Wax Melts and Wax Burners - What are they and how do I use them?
As you are here, you may be wondering what all this talk is of wax melting things, wax burners and warmers, and what they do.
Well, you're in luck here is our quick rundown.
Wax melts are known with different names, you may of heard of them as wax tarts, soy wax melts, candle melts or candle tarts.
What good quality melts (whatever you know them as) should do is fill your rooms with beautiful fragrances!
First of all the Melts -
The first thing you need to know is that not all melts are the same. The first main difference is the wax that's used to make the melts. The two main waxes that are used by wax melt makers are Paraffin Wax and Soy Wax.
Paraffin Wax is a cheaper wax to purchase and is a by-product from the oil industry.
Soy Wax is a natural wax and processed from guess what? ..Soya Beans!!... Well Done!!
At Made With a Smile we use Soy Wax for all our wax melts and there are two main reasons for this -
- Our Soy Wax is from sustainable sources, non-GM and is therefore suitable for use by Vegans, Vegetarians and everyone else !!
- Soy Wax can typically hold more fragrance oil than paraffin wax (nearly double in some cases!), therefore they can last twice as long, plus they don't give off any "burnt candle" smell that paraffin melts can.
Secondly The Fragrance Oils -
Not many wax melt makers will tell you this,(some may not even know), but many places that sell the fragrance oils they use, are just middlemen.
These middlemen get their oils from a fragrance manufacturer.
The important part to this is that the middlemen sellers dictate how much they want to pay for the oil - therefore cheap oils = cheap melts.
I'm sure you've seen really cheap melts on the web 20 wax melts for £3.00 etc etc and they last for about 2hrs then no smell.......This is why!!
Well at Made With a Smile we don't use cheap, inferior oils.
We buy our fragrance oils direct from our Fragrance Manufacturer, and our oils have been formulated just for us, so we know our oils are some of the best on the market.
We don't make the cheapest melts on the web because we won't compromise on quality.
How Do I use Wax Melts? -
Once you have chosen your wax melt of choice you have two options to melt them.
- Electric Wax Warmer - These are a popular type of wax warmer as they don't have a lit candle underneath, and can, for this reason, be conceived as safer, they typically use a light bulb that heats the wax and can be used as a night light also. The downside being is that the wax doesn't get as warm and therefore the fragrance tends not to be as strong but on the flipside, the fragrance oil lasts even longer, so they are ideal for small rooms.
- T-Light Warmer - These warmers use a T-Light candle to heat the wax and if you purchase one of our porcelain warmers the warmer gives off a lovely glow. These are our warmers of choice simply because we like our fragrances strong! The T-Light candle heats the wax to a higher temperature than an electric warmer and the scent is stronger, which lends itself to larger homes or rooms like kitchens that need a strong fragrance to overcome odours.
Whichever warmer you choose, the one thing you must never do is leave any wax melting unattended, not even an electric warmer. It only takes a second to turn your electric warmer off or snuff out the T-Light candle.
I hope you find this guide helpful, and you enjoy your melts safely.
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