Don't you just love the flickering light of a candle? I think that most of us do.Soy candles are popular all over the world and are used for many different occasions and decorations.
You can buy decorative and scented soy candles from many retail and online stores, and you can also learn how to make soy candles yourself.
There are times when you will want to make candles at home when there is either a Birthday party, Christmas party, Halloween party, Valentines Day or even to light up the bridal reception table.
Making a soy candle is very easy provided you follow the steps below and have the necessary equipment as mentioned on individual step.
Soy Candles - How to make them from home:
Step#1: The first thing to decide is the candle number required. 1 soy votive candle will take about 2 oz of the soybean wax. Once the decision is made, it is important to measure the flakes from soy wax using a digital scale.
Step#2: The next step is melting of wax using a double boiler. This has been proven to be very effective, though it's quite slow compared with other methods like expensive wax melter. You can also use electric rice cookers to melt your soy wax.
You need to regulate the temperature of the melted wad with an effective thermometer. Monitor the wax melting process fully ensuring the wax flash point is not reached as it results to flames. The wax flash point about 295 degrees and above.
Step#3: When the soy wax would have completely melted with a temperature of 170 degrees, add your preferred color dye gently. Stir the melted soy wax to blend in nicely with the dye, the best tool to use is a wooden spoon. At this point if the soy candle will later be exposed to UV-light, add the UV-inhibitor.
Step#4: This is the stage where fragrance oil is added and before doing this ensure the wax temperature is no hotter than 170 degrees. Soy wax generally retains fragrance better than the paraffin wax so you can use about 1.5 oz candle oil fragrance for 1 pound of soy wax. Once the fragrance oil is added, stir it for about 2 minutes to distribute the oil throughout the wax in the pot.
Step#5: This is a very crucial step that determines the quality of the soy candles. Reduce the wax temperature to about 150 degrees and use a pour pot to fill wax into a mold slightly higher than the room temperature.
Step#6: At this level, the molten candle would have started forming a top layer skin like film, it's the best level to which the wick is inserted if you have not already pre-glued wicks into the container. Hold the wick at the top tip, and push through the layer straight to the bottom part of the mold. Ensure the wick is centered and straight in the mold.
Step#7: This is the point where it may be necessary for you to clear any circles formed in the wax top at the centre of each candle after the previous step of inserting the wick. In order to fix this, wave a flame directly at the candle top in very quick motions.
Decent sized flames are essential so as to fix them perfectly. A propane torch or mini butane torch can be helpful. Be careful not to burn the wick. If you insert wicks that stick to the bottom of the container before you pour the wax, you will not have this problem.
Step#8: This is the final and the most crucial part if you are not creating a container candle, as you have to wait a period of about 5 hours to allow the candle to cool before removing it from the candle mold.
Avoid touching, examining or moving the candle. Once the soy candle is ready, pull it out gently. Let the candles set for a period of 1 to 2 days before burning.
If you followed the steps correctly, then this is the ultimate way to make beautiful soy wax candles. Be proud to teach your family and friends the skill to make them for gifts or for sale.
You might even enjoy learning how to make soy candles enough that you decided to start a home business making and selling these soy candles for a profit.
You can learn more here about how to make soy candles:
I have also published a book that teaches you how to make candles and even make it into a home business
