Candle Making Fragrance: Smelling Good With
Scents
If you are making candles to sell to the public, you already know that most buyers want a
luxurious scent to go along with a candle that has quality burn characteristics. Most of the products advertised on the internet, in magazines, or on television laud the fact
that they smell nice.Candle making fragrance and essential oils are the
primary products used to create scented candles.
What is an essential oil? One authoritative definition describes it as a concentrated, hydrophobic
liquid that has volatile aroma compounds, and it is derived from plants. An essential oil is also known
as volatile or ethereal oil. That makes it sound more like something to keep away from than something to
put in a candle.
Realistically, essential oils are called that because they carry an essence or distinctive scent of
the plant they are derived from. Essential oils are extracted from the plants of origin and used in
perfumes, soaps, cosmetics, incense, food flavorings, and household cleaners. One of the more popular
uses, other than candles, is in aromatherapy.
Some of the plants used for these oils are lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, and citrus
plants. Essential oils are very strong, but do not work well with paraffin wax candles. They
show better characteristics in soy wax.
Fragrance oils are synthetically blended oils, sometimes called aroma or flavor oils. Fragrance oils
can contain diluted essential oils, vegetable oils, and mineral oils. They are sometimes used in
perfumes, but are considered less desirable than the essential oils in this particular application.
In candles, fragrance oils work better than the essential oils. This is true in paraffin wax candles
because the fragrance mixes better with the wax. In soy wax, some candle makers believe the essential
oils are better.
Another way to add fragrance to candles is through scent sticks. These are made from fragrance
oils. It generally takes more of the solid than it does of the liquid to get similar results in the
aroma. Some candle makers do not use scent sticks because they believe they are inferior.
There are three ways to scent candles. The recommended way is to add it into the wax while it
is a liquid. If it is adequately mixed into the wax, the fragrance will be distributed throughout the
candle.
Soaking the wick in fragrance or essential oil before the wax is poured around it is another way that some
candle makers do their scenting. Some even pour the candle without a wick and bore a hole after it sets
to push the scented wick into.
If you have an existing candle with no scent, you may choose to drill small holes parallel with the wick
and pour in the fragrance oil. Three or four holes equally spaced around and equally spaced from the
wick should be enough. After the liquid fills the holes, push wax over the hole to seal it up until the candle is
lit.
Candle making fragrance takes the most mundane candle and gives it aromatic
life. There is an endless variety of scents available in essential and
fragrance oils, and those can be mixed and blended to achieve many more variations of aromatic
fragrance.
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