Whether used for light, aroma, or ambiance, candles are a cozy and practical addition to your overall home decor or preparedness kit.
While it may seem that the candle store in your local shopping mall is the only place you can purchase beautiful soy candles, these little luminaries are incredibly simple to make at home.
If you can follow a recipe, you can make a candle.
However, despite being easy to make, home candle making requires a lot of materials that you may not have lying around the house – everything from a candy thermometer to candle tins to wick holders.
Because purchasing all the components individually can be time-consuming and expensive, a candle making kit is a great place to get started. Instead of having to scour the internet or your local craft store for sometimes foreign-sounding supplies, a kit will include everything you need to get started making your first set of candles.
And after scouring the market for we can confidently recommend the Candlewic Soy candle making kit as our top choice because it’s the perfect balance between affordability and quality – More on this kit below. The kit includes just enough customizability with several options for scents and colors, contains 100% soy wax, and includes a significant volume of ingredients for the price.
Why soy candles? Read on below to find out why soy is king when it comes to homemade candles and more information about our favorite products.
Article NavigationWhat Are the Benefits of Soy Candles?ZERO Animal Products!Plant-based and NaturalSoy Candles Burn CleanSoy Candles Last LongerWhat to Consider When Buying a Soy Candle Making Kit1. Type of candle2. Number of Candles3. Are You a Stickler for Scent?4. Color5. Wax Quality Matters!Recommended Soy Making KitsCandlewic Soy Candle Making KitBurning Wick Soy Candle Making KitCountry Lane Natural Soy Candle Making KitMaking Soy Candles at Home
What Are the Benefits of Soy Candles?
As you browse the vast selection of candle-making kits available, you’ll notice that there are plenty of waxes in addition to soy, including things like paraffin, beeswax, and others. Why choose soy wax above them all?
ZERO Animal Products!
Most relevant for vegan candle lovers, soy candles provide all the scent and warmth, without the use of any animal ingredients. While beeswax is a highly contested ingredient in the vegan community, very strict vegans tend to avoid it as procuring beeswax can disrupt a bee colony or cause harm to individual bees, even though the wax itself is not an animal ingredient.
With so many options for plant-based wax, including soy, the potential disruption to the bees is unnecessary, so very strict vegans (and those who simply are avoiding bee products) have plant-based waxes to choose from.
Plant-based and Natural
In addition to being vegan-friendly, soy wax is a green choice for homemade candles.
Soy wax is made from soybeans, a natural, renewable, and biodegradable crop grown in many regions by local farmers. Other wax options like paraffin are made from petroleum, a material that may contain carcinogens that might be released into the air during burn time.
A greener choice for the environment, purchasing soy wax is also supporting agriculture and farmers, instead of providing funds to producers of non-renewables.
Soy Candles Burn Clean
Burning candles can create a beautiful, cozy feel in a room, but traditional paraffin candles can create a mess, with the black soot discoloring furniture and walls. If you’ve ever burned a candle and found a black ring around the jar, this is an example of the soot produced by paraffin candles.
Soy candles create less soot, making less of a mess and keeping your home beautiful long after the candle has finished burning.
Soy Candles Last Longer
When you pour the time and effort into making candles at home, you want to be sure they’ll last long enough to be worth the work. Choosing a soy wax means you won’t burn through your candles as quickly, as soy candles burn cooler and therefore generally last 30-50% longer than a paraffin candle.
What to Consider When Buying a Soy Candle Making Kit
As you’re considering which kit to choose, there are a few things you should keep in mind to ensure you’re buying the product that will best fit your needs.
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1. Type of candle
Are you a lover of small votives and tea lights to add just a touch of ambiance to a room? Do you prefer a large pillar candle you can place in a hurricane vase or use as light if the power goes out? Do you have a collection of big glass jar candles that fill a room with a fragrance you love?
The type of candle you’re looking to make will dictate the type of kit that’s best for you. On the whole, candle making kits contain equipment to make several smaller votive-style candles – these are simple and straightforward, and usually good projects for the novice candle maker.
However, if you’re hoping to make larger candles, you can certainly find kits to help you, but they may be harder to find.
2. Number of Candles
How many candles are you hoping to make from a single kit?
If you’re looking to have a rainy day activity on hand to do with your children, you’ll probably need fewer candles – and therefore fewer materials – than if you’re searching for a kit that will allow you to make lots of candles.
Remember that making more candles requires more ingredients and materials, so a kit that allows you to make many candles instead of reusing a few tins will cost considerably more than one that covers just the basics.
However, if you’re hoping to make lots of candles with your kit, purchasing one that includes enough for a large volume will ensure that you don’t run out of materials mid-project, and you can save yourself the hassle and downtime of buying more materials “a la carte.”
3. Are You a Stickler for Scent?
A candle’s fragrance can set the mood, or help you celebrate a certain season. In my home, tropical and floral scents dominate in spring and summer, while in the colder months, the house is made a little more festive with the fragrance of fresh pine or warm spiced pumpkin.
Most kits will come with an assortment of fragrances, but if you’re particularly married to a certain scent (or know you can’t stand it), you can look for a kit that is completely comprised of a single fragrance. Alternatively, you can try customizing your order with the company, or ordering an unscented kit and adding your own essential oils.
4. Color
The color of a candle can complement the decor of a room, or give a hint about the scent of the candle – a red candle might signify apple, while a yellow candle is perfect for a bright lemon fragrance.
Like fragrance, most kits come with a sampling of many different colors. If you require a certain color, you may be able to make a special request to the makers of the kits or opt for a kit that includes a single color in it.
5. Wax Quality Matters!
We talked earlier about the benefits of soy over other waxes, so when purchasing your candle making kit, you’ll want to make sure the wax included in the kit is 100% soy instead of a soy-paraffin blend.
Having additives in the wax can compromise how cleanly the candle burns, as the paraffin will create the black soot and mess that soy wax alone cuts down on. Before purchasing your kit, make sure the wax that’s included is pure soy, with no blends or additives in it.
Recommended Soy Making Kits
Candlewic Soy Candle Making Kit
The soy candle kit from Candlewic is a great balance between value and quality.
The kit contains four one-pound bags of 100% soy wax, four one-ounce fragrances, four colors, 12 eight-ounce candle tins, a pouring pot that holds a pound of wax, three clips, 14 pre-wicks, a thermometer, and 12 glue dots. You can make 12 candles from each single kit.
For a modest price, considering the expansive contents, the final products made by the kit feel luxurious and better quality than most beginner candle making kits. The four fragrances are exotic scents including wild flower, red pineapple, mango & banana leaf, and agave nectar. These are the kind of scents you might find at a high-end candle shop or spa, so we were delighted to see these offered in a kit.
Another area that Candlewic’s kit stands out is in the quality of instructions – no matter how great a kit is, lackluster instructions can lead to a frustrating process and poor quality end product. This kit comes with detailed instructions with photographs, so you’re not left guessing how to handle hot ingredients.
As a result, the reviews of this kit are overwhelmingly positive, since the candles come out beautifully. Overall, this product is extremely well-received – considering the price, the kit includes a lot of materials, and there is lots of room for customizability when it comes to color and scent.
However, a few purchasers did note that there were problems with the packaging during delivery, but the company was quick to replace any materials that were damaged upon delivery.
What We Liked
- Good for gifts
- Scents are luxurious and exotic
- Multiple fragrances and colors
- Good bang for your buck – lots of materials for price
- Clear & detailed instructions
What We Disliked
- Scents are on the weaker side
- Votives are on the small side
THE VERDICT: This kit is our top pick, as it’s a good price considering the amount of materials that are included, has overwhelmingly positive feedback, and provides just enough customizability with a variety of scents and colors.
Burning Wick Soy Candle Making Kit
The candle making kit from Burning Wick is a top-of-the-line kit with a price point to match. The kit includes enough ingredients to make 12 six-ounce tin candles – five pounds of soy wax, twelve tins, a bag of wicks, three color blocks, five scents, a thermometer, a pouring pitcher, bow tie clips, and a page of instructions.
The Burning Wick kit also includes the widest variety of scent options, including vanilla, lavender, seaside escape, clean cotton, and love spell. Reviewers note that the fragrances fill a room with scent, but some complained that many of the aromas were difficult to tell apart.
The kit also includes three color options: blue, red, and yellow. This allows them to be mixed, for maximum customizability when it comes to your candles.
Reviewers of this kit rave about the quality, those who are willing to pay the somewhat steep price of the kit really like it, and find that it makes an excellent end product. Purchasers also like that the company provides great customer service, and is responsive to the needs of customers when it comes to shipping or packaging issues.
What We Liked
- Wide variety of scents
- thumbs-upPrimary colors allow custom mixing
- thumbs-upGreat customer service
- thumbs-up100% soy wax
- thumbs-upLots of materials included
What We Disliked
- Expensive compared to comparable kits
- thumbs-downSome fragrances hard to tell apart
THE VERDICT: This kit is good quality, but we’re don’t believe it’s worth the extra money when compared to the Candlewic.
Country Lane Natural Soy Candle Making Kit
A great kit for beginners or those with leaner budgets, the Country Lane natural soy wax candle making kit includes everything you need to get started making candles, including a melting pot, wax, color, scent, wicks, thermometer, votives, and instructions.
Due to its price point, it’s also a great beginning kit for children who want to get started making candles at home (with adult supervision and help, of course). With enough ingredients to make about six votive candles, this is a good option for people who are only looking to make a small number of candles, or who just want to try making candles but don’t want to invest too much time or effort.
Given the extremely reasonable price, this is a low-cost, low-commitment way to decide if candle-making is something you like and want to stick with.
Many reviewers note that this kit made a perfect holiday gift for children interested in learning how to make homemade candles, or for adults looking for a simple and straightforward introduction to the craft. Additionally, many thermometers and wax pourers are more expensive than the kit itself, so it is an excellent value for the price.
This kit comes with the basics – it includes a single color and a single fragrance, so while it’s a good choice for beginners, those looking for customizability and variety of colors and fragrances may be disappointed. Additionally, the fact that there is only one color/scent means you may be disappointed by the final product if you do not like that particular color or fragrance.
What We Liked
- thumbs-upGood value
- thumbs-upSimple and straightforward
- thumbs-upIncludes candle-making basics
- thumbs-upLow-commitment intro to soy candle making
- thumbs-upClear instructions for beginners
What We Disliked
- Single scent and color mean low customizability
- thumbs-downDoes not come with a way to center the wicks
- thumbs-downNeed to provide your own double-boiler
THE VERDICT: Good starter kit for kids, those unsure if they will continue to make candles, or those on very tight budgets.
Making Soy Candles at Home
For those interested in making their own natural, plant-based, clean-burning candles at home, a starter kit can take the time and effort out of purchasing the individual materials for the process.
Out of the many soy candle kits on the market, the Candlewic soy candle kit takes our top pick for best kit, as it’s a great balance of value and quality, includes several exotic scents, and contains 100% soy wax for the cleanest candle possible.
No matter which soy candle kit you choose, any of the products on this list will help you create beautiful, natural scented candles, take pride in something you made with your own hands and allow you to bond with friends and family during the creation process.
Having all the materials you need pre-assembled in your kit will allow you to take less time gathering equipment, and more time enjoying the candle-making process.