The Complete Guide to Making Soy Candles

By Brittni • posted on 08/19/2023

Once you learn how to make soy candles, you’ll make them forever. I started in 2014 and am still making them to this day.

Over the years, I’ve made DIY soy candles many times – as gifts for friends, family, and myself. Great Mother’s Day gifts and Christmas ideas especially!

And one of the reasons I love it so much is bc the process of making soy candles is much easier than it seems. Like MUCH easier.

It’s one of those things that once you learn, you’ll always make them when you find yourself with some wax and a pretty container to use.

And because I recently stumbled on a ton of beautiful, tiny, pottery pieces that would be perfect for candle containers, I made a big batch for my son’s teachers and staff at his school.

They were a huge hit and I managed to snag a few photos before I gave them all away. So I figured this tutorial was ready for a long overdue update, with new candle making tips, new photos, and a pretty drastic side by side of the very first candles I made and what I make now.

Why do you love making soy candles so much?

Well, lots of reasons! But here’s a few…

You only need a handful of supplies to complete a number of candles all at once, that you can gift to others or keep for yourself.
You can make scented soy candles or ones with no scent at all.
You can make candles without any color or super colorful ones.
And you customize the container to suit your design style (my personal favorite).

For all of those reasons, I put together a more complete (and updated) guide for making soy candles that walks you through all the steps and gives you options for variations.

Like scented vs unscented, colored candles vs uncolored, AND how to get that perfectly smooth candle top you always see from professionals.

Here we go…

Materials List for DIY Soy Candles

small decorative containers*
soy wax flakes (1 lb bag for up to nine small votives)
candle wicks with metal tabs OR natural candle wicks / wood wick
fragrance oils or essential oils (if scenting your candles)
wooden spoon for mixing
candy thermometer / something to read wax temperature (optional)
pouring pot or other heat safe container
larger regular pot for boiling water

*I found some really cool handmade pottery locally and collected it for a while before I finally had enough to do a big batch of candles. Thrift stores, garage sales, and places like Etsy are great places to look for small vessels like the ones I found.

As another option, you can reuse old containers that were once used for candles, by removing the wax and wick. It’s a very simple process, which I outline here: easy planter hack. And for the containers you don’t end up using, you can turn them into planters.

How To Make Soy Candles

1. Prepare the pots and pour the wax flakes.

Add water to a large pot (just a few inches of water is fine). Then, turn on the stove to medium heat.

Next, pour soy wax flakes into the pouring pot and then place the pouring pot into the larger pot of water – double boiler style.

2. Melt the wax and stir.

As the wax starts melting, stir it with a wooden spoon. Stir every so often until all the flakes have melted completely and the melted wax is transparent.

*Once the wax is transparent, you can add color if desired. I almost never add color to mine because I love the natural color. But I did explain exactly how you can add color below in the ‘how to add color to soy candles’ section right below the steps.

3. Let the melted wax cool a little.

Remove from heat and let the wax cool for a few minutes. The ideal temperature is 130-140, if you have a candy thermometer available to check the temperature.

4. Add scent to your soy candle, if desired.

Now, if you want to make your candle scented, pour in the scent you’d like to use and stir. But again, make sure the wax has been removed from the heat before adding scent because otherwise, the scent may evaporate from the wax.

I used essential oils, but you can also use fragrance oils (which you will not need as much of to produce a noticeable scent).

Need a starting point? 15 drops of fragrance oil or 20 drops of essential oil is a good start to make one scented small to medium size candle. But a more precise rule of thumb for fragrance is one ounce for every pound of wax.

FYI – It will smell more potent in melted wax than it will in your completed ready-to-burn soy candle.

5. Add wick to each container.

While you are waiting for the wax to cool, add a wick and metal tab to each container. If necessary, assemble the two pieces, but the ones I have linked come pre-assembled to make it easy!

I like to dip a tiny bit of melted wax onto the metal tab and then place it in the center of the container. The melted wax hold it in place, so it will stand up on its own.

You can also use a dab of hot glue instead of the melted wax, if you prefer. Or as another option, some candle wick kits (like this one) come with little stickers for the tabs that you can use to attach them to the container.

6. Pour the wax into the containers.

Next, pour the wax into each container, avoiding the wick if possible. And wait for the wax to set up completely (12-24 hours) before moving or handling at all. I usually let my candles set up overnight.

As the wax starts to set, it will get less and less transparent, until it’s fully opaque.

7. Let the wax set and trim the wick.

Once fully hardened / set, it’s almost ready to use. First, you have to trim the wick down to 1/4 inch. Then, its ready to use.

Also wanted to mention, that you’ll want to continue to trim the wick length every time you light it for safety and even burning.

How to Get Perfectly Smooth Candle Tops

Ever wondered what the trick is for getting perfectly smooth candle tops every time?

Here’s what I learned after the first few times I made soy candles. Which is why one of my original batches in the white and blue containers have a few imperfections on top – I hadn’t learned this part yet…

Use a heat gun.

Specifically, I’d recommend an embossing heat gun! That’s bc it’s small and doesn’t blow the heat around as much as some of the others.

So, once your candle has set up for 24 hours, if there are any cracks or craters on the top surface, you can use the heat gun to fix it.

Turn on your embossing heat gun and use a circular motion around the entire candle, not just the spot with the imperfections.

Go around and around, while trying to avoid the wick as much as possible (so the wick doesn’t burn).

Once the entire top surface has melted, just let it set back up (maybe an hour or so). And then you’ll have a smooth candle top.

You can see how smooth the candles look with this trick in my most recent batch of candles vs the first ones I made back in 2014. Wooof! Quite a difference.

How to Add Color to Soy Candles

If you’d like to add color to your soy candles, you’ll want to purchase dye blocks or liquid dyes for candles.

Dye blocks generally produce more vibrant or darker colors and liquid dyed usually produce pastel / lighter shades for soy wax candles.

Either way, you’ll add in the color once the soy wax has completely melted, before you add any scent. Make sure to stir the color in thoroughly.

Can I use crayons to color soy wax?

No! Basically, crayons have stuff in them that doesn’t make it good for adding to candles. Essentially, they don’t burn well. So don’t add crayon wax for color.

Should I use a candle wick centering device?

You can, but you don’t have to. A wick centering device can definitely help keep your wick stay, well, in the center. It’s not required though. So, it’s kind of up to you.

I don’t use one, personally. But some candle wick kits actually come with one, like this, so if you have one, use it. If you don’t, don’t.

What should I do with leftover soy wax?

If you have any smaller, additional candles (or even tea-lights) that you’d like to make, they’re great for using up leftover soy wax that is still in it’s melted state.

You can also wait for it to harden back up and use a couple small chunks in a oil burner / wax warmer if you have one (assuming your wax has been scented).

Otherwise, I just leave the remaining wax in the same container I first melted it in and reuse it again next time I’m ready to make candles. So easy!

The Complete Guide to Making Soy Candles

Brittni

Over the years, I've made DIY soy candles many times - as gifts for friends, family, and myself. Great Mother's Day and Christmas gift ideas especially!

The process of making soy candles is actually very easy. But there are specific you'll want to know before you get started.

So, I put together a complete guide for making soy candles that walks you through all the steps and gives you options for variations - like scented candles vs unscented, colored candles vs uncolored, AND how to get that perfectly smooth candle top you always see from professionals.

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Ingredients

small decorative containers*
soy wax flakes 1 lb bag for up to nine small votives
candle wicks with metal tabs OR natural candle wicks
fragrance oils or essential oils if scenting your candles
wooden spoon for mixing
candy thermometer / something to read wax temperature optional
pouring pot or other heat safe container
larger regular pot for boiling water

Instructions

Add water to a large pot (just a few inches of water is fine). Then, turn on the stove to medium heat.
Next, pour soy wax flakes into the pouring pot and then place the pouring pot into the larger pot of water - double boiler style.
As the wax starts melting, stir it with a wooden spoon.
Stir every so often until all the flakes have melted completely and the melted wax is transparent.
*Once the wax is transparent, you can add color if desired. I didn't add color to mine, so I didn't include it in the steps. But I did explain exactly how you can add color below in the 'how to add color to soy candles' section right below the steps.
Remove from heat and let the wax cool for 5-10 minutes. The ideal temperature is 130-140, if you have a candy thermometer available to check the temperature.
Now, if you want to make your candle scented, pour in the scent you'd like to use and stir. But again, make sure the wax has been removed from the heat before adding scent because otherwise, the scent may evaporate form the wax.
I used essential oils, but you can also use fragrance oils (which you will not need as much of to produce a noticeable scent).
Need a starting point? 15 drops of fragrance oil or 20 drops of essential oil is a good start to make one scented small to medium size candle. But a more precise rule of thumb for fragrance is one ounce for every pound of wax.
FYI - It will smell more potent in melted wax than it will in your completed burning candle.
While you are waiting for the wax to cool, add a wick and metal tab to each container. If necessary, assemble the two pieces, but the ones I have linked come pre-assembled to make it easy!
I like to dip a tiny bit of melted wax onto the metal tab and then place it in the center of the container. The melted wax hold it in place, so it will stand up on its own.
You can also use a dab of hot glue instead of the melted wax, if you prefer. Or as another option, some candle wick kits (like this one) come with little stickers for the tabs that you can use to attach them to the container.
Next, pour the wax into each container, avoiding the wick if possible. And wait for the wax to set up completely (12-24 hours) before moving or handling at all. I usually let my candles set up overnight.
As the wax starts to set, it will get less and less transparent, until it's fully opaque.
Once fully hardened / set, it's almost ready to use. First, you have to trim the wick down to 1/4 inch. You'll want to continue to trim it to this length every time you light it for safety and even burning.