It can be fun making your own essential oil candles! Try this cedarwood candle recipe. It uses cedarwood essential oil, preferred over fragrance oil, which is less natural. While fragrance oils may smell stronger, they lack the therapeutic benefits of plant based essential oils. Plus, synthetics can burn unfavorable toxins in the air. When making candles with essential oils, it is important to choose oils with a heavier molecular weight, both for safety and a lasting aroma. See the safety note below about choosing essential oils with a high flashpoint, like: cedarwood, patchouli, cinnamon, and clove.
Also, using beeswax or soy wax is preferable over paraffin wax, which both have a cleaner burn. Click here for more about choosing a candle wax.
Here is the cedarwood essential oil candle recipe.
Cedarwood Essential Oil Candle Ingredients
- 2 cup of filtered bees wax or soy wax
- ½ cup of coconut oil
- 15 inches of wax coated cotton wicks – three pieces cut to 5 inches each
- 3 wick tabs or sticky tabs to hold the wick in the bottom center of the jar
- Three 8 ounce jars or drinking glasses
- 3 pencils or large hair clips
- Double boiler
- 22 drops of cedarwood essential oil
- Optional – candle colorant. Fun colors in liquid drops or solid blocks can be purchased from candle supply companies. Crayons may also be used, but burn dirty.
Essential Oil Candles: Recipe Instructions
Place the beeswax (or soy wax) and coconut oil in the double boiler. Melt on a low temperature. Meanwhile, prepare your three glass jars by tying the wick around the pencil, then balancing the pencil on the lip of the jar with the wick touching down and attached to the bottom center of the jar with a wick tab or tape. Center the wick. For wide lipped containers, use two wicks.
- Hint: Put towels or old sheets down because spilling is probable.
- Hint: Choose a container to place in your double boiler that has a pourable spout.
When the wax melts, remove it from heat and add the essential oil. Then, pour the blend into jars, leaving at least an small lip unfilled from the top. This way, when the candle is burned, the wax will not spill over the edge. Allow to cool overnight: then cut the wicks to about an inch.
- Hint: Once the candles are solidified, use warm wet paper towels to wipe off any excess wax on the outside of the glass.
- Hint: Use a scraper to remove dried wax from counter tops, floors, etc. By the way, this project can be quite messy!
Essential Oil Candles: Color Variation
Make stripes! Melt two different colors. Pour one color and let it solidify. Then, pour the other color and let it solidify. Then, pour the next color. Zebra fun!
Essential Oil Candles: Aroma Variation
Try mixing a blend of essential oil, besides just cedarwood. You could try: 12 drops of cedarwood, 5 drops of balsam fir, and 5 drops of patchouli. Or you could do 12 drops of cedarwood, 5 drops of pine, and 5 drops of cinnamon.
Note: certain essential oils may not be appropriate for candle making due to their low flashpoint, making them a potential fire hazard. A flashpoint is the temperature at which a substance can catch on fire. Light weight oils typically have a lower flashpoint, like citrus oils, citronella, spearmint, eucalyptus, and chamomile. These essential oils have a flashpoint lower than 170 degrees, and should be combined with essential oils that have a flashpoint higher than 170 degrees. Combine light essential oils with these heavier oils that have a higher flashpoint: cedarwood, cinnamon, clove, patchouli, and vetiver. Choosing essential oils with a heavier molecular weight also makes a better smelling candle because the light essential oils are difficult to detect in once in the candle wax.
The candles I made pictured below are an aromatic blend of cedarwood, pine, cinnamon, and clove essential oils. I melted four colors: orange, red, burgundy, and pink. All four colors had the same aroma blend.
By: Kathy Sadowski, MS in Aromatherapy, RA (ARC), Professional NAHA and AIA Member, LMT
Post Updated: 11/15/18
