The art of candle making is one thing. But building a successful candle business based on great products is another.
The craft of candle-making requires certain skills. These are the some essential skills you will need to make your business grow.
- Candle making basics
You must know the basics of candle making to make great candles.
This is more than the science behind combustion. It also includes the relationships between the wax, the wick, container, fragrance oil, flame, flame, and any other objects. Yes, the space.
To be successful in life and other areas, it is important to grasp the basics of how things work. Can you imagine professional soccer players knowing nothing about dribbling?
It’s one of the 1 0,000-hour-type things.
Some people wonder if candle making simply involves melting wax and adding fragrance.
Ah, yes, and with that same logic: Baseball isn’t about swinging the bat or hitting the ball.
Candles are more complex than many people realize. You will need 10,000 hours of practice to be able to make candles.
- Candle design testing & development
Think about all the elements that make up a candle.
- Fragrance oil
- Wick selection
- Container, mold, or wax melts (the “type of candle”)
- Colors
- Wax options
There are many ways you can combine them!
The candle can be made in many different ways. What does all of this mean? You can only test a candle design to see if it works.
Many people simply want the recipe to make a candle and not have to test it. It’s not only hard to do but also takes you out of the responsibility.
For a candle to burn well, safety testing is crucial. How would you feel if you were lighting a candle but no one tested it to make sure it wouldn’t explode? This is not good.
Learning how to test candle designs to ensure safety and performance (hot throw) is a critical skill to have in your journey.
- Temperature Management
It is possible to identify the temperatures that produce the best-smelling and looking candles. You will be free from the early bonds associated with poor candles.
We’ve all been there.
This is often due to temperature.
You can define candle making as the process that transforms solid wax into liquid, adds fragrance and colors, and cools it down to its final form. To convert wax from a solid to liquid requires significant heat and time.
To be successful, it is important to know which wax needs what heat and for how much time. This is really how much heat do you need to raise the wax temperature to ensure that it cools evenly and traps fragrance oils.
As a general rule, soy wax should remain at around 185°F (85°C), for about one minute while you add the fragrance oil. Similar results can be achieved with paraffin. To get the best results, heat palm wax and coconut wax to around 200°F (93°C).
- Planning for both the short-term (and long-term)
To make candles that you can sell, you will need a more structured approach.
For instance, candles need customers. Where will you get new customers? What will be your selling methods? Will you sell in person or online? Or will wholesale/white-label sales be the only option?
A candle needs to cure for at least a month. Although some waxes can take longer than others to cure, many cycles must be performed for a product line to be successful.
- Inventory management
One of the most difficult aspects of creating your candle empire, other than making candles, is managing your inventory.
What is inventory?
Inventory refers to the gathering of raw materials within your workshop. These can include labels, jars, wicks wax, fragrance oil, color, and more. It comes mostly from outside vendors.
- Label design
Graphic design skills will elevate your candle game.
You can just think of all the beautiful, hip packaging and unboxing contents. They all share a common vision for product design.
It doesn’t matter how great your candle looks if the front looks like a first-grade art project.