DIY Wax Melts For Summer

These quick & easy DIY wax melts are all natural and they make great handmade gifts, or you can use them to scent your own home!

How to Make Pink Sands Wax Melts At Home

If you’re looking for a generic soy wax melts recipe, check out this post. The ingredients and instructions are essentially the same, but you can change up the colors, candle fragrance oils, and wax melt molds.

Why Use Soy Wax?

I like to use soy wax to make candles and wax melts because it’s natural and non-toxic. It usually comes in flake form and is very easy to measure and work with.

close up of natural soy wax flakes for candle making

And last, but certainly not least, it cleans up with just soap and hot water. If you’ve ever spent time cleaning paraffin or beeswax off of utensils or your kitchen counters, you’ll get why this is a big deal! I usually just run my containers, utensils, and silicone molds through the dishwasher when I’m done!

In this recipe we’ll use soy wax, but if you want to make wax melts using paraffin instead, check out this tutorial:

How to Make Wax Melts: Everything You Need to Know

You can check out this post for a more in-depth comparison of different waxes used for candle making.

Materials

Soy wax flakes (this is my favorite brand from Amazon)
Candle Fragrance Oil (I’m using Pink Sands from Candle Lynn)
Wax Dye (I’m using bright pink from this set)
Glass measuring cup
Silicone wax melt or candy mold (I’m using the flamingo mold from this set)
Digital meat thermometer

Directions

1. Measure The Wax

I’ve found that soy wax flakes will melt down to approximately 1/2 of their original volume, so two cups of flakes will melt down to about one cup of wax.

Start by measuring two cups of flakes into a microwave-safe container. If you prefer to use the double-boiler method to melt your wax, check out this scented candle tutorial.

soy wax flakes being measured into a glass mixing bowl to make DIY wax melts

2. Melt the Wax

The key to successfully melting candle wax in the microwave is to heat it in short intervals, taking it out to stir frequently.

Begin with a couple of one-minute intervals, stirring with a spoon or fork. Then go down to 30-seconds until the wax is all melted.

glass bowl of partially melted soy wax flakes

melted soy wax being stirred with a fork

3. Heat to 185 Degrees

The target temperature for soy wax is somewhere between 175 and 185 degrees Fahrenheit. If you plan to add color to your wax, you’ll want to get closer to 185 to ensure that the dye melts into your wax completely.

close-up of a hand holding a digital thermometer in a container of hot soy wax

4. Add Wax Dye

Sprinkle in a pinch of wax dye chips. I’m using bright pink from this set from Amazon.

hand holding a container of hot pink wax dye chips above a container of melted soy wax to make DIY wax melts

The dye chips should melt immediately when they hit the hot wax (below). If they haven’t completely melted after sitting for about a minute, pop the wax back into the microwave for another 30 seconds.

bright pink wax dye chips melting into hot soy wax

Stir well, being sure there’s no wax dye at the bottom of the bowl.

5. Add Pink Sands Fragrance Oil

I’m using this Pink Sands candle fragrance oil from Candle Lynn on Etsy. It’s one of my all-time favorite scents, and it reminds me of a tropical beach vacation.

I try to add the fragrance oil when the wax is about 175 degrees.

Pink Sands fragrance oil being poured into container of melted wax to make DIY wax melts

6. Fill Wax Melt Molds

Use the eye dropper to fill the silicone molds.

hand using an eye dropper to fill wax melt molds with hot soy wax

close-up of eye dropper being used to fill a silicone wax melt mold

7. Let It Cool

Let the filled mold sit, undisturbed for an hour or two to let the wax cool. If you’re in a hurry, you can move it to the fridge once the wax is mostly solid.