When it comes to candle scent, there are only two kinds. The hot throw of a candle, and the cold throw.
The hot throw in candles is when the wick of the candle has been lit. The aroma of a well made candle will fill a averaged sized room fairly quickly. This scented aroma will linger the whole time the candle remains lit. This is the fragrance oil being released into the air from the wax that is heated by the lit wick.
On the end of the spectrum and not requiring any heat is the cold scent throw. This is the scent a candle gives off when it is just sitting there unlit. Cold throw is very important in candles because it is the first impression that a person gets on how the candle is going to smell. This aroma is solely based off the fragrances aromatic quality in the wax.
Why does my candle not smell?
The best way to guarantee that you are producing a high quality candle is to know you have good quality supplies. There is a lot of various fragrance or scent suppliers in the market, buying from a reputable supply company ensures your candles are high quality, provide strong hot and cold throw, as well as a clean burn. All three qualities mentioned are expectations for candles.
It is possible that a fragrance that is very evident in the cold throw of a candle will not perform the in the hot throw of the candle (this is known to occur in soy wax). Using an additive like vybar will help to extend the scent throw. However, if using vybar be careful not to add too much.
In the candle making process, never leave your wax on the heat source longer than needed. Once the color and scent have been added to the wax, pay attention for when it is time to pour. Leaving scented and melted wax on the heat source too long can burn off notes in the fragrance oil prematurely. This lack of notes has a direct effect on your candles smell. You especially do not want to risk this happening to your candle wax if you are using lighter fragrance oils with low flashpoints like citruses for example.
When making candles with veggie waxes such as soy wax, you will need to use a hotter burning wick to allow fragrance to travel up the wick and escape into the air. You may also want to consider “wicking-up” when you are making candles with fragrance that contains heavy base notes.
How to Solve It!
Before you buy from an online supplier check out their credentials; you can easily do this by reading the customer reviews on their website and their social media pages. There you will be able to find out a lot about a company. Lastly, candle making forums are also a great way to see if a company is reputable and has good quality products, fast shipping, and customer service.
For most fragrance oils, in order to get the best hot and cold throw in a candle you use 1 to 1.5 ounces of fragrance oil per pound of wax. If you have decided to use vybar to help increase scent throw, only add ½ tsp for every pound of wax. Also, adding more than the recommended amount of vybar to your wax may bind your scent without allowing the wax to release it properly, so do not overdo it.
A key step to remember in the candle making process is to pour your candle wax immediately once it has been scented and mixed, or hit the proper temperature. Using additional heat once the melted wax has been scented will allow for some of the fragrance oil to evaporate into the air releasing aromatic components of the fragrance oil before their time. This will permanently alter the way the fragrance oil will smell in your lit candle, and may be the reason why the candle has no smell at all.
Remember, when you are making candles with veggie waxes, or you are using fragrances with heavy base notes like musk, amber, patchouli, vanilla, woods, you will want to use a bigger, hotter-burning wick.
