How to Create a Candle Recipe Step by Step

Not sure how much wax or fragrance to use in a candle?

Struggling with candle math because it seems confusing or you find youtube tutorials that only show you how to pour but doesn’t go over how to make your own unique formula? 

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you are in the right place and I'm here to tell you that candle math is actually pretty easy. So if you survived 5th grade math, you can do this! This is post is intended to be a quick read to get you on your way to creating your first candle formula properly! Allow me to walk you step by step through how to create a candle formula. I will share two super easy formulas with you, one to get you going fast and one designed to reduce waste.

If you are not a new candlemaker, please note that there are many ways to do candle math, so I encourage you to use the method that works best for you. 

The goal of a candle formula is to figure out how much fragrance and wax to use when making a candle. The amount is dependent how much fragrance the wax can hold. Typically, most waxes hold 5-12%. This amount is referred to as the fragrance load which is identified by the vendor you purchased the wax from. 

Why only up to 12% fragrance load? Think of wax like a sponge, the sponge can only hold so much water before it seeps out. So if you have ever seen a candle with sweat beads in a cool room, that's the fragrance oil seeping out. Too much fragrance makes the candle less effective i.e clogs the wick and could present a fire hazard.

We recommend not going over 9-10% for all the waxes we carry.

Now, lets get back to putting together our candle recipe.

First things first, never measure by volume, measure by weight. I.E., dont just look at the measurement line on the measuring cup. 

Different liquids, especially fragrance oils have different densities. They can have the same volume but will weigh different amounts.
picture credit to Brainly: https://brainly.com/question/28969407

At the end of the day, you can either add the fragrance oil % to the wax and just pour to your desired fill line (the fill line is where the wax stops at the top of the container) or you can calculate the % of fragrance needed and subtract it from wax fill line amount. The latter gets you the exact amounts needed, and the former gets you extra wax, which may be OK if you are just testing a new oil.

We always start with the desired wax amount for a specific container. Let's use a jar that has a 10 oz fill line (the fill line is where the wax stops at the top of the container). In reality, that jar will be at a 12 oz max capacity (when jar is filled all the way to the top), but you won't use that much wax.

I can put those numbers together pretty easily because I have been making for a while. You will get there too but for now, you can use the fill line formula.

You can find the fill line by using water or just pouring wax in the container. Here's how to do it with water. Put the jar on a scale, tare/zero the scale, then fill with water to where you want the wax to stop. Write down the amount and times by .86. That will be the fill amount. If you have the total capacity from where you bought the jar, you can times it by .86 as well. For eg. 12 oz x .86= 10.32oz. Round to 10z. That's how much total wax and oil for the fill line.

It is recommended that you leave enough room at the top of the jar so that the wax doesn't overflow and the candle looks aesthetically pleasing. See pic below. The wax in the picture is Ceda Serica Coconut Apricot wax, available on our website. Click picture.

So back to the 10oz of wax. Before I do anything, I convert oz to grams because it's more accurate. There are many calculators on Google, 10oz =283.4g, so round to 284. Now, let's use a common starting fragrance load (how much oil will be added to the wax) of 10%. Please try not to go over the max fragrance load for the wax you are using.

Method 1:
Starting total wax and oil 284g (the fill line amount, where the wax should stop in the jar)
Fragrance needed= 284g × 10%= 28.4g
Candle Formula = Wax 284g, FO 28.4g
Ending Total fill of wax and oil= 312.4g
*** If you don't care about having extra wax, use this formula to quickly test any oils you may be interested in. ***

Method 2:
Total fill of wax and oil = 284g
Wax weight 284g ÷1.10 (desired fragrance load 10%)=258.10g
Fragrance oil need= 258 (rounded) x 10%= 25.8g
Formula:
Fo = 25.8g
Wax = 258g
Ending Total fill= 283.8g. This method avoids waste.

Remember to label your candles with the total fill. Wishing you the best on your candle journey.