Add-oil and pour temperatures for popular candle waxes
Candle making has three temperatures that matter: how hot you melt, when you add the oil, and when you pour. Get them roughly right and most waxes behave. Get them wrong and you can see it in the finished candle, as frosting, sinkholes, rough tops or oil that never quite binds.
The three steps
Melt. Heat the wax until it is fully liquid, with no soft lumps. Most container waxes are liquid well below 180°F.
Add oil. Many suppliers suggest adding fragrance at around 180–185°F. The heat helps the oil bind with the wax. Stir gently for about two minutes; this step is where a lot of “sweating” candles start.
Pour. Let the wax cool to its pour temperature and pour in one smooth motion. This is the number that varies most between waxes.
What suppliers publish
Pour temperatures, as written on each source, in °F:
| Wax | CandleScience | Lone Star | Fillmore | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB 464 soy | 135 | 125–145 | 135 ±10 | Flaming Candle: 160 |
| GB 444 soy | 135 | 125–145 | 135 ±10 | |
| GB 415 soy | 95 ±5 | 90–100 | 95 ±10 | |
| GB 454 coconut soy | 170 ±14 | 150–160 | 160 ±5 | |
| NatureWax C-3 | 140–160 | Cargill: 120–165 | ||
| IGI 6006 blend | 170 ±5 | 160 | Flaming Candle: 160–180 | |
| IGI 4630 paraffin | 170 ±5 | 150–160 | ||
| IGI 4627 paraffin | 180 ±5 | about 160 |
Blank cells mean that source does not list the wax or the figure. The wax specs page has the full table with fragrance limits, melt points and links.
Where the spread comes from
Look at GB 464: one shop says 135°F, another says as low as 125°F, and another says 160°F. That is not a typo. Shops test with different jars, rooms and oils, and soy wax is sensitive to how fast it cools. A cool pour in a warm room can look the same as a warm pour in a cold one.
Paraffin and paraffin blends are more consistent and generally like to be poured hotter than straight soy. Coconut blends like GB 454 sit in between and pour hotter than people expect.
Reading your candle
If you are unsure, your candles will tell you:
- Frosting and big sinkholes often mean the pour was too hot.
- Jump lines, rough tops and wax pulling away from the glass often mean it was too cool or the jars were cold.
- Oil beading on top usually points back to the add-oil step, or a load above what the wax can hold.
If you change one thing, change the pour temperature by about 10°F and pour two test jars side by side.
Use a real thermometer
A cheap kitchen thermometer can be off by several degrees, and so can an infrared one pointed at a shiny surface. A probe thermometer in the middle of the pitcher, stirred, is the most reliable way to know where you actually are. It also makes your notes worth something when you repeat a batch.