Back to FO’s Top Basic Calculations My wax says it has __% oil retention, what does that mean?
• Wax is like a sponge, it will only hold so much oil before the oil starts to leak out of the wax. You will notice if you’ve used too much oil when there is an oil slick on the bottom of your pouring pot. If you didn’t notice in the pouring pot, your cooled candles will start to leak or seep oil. That means you’ve exceeded the oil capacity of your wax. • Oil retention is typically given in percentages so that it will be easy to figure out. • For example. If your wax holds 6% oil and you have 1 lb of wax: you can add .96oz (round up to 1 oz) of FO before it will start to leak. • If you have an 8% you can add 1.28oz (or round down to 1.25oz) before it will start to leak. • The calculation is very simple…although there is debate whether or not the percentage is of the total weight of the oil + wax or just the wax itself. I used just the wax itself as it makes it a little easier (the difference is negligible). To calculate a percentage divide that percentage by 100 and multiply that numbe
