How to Make Essential Oil Candles
Making homemade candles is such a fun and easy DIY, but adding essential oils makes them even better. Today, we are talking about how to make essential oil candles.
You don’t need any fancy equipment and I even shared tips for making this project super simple.
This happens to be one of my very favorite DIYs because it comes together quickly and doesn’t require tons of tools.
Homemade candles happen to be one of my favorite DIYs. You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make beautiful candles and they come together very quickly.
There are a lot of questions about creating scents for homemade candles, such as my beeswax candles that I shared.
While beeswax candles smell great all on their own, you can enhance the smell by using essential oils. The key is choosing the right oils and wax for your candle.
Before we move on, be sure to check out these other easy DIYs that you will love, such as my brown sugar body scrub and infused vinegar that is great for cleaning!
Essential Oils in Candles
Essential oils can absolutely be used in candles (be sure not to choose the flammable ones!). Since oils last longer when stored in a cool, dark place you can understand why burning them might not give you the best results for scent.
This is why you need to use quite a few drops of essential oil to give your candle a scent. 1-2 teaspoons per 4 ounce candle is needed to create the effect you’re looking for.
It also depends on how potent the oil is you’re using. If you’re adding a mild scented oil, you won’t be able to smell it when you burn your candle.
You need to use oils that have strong scents. We will chat about good essential oil blends for candles later on in this post.
The Best Essential Oils for Candle Making
If you want your candles to emit the scent of your oils, you have to use those oils that have the strongest scent. Let’s look at a few of the best essential oils for candle making:
- Spice Scents- Cinnamon, Clove, Rosemary
- Green Scents- Eucalyptus, Cintronella
- Citrus- Lemongrass
- Herb- Lavender
Essential Oil Blends for Candles
Summer Essential Oil Blend
Lemon-Lavender is a perfect scent for summer. The lemon brings out the citrus that we all expect from summer with the hint of lavender.
Autumn Essential Oil Blend
Cypress-Clove is a great combination for autumn. The cypress makes us thing of the season to come, but the clove keeps us right in the moment as we prepare to hunker down and belly up to the table this season.
Winter Essential Oil Blend
Cinnamon-Orange is a favorite winter blend that has the spice of cinnamon that makes us want to cozy up with the brightness of orange that we need as the snow falls.
Spring Essential Oil Blend
Lemongrass-Rosemary creates the fresh fragrance we all need after a long winter indoors. The lemongrass lifts us while the rosemary creates a sense that we will soon be outdoors.
How to Make Essential Oil Candles
- Place Wick inside of jar and adhere with the wick sticker
- Melt soy wax melts in a double broiler or crock pot (with a liner).
- Allow wax to cool to 150°F and add essential oils
- Stir and pour into glass jars
- Cool the wax candles for 6 hours before burning
Candle Making Alternative
A “Quick Tip” for candle making is to add the wax pellets directly to the jar you’re using and place the jar in the simmering water bath.
You will have to add more pellets as the wax melts down, but this makes candle making extremely easy!
Supplies for Essential Oil Candles
- Soy Wax Melts
- Jars for Candles
- Hot-burning Wicks
- Essential oils of your choice (be sure to use 100% PURE essential oils)
How to help your essential oil candles have a stronger scent
Not only do you need enough essential oils to create the scent profile you’re going for. You also need the right wax to hold the scent.
I love beeswax candles more than most people, but beeswax doesn’t hold on to the scent of the oils the way that I’d like.
A healthy option that works better for essential oil candles is a soy wax. It burns clean and allows you to use essential oils and create a candle that has a stronger scent. It is also a slow burning wax, meaning you will be able to enjoy your candle longer than the paraffin varieties.
Essential Oil Wax Melts
While we’re at it, let’s talk about those wax burners. They were all the rage years ago and I think some people still love them, but they don’t want the toxins.
What if you could make essential oil wax melts? You can!
How to make essential oil wax melts
- Melt 1/2 cup wax pellets in a double broiler (beeswax or soy)
- Add 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- Add 1 tablespoon of essential oil once wax has cooled to 150°F
- Pour into silicone mold of your choosing
Tips and Tricks: Make your own candles
- Make small candles to begin with until you get proficient at making your own candles.
- Choose the best wax for your project. Beeswax has a beautiful glow, but it doesn’t hold scent from the oils you add. Soy wax is a good option for scented candles. Paraffin holds the most scent as the candle burns, but doesn’t burn as clean as beeswax or soy.
- Use wooden clothes pins to hold the wicks in the center of the wax as it dries.
- Jars with lids will help seal in the scent when the candle isn’t being burned.
- To make clean up easy, use a metal can (such as an old coffee can) to melt your wax. Pour the wax into the can and let it heat up in a pan of water on the stove. Using a metal can means you won’t have to clean it and it’ll be ready to use the next time you make candles!
- If you feel really intimidated, grab a candle making kit. It will come with all of the items you need to make your candles.
- Be sure to let the wax cool to 150-130°F before adding essential oils.
Different Jars to make Candles
Making homemade candles is a great way to repurpose old mugs and jars. A cheap way to find jars to make candles is to venture out to the thrift stores. Old mugs and containers can be found for a few cents.
- Mugs/Tea cups
- Mason jars
- Vintage dishes
- Beveled glass jars and bowls
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Essential Oil Soy Candles
Equipment
- double broiler
- Glass Measuring cup (if you don't have a double broiler)
Materials
- 2 cups soy wax pellets
- 2 teaspoons essential oils
- candle wicks
- 4 ounce jars
Instructions
- Place the wick in the bottom of your jar
- Place soy wax pellets in a double broiler or measuring cup inside of a pan of water
- Allow the water to heat up and melt the wax
- When the wax is melted, let it cool to 150°F and add the essential oil
- Stir to combine and pour into the prepared jar
- Let the candle set for 6 hours before burning
These candles turned out so lovely and burn a good long time! I decided to try the wax melts too but they are still pretty soft. How did you get them to set? Thanks for the helpful post!
I didn’t realize how simple it is to make your own candles. I love the idea of personalizing the scent using essential oils to suit your taste.
These candles sound so easy to make, and I love how you’ve simplified the process. I also did not realize that a larger amount of essential oil is needed for a good scent. Will definitely give these a try!