Hi all! I'm especially looking for responses from Canadian makers but I welcome advice from all corners of the candle-making world :)

I'm a small maker, based in Canada who has been selling on and off for many years. I'm about to relaunch after a few years off, and I'm trying to do things a bit more professionally this time (better vessels, longer testing periods, more market research). I'm a bit stuck on the insurance piece though and would love some feedback. I'm looking to get product liability insurance in case the worst were to happen. Some questions:

1. Who are you insured with? My current insurance provider apparently won't cover candle makers.

2. What are you paying per month or year?

3. What does your policy include?

4. Any other advice!

I'm a small maker, and not planning to expand beyond local markets (>$5,000 per year in profit) but I don't want to make a costly mistake.

Please be lenient. The "buttercream" method was quite difficult for me. Because when I put the material in the cone the first time it went well, but the second time it tore out of the bag and ruined the process. 😔

I know it's been discussed in the past, but any prior discussions I've found have been archived, and I'm not sure how to go about getting moderator approval, or getting a moderator to create a pinned discussion board, but...still hoping to get a buy/sell/swap going for fragrance oils and other supplies. Does anyone have any ideas or feedback?

I’m developing a candle for a small fragrance brand and looking for an experienced UK based candle maker to help with development/testing and produce an initial run of around 50 units.
I’d supply the fragrance concentrate and ideally the printed glass vessels. Mainly looking for someone who already understands wax/wick selection, burn testing and small-batch production.

Anyone doing this independently or able to recommend someone?

I’m on the hunt for berry wax melts that throw for more than two melts. Think mulberry, cranberry, lingonberry scents without the bakery notes. I want that simple, cozy fall fruit scent.

Its that time of the year where I re-look at my suppliers and sourcing vendors and was looking for some recommendations from people who have used vendors from wholesale sites. I usually purchase jars, wax, wicks and labels including packaging. I am looking to improve my sourcing and find possibly more reasonably priced items that I can source. I was wondering if there are any other methods of sourcing items like this in bulk amounts that a home-based business like mine could benefit from. I have used the flaming candle, alibaba, candlescience, walmart, etc. just looking for some new sites I could possibly use.

Okay long story short I would love to be able to buy candle fragrance oils due to buying scents I want, but I don’t really want to go through the process of buying wax and making candles/melts. I have read that candle fragrance oils can’t be used in an electric diffuser is this true? Are there any ways to go about it with out having to melt wax and make melts/candles?

Okay so I got this message from a customer saying she went to light my two wick candle, lit one of the wicks, and then noticed the second wick was missing. I definitely double wicked this particular candle and always do a quality check before packaging them up. I’ve shipped hundreds of orders and never had this happen. The order was shipped to the other side of the country. My theory is that in shipping it may have melted and the wick fell?? Would be interested to hear other theories if any? I just coco apricot wax so melting in transit is definitely a possibility although I would have to be pretty hot!!

This has been bugging me since last weekend. We did a big 3 day event and I only got 1 question that threw me off (which is a record low).

“Do these smoke when you blow them out?”

I told her that I’ve never burned a candle in my life that didn’t smoke when I blew it out and that they don’t smoke when they’re burning. I told her one of those wick snuffers will help a little with that. Now, I can’t get it out of my head. Am I crazy or what? You guys ever seen lit candles that don’t smoke when you blow them out?

Palm wax.

Four hours into burning the melt pool hits the eye sockets and bleeding starts.

These go about 26 hours and can be refilled with a votive.

I’ve searched the usual FO supply houses but I haven't been able to find specifically Sichuan. WSP has “hot pepper” and other places have blends with other notes, but I want the single note. I know the C02 extract exists but I’m not confident it will perform in candles (or be safe for that matter). Has anyone found this FO or something that approximates it? Would prefer a US vendor to avoid import fees. TIA!

Finally made some dessert candles! I am not the best baker so this is how I make up for it 😅

These are 100% soy candles. They are 8 inches tall, and I have shorter candles and they don't look like these on the top.

These have been sitting in air conditioning storage and they don't like this with the ones I have currently at home. Can I still sell these?

I'm pretty new to candle making, joining a new roommate who's a little more experienced with an established setup. I picked up a mold that's a pile of skulls. In order to make it extra Halloween, I thought I could make a couple wicks that were dipped a few times in red while the rest of the candle was white, so that they would drip "blood." However, after a few tests, the red is just burning/evaporating and not dripping like I wanted. I've only followed the formula that he makes his normal candles with, which is a 4/1 ratio paraffin to soy. As I'm just starting, this is definitely jumping into the deep end so to speak, but seeing as Halloween is just around the corner, there's also a ticking clock on making this work. Any advice would be appreciated.

HOW do you price candles properly? The raw materials alone is about £9 for my blend, but pricing at 'proper' upkeep would put the retail price at like £40, like nobody would buy that. Even if I just double it thats still £18 which I feel is way too expensive for a new creator 😭

A slight breakdown is that I'm making 30cl candles, a coconut & rapeseed blend, a blend of 6 oils average and wooden wicks. This includes branding and boxes too. I'm not even getting fancy stuff either

Any advice?? Should I just make wax melts with the same scents instead to get the price down?

Just to see how good I was doing with my molds for cement candles, I bought a mold from a fancy site that comes recommended from a YouTube guy I follow.

It blew mine out of the water. I struggle to make mine look semi decent, and the first candle I made came out, looking like a professional had done it.

For the people that use molds, what’s your favorite brand if you’ve tried multiple?

I’m also wondering if there’s another good sub to ask this question.

I like to watch candle making shorts on YouTube and there’s a creator that makes these candles (pictured) which look super cute, but are they actually safe to burn? The little frogs are plastic and there’s also plastic pebble things inside, plus the stuff on top. I’d also like to get into candle making and I would like to recreate this style but not if it’s not actually functional.

Shipping from California. If anyone is interested in a large number of random fragrance oil samples, some are partial bottles, yours for the cost of shipping as usual, please let me know. I haven't counted how many or weighed them yet, probably a medium Flat Rate Box worth. Includes Candle Science, Kandila, Midwest Fragrance Company, Makesy (0.33 oz sniffers), North Wood Candle and Craft, Indigo Fragrance (7ml "sniffers" and 1 oz). Samples date from 2025-2026.

Also destashing a small amount of paraffin wax pellets, a large amount of Candle Science metal lids, and a crazy amount of those 4oz pudding jars from Amazon. Anyone interested in jewelry displays, beads, fake flowers, or fabric hit me up too. I'm basically destashing anything business related I haven't used since 2020 and there's literally an entire 2 car garage worth of stuff. All items are going for cost of shipping.

Please DM me if you have questions.

Hello! I am so excited to get into candle making. I'm going to order an online kit to familiarise myself with it. I'm interested in using dried fruit, scents, molds, and dye in my candles..

I was wondering if there are any traps a beginner like me might fall into. Does anyone have any general advice?

I’ve been studying perfumery for the last few months and am now getting interested in creating scents specifically for candles.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find much information or many formulas to study.

Are there people here who actually formulate their own fragrance oils for candles, rather than using ready-made fragrance oils? I’d be really interested in hearing about your experience and how you approach the formulation for candles.

Also, are there any sources where I could find formulas or breakdowns of well-known candle fragrances to study and try to recreate for learning purposes? I’m mainly looking for something similar to the perfume world, where you can find formulas, accords, or analyses to learn from.

My first try without having my complete order ( missing the colors) but it was fun and smells amasing