Candle Wax Calculator
Enter how many candles you're making and each container's fill volume — get the wax and fragrance oil to melt, by wax type and load.
Fill volume = the volume of water the container holds up to your intended fill line (about 0.5" below the rim), not the container's total capacity.
How the math works
total wax = wax per candle × number of candles
fragrance oil = total wax × fragrance load %
The classic beginner mistake is filling a jar with water, weighing it, and melting that much wax — then ending up short. Two corrections are needed: you must leave headspace at the top (wax expands slightly and needs a melt pool), and wax is lighter than water, so its weight is only its specific gravity times the volume. Soy runs about 0.86, paraffin about 0.90. We've folded both corrections in: just enter the water capacity to your fill line.
Fragrance load limits
Fragrance oil is dosed as a percentage of wax weight, not volume. Most soy waxes are rated to hold 8–10%; blends and paraffin often take more; beeswax candles are often left unscented. Going past the wax's rated maximum doesn't make a stronger candle — the oil leaches out ("sweats") and can wreck the burn. Check your wax supplier's spec sheet, because the cap is a property of the wax, not the fragrance.
FAQ
- How many 8 oz candles from a 10 lb bag of soy wax?
- About 19–20 candles: 10 lb = 160 oz ÷ 6.9 oz per 8 oz candle.
- Do wicks affect the calculation?
- No, but wick size must match your container diameter and wax blend — that's the single biggest driver of a clean burn.
- Should I melt extra wax?
- Melt about 10% more than calculated; some always stays in the pouring pitcher.