If you've just picked up candle making as a hobby or if you've been in the scene for a while and you have no idea what people are talking about, this will help! Here is our list of terms that will help you with your day to day making:
1. Scent Throw
There are two terms you might hear in relation to scent throw. Hot Throw (HT) and Cold Throw (CT).
Hot Throw relates to how strong the fragrance can be smelt from a lit candle or melted wax - it is often discussed in relation to strength of smell and also in regards to how far away from the wax you can smell it.
Cold Throw relates to how strong the fragrance is when smelling the cold wax prior to lighting or melting.
Tips for Increasing HT & CT:
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Make sure you place your finished melts and candles in a air tight container (or use a lid) once made.
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Test your wicks to make sure you are having a optimal burn.
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When using Soy wax allow your candle/melts to cure for 2-3weeks prior to lighting.
Remember! some fragrances are naturally stronger than others, some are delicate and sensual and others strong and intense!
2. Cure Time
Don't neglect this one. If you are making your candles and melts and then burning them straight away - you are missing out on performance.
Cure time is the period of time your product is left to "rest" after it has been made. Different waxes require different cure times to allow the fragrance oil molecules to bind with the wax. We recommend paraffin wax products are left to cure for a minimum of 48 hours and soy wax products left to cure for 2-3weeks.
3. Flashpoint
Flashpoint is the temperature your fragrance oil will start to burn off.
Why is this important?
Well, say you have a fragrance oil with a very low flash point such as 65°C. If you add this fragrance oil to your wax when the wax is 80°C you have an issue. After stirring the fragrance oil in for 2minutes before pouring you will have released a large amount of fragrance into the atmosphere and we don't want that!
Always check your flashpoints and make sure your wax temperature is lower than the fragrance flashpoint.
4. Fragrance Load
To put it simply, this means the amount of fragrance oil added to the wax.
The usual fragrance loads in wax varies from 6% to 12%. To make it easier I've put a few examples down below: you can also use our free fragrance calculator
- 100g candle at 6%: 94g wax, 6g fragrance
- 200g candle at 6%: 188g wax, 12g fragrance
- 300g candle at 6%: 282g wax, 18g fragrance
- 100g candle at 12%: 88g wax, 12g fragrance
- 200g candle at 12%: 176g wax, 24g fragrance
- 300g candle at 12%: 264g wax, 36g fragrance
5. Dupe
This is a fragrance that is similar to, or inspired by a scent that is found on the high-street. It may be from another famous candle brand or be from an entirely different sector, for instance a fizzy drink smell!
Please remember that although scents are not considered trademark property, companies logos and wordings may well be. Never ever use another companies logo or scent names on your own products, as this could land you in legal troubles
I hope this helped clear up some confusion with terminology! we will continue to explain terms in future posts.
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