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Candles are an affordable and accessible way to make your house feel more like a home. Soy candles are derived from soybeans and enhanced with essential oils to help you relax and truly enjoy your living area. Candles come in different sizes, containers, and scents, so the This Old House Reviews Team researched the best soy candles on Amazon to help you with your search. Learn more about our top recommendations below.
Best Frosted Jar
Chesapeake Bay Soy Blend Candle
- $16.64
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Key Features
- Water lily and pear scent
- 12.5-ounce size
- 70-hour burn time
- Lead-free wick
What Customers Are Saying
Satisfied customers appreciated the aesthetics and fragrance of this Chesapeake Bay soy candle. Though they liked the scent, unsatisfied customers found it to be too faint to fill a room—even a small one.
Best Mission
Benevolence LA Soy Candle
- $18.99
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Key Features
- Bergamot and jasmine scent
- Eight-ounce size
- 45-hour burn time
- Cotton wick
What Customers Are Saying
Customers praised the look and smell of this candle. They also thought that the 45-hour burn time was long for a candle of its size. However, other customers found the odor to be pungent and unpleasant. Some also received a candle that had the wick buried in the wax, which complicated the lighting process.
Best For Small Rooms
Lulu Candles Soy Candle
- $14.95
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Key Features
- Fresh linen scent
- Six-ounce size
- Cotton wick
What Customers Are Saying
Despite the small six-ounce size of this soy candle, customers were impressed that it filled entire rooms with its scent in a matter of minutes. They also appreciated how little room it took up on their table, desk, or counter. Unhappy customers found the odor to be either too faint or unpleasant. Some also had issues with the wick and wax burning unevenly.
Best Mason Jar
Nika’s Home Soy Candle
- $15.99
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Key Features
- Vanilla bean scent
- 12-ounce size
- 50-to-60-hour burn time
- Lead- and zinc-free cotton wick
What Customers Are Saying
Vanilla lovers thought that the scent of this soy candle genuinely smelled like vanilla bean. They also enjoyed the candle’s clean burn. However, even happy customers experienced a larger-than-normal flame as the wax got low. Other customers had complaints about the fragrance’s potency, sharing that they had to be within a few feet of the candle to smell it.
Longest Burn Time
Milkhouse Candle Company Soy Candle
- $28.94
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Key Features
- Oatmeal, milk, and honey scent
- 22-ounce size
- 120-hour burn time
- Lead-free cotton wick
What Customers Are Saying
Positively, customers liked the large size and impressive burn time of this candle, which filled large rooms with a lasting scent that wasn’t overbearing. To their surprise, some customers even had success getting rid of mosquitoes using the candle. Negatively, customers experienced durability issues with the glass jar, reporting that it cracked or shattered just sitting on a surface.
Buyer’s Guide
Your primary consideration when you’re buying a soy candle is your desired fragrance. However, size, quantity, packaging, burn time, and potency are also important to keep in mind. We’ve outlined these factors in more detail below.
Scent
You probably have certain fragrance profiles that you prefer. They likely fit into one of these categories:
- Floral (jasmine, lavender)
- Citrus (orange, grapefruit)
- Sweet (vanilla, almond)
- Fresh (linen, cotton)
- Musky (tobacco, bourbon)
- Spicy (cinnamon, ginger)
Size
Soy candles are usually measured in ounces. They range from half an ounce to over 25 ounces. Depending on how often you burn your candle, a large one could last you several months or even years. Conversely, burning a half-ounce candle continuously may only last you a day or two. If you’re purchasing a candle from a new manufacturer or with a new scent, it’s best to stick with a smaller size until you’re sure that you like it.
Quantity
Larger candles are more likely to come in a one-pack. If you like a particular soy candle, see if you can buy it in bulk to fill multiple areas of your home with its scent.
Packaging
Some candles serve as a nice living room or bedroom decoration, featuring frosted, colored, or patterned jars. The containers often have a metal or wooden lid with a rubber seal. Others use a screw-on lid.
Burn Time
The burn time is usually related to the size of the candle. The type and number of wicks inside of the candle also determine how long it burns. A small candle with several cotton wicks is going to burn faster than a large candle with one wooden wick. Burn times vary from 10 to over 100 hours, but the average burn time is usually around 40 or 50 hours.
Potency
Most soy candles contain drops of one or more essential oils to get their fragrance. Intense candles have numerous drops of concentrated oils to create a strong smell. Generally, potent candles are better for living rooms and other large areas, while milder candles are suited for smaller spaces, such as bathrooms.
Getting the Most Out of Your Soy Candle
Whether you want to purify the air, create an intentional space for devotion, or keep insects at bay, a soy candle is a useful addition to your home. Lighting and extinguishing your soy candle is straightforward, but we’ve included several pointers below to help you maximize the longevity and enjoyment of it.
- To prevent excess smoke from wafting around your home, use a dedicated candle snuffer to extinguish your soy candle.
- As with any open flame in your home, it’s never safe to leave a candle unattended for any amount of time.
- If you need to move the candle from one location to another, do so slowly and carefully. Make sure the outside of the candle isn’t hot to the touch before grabbing it.
- Place the lid on top of your soy candle when it’s not in use. This extends the life of the fragrance.
- After you extinguish the flame and let the wax cool, trim the wick. The wick should be a quarter-inch above the wax.
- If you want to make your own soy candle, all you need is soy wax, a wick, a container, and your favorite essential oils.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I let a soy candle continually burn?
It’s best to burn a candle for a minimum of one hour and a maximum of four hours. That’s long enough for the top layer of wax to melt but not so long that the wick gets too long or the wax starts to evaporate.
Are citronella candles made with soy wax?
Yes. Many citronella candles use a soy-based wax that’s infused with citronella, lemongrass, and other essential oils that are known to repel insects. Most citronella candles are designed to burn in outdoor living spaces, such as decks and patios, but they also work well in transitional areas, such as sunrooms.
Is it safe to burn a soy candle if I have respiratory issues?
Most candles won’t irritate you if you have asthma, allergies, or other respiratory issues. However, if you’re sensitive to particular smells, stay away from candles with those fragrances.
When should I stop burning my candle?
Stop burning your candle when there’s a half an inch of wax left in the container. If you continue to burn your candle at this stage, it could start a fire or shatter the container.
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This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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