How To Make Wax Melts
Learn how to make wax melts at home, from choosing wax to adding fragrance.
Step by Step Guide
Wax melts are a popular and flame-free way to scent your home. Instead of a wick, they’re placed in a wax warmer, slowly melt, and release fragrance. Making your own gives you full control over the scent, ingredients, colour and even shape – plus it’s fun and cost-effective.
Our guide how to make wax melts is a must-read for beginners and perfectly complements our wax melt starter kits, as they contain all the key ingredients which are listed below.
Benefits of making your own Wax Melts?
- Total control over ingredients (wax type, fragrance, colour)
- Custom scent blends and strength
- More cost-effective, especially for small batches
- Ideal for gifts or small business production
- You can avoid harmful additives or low-quality materials
To make wax melts, you will need pillar wax, fragrance oils, candle dyes, and clamshells as the main materials, along with essential tools such as a pouring jug, spatula, thermometer, and weighing scales to help measure, mix, and pour the wax accurately for the best results.
Key Materials
Additional Items
See how easy it is to make your own wax melts
1: Preparation
Before you begin your wax melt making, it is important to prepare your space, especially as dealing with wax can be quite messy! Make sure you have a clean flat surface to work on, moving anything you don’t want to get wax on. Also, make sure you have your clamshells at the ready, as the process can go a lot faster than you might initially expect. Weigh out how much wax you need. For this example, we are using 100g.
2: Melting the wax
Empty your now measured wax into a bowl, and place it over a pan of boiling water. Heat your wax to 70°C whilst stirring gently. Do not exceed 80°C. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes to melt. Use your thermometer to keep an accurate reading of the temperature.
3: Adding Colour
Once your wax has reached 70°C, remove the wax from the heat. Add a little of your chosen dye colour and stir gently until all the colour has dissolved and spread evenly. We suggest using 0.2%, therefore a 10 g bag of dye will colour 5 kg of paraffin wax. Vegetable waxes may require a higher loading. If you are using liquid candle dye, use a few drops at a time to get your desired colour. If you are adding mica powder or glitter, do so here.
4: Adding Fragrance
Once the wax has cooled to 65°C it is time to add your chosen fragrance oil. Gently stir the wax whilst pouring the fragrance. We suggest using up to 10% fragrance oil therefore 500 g of fragrance oil will fragrant 5 kg of wax.
5: Pouring
Now all your ingredients are mixed, let your wax cool further to 60-65°C. Pour your molten wax out of the bowl and into a pouring jug. Slowly pour your wax into your wax melt mould or clamshell. If you find that the hot wax melts the plastic clam shell, ensure you pour at 60°C so they do not leak and deform.
6: Cooling
Your wax melts should now be setting. Allow a good few hours for them to set and fully solidify. We recommend storing your wax melts in a cool, dark place for approximately two weeks to 'cure’. This isn’t essential however, so if you’re super excited to get melting a few hours after they’ve set, then that’s fine too!
Please note, this wax melt making guide is a general starter guide for beginners in wax melt making. Variations in waxes, fragrances and dyes can all affect the finished product, what works for some wax melts may not work for others.
The key to great wax melt making is trial and error.
Tips & Best Practices
- Use a wax appropriate for melts (often harder wax or blends designed for melting).
- Avoid overheating — too high temp can degrade your fragrance or cause discoloration.
- Stir consistently when adding fragrance so the scent is evenly distributed.
- Use clean molds (rinse and dry) to avoid residue affecting your finish
- Monitor scent strength — too much fragrance can cause blooming or weeping (liquid under hardened wax).
- Be patient with curing — fresh melts often improve in scent over days.
- Avoid direct sunlight or heat in storage; store in a cool, dark place.