In our experience, soy wax provides the best balance of ease of use, and consistent results out of all candle waxes available. As a candle maker, it’s important to be able to trust your ingredients and we feel soy wax offers just that. Whilst this is the case, you may from time to time experience a handful of results that aren’t your liking. In this next article of the series, we look at ‘Sweating’.
In the recent hot weather, you may have noticed a thin layer of oil sitting on the surface of your candles. This is known as Sweating and more often than not, it’s NOT the candle-makers fault.
Sweating can be the result of moving a candle from one temperature to another. Soy wax is sensitive to extreme temperature changes, causing the natural oils to separate from the wax, leaving the pools of oil we see on top.
Sweating can also occur when fragrance oil is incorrectly added to the soy wax. If you add the oil at too low a temperature, don’t stir it sufficiently, choose an oil not suited for the wax, or exceed the wax suppliers recommendations, the fragrance oil won’t bind fully to the wax.
The good thing about Sweating caused by temperature change is that it doesn’t affect the quality of the candle, the way it burns or the scent throw. You can simply wipe the excess oil off with paper towels or tissue. To avoid this keep your candles away from drafts, direct sunlight and room that vary in temperature.
If you suspect your candle Sweating is caused by incorrectly added fragrance oil, then do not burn the candle. If raw fragrance oil comes into direct contact with the naked candlewick flame, it can pose a serious fire risk.
There are a number of things you can do to avoid fragrance oil mishaps. So here’s a few of our pointers:
All of our oils have been designed to perform in soy wax, here is some more in-depth information on our popular oils:
As big advocates of soy wax, we’re always keen to offer support and advice where we can, so if you need more help with avoiding sweating, get in contact via our online chat, email or telephone. You’ll also find a wealth of advice from fellow candle makers via our very supportive Facebook Group. Please also feel free to comment directly below to share your thoughts, ideas and questions. Happy Chandling!
Thank you for the awesome tips.
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donna hearnden
February 11, 2019
Great advice, I have requested to join your Facebook group as well. So much advice out there it can be confusing.