How to Make Soy Votive Candles

Making soy votive candles are a little bit trickier than making soy jar candles. But as you gain experience you'll find the process will go almost as quickly and easily as making soy jar candles.

You'll be following the same steps to mix and heat your soy wax as in the "How to Make Soy Candles in 6 easy steps" article, so I won't repeat them here.

You'll need some metal votive molds, which you can find at the candle supply online stores. (Don't use the votive cups that include the wick stems)
You may also want to use a releasant such as a silicon spray, to make it easier to remove the candle from the mold.
For typical votive candles, 16-oz wax should make eight candles, using 2 ounces of wax each.

Make sure your votive molds are warmed slightly. If you use cold molds, you'll see "drag lines". Just keep your molds in the oven on a cookie sheet using a very low setting for about ten minutes before you use them. You can just keep the molds on the cookie sheet while pouring to make the process safer and easier.

After your soy wax has been melted and you have added the dye and fragrance, you can pour your soy wax into the molds.

Using a slightly heated glass measuring cup (the wax may harden on a cold cup), fill each mold to the top. (You can just heat your measuring cup along with the votive molds)

Now you need to let the wax cool down until you see a thin layer of skin form all around the top of your candle. Now you can add your wicks. The easiest wicks to use for your votive candles are the 2 1/2 to 3 in. tabbed wicks.  Make sure you've straightened the wicks and flattened the tabs before inserting. Grab hold of your wick at one tip and insert the wick through the skin all the way to the bottom of the mold. Make sure your wick is centered and straight. You'll have to work quickly at this point, working with the wick before the top of the candle gets too thick, or you may wind up with a messy looking top. Sometimes it's helpful to use a pencil to fix the wick in the center.

Now I want to mention here, that no matter how quick and careful you are with inserting the wick, you'll notice a circle around the wick. You will want to remove this before the candle hardens. Don't worry, it's very simple to do. Just very quickly take your candle-lighting torch and touch the wax back and forth with the flame to smooth it out. Make sure to move very quickly so you don't scorch the wick.

Now let the candles set overnight before removing from the molds.
Now, after they've had time to set up overnight, you can release them from the votives. You should be able to pop them them out of the mold by slightly tugging the wick. If they do not release easily put them in the freezer for a couple minutes. Don't keep them in the freezer too long though, as the soy wax could crack if it's left in the freezer for an extended period of time.

After you've released your candle from the mold, let the candle cure for 24 hours. Make sure you use a tight fitting container to burn your votive candles.

As you work with making soy votive candles, you'll come up with your own special techniques and tips (through a little trial and error) to make your next batches go smoother. Before long you'll have your own "perfect" system!