No Scent Throw in a Candle?

So you have just lit a candle, but the scent is weak or non-existent. Why? This is one of the most frequently asked questions after making a candle with fragrance oil. Let's discuss in this article what we can fix and what to pay attention to when making a vegetable wax candle.

First, let's list the main highlights of the production process:

1. fragrance oil concentration,
2. fragrance oil addition temperature,
3. fragrance oil formula,
4. wax melting temperature,
5. wax pouring temperature,
6. wick,
7. the length of the candle wick before lighting it,
8. vessel,
9. wax.

So, most of the time, after making a candle and not feeling a strong enough scent emitted by it (i.e. "scent hot throw"), it is believed that the criterion 1) is the most important here - the concentration of a fragrance oil is too low. But that won't necessarily be a problem. First, we recommend checking criterion 2) - what temperature the wax was when you mixed in the fragrance oil. Most manufacturers add fragrance oil when the wax is underheated, fearing that otherwise the fragrance oil will evaporate too quickly or lose its top notes. However, the scent should be added when the vegetable wax is at least +65 C - +75 C degrees, no less, because after adding the scent, the wax immediately cools down even by several degrees. The higher the melting temperature of the wax, the higher the temperature of adding the scent should be (it can reach +75 C). This determines how well the fragrance and wax molecules will bond with each other. Also don't forget to mix for about 2 minutes and the stirring movements should be from the bottom of the melting jug to the top, because the scent can settle at the bottom of the container and not mix evenly if you do everything very quickly or if the wax is already too cool.

Of course, you can always increase the fragrance concentration to the maximum specified (you should check the maximum fragrance concentration that can be achieved in the wax you are using). The maximum percentage of scent is not always good because it will affect how the candle wick will burn - a high amount of scent leads to a stronger wick debris formation (unburned product). So look for a balance between scent intensity and efficient burning. It may be worth using an 8 percent scent concentration instead of 10 percent.

It is important to make sure that 3) the fragrance oil formula is suitable for candle making - not all formulas are optimized for candle making. You can determine this in the description of the fragrance supplier. It's also a good idea to check public reviews of the scent, if available, to see if it has created a good scent throw for other manufacturers with a particular wax.

Other temperatures that you should monitor are also important. These are 4) melting temperature of the wax - do not exceed the maximum, but melt to the recommended temperature until the wax is clear and suitable for mixing the fragrance. Usually for vegetable wax it is +75 C.

Criterion 5) the wax pouring temperature is also important, but it depends on the wax recommendations - usually the softer the wax, the lower its pouring temperature, so the pouring temperature of soy wax for container candles is usually around +50 C - +55 C. Once you've mixed the scent into the wax, turn off the heat or take the melting jug from the water bath and wait for the wax to cool to the desired pouring temperature.

Pay attention to 6) the wick - its series, size, and 7) the length of the trimmed wick before lighting the candle.

If the candle forms a tunnel when burning, it means that the wick is probably too small and cannot cope with the wax area of the container diameter. Too small a flame or tunneling of the wax will also result in poor scent throw. So before you decide to change the wick series, try to change the size of the wick first, if the inner diameter of the vessel is more than 80 mm, try to use two small wicks instead of one, and also trim the wick properly to 5 mm before lighting it, burn vegetable wax candles for about 4 hours rather than in very short sessions. A wick that is too long (e.g. 1 cm long) before lighting it can lead to higher wick smokiness and irregular burning. If the wick is too large, it will burn inefficiently, too quickly, and the vessel will heat up too much. Your goal is to create an efficient and clean burning candle with good scent throw.

Light the produced vegetable wax candle not earlier than two weeks after production if you want to assess whether the wax has well combined with the scent molecules. It is recommended to change 8) the vessel or 9) the wax only if all the tips listed above do not help, unless you really decided to change the candle container or wax type or manufacturer.

Change only one criterion at a time, otherwise you won't be able to determine which change affected the scent throw of your candle.

We wish you success in your candle making! if you have additional questions - write to us.

Read the next blog article: Useful Material for Candle Making