feel free to play around with different scents. If you’re not sure how certain oils will smell together, open the bottle of the oils you’re thinking of using a hold them all together and smell them in the bottles