Making Scented Candles – Using Candle Making Scents

Scented candles really add something special to the atmosphere created by candles. The tranquility of the candle flame flickering in the center of the room creates a peaceful surrounding. But when a soothing fragrance is added, the atmosphere is elevated exponentially.

Making scented candles is a simple addition to the candle making process explained in the Introduction to Candle Making. You start by melting your chosen wax in a double boiler, be careful that you don’t set the heat to high as the wax will burn. Ideally you want to sustain a temperature of about 170-180 degrees.

There are many types of waxes that you can choose from. Such as, soy, beeswax and palm. The most commonly used type for wax is paraffin, and let’s not forget gel candles. If you’re considering making a scented gel candle use less fragrance as gel wax has a less density which results in being able to hold far less fragrances than the other waxes.

After you have melted your chosen wax, take it off the heat. Now is the time to add your fragrances. It is important that you use oil based scents and fragrances. Because the majority of wax compositions are incredibly similar to oil. What this means is, if you were to add a water based or alcohol based fragrance/perfume into the wax. The oil in the wax will float to the top of the mix, leaving your added scent at the bottom of the candle. By using an oil based fragrance, your chosen scent is able to evenly distribute itself throughout the candle, instead of just one place (the bottom).

The amounted of fragrance oil to add depends on the amount of wax you’re using in the candle. I suggest you add around one ounce of fragrance for every pound of wax. It is extremely important that you don’t use too much fragrance oil in your candles. Although it may seem logical to add more, to give it a stronger smell. In reality, adding more oil will destroy the consistency of the wax. This means that your candle will not burn properly due to the increase levels of liquid in the mixture.

One of the great things that come from making scented candles instead of the ordinary standard candles. Is that you can smell the fragrances without needing to light the candle.