Cure in Candle Making VS Cure in Soap Making

If you’re new to the candle making and/or soap making scene, you might have stumbled across the term ‘cure’ in both crafts. However, despite it being the same word, the exact definition of this term is different according to the craft it is used for.

For Candle Making…

‘Cure’ refers to the chemical process that occurs when the wax and fragrance oil/essential oil/candle scent binds and incorporates with each other.

Curing allows the scents to perform better when your candle is burnt after the curing period. This is because the wax and scents will have sufficient time to properly meld together. Burning your candle too soon may cause the scent incorporated to come out faint despite you having added a large or the maximum amount.

*Note: Different waxes have different maximum percentages of how much fragrance oil, essential oil and/or candle scent that they can hold before these scents begin to leak out of the waxes.

So, the best thing to do before lighting your new candle is to wait for it to cure. For paraffin candles and palm candles, we recommend waiting 24-48 hours. For soy wax candles, we recommend waiting up to a week.

*Note: If the scent your candle releases when burnt isn’t strong enough despite having added the maximum amount, this may be caused by

a) The fragrance oil/essential oil/candle scent not being added to the wax at the right temperature.
b) Not stirring enough to blend the scent with the melted wax. We recommend stirring for a minimum of 30 seconds straight to at least a full minute or two to be safe.

For Soap Making…

‘Cure’ refers to the process of water evaporating out of a cold process soap bar.

The curing process is important for cold process soaps as it will create a firmer texture and also allows your soap to last longer in the shower.

During this process (four to six weeks is best), it’s important for the soap to be stored in a cool, dry and well ventilated space. You can keep your cold process soap in containers as well, though we recommend keeping the lids open or simply gently placing the lid on top of the container body with a little ‘breathing space’ or else the evaporated water will be trapped in with your soap.

*Note: When cutting your cold process soap bars, we recommend doing it at least a day and at most two days after they are made. Waiting too long will result in a too-hard bar and this can cause your soap to chip or break when you cut it.

Check our candle related posts here:

General Candle Making Info
👉 Candle Making – Soy Wax VS Palm Wax
👉 What are Floral Waxes?
👉 9 Common Candle Making Mistakes and How to Avoid or Fix Them
👉 Your Ultimate Candle Wick Guide
👉 Types of Wicks and Which to Use for Candle Making
👉 What does flashpoint in fragrance oils mean?
👉 4 Common Candle Myths Debunked
👉 Your Ultimate Scent Category Guide to Craftiviti’s Fragrance Oils

On Natural Wax Candles (Soy Candle, Palm Candle)
👉 DIY Lemongrass Soy Wax Candle
👉 Get to Know: Craftiviti’s Candle Additive for Soy Wax Candles
👉 Romantic Rose Palm Wax Candle DIY
👉 DIY Pillar Candle Using Creamy Palm Wax

On Synthetic Gel Candles
👉 About High Density Gel Wax and How to Make Transparent Gel Candles
👉 DIY Sweet and Flowery Gel Wax Candle + Bloopers, Tips and Tricks!

On Wax Melts and Wax Sachets
👉 DIY Mini Lavender, Rose and Lemon Hearts Wax Melts
👉 DIY Strawberry Honey Soy Wax Melts in 4 Steps
👉 DIY Aromatherapeutic Wax Sachet
👉 Turning Broken Wax Sachets into New Candles!