Curing Times by Wax Type

What Is Curing?

Curing is the time between making a candle and burning it. During curing, the fragrance oil bonds fully with the wax molecules.

A freshly poured candle will burn. But a cured candle smells better.

How the candle smells when unlit. This develops significantly during curing.

A freshly poured candle might smell weak or "green." After 2 weeks, the scent mellows and strengthens.

How the candle smells when burning. Also improves with curing, though less dramatically than cold throw.

The fragrance releases more evenly from properly cured wax.

Some makers report cleaner burns from cured candles. The wax has had time to fully stabilise.

Molecular structure varies by wax type. Soy-based waxes have more "open" structure that takes longer to bind fragrance fully.

Beeswax is denser and cures faster. The fragrance doesn't penetrate as deeply (which is why it doesn't hold scent well anyway).

Olive wax seems to need longer than soy. Many makers report best results at 3 weeks.

Not really. Candles stored properly (cool, dark, sealed) remain stable for months.

Very long storage (6+ months) may cause some fragrance degradation or yellowing, depending on the fragrance.

Make a batch of 4 identical candles. Burn one at:

You'll smell the difference. Find the point where improvement plateaus - that's your optimal cure time for that wax and fragrance combination.

It's not dangerous. The candle will burn safely.

But customers judge scent throw. A weak first impression means no repeat purchase.

If you must sell early, include a note: "For best scent, wait one week before burning."