Maximum Fragrance Load for Soy Wax

Your wax maker sets the most fragrance oil your wax can hold, and it is not the same for every soy wax. Wholesale Supplies Plus defines it as the manufacturer's recommended maximum. For soy, the sheets I opened give anywhere from about 9 to 12 percent of the wax weight. I will not hand you one safe number. Read the sheet for your wax, stay under it, check the limit for your oil too, and test your wax, oil and wick in your own jar.

What do the soy sheets say?

CandleScience says 10 percent is 1.6 oz per pound, and Wholesale Supplies Plus works its example the same way (16 oz x 10 percent = 1.6 oz), so those are percents of the wax weight. Not every sheet says, and I read them the same way.

Three sellers of Golden Wax 464 give it 9, 10 and 12 percent, and Craftybase gives 10 to 12. If you have only one of these in front of you, you have a number, not the number.

Why would a maker stay below the maximum?

Because the maximum is a ceiling, not a goal. CandleScience says too much fragrance, especially a dense oil, can cause burn problems without making the candle smell stronger. Past the limit, Wholesale Supplies Plus lists poor burning and fragrance seeping out of the candle. The soy data sheet says some oils react badly with the wax, causing bleeding, a poor surface and a poor flame. Craftybase lists oil pooling on top, a wick flooded with oil, poor glass adhesion and uneven batches, and says that at very high overloads the fragrance can make the wax more flammable than intended, though it calls that rare just above the maximum. That last point is Craftybase's own claim, and I did not find a test behind it, so I treat it as a reason for caution.

Craftybase also says different oils behave differently at the same percent: a lavender at 8 percent might be fine while a vanilla at 8 percent sweats. The same wax, so the oil matters as much as the wax.

Does the oil have its own limit?

Yes. Lone Star says its product pages list an oil's IFRA maximum usage and its flash point. My cautious rule, not a source's: if an oil's own limit is lower than your wax's maximum, follow the lower one. Our guides on flash points and on blending oils cover the rest.

Worked example: 20 oz of wax

Say you melt 20 oz (567 g) of soy wax and each sheet gives a different cap. Every number is an example for the math.

• At 9 percent: 20 x 0.09 = 1.8 oz (51 g) of oil
• At 10 percent: 20 x 0.10 = 2.0 oz (57 g)
• At 12 percent: 20 x 0.12 = 2.4 oz (68 g)

The top cap lets in 2.4 - 1.8 = 0.6 oz more oil, which is 0.6 / 1.8 = 33 percent more than the low one. Same wax, a third more oil. That is why one forum number is not enough.

Now the trap with percent of the total. If you take 9 percent out of a 20 oz total, the oil is 20 x 0.09 = 1.8 oz and the wax is 20 - 1.8 = 18.2 oz. The true load is 1.8 / 18.2 = 9.9 percent of the wax, close to a full point over a 9 percent cap. Write on the recipe whether the load is of the wax or the total.

Common mistakes

• Treating the maximum as the target.
• Copying a maximum from a forum for "soy" in general.
• Forgetting the oil's own usage limit.
• Taking the percent out of the total weight and going over the cap.
• Adding more oil to fix a weak smell. See our hot throw guide.
• Raising the load and keeping the same wick. A new load needs a new burn test.

Questions

Is 10 percent safe for soy wax?

I cannot say that for your wax. In the table, 10 percent is at or under five of the maximums and over Voyageur's 9. Check your sheet, then test.

What if my wax sheet gives no maximum?

Ask the supplier. CandleScience says each wax lists its maximum under Recommended Applications. Until you have it, start low. CandleScience starts at 6 percent.

What signs say I went too far?

Craftybase lists a wet or shiny patch of oil on top of the cooled candle, a flame that sputters, smokes or goes out, and wax pulling away from the glass. It says to drop the load by 1 to 2 percent and test again.