Common Issues with Soy Candles and How to Solve Them: Sweating

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’.

What is 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.

What can cause Sweating?

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.

How can I avoid Sweating?

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:

1. Double check what fragrance oil you are using and whether it’s suitable for your wax. You can buy oils that are made for soy wax, so watch out for this when you are next looking to make a purchase. For peace of mind, all of the NI Candle Supplies Fragrances are suitable for Soy Wax.

2. Your wax supplier should be able to tell you how much fragrance oil to use. Typically soy wax can’t hold more than 8-10% fragrance oil, so any increase on this will cause sweating.

All of our oils have been designed to perform in soy wax, here is some more in-depth information on our popular oils:

• Coconut Lime - great throw - recommended use 8-10 % - lighter viscosity oil
• Salted Caramel - very strong oil - recommended use 6-8% - heavy viscosity oil
• Lychee Peony - subtle throw - recommended use 10% - lighter viscosity oil.

3. Choose an oil that has a lighter viscosity. Generally lighter viscosity oils will bind better with the wax molecule. Heavier oils such as those with a high vanilla content may need to be used in lower percentages to ensure they bind correctly.

4. Simply use less fragrance oil. Certain oil will take better to soy wax than others. It may just take some trial and error to get the balance right.

5. Re-adjust your sense of smell. It is common for your smell to become accustomed to the fragrance scent, clouding your judgement on how much oil to add for a good scent throw. Taking a break and getting a good whiff of some coffee beans can help cleanse your nasal palate.

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!