How to Make Soy Candles: A Beginner's Guide

Learn how to make soy candles with this simple step-by-step tutorial. These natural handmade candles make perfect gifts!

How To Make Soy Candles: The Easy Way, flatlay image of several soy candles burning with soy wa flakes and orange peel

Natural soy candles are the perfect handmade gifts! When I first started researching natural candles, I quickly learned that candle-making is trickier than I had imagined.

What’s more, every guide and tutorial I found recommended weighing out the wax and fragrance oils, using a double-boiler, etc. I never found the ultra-simple guide I was looking for, so I’m writing it myself.

How To Make Soy Candles

Let’s get started!

Materials

natural soy wax flakes or pellets (I got mine here- plus this set came with wicks and wick holders!)
mason jars or other glass containers with lids (I used these cute yogurt jars– they come with corks and cute tags too, and these larger mason jars)
candle wicks (you can choose wood wicks or cotton- we’ll discuss more below)
candle fragrance oils

overview photo of all ingredients and supplies needed to make homemade candles from scratch- soy wax, mason jars, meat thermometer, measuring spoon, candle wicks, fragrance oils, etc.

Tools

large glass measuring cup
microwave
fork
1 Tablespoon measuring spoon
wick holders (optional)
meat thermometer
hot glue gun & glue sticks (optional)

1. Measure the wax

With these natural soy wax flakes, I found that about 4 cups will melt down to about 2 cups.

close-up of glass measuring cup filled with natural soy wax flakes, ready to be melted in the microwave

2. Melt the Wax

Use a microwave-safe glass measuring cup. Heat the wax, starting with one-minute increments. Stir it thoroughly each time. After two one-minute sessions in the microwave, cut the time down to 30 seconds.

collage of 4 images of a glass measuring cup full of soy wax, started with the solid wax flakes, and showing them melt to liquid

3. Check the Temperature

If you plan to add fragrance oil to your candles, you’ll want to heat your soy wax to approximately 185 degrees. If your wax gets too hot, you can either wait for it to cool, or stir in a small handful of wax flakes. This folding digital meat thermometer made it easy to check the temperature.

close-up of glass measuring cup filled with melted soy wax and a hand holding a digital thermometer, which reads 182.5 degrees F

4. Add Fragrance Oils

Add about 3 Tablespoons of fragrance oil to 2 cups of melted wax. Stir it thoroughly with a fork, and continue to stir for about 2 minutes to ensure everything is well-incorporated.

hand holding two bottles of fragrance oil for candle-making. sweet orange and orange spice

Notice how you can see the oil, still not fully incorporated in the picture below? You’ll want to keep stirring until the wax looks clear again. It may take a few minutes.

close-up of fragrance oil being stirred into melted soy wax with a fork

5. Let The Wax Cool Slightly

Now let the soy wax cool until it starts to look cloudy. While you wait, you can prep your containers and wicks.

6. Prep Containers & Wicks

For the cotton wicks, use a hot glue gun to add a dot of glue to the bottom of the wick and attach it to the bottom center of the container.

hand holding a cotton candle wick with a hot glue gun in the background

hand holding a candle with with a dot of hot glue on the bottom metal portion

glass jar with candle wick being attached to the bottom with hot glue

Secure the Wick

Use a wick holder to hold the wick in place. The wick will soften and bend once you add hot wax to the container, so it’s important to keep the wick in place. These handy metal wick holders came with the wax I bought on Amazon.

glass yogurt jar with a candle wick and wick holder in place, ready to be filled with hot wax

7. Pour Wax

Once the wax has begun to cool and it’s starting to look a little cloudy, it’s time to pour your candles. If you pour the wax when it’s too hot, it can separate from the sides of your container. This isn’t a huge deal, but it will look better if you let it cool.

small glass jar with candle wick and wick holder, filled with melted soy wax to make a candle

Carefully pour the wax into the jars, about 1/4 inch from where you want the top to be. You’ll do a second pour after it cools to fill it the rest of the way and add any decoration to the top.

8. Let It Cool

Let the candles cool completely. This may take an hour or two, depending on the size of your jars. You may notice that the tops of the candles have some holes and uneven spots, but don’t worry. We’re going to do a second pour after this one cools and hardens, so save a little bit of scented wax in your measuring cup.

close-up of a wood wick candle in a large glass jar.

9. Final Pour & Add Decoration

Pop your wax back into the microwave for 30 seconds, or until it’s just melted. Then carefully pour just enough wax to cover the top of the existing candle and fill in any holes. Now you can sprinkle on a few dried flowers, bits of orange peel, cloves, or whatever you like. It’s important to make sure they are small, since they will burn.

close-up of hot soy wax being poured over the top of a wood wick soy candle to finish it

how to make soy candles: several orange scented candles with orange peel, cinnamon sticks, and soy wax flakes

10. Trim the Wick

Use scissors to trim the wick. The wood wicks are very thin, so any scissors should work.

close-up of scissors cutting the wood wick on a finished soy candle

11. Let It Cure

Scented candles need to cure for a minimum of three days, in order to give off maximum scent when you burn them (known as “hot throw” in the candle making world). The ideal cure time for natural waxes like soy and beeswax is more like 2-3 weeks. But I’m not an especially patient girl. It’s also important to keep them covered, which is why I chose glass containers with lids for my DIY candles.

How TO Make Candles: FAQ

Soy Wax vs. Parafin Wax

What Size Wick Should I Use?

The size and number of wicks should be determined by the width of your candle container. In order to get the most life and enjoyment (burn time and hot throw) from your candle, the goal is for the wax pool to fill the entire width of the container, like this:

close-up of small mason jar candle burning with a full wax pool

See how the melted wax goes all the way to the edges of these jars? Keep in mind these candles had been burning for at least an hour when I took the photos.

close-up of a wood wick candle burning with a full wax pool

I originally tried using a single cotton wick for this size of container, and when the candle burned, it only created a small wax pool in the center. This leaves all the wax around the edges untouched and going to waste.

I ended up ordering wood wicks to use with these larger jars, and as you can see above, they are just right. They also give a fancier au natural vibe to the candles. You can also use two or more wicks to get a larger wax pool in a wider candle.

Wood Wick vs. Cotton Wick

Can I Make Candles With Essential Oils?

I was originally planning to use essential oils in my all-natural candles. But after some experimenting (read wasting A LOT of expensive essential oils in my first few batches of candles!), I realized that this just doesn’t work. I was bummed to realize this, but still determined to make gorgeous DIY scented candles.

If you want to make the most of your essential oils, I recommend diffusing them instead. I also love to use them to make homemade bath salts, chapstick, bath bombs, hand lotion, foot scrub, etc.

There are natural plant-derived fragrance oils for candle making, but they’re difficult to come by, and a bit pricey. I have some on order, and I’ll update this post once I’ve had a chance to test them out.

Can I Add Decorative Elements to My Candles?

If you want to add decoration to your candles, I recommend using very small bits of decorative items, such as tiny dried flowers, fir needles, bits of lemon or orange peel, cloves, etc. You can check out my ultra-simple dried orange peel tutorial here.

flat lay image of several siy soy candles with bits of orange peel, cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices, and soy wax flakes

Remember that whatever you incorporate into your candles will eventually burn, and larger items can be a fire hazard. Not to mention smell bad when they burn, and turn black. See what happened when I added a bunch of pine needles to this candle? It looked fine until I burned it… and then this:

how to make candles: overview image of a diy soy candle with burned pine needes in it

I also found that it’s almost impossible to get the larger decorative items to show on the sides of your candle once the wax hardens. I had this fabulous idea to make large candles with dried orange slices around the outside. But it just didn’t really work. See what I mean?

image of a mason jar candle with dried orange slices in it

You can’t even really see the orange slices. I ended up using the dried orange slices to decorate the outsides of the candle jars instead, and I think it looks MUCH better!