Wax Melts vs Candles

What's The Best Way To Fragrance Your Home

You are reading this so you are wondering how you can make your life smell better, right? Right. So let’s get to it and talk all about what is the best way to scent your home. There are multiple ways to try and achieve a perfectly scented home, but the top two ways people gravitate towards are wax melts and jar candles. So, should you jump on the bandwagon? Should you use wax melts or candles to scent your home? Are candles safe? Or maybe you are thinking what the heck is a wax melt and how would I use one. (Hint: you use an electric warmer for wax melts or tarts or cubes – whatever your want to call them). Which one is the best and the SAFEST way to make your home smell good? Keep reading and decide what’s best for you.

What is an electric warmer and wax melts?

An electric warmer is a decorative unit that safely warms fragrant wax. Warmers come in many different shapes and sizes. Some have light bulbs as the warming method and some use a warming plate to melt the wax. Either way, an electric warmer is the workhorse in this combo.

But what are wax melts? Some people call them melts, some call them tarts or cubes, but we call them Scentsy Bars. A Bar is a 3.2 oz of pure scented joy! Each bar consists of 8 cubes of warmable fragrant wax. This is the actual “candle” portion of the Warmer/Wax partnership.

If you are reading this, you are probably wondering: Should I use candles or wax melts to scent my home? Which method is safest, strongest in fragrance, and lasts the longest?

I choose wax melts, or Bars, over a flaming candle every single time. Keep reading to see why I choose Scentsy Bars.

This article will address many common questions and concerns about wax melts and scented candles.

5 reasons why wax melts are a better alternative to scented candles:

1. Wax melts are safer than scented candles

Many people ask, “Are scented candles bad for your health?” “Are scented candles toxic?”

A lot of scented candles available have harmful chemicals in them. Elements such as lead, phthalates, and formaldehyde. Those things are released into your air and left on your walls along with the black soot from the burning wick.

Scented candles can be toxic, Scentsy wax melts are not.

Scentsy warmers only warm the scented oil out of the wax, the wax remains in the warmer, thus there is no danger of chemicals being released into the home. Bars are made up of non-toxic wax and fragrant oil. The wax is just the carrier for the scent. The Bar melts and the scented oil releases fragrance into the air.

And let’s not forget about the fact that with a candle you have an open flame going in your home. Probably resting either on a flammable surface or right next to one. “Fiyah, BAD!” Said in my best Frankenstein impersonation. Your candle flame is around 1000 degrees in temperature! A Scentsy warmer melts wax to around 120 degrees – no hotter than a comfy bath temperature.

Candles cause fires, wax warmers use electricity – no flame.

(for more on this check out this Scentsy No Fire Tutorial)

2. Wax melts last longer than scented candles per ounce

That small Scentsy Bar is going to provide more fragrance time than a candle per ounce. A 16 ounce jar, which really only has 12 ounces of wax inside, could be expected to burn anywhere up to 84 hours. While a 3.2 ounce Scentsy Bar can produce amazing scent for up to 60 hours. Let’s do a little math here, shall we?

Scentsy Bar: 60 hours / 3.2 oz = 18.75 hours fragrant time per ounce and a cost of $0.10 / hour

Jar Candle: 84 hours / 12 oz = 7 hours fragrant time per ounce and a cost of $0.30 / hour

You can reuse your Scentsy Bar wax melts. Yep, as long as your still smell fragrance you can pour your wax back into the Bar container. It will harden and be ready for use again when you are. A candle is just one scent. You are stuck with that one scent until the candle is finished.

3. Wax melts offer more control over the scent than candles

Some people love a scent but in smaller doses. With wax melts you can control the scent load in your space. Do you love a good cinnamon candle at Christmas time, but feel the tingle in your throat and nose from the strength? With a Scentsy bar you can pop in one cube and have a strong fragrance or you can cut it in half to reduce the intensity. You decide how much scent you want in the air of your home. With a jar candle, you get what you get. There’s no dialing the strength up of down with a candle.

Maybe you haven’t found your perfect, signature scent because it doesn’t exist…yet. With wax melts you can combine fragrances to make your custom flavor. Do you want your home to smell heavily of florals and only a little bit of vanilla? Grab a floral Bar and a Vanilla Bean Buttercream Bar. Drop in two cubes floral to a half a cube vanilla. Voila! You just mixed scents to your preference. There are a lot of Scentsy recipes to make completely new scents. Can a jar candle do that?

Are wax melts stronger than scented candles?

Scentsy wax melts are made of a proprietary, non-toxic, wax that is very soft. This soft wax blend was chosen for it’s superior scent loading capabilities. A lot of fragrance oil is fitted into that little Scentsy Bar. A jar candle is made of a much denser and harder wax blend. Candle wax is only able to hold so much oil before the oil starts to seep out and pool; which can create a serious safety issue as the entire candle -not just the wick- becomes flammable.

4. Wax melts are cheaper than scented candles

Would you rather have a highly-fragrant Scentsy Bar for $6 or a good quality jar candle for $25? We did a little math up above and found that, ounce per ounce, Scentsy wax is 66% less expensive and of a higher quality. $0.10 per hour with Scentsy vs. $0.30 per hour with a jar candle.

5. Wax melts are more convenient than candles

Let me count the ways…

Scentsy Bars and Warmers are less expensive, have a high scent load, reusable, non-toxic, and customizable. You can leave your warmer going 24 hours / 7 days per week if you would like with absolutely no issues. It’s UL listed as a lamp, after all. Can you leave your candle burning all the time and not be worried about burning the place down? Nope.

With all that being said…

This Wax Melts vs Candles argument goes to WAX MELTS.

Bonus benefit of using wax melts: Wax melts are environmentally friendly!

Scentsy Bars arrive to you in a compact, recyclable plastic “clam-shell.” These containers are thick enough to protect your wax melts, but thin enough to keep the plastic used to a minimum. The wax slides cleanly out of the container with nothing left behind. Those clam shells can be tossed in the recycle bin, just like your disposable water bottle.

A large amount of glass is used to produce each jar candle. In order to recycle your candle jar, you must remove all of the left over candle wax first. That’s an extra step on your part before you can begin to recycle. Have you ever tried to chip away at a hard substance in the bottom of a deep glass jar? Be careful that you don’t break the glass and have fun with that.

Scentsy electric warmers are the best made warmers on the market. They come to you with a Lifetime Warranty against mechanical defect. They are very durable, yet gorgeous. When you take proper care of your warmer, you will have a warmer for life. Or until you see the next must-have warmer available. 😉

Conclusion: Who wins the battle

If you are looking for the most cost effective, longest lasting, convenient, environmentally responsible and best way to scent your home – Scentsy Bar wax melts and electric warmers are the way to go.