Getting married in about a month. We wanted to have a candle that well light at the end of our ceremony and wanted to incorporate two of our wedding colors.

I’ve never dyed a candle let alone done a multi color candle and can say this was a total pain in the butt. It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough from a distance and I’m really proud of it.

EDIT:

Updating the post to let folks know how I did this.

- I 3d printed a “divider” type thing that hung from the rim of the jar
- then I caulked around the sides and bottom with silicone on one side of the divider
- then I filled the other half of the vessel with mold star 15 slow silicone and a 3d printed “displacer” so that the sides and bottom of the silicone were about 1/4 in thick.
- once that cured I removed it and trimmed up the edges where some silicone cot past the decider and the caulk and was left with a silicone thing that is flexible and takes up half the vessel.
- then I cleaned up the vessel to make it ready for pouring
- I one wick with a wick sticker and another wick sticker with the backing still on in the bottom of the vessel
- then inserted the silicon thing that’s made to take up half the vessel
- then I poured the dark blue wax on the side that had the wick and let that set up.
- once set I pulled the silicon thing out. There was def a bit of blue wax that leaked around that so I used a 3d printed scraper to remove the bulk and melted the residue with heat gun and used chopsticks and a paper towel to get rid of what was left
- then I removed the backing to the remaining wick sticker and added the second wick and poured the green wax at an extremely low temp (135 F) in hopes that not much of the blue wax would melt.
- because I poured it at a low temp I had a pretty good sinkhole that I fixed with a chopstick, some reserved green wax and a heat gun, being very careful not to melt the blue too much.

I’m sure there is a much better way of doing this, it was a process and I really messed up the first time trying to fix the sinkhole.

I could’ve just bought myself something ready, but I wanted to make it with my own hands. So I made this little shell cake candle from scratch. I spent hours shaping and decorating every tiny detail, thinking about how I wanted my birthday to feel. It’s just a candle, I know. But there’s something special about making something for yourself, especially when you’re used to waiting for someone else to make you feel celebrated. It's special that you decide the shape,color and scent for something you enjoy making for yourself. And honestly… I think that made this little candle more special than any cake or ready gift I could’ve bought.

I am using Ceda Serica wax. I almost failed a test yesterday because it was too hot to even touch, but today at the 4 hour mark its 128. Testing in same room under the same conditions for the same time. Anyone ever experience this? This is about 5 burn tests in, yesterday was the first test to get hot.

Yeah, I’ve used wax beads in some of my candles as they’re mostly decorative. But can also change how the wax melts and how quickly the candle burns. The wick size and bead to wax ratio are important, in my experience. Too many beads can affect the melt pool and flame. 

I've always loved the idea of candles being more than just something you light.

So I started making them by hand and experimenting with designs inspired by flowers, desserts, nature, little objects — basically anything that I thought would look beautiful as a candle. 🌸

This is one of my recent pieces.

Everything is handmade by me, from experimenting with the molds and colors to choosing the scents and finishing each piece.

I'm slowly building my little candle project, Melted Muse, and I'm really excited to see where I can take it.

I thought I'd share one of my recent creations here because I'd genuinely love to know what you think of it. 🕯️🌸

Hi all! Candlemaking has been a hobby for some years now, but I'm gearing up to take it to the next level soon.

I make 8oz candles using soy wax (GB 444), 3" diameter tumbler jars, an 8% fragrance load, and wood wicks. The fragrances are inspired by dark mythology and folklore, and so far they've been very popular (I use friends and family as lab rats; they think it's just a nice gift 😅).

I've mostly used dual wicks from the Flaming Candle Co. (far left in first picture), but I haven't been satisfied with the inconsistent burn quality. So I tested two Makesy Ultimate wicks (.04/.5 in center and .04/.625 on right) tonight alongside my usual product. Based on their wicking guide, these were the best fit for my wax and vessel.

The .04/.5 (solo pic) seems to be the winner of this first test. Cleanest and most consistent flame, full melt pool in about 3 hours, and very little dancing. The larger Ultimate was having trouble pulling enough fuel.

Assuming the .04/.5 continues to perform well in future tests, the *only* problem I have left is the crackle. All three of these candles barely whisper.

I understand that soy wax will be soy wax, and that I probably won't be able to get the crackle I want with 100% soy, but is there anything I can do to make them louder?

Having a hard time to stick my uvdtf sticker on my concrete vessel help

Are certain essential oils bad for certain people (kids)? And should I only use fragrance oils if I gift my candles to family members with young kids?

Hi, I've recently gotten into candle making because my family was tired of the diamond arts I do and gift to them. I have mica powder, candle dye and a ton of fragrance oils and essential oils.

Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing which is why I'm here. I am disabled and have a lot of free time and wanted to get into a new hobby, and thought this might be interesting and challenging. I recently just bought my first kit that contains 2 pounds of candle wax, a boiling pot and heating element, wick sticks, etc. I honestly just wanna get a feel for the process before I start spending money on actual supplies, random sense, and upgraded materials.
What are a few good things to know when I'm first getting started? What are things I need to watch out for, tricks to making it a little bit easier to handle, or anything that might be good to know for future reference. I was hoping to eventually start selling at craft fairs or giving them to friends and family, but I wanna make sure they're suitable and not dangerous. Any help would be appreciated

Does anybody have a good CandleScience recipe that they recommend? I use the 464 soy wax, sometimes with the ECO 10 6” tabs and sometimes with the CD 12 6” tabs (both were recommended on the CS website).

I love the scents that I’ve purchased to try, but I’ve noticed they just don’t have a strong fragrance throw. I can only assume I’m doing the wrong wax to oil ratio, or pouring at the wrong temp, or something along those lines.

Any recommends? TIA

I’m seriously losing my mind over dancing flames in tall candle jars. I’ve been having a huge problem with my candles once they burn down to around halfway through the jar. And when I say dancing flame, I don’t mean a little flicker here and there. I mean FULL ON TANGO.I’ve tested Stabilo, CL, PP, LX, TCR and HW wicks, plus wooden wicks, in multiple different sizes. I’ve also tried 3 different waxes and different fragrance loads. The candle can burn perfectly fine in the top half of the jar, but once it gets to around halfway down, the flame starts going crazy. Trimming the wick doesn’t really solve it either.At first I thought this was simply the physics of a tall jar — less airflow as the flame gets deeper into the vessel, heat building up, etc. But I’m seeing similar behaviour in other jars too, which is making me think there must be something I’m doing wrong.Has anyone dealt with this before?What could cause such extreme flame movement across different waxes, wick series and fragrance loads? At this point I feel like I’ve changed almost every variable and I’m still getting the same result.Any ideas on what I should be looking at would be massively appreciated because this is driving me insane 😅

hello all, I have been making candles for about a year and took six months off and am getting in the swing of it again. I have tried to make some multi coloured candles (mostly towers), and they keep cracking. How do I make them in a way so they do not crack? What temperature do I pour at? I have tried everything I can think of and no luck. Thanks all!

Never made a candle before but I love how ponderosas smell and really want to try to make one with it. I have access and permission to collect bark (sustainably) and am wondering if anyone here has any experience using this as a source.

After lurking around here and reading info for months, I decided to finally use the candle making beginner kit I was gifted! I really enjoyed the process and can't wait to continue on this journey.

Soy wax with orange and lavender essential oils. Lavender buds and rose petals were tossed during pouring.

First one (the one in the back, shown lit in the second picture) has some adhesion issues and cracked slightly on the top. The second one turned out much better!

Now I just want to make tons of these as gifts for family and friends. Next one I'm planning to use mint essential oil and cut grass fragrance. I want to experiment with the balance of essential oils and fragrance, so I can get the aromatherapy benefits with a huge kick of scent.

I'll be sharing my progress!

EDIT: I wasn't entirely sure if the plants were or weren't safe as I've read both opinions, but I think I won't risk it again anyways. I just used what came in the beginner kit, which is a little ??? bc why add something on a beginner kit if it's not 100% safe. Oh well, lesson learnt, I'll keep them as a memento!

I have always used essential oils but having tough luck right now. I want to test out the actual fragrance oils...

Currently looking for fall, Halloween, Christmas scents

Looking to place an order online for shipping to Canada.

While talking with a small group of candle makers in my area about vendors to purchase from and found that, with a few exceptions, Scented Flame seems to avoid publishing negative reviews of its products. Two of the makers in my group experienced this this year.

One of them even showed us his three-star review of their coconut-apricot soy wax. It was a very fair review. He explained what he liked about it, what made the wax special, and why he deducted two stars, one of the reasons being it's premium pricing and the fact that it's a premium product with no wick guidance at all while other waxes in that range at least suggest a series at a bare minimum and how he's easily give it 5 stars if he didn't have to spend so much extra time and money testing with no wick suggestions at all. Very fair points. The review was never published.

A few weeks later, he deliberately reviewed several other products, including several five-star reviews and two four-star reviews, with factual criticism explaining his lower ratings. The four-star reviews were not published, but the five-star ones made on the same day were.

The most frustrating thing is that honest, constructive reviews can actually benefit a business. They help customers set realistic expectations, provide useful information about product performance and usage, and can even help customers get better results. That can lead to more satisfied customers and, ultimately, more sales. By ignoring legitimate criticism, they’re potentially hurting themselves.

I’m happy to support smaller, non-conglomerate businesses, especially women-owned businesses, but not when they resort to these kinds of tactics.

It’s gross.

I want to use a colorant that when I drip it in a persons body it will not cause any reactions. I’ve seen mica powder recommended but ale not due to it clogging the wick. I will be using soy wax as it it a good low temp ment for body candles.

Hi everyone! I’m hoping to DIY some taper candles for my wedding and would really appreciate advice from people who have experience making dripless tapers.

I’m looking at the standard 7/8" (about 22 mm) diameter taper. From what I’ve researched so far, it sounds like soy wax generally isn’t a great choice for tapers because it’s too soft/low-melting, and that fully refined paraffin wax is a better starting point.

What I’m still confused about is the formulation. Do you use straight fully refined paraffin and/or do you add stearic acid/stearin to increase the hardness and melting point? If so, what ratios have actually worked well for you?

Or maybe you are supposed to add another additive on top of that…?! 😭🤣

I’ve seen everything from relatively small amounts (<10%) of stearic acid to much higher percentages (up to 30–35%).

I’m also aware that burning conditions matter. I would keep the wick trimmed to around 1/4" and the candles would likely be inside hurricane glass cylinders so they should be fairly well protected from drafts.

These are for my wedding, which is why I'm particularly concerned about dripping (if there's any wax drips on the table linens or napkins, we have to pay the full replacement fee). I originally thought about buying inexpensive "dripless" tapers on Amazon, but the reviews seem really inconsistent. I know Yummi makes reliable dripless tapers, but buying the quantity I need gets expensive pretty quickly, so I'm wondering whether making them myself is realistic.

I'm already planning to DIY my tealights because I haven't been able to find ones in the exact colour I want with a burn time of at least 6 hours. So naturally I've now fallen down the taper-candle rabbit hole too 😂

For those of you who make tapers, what paraffin melting point, paraffin/stearic ratio, and wick size would you start testing for a 7/8" (22 mm) taper? I'd especially love to hear from anyone who has actually burn-tested their tapers for several hours and managed to get them consistently dripless.

I’m a clueless candle bride at this point, so any experience or advice would be very appreciated! 🕯️

Hello, when you all conduct your burn tests, do you extinguish the flame if it gets too high and relight it after you trim the wick? Just wondering if this is a thing or if is safe to say the wick is too big.

Call any candle manufacturer and ask if you can have whatever excess they no longer need. At at a minimum they'll give it to you heavily discounted from wholesale price but if you swing by to pick it up and you're not picky they should just give it to you. They may mail it to you but that's a hassle unless you're taking a lot and paying for shipping.

I would estimate we dispose of about 2-4 pallets of empty candle glass (1400 per pallet) and 250lbs of various fragrances every year at a minimum. Excess from projects we're not longer doing. We got rid of 3 pallets in the last week alone. I speak with dozens of other manufacturers who are in the same boat. I get a call monthly from peers looking to offload pallets for .10-.25 a glass that will most likely trash it. (usually recycled to be clear)

People constantly say we should just put it for sale somewhere like FB marketplace but its a massive hassle: a bunch of inbound requests with tedious questions (whats the inside diameter) and fickle pickup scheduling to sell a small batch and make $50-100 if I'm lucky...it's not worth it.

I use paraffin wax. The molds are small (coffee beans, leaves, small pumpkins) they never come out looking good. They always have white dusting almost like I put salt on top lol. Do i need to heat the silicone molds first? What temp should I pour at?

I primarily buy my fragrance oils from two local suppliers (Southwest Candle Supply & Waxy Flower). On my last trip to SWCS, picked up their Fall Leaves (B&BW dupe for Leaves) & Pumpkin Souffle.

They are phenomenal!! I don’t gatekeep, so attaching my recipes. I purchased these vessels off of Amazon. Aroparc Candle Jars for Candle Making 10oz U-Shape Tumbler Jars for DIY https://a.co/d/05fZXMkU

**I renamed Fall Leaves to ‘Autumn Woods

I used to be heavily involved in arts; painting and music. With the sudden change in my medical condition August last year, I lost all ability for a normal daily life and that naturally extends to my creative routines.

Last month suddenly I started seeing videos of candles all over and that excites me, to give me something to do as I have not been able to work since April and to also allow me to play with my creative side again (a lot less taxing than painting and instruments).

Naturally, being a perfectionist I rely on this subreddit to read and learn before attempting anything 😅. So here it goes, my 1st ever attempt and experimenting with wicks and vessels per the information gathered from here.

I'm grateful to have stumbled upon this subreddit as the past 1 month has given me a renewed joy.

Hey!

I use C3 soy wax, coconut wax, and in some cases I’ve tried 6214 paraffin.

Fragrance oil is added between 80–85°C (176–185°F). I stir well for more than 2 minutes.

The jars are 7.5 cm wide (about 3 inches).

The result is almost zero cold throw, and only a faint hot throw if you’re standing very close.

I’ve tried many variations, but nothing works.

What’s going on? What am I doing wrong????