One of the major steps to candle making is the soy wax melting step. There are several different methods to melting soy wax and each method has its own pros and cons. I wanted to share these different methods and explain them.
Choosing a method depends on:
- your budget,
- messiness comfort level,
- how fast you want the wax to melt, and
- the amount of wax you’d like to have melted at a given timeframe.
One quick tool you’ll want to have is a temperature checker (whether you get a normal temperature checker or digital checker is up to you).
You’ll want to make sure to heat the soy wax to the appropriate temperature based on the type of soy wax you use as well as measuring the temperature while the soy wax is cooling to indicate when you begin pouring the cooled wax (again, the pouring temperature will be different based on the soy wax type and local environment).
Microwave the Soy Wax
One of the quickest way is to microwave your soy wax flakes/beads.
Make sure to use a microwave safe container and particularly one that you won’t use for food storage.
It’s recommended to generally microwave on high for 3-5 minutes depending on the amount of soy wax you have in the container.
After the initial microwaving – carefully take out the container with oven mitts and check the wax. If it’s still has wax bits unmelted, you’ll have to put it in for another 1-2 minutes. If it’s melted through – check the temperature. If it’s not your desired temperature, microwave the wax every 30 seconds interval til you get your desired temperature.
Be sure NOT to microwave the wax too long, you don’t want to burn it.
PROS
This method is great for those who don’t have access to stove top to melt wax in pourer or is looking for a faster way to melt the wax.
CONS
However the downside to this method is the container size as most microwaves have a maximum height/width for container space. So you can melt wax at small quantities.
Also it’s sometimes difficult to figure out if the melted wax is ready temperature wise as you can’t measure the temperature of the wax as it’s getting microwaved.
Personally for me – I don’t recommend microwaving soy wax. Whether science proves it or not – to me, I feel like the radiation zaps away the natural qualities of the soy wax. I don’t own a microwave anyways to heat my food … I still prefer the regular stove top.
Melt Soy Wax in Pourer with Boiling Pot of Water
The second most popular way to melt wax is melting the soy wax in a pourer that sits on top of boiling pot of water.
You would take a pan or pot, fill it with water and bring it to boiling. Place the pourer that contains soy wax and watch it slowly melt. Here, you’ll be able to see the wax melt progress as well as periodically check the temperature of the melting wax.
Once you reach a desired temperature, that’s when you would then mix in any fragrance oil or color wax.
PROS
You can visually watch the progress of the soy wax melting in the pourer as well as be able to check the temperature of the wax periodically.
This method is also inexpensive as it requires just a pourer + pot/pan.
CONS
You have to wait around for the water to boil and then more waiting period while the wax in the pourer melt. Out of both methods, this method is much more time consuming.
While the water is boiling, sometimes the water splashes out all over the place if the water is boiling at highest settings.
Use Large Wax Melter
Looking to melt soy wax in larger quantities? Look no further than the large wax melters. Also known as Presto Pot.
These wax melters can usually hold up to 10 to 16 pounds of soy wax at a time.
The heat settings can go quite high, but I’ve found that 250 – 300 F max is enough to quickly get the wax to melt. Note that you don’t want to leave it on high heat for too long as the wax can burn real quickly. You’ll also want to use your temperature checker periodically to measure the temperature over time.
Maybe after 15 min of leaving it at 250 to 300 F – the wax should melt thoroughly through (you may need a spatula to stir the wax around). Then set the heat level back to Warm or Off.
Use the lever to pour wax into a pourer. Recommended that you have a wastebin or box below the lever so that it catches the melted wax drip.
To know how much wax you are pouring in – you’ll want to have a balance scale nearby to weigh the poured wax.
PROS
Melt larger quantities of wax in a shorter amount of time.
CONS
The large wax melters is more of a cost investment.
At Mind Mana Creations, I’ve started out using the pourer in boiling pot of water method first, and then went on to make the investment to buy one of those Presto Pot wax melters.
Purchasing the Presto Pot wax melters was more to save time, have a more uniform wax melt, as well as be able to melt larger quantities of wax.
