How much wax do I need for six 8 oz jars?

An 8 fl oz jar holds 236.59 ml, so six of them hold 1,419.53 ml. At the 0.86 g/ml that soy suppliers usually publish, that is 1,220.8 g of wax, or 43.1 oz, which is 203.5 g in each jar. Add an 8 percent fragrance load read against the wax and the oil is 97.7 g, for a batch of 1,318.5 g in the pot. Change the density and every one of those numbers moves with it, which is the point of typing your own.

Is the fragrance percentage of the wax or of the total?

Both conventions are in use, so the page makes you say which. Take 1,000 g of wax at 8 percent. Read against the wax, the oil is 80 g and the batch is 1,080 g. Read against the finished mixture, the oil has to be 8 percent of everything that comes out of the pot, so it is 87 g and the batch is 1,087 g. That is a 7 g difference on one kilo, and it grows with the batch. Whichever you pick, the result states it and shows the same load read the other way, so you can check it against the recipe you were given.

Does an 8 oz jar mean 8 ounces of wax?

Usually not, and this is the most common way a batch goes wrong. A jar sold as 8 oz is measured in fluid ounces, which is volume to the brim, and wax weighs less than water: 8 fl oz of soy at 0.86 g/ml is 203.5 g, about 7.2 weight ounces. Few candles are poured to the brim either, so the fill level field takes the difference off: fill six of those jars nine tenths of the way and the wax drops from 1,220.8 g to 1,098.7 g.

What wax density should I use?

The figure for the wax in front of you. The buttons hold the values suppliers commonly publish, 0.86 for soy, 0.88 for a coconut blend, 0.90 for paraffin and 0.95 for beeswax, and they are a starting point rather than a measurement of your batch. Blends, additives and how warm the wax is when you pour all move it. If your supplier prints a fill weight for a jar size, that figure already contains their density and is worth more than any of these.

Where does the fragrance oil fit if the jar is already full of wax?

The volume you type is treated as the wax, and the oil goes in on top of it, so a batch loaded at 8 percent of the wax is 8 percent heavier than the fill you asked for. The page says so beside the result. There are two honest ways to deal with it: leave the headspace a jar normally has, or lower the fill level until the finished batch matches what the containers hold.

What is the maximum fragrance load for my wax?

This page cannot tell you. The amount of oil a wax will hold is a property of that wax, and the figure comes from the supplier's datasheet for the exact wax and oil you bought. What you get here is the weight that a percentage works out to. The wick, the container and the oil decide how the candle burns, and none of that is modelled here, so a percentage from this page is not a burn test.

Can I work backwards from wax I have already melted?

Yes. Switch to the wax weight mode, type what is on the scale in grams, kilograms, ounces or pounds, and the container volume and the density drop out of the arithmetic entirely: 1,000 g of wax at 8 percent of the wax is 80 g of oil. Keep the candle count filled in and the per candle line still splits the batch for you.

Candle Wax Calculator

Two numbers decide a candle batch and most pages leave one of them vague. The first is the wax: a container is a volume, wax is bought by weight, and the bridge between them is a density that changes with the wax, so it is a field here with no hidden default, and the buttons beside it only fill that field with the figures suppliers publish. The second is the fragrance percentage, which means one amount when it is a percentage of the wax and a larger one when it is a percentage of the finished mixture. Both are on the page: pick the basis, and the result names it, shows the same load read the other way, prints the wax, the oil and the total batch in grams and ounces, and splits the batch per candle.

8 fl oz container6 candlesFragrance 8% of wax

container   8 fl oz x 6
wax density 0.86 g/ml

wax         1,220.8 g (43.1 oz)
fragrance   97.7 g (3.44 oz)
batch       1,318.5 g (46.5 oz)

per candle  203.5 g wax, 16.3 g fragrance

8% of the wax, not of the mixture

Wax: 1,220.8 g
Fragrance: 97.7 g
Batch: 1,318.5 g (46.5 oz)
Basis: Of wax

wax = 48 fl oz = 1,419.53 ml x 0.86 g/ml = 1,220.8 g; fragrance = 1,220.8 g x 8 / 100 = 97.7 g; batch = 1,318.5 g

Each of the 6 containers is filled with 8 fl oz of wax, so 48 fl oz in all.
Wax weight: 1,419.53 ml x 0.86 g/ml = 1,220.8 g. The density is the one you entered, not a figure this page holds for your wax.
The fragrance is 8% of the wax, so 97.7 g goes in on top of 1,220.8 g of wax. That is 7.4074% of the finished batch.
The volume you entered is the wax alone. The fragrance adds 8% more by weight, so leave headspace for it or lower the fill level.

What the batch is for

Start from the containers when you know the jar and want the wax, or from a weight of wax when it is already on the scale. Both paths end at the same three numbers.

Start from

Volume per containerMeasured in

How many candlesFill level, percent

A jar sold as 8 oz is measured to the brim, and few candles are poured that far up. If you fill to nine tenths, put 90 in the fill level and the wax comes down with it.

The wax density

This is the bridge from a volume to a weight, and there is no single right figure: the buttons hold the values suppliers usually publish, and the one on your own wax beats all of them.

Density, g/mlFigures suppliers publish

The fragrance load

The same number means two amounts. Eight percent of the wax is 7.4074% of what comes out of the pot; eight percent of the mixture takes 87 g of oil per kilo of wax rather than 80 g. Pick the one your recipe or your supplier meant.

Fragrance, percentThat percentage is

This page does arithmetic on the numbers in the fields. It does not know your wax's maximum fragrance load: that figure comes from the wax supplier's datasheet.
A percentage is not a burn test. How a candle burns depends on the wick, the container and the oil, and none of that is modelled here.
Wax and fragrance oil are weighed, not measured by volume, so every figure above is a weight for a scale.

Worked examples

Each one runs through the same function as your own numbers. Load one to see it in the fields.

8% of the waxsix 8 fl oz jars, soy at 0.86
1,220.8 g wax, 97.7 g fragrance, 1,318.5 g in the pot
8% of the mixturethe same six jars
1,220.8 g wax, 106.2 g fragrance, 1,327 g in the pot
A weighed 1,000 g of wax8% of the wax
1,000 g wax, 80 g fragrance, 1,080 g in the pot

Quantities, not a recipe. Exact arithmetic on the volume, density and percentage you enter, and it says plainly whether the percentage is of the wax or of the finished mixture, because the two give different amounts. Densities vary by wax, so use the figure for the wax you actually have.

Common questions

How much wax do I need for six 8 oz jars?: An 8 fl oz jar holds 236.59 ml, so six of them hold 1,419.53 ml. At the 0.86 g/ml that soy suppliers usually publish, that is 1,220.8 g of wax, or 43.1 oz, which is 203.5 g in each jar. Add an 8 percent fragrance load read against the wax and the oil is 97.7 g, for a batch of 1,318.5 g in the pot. Change the density and every one of those numbers moves with it, which is the point of typing your own.
Is the fragrance percentage of the wax or of the total?: Both conventions are in use, so the page makes you say which. Take 1,000 g of wax at 8 percent. Read against the wax, the oil is 80 g and the batch is 1,080 g. Read against the finished mixture, the oil has to be 8 percent of everything that comes out of the pot, so it is 87 g and the batch is 1,087 g. That is a 7 g difference on one kilo, and it grows with the batch. Whichever you pick, the result states it and shows the same load read the other way, so you can check it against the recipe you were given.
Does an 8 oz jar mean 8 ounces of wax?: Usually not, and this is the most common way a batch goes wrong. A jar sold as 8 oz is measured in fluid ounces, which is volume to the brim, and wax weighs less than water: 8 fl oz of soy at 0.86 g/ml is 203.5 g, about 7.2 weight ounces. Few candles are poured to the brim either, so the fill level field takes the difference off: fill six of those jars nine tenths of the way and the wax drops from 1,220.8 g to 1,098.7 g.
What wax density should I use?: The figure for the wax in front of you. The buttons hold the values suppliers commonly publish, 0.86 for soy, 0.88 for a coconut blend, 0.90 for paraffin and 0.95 for beeswax, and they are a starting point rather than a measurement of your batch. Blends, additives and how warm the wax is when you pour all move it. If your supplier prints a fill weight for a jar size, that figure already contains their density and is worth more than any of these.
Where does the fragrance oil fit if the jar is already full of wax?: The volume you type is treated as the wax, and the oil goes in on top of it, so a batch loaded at 8 percent of the wax is 8 percent heavier than the fill you asked for. The page says so beside the result. There are two honest ways to deal with it: leave the headspace a jar normally has, or lower the fill level until the finished batch matches what the containers hold.
What is the maximum fragrance load for my wax?: This page cannot tell you. The amount of oil a wax will hold is a property of that wax, and the figure comes from the supplier's datasheet for the exact wax and oil you bought. What you get here is the weight that a percentage works out to. The wick, the container and the oil decide how the candle burns, and none of that is modelled here, so a percentage from this page is not a burn test.
Can I work backwards from wax I have already melted?: Yes. Switch to the wax weight mode, type what is on the scale in grams, kilograms, ounces or pounds, and the container volume and the density drop out of the arithmetic entirely: 1,000 g of wax at 8 percent of the wax is 80 g of oil. Keep the candle count filled in and the per candle line still splits the batch for you.

Exact arithmetic on the volume, density and percentage you enter, and it says plainly whether the percentage is of the wax or of the finished mixture, because the two give different amounts. Densities vary by wax, so use the figure for the wax you actually have.