How to Make a Soy Candle (Simple Steps)

Making a soy candle is a great way to start your candle-making hobby.

Soy wax is great for those looking for a natural alternative to paraffin and is easy to work with, making it a great option for beginners.

Below you’ll find simple steps to making your soy candle so let’s get started!

Candle Materials Needed

• Soy Wax
• Container (tin, glassware, ceramic)
• Pre-tabbed wicks
• Glue Stickers
• Wick Holder
• Fragrance Oil
• Pour Pitcher
• Kitchen Scale
• Hot plate
• Thermometer
• Stir Spatula

Steps to Making Your Soy Candle

1. Measure your soy wax

Measure 1 pound of soy wax into your pour pitcher using your kitchen scale.

2. Melt your soy wax

Place the thermometer into the pour pitcher with the wax.

Now, let’s place our wax onto the hot plate, and we’ll want to heat our wax to a temperature of 185°F. The wax needs to hit 185°F to combine with our fragrance properly. This will also help the burn quality of your candle.

I’m using the double boiler method on a hot plate to melt the wax, which is my preferred method.

You can use your stir spatula to stir the wax gently once it has melted and is in the process of reaching your desired temperature. This can help eliminate any hot spots and give you a more accurate reading when measuring the temperature of your wax.

Remember that stirring too vigorously can create air pockets in the wax leading to imperfections.

Different waxes have different melting points. See our best wax for candles guide for other melt points.

3. Add your fragrance

You’ll want 1oz of fragrance for 1 pound of wax. I’m using a lavender fragrance oil that works well with soy wax.

Once your wax hits 185°F, remove it from the hot plate and add your fragrance. Gently stir the wax while adding the fragrance, and continue to stir for 1-2 minutes. This will help the fragrance bind to the wax. Avoid vigorous stirring.

Now let the wax cool and set it aside while you prep your container.

4. Prep your container

Take your glue sticker and place it onto the tab of the wick.

Now peel off the sticker from the wick tab, and you’ll want to stick the wick in the center of your container.

Grab your wick holder, place it over your container with the wick through the center, and secure it in the notch. This will make sure your wick doesn’t move around while we pour the wax or while it’s cooling.

Try not to make the wick taut when placing it into the notch. You want to make sure your wick tab is still firmly stuck to your container.

You can preheat your containers to 100°F. This can help reduce a frosting effect that may occur on the container and can also help with adhesion to the container. Be careful handling hot containers! If using glassware heat slowly and not above 150°F.

5. Pouring the wax

Wait until the wax has cooled to around 135°F. Let the wax cool slowly, and do not speed up the process with a refrigerator or other shortcuts (this doesn’t take long).

135°F is recommended, but you can play around with the temps to find your sweet spot. I would try 135°F and then experiment with minor increments up or down if you’d like. Finding that sweet spot for your environment will reduce the chances of imperfections.

Pour the wax slowly into the container to avoid air pockets. You can also gently tap the container after you have poured the wax.

Leave a little room in the container for an additional pour. If you have imperfections on the top of your candle you can melt wax again and pour a little on the top to cover up the imperfections.

6. Let your candles cool

Let your candles cool.

If you have multiple candles, make sure they are spread out. This will help them cool evenly.

Once cooled, cut the wick to a 1/4 inch above the wax.

For best results, wait 3 days – 2 weeks to let the candle cure before using.