Fragrance Oils are different to Essentials Oils and in this article, we’re sharing the differences and how you can use fragrance oils for your creations.
When it comes to Fragrance Oils, they are manufactured oils that contain synthetic elements, enabling a production of beautiful fragrances for you crafts including Wax Melts, Candles, Scented Products, Soaps, Diffusers and more.
How Do I find The Proportion Of Fragrance Oil For My Wax Melts?
The beauty about wax melt making (and candle making) is that you have to go through a testing process to ensure that you are happy with your products.
Every candle maker blends their ingredients and tests different temperatures and options to find what will work for them.
Whether you’re a hobbyist or a business, this is the best part of making your products.
You can decide on the scent, the style, the design and the strength of the fragrance (within the limits).
Even though we have provided a basic guideline for you below, it’s down to each candle and wax melt maker to find and see what will work for them.
Basic Guideline – Making Wax Melts
For the types of waxes that are available, we have other articles coming soon to cover each wax.
In this article and guide, we’re going to be using Soy Wax. (Guideline only).
Let’s say that you are using 100 grams of wax, the guideline would be to use between 5-10% fragrance oil.
10% is the maximum amount within the recommended guidelines but just because you add more oil, it doesn’t mean that this will result in a stronger scent.
You will need to test each fragrance oil within your blend.
Each fragrance oil is different and this is where the testing side of things comes along, it’s a part of the creation process for your products.
With each scent, you will need to test different options including different fragrance amounts to see which option and quantities you prefer.
Some businesses have a whole testing department, including testing rooms and product testers to develop their range of products and fragrances.
Pay close attention to the temperatures and to the mixing of your ingredients. You will need to make sure that you mix your ingredients correctly, ensuring that the fragrance oil has combined correctly.
Flash Points – What Are They?
This is a basic article, we will have more dedicated articles coming soon with much more information.
Flash Points – when the temperature is at a point that the oil will start to evaporate.
There is no standard temperature relating to the flash points as this does vary with each fragrance oil that is being used.
Typically, if the temperature is over the recommended flash point, this means that the fragrance oil will be evaporating whilst you are adding it to the wax.
The wax melt (or candle) in question will lose fragrance during the whole time of cooling, until it cools to under the flash point and as a result, this will leave you with a less scented wax melt / candle.
Generally, the recommendation is that you mix most of your fragrance oils when the wax is slightly below the temperature indicated, allowing the fragrance oil to bind to the wax effectively and providing a good scent throw.
Poorly blended or bonded wax will not throw the scent correctly, resulting in a less scented wax melt (or candle) hence the need for testing.
Test, test and test again when it comes to all your scented products and creations.
Continuously testing your products means that you can constantly develop your range of products and scents.
Are You Making As A Hobby Or Selling Your Wax Melts and Candles?
If you’re selling your products, this is where the ‘technical’ and labelling side comes in to the producttion of your products.
Whether it’s selling to friends and family or if you’re starting a business on a small-scale and looking to grow, if you have used fragranced within your wax melts (or candles), you are required to label your products correctly.
Make sure you have your products labelled correctly, this also includes all the requirements of the safety notices and symbols that need to be included on your labelling / packaging.
Don’t forget your hazard symbols, these are symbols that you add onto your labelling / packaging to show the hazards that may be associated with the use of fragrance oils.
All the information and hazard information / details will be found within the documents and the CLP sheets that are associated with each individual fragrance.
Hazard symbols – You can find them through the internet, labelling and labelling programmes.
For any help or advice, please get in touch with our team and we can help you.
Safety Information
If you have never used fragrance oils before and / or have any allergies, please ensure that you read the safety data sheet (SDS) before purchasing.
When making your products, please consider wearing gloves, a lab coat or apron and wearing protective goggles when handling fragrance oils.
Be careful when smelling the fragrance oils, they are concentrated and you don’t want to inhale them too much – it can be quite overwhelming. Please be responsible.
If you do get any concentrated fragrance oil directly onto your skin, simply wash it off with warm soapy water.
If you develop any irritations or itching, please do seek medical advice. For any reason, if you splash oil into your eyes, continuously sprinkle water into your eyes for at least 5-10 minutes and seek medical advice, if needed. This is the reason we always recommend wearing protective goggles.
In the highly unlikely event that you ingest fragrance oil, drink water or milk. For any discomfort, please seek medical attention.
Children – It’s always fun to get children involved in the process of wax melt making and candle making. A lot of parents can work alongside their children, please make sure they wear gloves, protective clothing and either an apron or lab coat – supervising them at all times.
What is the IFRA?
The IFRA is the International Fragrance Association you will be happy to know that we conform to all of the advice provided by the IFRA in relation to the general safety, industry expectations and standards.
One of the main purposes of the IFRA is to provide guidance and direction relating to the amount of percentage of fragrance for each application – whether that is candle making, wax melt making, soaps and more.
For additional information, please get in touch with our team who will be happy to help you.
We do have more detailed articles coming soon, including dedicated articles all about CLP and SDS documents.
