Why Does My Soy Candle Color Bleed?

How to Add Color to Soy Wax Candles

We get lots of questions from people about the art and business of candle making.

When I pour my soy wax I get a crusting on top of my candle or it looks like my color bleeds why is this happening?

Soy has many positive attributes but one thing that it is not quite as effective at is holding fragrance. In most instances when this occurs you have put more fragrance in the wax then it can hold. The bleeding is actually the fragrance oil bleeding which pulls the color with it.

There are several things you can do to try and correct this:

  • Pouring at a lower temperature can capture the fragrance in the wax before it has time to bleed out.
  • Use an additive to help hold the fragrance in the wax Palm Stearic (all natural) at 10-20% depending on how much fragrance you want to add.
  • The least popular is try reducing the fragrance load.

A related question is, “Can I add paraffin wax to my soy?”

The answer on this is definetely yes at any chosen percentage and will depend on how you want to market the candle. Many companies are using something like a 51% Soy and 49%, but any percentage will work.

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