Soy container candle

Steps

1. Weigh your wax and fragrance using the calculator results. Cover your work surface with paper or a silicone mat.
2. Wash and dry the jars, then pre-warm them until they're warm to the touch, about 100–120°F (38–49°C), with a heat gun or in an oven at its lowest setting for 10 minutes. Warm glass reduces wet spots.
3. Stick a wick tab in the exact center of each jar with a wick sticker or glue dot and press it down firmly. Hold each wick straight and centered with a wick bar or a clothespin across the rim.
4. Melt the wax in the pitcher in the double boiler. Soy 464 melts at 113–119°F (45–48°C). Keep heating to 185°F (85°C), its add-fragrance temperature.
5. Take the pitcher off the heat, add the fragrance (and dye, if using), and stir gently but thoroughly for a full 2 minutes so the fragrance binds with the wax. Don't whip in air.
6. Let the wax cool to 125–140°F (52–60°C), when it starts to thicken slightly. Pour slowly down the side of the jar, leaving about 1/2 in (13 mm) of headspace. Save a little wax for touch-ups.
7. Check that the wicks are still centered. Let the candles cool at room temperature, about 70°F (21°C), away from drafts for 24 hours. Don't move them while they set.
8. Fix rough or cratered tops with a quick pass of the heat gun, or top up any sinkholes with the reserved wax reheated to the pour temperature.
9. Trim wicks to 1/4 in (6 mm).
10. Cure with lids on at room temperature for at least 1 week, and 2 weeks for the best hot throw.
11. Test-burn one candle before making more or giving any away. Burn it 1 hour per inch of diameter (up to 4 hours) and check that the melt pool reaches the edge without soot or a flame taller than about 1 in (2.5 cm). Adjust the wick size and repeat.

If something goes wrong

Tunneling (the flame burns a hole down the middle)

The first burn was too short or the wick is too small. Burn 1 hour per inch of diameter (up to 4 hours) so the melt pool reaches the edge. For a candle that already tunneled, wrap foil around the rim with a hole in the middle and burn to even it out. Go up a wick size next batch.

Frosting (white crystals on top or sides)

Natural in soy and vegetable waxes and harmless. Reduce it by pouring at the cooler end of the range, cooling slowly away from drafts, and storing at a steady room temperature.

Wet spots (patches where the wax pulled away from the glass)

Pre-warm clean, dry jars before pouring and let them cool slowly at room temperature, not in the fridge or a cold draft. They're cosmetic only. A heat gun on the outside of the glass can reseat small ones.

Sinkholes or rough, cratered tops

The wax shrank as it cooled. Poke relief holes near the wick and top up with a little reserved wax, or run a heat gun over the surface until the top 1/8 in (3 mm) melts smooth.

Mushrooming wick, soot or a tall flickering flame

The wick is too big or too long, or the fragrance load is too high. Trim to 1/4 in (6 mm) before every burn, keep drafts away, and go down one wick size or lower the fragrance next batch.

Weak hot throw (smells good cold, faint when lit)

Let it cure the full time with a lid on. Make sure fragrance went in at the wax's add-fragrance temperature and was stirred for a full 2 minutes. Check the wick gives a full melt pool within 2–3 hours. Try the upper end of the wax's fragrance range next time, never over its maximum.