Make Your Own Soy Candles: A Tutorial

Making soy wax container candles is easy and fun!

Making candles from soy wax is easy and lots of fun. I like to have scented candles in my home, and I discovered that by making my own candles, I can choose exactly the color and scent that I like. I also sell the candles that I make.

All images by the author unless otherwise noted.

What is Soy Wax?

Soy wax is very different from conventional paraffin wax, which is made from petroleum. Soy wax is a vegetable wax that comes from soybeans. The oil is extracted from the soybeans and hydrogenated so that it is solid at room temperature. Unlike petroleum, soybeans are an ecologically sustainable renewable resource. After the oil is removed from the soybeans, the remaining part of the beans can be used for animal feed.

Soy wax has a lower melting point than paraffin, so it is most often used to make container candles and tea lights. It can be combined with other types of waxes such as beeswax in order to make free standing pillar candles.

When you buy soy wax for candle making, it comes in easy to use wax flakes.