Make Homemade Scented Candles in 5 Easy Steps

Homemade scented candles are a great way to add wonderful light and ambiance to any room in your house. Even making homemade candles as a gift for someone else is a perfect way to give a friend or family member a personalized and unique present that comes from you with care and love.

Knowing where to start can be a little daunting at first, however, here we provide some simple and effective tips to get you started on your candle making journey.

Candle Making Equipment:

Before you can get started, you will need to gather all the essential tools required to make your own scented candles from home. Regardless of the type of candle you are making, below are the basic equipment you will need to get started:

candle making supplies, candle making equipment

  • Wax
  • Wick
  • Container or Mould
  • Double boiler
  • Scales
  • Thermometer
  • Color
  • Fragrance

For more information on required candle making equipment, you can check out our more detailed articles here.

Prepare your Candle Making Workstation:

The first steps is to prepare your candle making workstation. To do this you will need a flat solid surface to work from. The kitchen bench is usually nice and easy to work from. However, whatever you are using as your workstation, this surface must be able to withstand heat. You could protect this surface by using old sheets, tarps, or even garbage bags.

Next, you will want to prepare your containers. Ensure the container surface is clean of any dust, dirt or residue. If using a glass container, you can use hot soapy water to clean. Once you have cleaned your containers make sure they are nice and dry before you start making your candles.

Making Your Homemade Scented Candles:

The following are our five simple steps to follow to make your own homemade scented candles.

Step One: Melt Your Wax

Firstly, measure out the amount of wax you will need using your scales. Each wax type weighs a little differently, and we provide guidance on these measurements in our EBook.

Melt this wax gently over the stove using your double boiler and monitor the temperature of your wax using your thermometer as you do not want to overheat your wax. Different wax types have different melt points, so be sure to monitor based on the type of wax you are using.

Step Two: Place Your Candle Wick

Your candle wick will need to be placed firmly to the bottom of your container or mold. An easy way to achieve this is to use a metal wick tab at the bottom of your wick. Some wicks will come pre-tabbed. However, if it does not you can tab your wick by treading the end of your wick through the tab hold and secure firmly with a pair of pliers.

Step Three: Add Candle Scent and Color

To make your Scented Candle you will need to add your fragrance to the melted wax. It is important to use a fragrance that is designed to be used in candle wax and can withstand high heat without combusting.

A general guide is to use approximately 8% fragrance to wax loading, depending on the strength of scent you wish to achieve. You do not want to use too much fragrance otherwise it might separate from your wax.

If you wish to add color to your candle, you can also do this now by adding it to your melted wax.

Gently stir your fragrance and color into your wax.

Step Four: Pour the Wax

Once your wax has melted and you have added your candle fragrance, it is now time to pour your wax into your containers. If making multiple candles, ensure to place your containers far enough apart so that there will be an even flow of air circulation around your jars as they cool.

Slowly pour your wax into your containers. Once you have poured your wax, you will want ensure your wicks are pulled nice and tight and are held firmly in the center of your jar. This will ensure the wick is set in the center of your candle. You can do this by wrapping the end of the wick around a peg, pencil or paddle pop stick.

Step Five: Set the Wax

Ideally you will want to allow your candle to set for at least 24 hours. Once set you can then trim the excess wick, leaving approximately quarter inch from the top of where the wax has set in your scented candle.

Homemade scented candles

Finished product

Now you will have a beautifully finished homemade scented candle that you can either use for yourself or provide as a gift to someone else. Seeing the finished product is truly rewarding! We provide more details on making your own homemade candles and more on our Candle Advice site. If you would love to learn more, request your free report today.

Simple Candle Making At Home

Woman Making Candles At Home, Simple Candle Making At HomeWith candle making you need to follow the directions on the candle wax packaging which will tell you how much wax to measure based on the size of the candle or mold you want.

Measuring the Wax

You can take a large bowl and place it on your kitchen scale and zero out the scale so that it does not include the weight of the bowl. If you do not have a zeroing out ability you can always write down the weight of the bowl and simply subtract it from your total amount until you have the amount of wax you need.

You always want to include a little bit of extra above and beyond the measured amount because as you add scents and coloring to the wax the last thing you want is to run out of that particular scent and color. You will be unable to re-create it exactly. It is also important to have a little bit of extra to compensate for any spills.

Once you have the wax measured, it is time to actually melt your soy wax, paraffin wax, or beeswax and add any colors and any smells that you prefer. To do this, you want to fill up a large sauce pan three quarters of the way full of water and allow it to boil. In your candle melting pot you want to start placing the wax pieces and you want to fill it three quarters of the way up. As the wax melts it will get smaller and smaller and you can begin to add more of the chunks. You want to then place your wax melting container inside of the hot water with the handle resting outside. You want to keep a close eye on the wax and always look at it. Never walk away for fear of starting a fire. You want to watch it melt and add more wax chips as it begins to melt. You should verify with the instructions on your wax packaging as to what temperature you want.

While it is still hot you want to put on your oven mitts and pour the wax into your wax mold. You want to dry the bottom of the pot off because it will have water left over from the double boiler. You want to pour until just below the masking tape. You can choose of course to pour it as short or as tall as you want. If you want to make three different candles with the same color and scent you can simply use the same batch to make all three sizes. Save the rest of your wax for another project, it can always be melted down again. Check to make sure that your wick is stabilized in the center because once the wax begins to solidify you will not be able to move its location. At this point you want to let it cool for roughly one hour.

Progress Reports for Candle Making

Now you want to check back on the candle and look to see if the top of the candle has started to set and if it is starting to create a divot at the top. The divot at the top is called the well. You will see that it is higher along the perimeter and then the wax begins to sink as it nears the wick and it will bubble up a bit higher around the wick. At this point you want to “fill the well”. There might be air bubbles located inside next to the wick and if you leave the air bubbles then they will burst soon as the candle melts down far enough. The minute the air bubble bursts it will extinguish the flame. For this reason you want to make sure you take a skewer to poke a few holes poking down toward the wick all the way to the bottom of your candle mold. The wax will be solidified at the top but it will be liquid underneath. As you poke down into the wax the entire level of the wax will drop if there is a hole. Because there may be a hole inside and by poking it the wax will move and fill up that hole.

At this point you want to reheat the remaining wax up to the ideal temperature and measure with your thermometer. Then you want to fill up the top of your candle mold right on top of the wick until you have filled up the mold and filled up the holes. Again, you do not want to pour over the original fill line. You can choose to do this one or two more times every hour. If you see more divots you can begin to refill the well.

Now, you want to mold the candle and trim the wick. You want to make sure that the candle is cool before you do this. The best way to do this is let it cool overnight. The first thing you want to do is remove the pencil. Once that is done you want to remove the masking tape around the perimeter because the candle is so tight inside the candle mold but it may not come out if you leave the masking tape.

At this point you want to flip the mold over and remove the mold sealer at the bottom. You want to hold onto the wick because you will begin to feel the candle slip out the bottom. If it is stuck you want to place it in the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes. The candle should slip right out. At this point you want to see that the bottom area where you refill the mold is actually the bottom of the candle. You want to cut off any remaining wax and flipped over the final product. Trim down the wax at the top until it reaches about 1/4 inch. Do that each time you burn the candle. If you have a line along the perimeter of your candle from the sealed line inside of the metal candle mold after candle making, you can take a sharp knife or razor blade and slowly trim that away.