Making homemade candles is no doubt super fun, and soy wax is one of the most popular types of wax for making candles. However, certain mistakes, such as overheating your wax, might ruin your candle completely. Keep reading if you’re wondering about what happens if you overheat soy wax.
Overheating soy wax will waste all your hard work in making a candle. If you overheat the wax, it will destroy the fragrance and crack the candle. Moreover, it will also cause frosting, cracking, and discoloration of your candles.
You must follow a few rules while melting soy wax if you want to avoid overheating it. So, in this article, I will discuss how to melt soy wax properly, along with some other information you might find helpful.
Why Might Soy Wax Get Overheated?
Failing to maintain a proper temperature and not using double boilers are the main reasons why your soy wax may get overheated. Again, not heating all the spots of soy wax equally might also be a reason.
Well, you may end up overheating your wax if you fail to use or maintain the proper melting temperature. Besides, not using a double boiler for heating purposes might also result in this disaster.
Additionally, you may also overheat one area of the wax while leaving the other unaffected. As a result, you will wind up with hot and cool spots when you don’t melt your wax uniformly. The cold spots won’t melt as quickly as the hot ones, increasing the chance of overheating in certain areas.
Not only that, but an incorrectly placed wick can also cause soy wax to overheat. It will experience partial overheating if you don’t position the wick in the appropriate spot. It may result in inconsistencies in the wax’s internal temperature.
What Happens If You Overheat Soy Wax
Soy wax might clump together and become soft if you overheat it. Furthermore, overheating can result in cracking, discoloration, poor scent, poor glass adherence, rough tops, and frosting, all of which contribute to a degraded outcome.
Overheating soy wax would ruin your wax in many ways. However, the following are a few of the things that might happen if you overheat soy wax:
- Poor Fragrance
One issue with overheating the soy wax is that it will lose its fragrance. It is most likely to occur if you add the scent at an excessively high temperature. Since the oil will not mix correctly with the wax, the aroma will not be uniformly distributed throughout your candle.
- Frosting
Overheating might also cause frosting on the candles. It indicates that the color of the colored candle will fade. This might be aggravating for you after spending so much time and effort making the candle.
- Cracking & Discoloration
Well, cracking, rough tops, and discoloration are all signs that your wax has become too hot. As a result, you will have a feeble candle that won’t last very long or endure much. To avoid overheating, ensure you are paying close attention to the melting wax.
- Wet Spots
The wax might not adhere correctly to your glass container. It can result in wet spots inside the jar due to insufficient drying. This especially happens when you put overheated wax in a too chilly container.
- Cracked Container
As I have already mentioned, overheating might also result due to the wrong positioning of the wick. This form of overheating would cause the temperature to be unevenly distributed across the candle. And, it may eventually cause the container to crack. So, remember, it is critical to keep the wick in the appropriate position at all times.
How To Melt Soy Wax For Making Perfect Candles?
Melting the wax properly is one of the most crucial preconditions for making perfect candles. So, let’s discuss the steps to melting soy wax for making perfect candles for your convenience:
Break Your Wax into Small Pieces
You might have bigger bits of wax. So, first, you have to chop them into pieces using a tiny, sharp knife. Every piece must be no more than 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide. However, you may skip this step if the soy wax you bought is already in the form of pellets.
Know Your Waxes Melting Point
You will get a great outcome if you understand the melting temperature of the soy wax before starting to heat it. But never get close to the wax’s flashpoint. It is because, at this temperature, it will combust, when subjected to flame.
Well, based on the composition, soy wax melts between 120 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit (49 and 82 degrees Celsius). Look at the label or contact the supplier for the most up-to-date information on flashpoints.
Make a Double Boiler
Place a huge pot on top of the stove. Fill it halfway with water, approximately 2 inches. After that, put a tiny pouring pot on top of the main pot of water. Also, use electric stoves rather than gas burners for safety reasons.
Put Your Wax into the Boiler & Start Heating
Now, it’s time to put the wax into the double boiler you made. Heat the wax for ten to fifteen minutes. You can also call it medium-low or moderate heat.
For monitoring the temperature and modifying the heat as necessary, you can use one cooking thermometer. Besides, remember to mix the wax with any wooden spoon for a minute. Furthermore, you have to break up any large lumps of wax using the spoon while heating.
When the large pot’s water starts to evaporate, you have to start adding water as required.
Add Fragrances
After the wax has melted, it is time to add perfumes. You have to carefully pour the scent into your wax while keeping the heat on. Mix it for around 2 minutes, properly using the wooden spoon. You have to keep stirring it until the fragrance disperses through the wax.
I prefer to add frangrance at about 182 Fahrenheit or 82 degrees Celsius
Well, if you bought candle wax, it must come with instructions for how much scent to use per pound of wax. Usually is between 6-12 %.
Conclusion
When it comes to manufacturing your perfect homemade candles, you must heat your candles properly. By now, you’ve got an idea of what happens if you overheat soy wax. So, don’t forget to pay close attention to the temperature and process of melting the wax.
Thanks for reading through. Hopefully, you’ve found this article helpful. All the best!
