I Want to Test Lower Fragrance Loads for Cost Reduction — What Percentages Should I Compare Without Compromising Burn Performance?

I Want to Test Lower Fragrance Loads for Cost Reduction — What Percentages Should I Compare Without Compromising Burn Performance?

 

Woody Oud 100 g ₹453.12 Clear 200 ml Salsa 5 Pcs ₹200.60 Eco C2 wicks 10 for ₹94.40
Lower-load test · nine candles
Design the load test before you bank a saving: three arms, one variable, blind judging, full-life burns.
★★★★★
"Good quality wood fragrance oil with a warm, long-lasting scent and strong performance in candles."
Payal PatelVerified buyer · Mar 2026
Woody Oud Fragrance Oil
★★★★☆
"Good quality .... if possible delivery date would be try little bit quick please"
Subhankar RoyVerified buyer · Sep 2024
Eco Candle Wicks
★★★★★
"Quality wick, works very well"
AshwiniSep 2025
Eco Candle Wicks
★★★★★
"I love all the products...I received it without any damages...love to reorder again❤️"
Kaushiki SatarkarVerified buyer · Apr 2025
Luxury Soy Wax Chunks for Jar / Container Candles
★★★★★
"In past five years of testing and searching for the best candle fragrance I would say I found what am looking for strong fragrance in cold throw and hot throw and you can go for the minimum percentage in candle still it will give amazing smell well done and all the best"
Emma BecharaJun 2026
British Rose Fragrance Oil
★★★★☆
"Hey, the fragrance is so nice. Can’t wait to use in my candles!! A must buy item!!"
S.A.Jun 2024
Jasmine Fragrance Oil
Reviews collected and published through Judge.me on candlemakingsuppliesindia.store. They are general reviews of the products named on each card, not assessments of the advice set out below. Wording is unedited.
Shop Woody Oud — from ₹93.22 Plan my ladder on WhatsApp
✓ Prices verified 4 October 2026, stock checked per size ✓ MSDS and IFRA documentation on request on WhatsApp ✓ Raw materials only — CSI does not sell finished candles
CSI Cost Reduction · Lower-Load Testing
Compare your current load with two rungs one point below it, change nothing else, judge blind on three days and burn every candle to the end. The lowest arm that passes every gate is your new load.
10 / 9 / 8
or 8 / 7 / 6: current load and two one-point rungs, three candles each · CSI live pricing, October 2026
Quick answers — read this first
Which percentages should I compare? Your current load and two rungs below it, one point apart: 10/9/8 if you pour at 10% today, 8/7/6 if you pour at 8%. The current load is the control. Stay inside both ceilings (the wax page's and the oil page's stated maximum) and inside the oil page's stated range: Woody Oud states 6–10%, so neither design goes below 6%.

How do I keep burn performance safe? Change only the load. Same wax lot, jar batch, wick, pour temperature, cure and room. Three candles per arm, coded so judges do not know the load, judged blind after cure and again at day 7 and 14, then burned to the end. A lower arm passes only if its throw is not weaker and its melt pool, flame and soot match the control through the last third.

What does the test cost? In the worked example (160 g fill in the clear 200 ml Salsa, Woody Oud, Chunks wax, Eco C2), about ₹2,718.21 in materials consumed and time, or ₹3,199.84 in cash as bought, with spares left over. If 8% passes, it repays in about 216 candles.

What if both lower arms pass? Run a second round from the lowest passing load: that load and one point below, until an arm fails or you reach the bottom of the oil's stated range. Never go above a ceiling to "compare", and never skip the full-life burn.
The short answer
The ladder: current load (control), −1 point, −2 points. 10/9/8 or 8/7/6. One-point steps; three candles each; nine candles.
Fixed: wax lot, jar batch, wick, pour temperature, cure, burn room and session length. The only variable is the load.
Judged: blind, by at least 3 people, at a set distance (2 m in the worked plan) and set times into the burn, at day 3, 7 and 14, then through the last third.
Cost: about ₹2,718.21 consumed for the worked Salsa ladder; ₹3,330.17 for a 200 g candle in your own jar. Pass = no weaker throw and no burn change.
Shop: Woody Oud Fragrance Oil 100 g · 200ml Salsa Glass Jar · Eco Candle Wicks C2 · Luxury Soy Wax Chunks
In this guide
Nine candles, three loads, one variable Worked ladder from a 10% candle: 160 g fill in the clear 200 ml Salsa, Woody Oud, Chunks wax, one Eco C2 wick. Codes hide the load from the judges. 10% control 16.0 g oil each code K code R code D 9% −1 point 14.4 g oil each code M code A code T 8% −2 points 12.8 g oil each code P code F code W Identical in all nine: · wax lot · jar batch · wick · pour temperature · cure time · room and burn time Grey: wax. Black: oil, exaggerated for clarity. Timeline day 0 pour all 9 day 2–3 cure ends day 7 judge again day 14 judge again then full-life burns first blind judging Pass = no weaker throw, same pool, flame and soot, through the last third. Cure per the Woody Oud page: 48–72 hours. Days 7 and 14 are common practice, not rules.
The worked ladder: nine candles in three arms (10% control, 9%, 8%), each coded so the judges never see the load. Everything except the load is identical. Judging starts after the cure the oil page states and repeats at day 7 and 14; then all nine burn to the end. Fill, judging days and candle codes are worked examples; CSI prices live on 4 October 2026.
Fragrance · ₹453.12 for 100 g · ₹4.53 a gram from 100 g to 1 kg
Woody Oud: a test bought in 100 g bottles costs no more per gram than production stock
Wicks · ₹94.40 for 10 C2 · flat per wick
Eco C2: one wick, held constant in all nine candles; the 10-pack covers a ladder
WhatsApp +91 7397976926
Send your candle size, jar and current load; we will tell you the smallest packs that cover your ladder
Straight answer
I want to test lower fragrance loads for cost reduction. What percentages should I compare without compromising burn performance?
Compare your current load with two lower loads one percentage point apart: 10%, 9% and 8% if you pour at 10%; 8%, 7% and 6% if you pour at 8%. Keep every arm inside the lower of the wax page's and the oil page's stated maximum, and inside the oil page's stated range. Pour three candles per arm on the same day with the same wax lot, jar batch, wick and pour temperature; code them; cure them as the oil page says; judge throw blind at a fixed distance and time on at least three days; then burn all nine to the end and record melt pool, flame, soot and jar heat. The lowest arm whose throw is not weaker than the control and whose burn is unchanged through the last third becomes the new load. One-point steps are fine enough to find a saving and coarse enough for a small panel to tell apart. In the worked example the ladder costs about ₹2,718.21 in materials and time, a few weeks of patience, and nothing in burn safety.
One line: current load and two rungs below, one point apart, one variable, judged blind, burned to the end.
The worked ladder's shopping list: two 100 g Woody Oud (₹906.24), 1 kg + 500 g Chunks (₹898.00), two 5-packs of the clear Salsa (₹401.20) and one 10-pack of Eco C2 (₹94.40). Every item in stock on 4 October 2026. If you already produce with these, test from stock instead.
Shop Woody Oud — from ₹93.22

Choosing the rungs: one point, two steps, inside the ceilings

The control is your current candle. Everything is measured against it.

Four rules choose the percentages. Load is a percentage of total candle weight throughout (CSI's convention).

1. The current load is always an arm

Without it you are comparing two unknowns. The control is poured fresh, the same day as the test arms, not taken from old stock: a candle that has cured for two months is not the same as one that has cured for three days.

2. Step down one point at a time, two steps

One point is coarse enough that a small blind panel has a fair chance of telling the arms apart, and fine enough that you do not jump past the load that works. Half-point steps (9.5%, 9%) need a bigger panel and more candles to separate, so they suit a second round, not a first one (judgement). A three-point jump (10% straight to 7%) saves candles but, if it fails, tells you nothing about 9% or 8%.

The two standard designs · oil per candle
160 g fill in the clear 200 ml Salsa (worked example; weigh yours) and 200 g in your own jar · load as % of total weight
Design Arm Oil, 160 g fill Wax, 160 g fill Oil, 200 g candle Wax, 200 g candle
A: you pour 10% today 10% (control) 16.0 g 144.0 g 20 g 180 g
9% 14.4 g 145.6 g 18 g 182 g
8% 12.8 g 147.2 g 16 g 184 g
B: you pour 8% today 8% (control) 12.8 g 147.2 g 16 g 184 g
7% 11.2 g 148.8 g 14 g 186 g
6% 9.6 g 150.4 g 12 g 188 g
Oil for all nine candles A: 129.6 g · B: 100.8 g A: 162 g · B: 126 g

3. Every arm inside both ceilings

The governing maximum is the lower of the wax page's stated ceiling and the oil page's stated candle maximum. Luxury Soy Wax Chunks states up to 13%; Luxury Soy Wax CSI 464 up to 10%; Woody Oud states 6–10%. So a 10% control is fine in either wax with this oil. If your current load is above a ceiling (for example 12% in a wax that states 10%), that is not a cost-reduction test: step back to the ceiling first, which is the case in the 12%-with-average-throw post. Ceilings are formulation limits, not regulatory ones.

4. Stay inside the oil's stated range

Several CSI oil pages state a range rather than a maximum (Woody Oud, Roasted Coffee, Dark Vanilla and Citrus Lemon all say "candles (6-10%)"). Design B's bottom rung, 6%, is the bottom of that range. Below it you are outside what the page states; you may still test, but label the result as your own and expect weaker odds. Where a page states only "up to 10%", there is no stated floor, and your panel sets it.

Mistake: testing 10%, 8% and 6% "to see the spread". Why it fails: if 8% passes and 6% fails you still do not know whether 7% would pass, and you have spent three of nine candles on an arm far below where the answer usually sits. Fix: one-point steps from the control; widen only in round two. The science of where the lowest effective load usually sits is the lowest effective load guide.

What stays fixed, and why it decides the result

Two variables in one test give you one answer you cannot trust.

A load ladder answers one question: does this oil, at a lower load, in this exact candle, still perform? Every other difference between the arms is a second variable that can make a weaker candle look fine, or a fine one look weak. Freeze these, and write them on the batch sheet:

The fixed list · record every line for every arm
Identical across all nine candles · if any line changes, re-pour that arm
Fixed item Why it matters Record
Wax lot Lots can differ in how they hold and release oil Bag and lot, one bag for all nine
Oil lot A fresh bottle and an old one may not smell the same Bottle and lot, one bottle if you can
Jar batch and fill Diameter sets melt-pool size; fill sets burn length Batch, fill weight to the gram
Wick Changes flame and pool directly Same type and position; centred
Add and pour temperature Too hot can drive off top notes; too cool can mix poorly Measured, within the wax page's stated pour range
Stir time Incomplete mixing mimics a weaker load Same time for every arm
Cure and storage Soy throw commonly develops over days Same shelf, same days before each judging
Burn room and session Room size and air movement change perceived throw Same room, door shut, fan off, same session length

Measure, do not estimate: a scale that reads to 1 g at least (0.1 g is better for oil) and a thermometer. CSI's Pen Thermometer is ₹354.00 and in stock; our Candle Making Weighing Scale is out of stock on 4 October 2026, so use any reliable scale you already own.

Pour order that keeps the arms honest
Melt one batch of wax for all nine candles, weigh it into three pitchers, and add each arm's oil by weight to its own pitcher at the same temperature. Pour the control first, then 9%, then 8%, and note the time of each pour. If one pitcher cools while you work, that arm is no longer identical: reheat it to the same reading, do not guess. These are your results with your materials; CSI publishes no throw data for any oil, so the ladder is the only evidence that counts.

The blind panel: distance, time and scoring

Your own nose knows which candle is which. That is the problem.

You poured the candles, so you expect the 10% to be stronger, and expectation is a powerful scent. The panel has to be blind, and repeatable from day to day. A practical plan for a small workshop (worked example; adapt it):

1
Code the candlesSomeone who will not judge writes a letter code on each base and keeps the key sealed until the end.
2
Fix the room and the distanceA closed room of about 10 m², door shut, fan and AC off. Judges stand 2 m from the candle and enter one at a time.
3
Fix the timesJudge at the same points in every session: for example after 1 hour and after 2 hours of burning. Noses tire, so let judges step outside for fresh air between candles.
4
Compare against the controlEach judge smells the coded control and one coded test candle, in random order, and answers: same, or different? If different, which is stronger? Scores on a 0–5 scale are a useful second record.
5
Repeat on three daysAfter the cure the oil page states (48–72 hours for Woody Oud), then day 7 and day 14 (common practice). A load that is weaker at day 3 and equal at day 14 is a cure question, not a fail.

3 judges is a minimum, not a statistic. With so few, read the result as "nobody could reliably pick the lower arm as weaker", never as proof of equality. How to compare 6%, 8% and 10% objectively rather than choosing whichever smells strongest to you is set out in the objective load-comparison post; for an expensive oil specifically, the 7%-against-10% expensive-oil test.

Pass and fail: the five gates

Throw is one gate of five. Cost reduction never gets to skip the other four.

A lower arm becomes your new load only if it passes every gate against the control. Write the gates down before the first burn, so the result cannot bend them.

The five gates · lower arm against the control
Thresholds are worked examples of a sensible standard; set yours before you start
Gate Pass Fail
1. Hot throw, blind Judges do not pick it as weaker in a majority of comparisons on at least two of the three days (e.g. fewer than 2 of 3 judges) A majority pick it as weaker on two or more days
2. Melt pool Reaches the edge in about the same time as the control; similar depth Slower to the edge, or tunnels where the control did not
3. Flame and soot Similar height; no more carbon on the wick or soot on the glass Visibly larger, smaller or sootier flame
4. Last third Throw and burn hold to about 1 cm left; jar no hotter than the control Fades, floods, or runs hotter late in the burn
5. Surface and look No new sweating or pooling; frosting and wet spots no worse New oil on the surface, or a visible change customers would notice

Choose the lowest arm that passes all five. If 9% passes and 8% fails gate 1 only, the new load is 9%. If 8% passes gate 1 but floods in the last third, it fails, and the burn record tells you whether a wick change might rescue it; that belongs to the lower-load wick post, and the wick's own rungs to how many adjacent wick sizes to test. A candle that smells weaker only in the bottom half has its own diagnosis in the weaker-halfway-down post.

Mistake: passing an arm because it "smells fine to me" on the first evening. Why it fails: first-burn, sighted judgements are the least reliable result in the whole test, and the cost of a wrong pass is every candle you sell afterwards. Fix: no gate is passed until the full-life record is in, and gate 1 needs blind judgements on more than one day.

What the test costs, and what it protects

Nine candles is a small price for a load you will pour thousands of times.

The worked case: you produce a 160 g candle (worked fill; weigh yours) in the clear 200 ml Salsa with Woody Oud at 10%, Chunks wax, one Eco C2 and a Corrugated Box 11 x 11 x 8 cm. First, the production BOM the test protects, fully CSI-priced:

The candle under test · CSI-priced BOM · 10% now, 8% if it passes
160 g fill (worked) · oil ₹4.53/g · Chunks at the 10 kg price · Salsa at the 50-pack price · materials only, excludes labour, freight, GST and marketing · columns sum to 100.0% and 99.9% (rounding)
Line At 10% ₹ % of COGS At 8% ₹ % of COGS
Fragrance, Woody Oud 16.0 g ₹72.50 32.9% 12.8 g ₹58.00 27.9%
Wax, Chunks 144.0 g ₹86.39 39.2% 147.2 g ₹88.31 42.5%
Wick, Eco C2 1 ₹9.44 4.3% 1 ₹9.44 4.5%
Jar, clear Salsa (50-pack) 1 ₹29.50 13.4% 1 ₹29.50 14.2%
Box, Corrugated 11 x 11 x 8 cm 1 ₹22.42 10.2% 1 ₹22.42 10.8%
COGS ₹220.25 100% ₹207.67 100%

Fragrance is 32.9% of this candle at 10%, so the load is worth testing. Now the test itself, design A (10/9/8), counted two ways: the cash you spend, and the materials you actually use up (spare oil, wax, a jar and a wick stay usable).

Cost of one ladder · design A in the clear Salsa · nine candles
CSI prices live 4 October 2026 · labour 6 hours at ₹150.00 (worked example)
Line Bought Cash Consumed Cost consumed
Woody Oud two 100 g bottles ₹906.24 129.6 g ₹587.24
Chunks wax 1 kg + 500 g ₹898.00 1,310.4 g ₹784.93
Clear Salsa jars two 5-packs ₹401.20 9 jars ₹361.08
Eco C2 wicks one 10-pack ₹94.40 9 wicks ₹84.96
Labour (worked) 6 hours ₹900.00 6 hours ₹900.00
Total ₹3,199.84 ₹2,718.21

The same design for a 200 g candle in your own jar (₹70.00 a jar, worked example) uses 162 g of oil and 1,638 g of wax and costs about ₹3,330.17 consumed. Design B (8/7/6) in the Salsa needs 100.8 g of oil: one 100 g bottle is 0.8 g short, so buy two, or test from stock.

What it protects: if 8% passes, this candle costs ₹12.58 less, which is ₹12.58 a candle net of the wax that replaces the oil, ₹3,774.00 a month at 300 candles (worked). The test repays in about 216 candles, roughly 0.7 months. The full money case for a confirmed cut is the 10%-to-8% saving across 1,000 candles; here the point is simpler: the test is cheap next to what a wrong load costs.

Argued against our own interest: for a test, buy two 5-packs of the clear Salsa (₹401.20), not the 50-pack, unless you already produce in it: the 50-pack is cheaper per jar (₹29.50 against ₹40.12) but 41 spare jars are not a saving if you sell in a different jar. And if your current jar is not the Salsa, do not run the test in it at all: a load result only holds in the jar you sell.

Round two, and when to stop

The first ladder finds a direction. The second finds the floor.

Three outcomes are possible from round one, and each has a clear next step.

Only the control passes. Your current load is already close to the floor for this oil in this candle. Stop: the test has told you to look elsewhere for savings, which is worth knowing. If throw is also weak at the control, the problem may be the wick or wax, not the load.

The middle arm passes, the bottom fails. The new load is the middle arm (9% in design A). You could test a half point below it in a second round, but with a small panel the difference is hard to detect; most makers stop here (judgement).

Both lower arms pass. Run round two from the lowest passing load: that load as the new control and one point below it, three candles each. Stop when an arm fails, or at the bottom of the oil page's stated range. For Woody Oud starting at 10%, that means at most one more round (8% against 7%), then 6%.

Once a load passes, it is a formulation change like any other: write it on the recipe card, roll it out one SKU at a time, keep retained samples. The change-control side, including what else to retest when the oil formula moves, is the full retest list when the oil formula changes; a programme for testing cheaper options without risking bestsellers is the 10% cost-reduction test plan. If you have many oils to ladder, the order to test them in is the range-wide per-oil load post, and a wick check at the new load is whether a 10% to 8% cut needs a wick retest.

What the worked ladder uses

The four products in the worked test, sized for a nine-candle ladder. Chosen on page statements, price and stock on 4 October 2026; CSI publishes no throw data.

1
fragrance oil · the worked ladder's oil · flat per gram from 100 g
Woody Oud Fragrance Oil
The page states "candles (6-10%)" and says "Cure soy wax candles for 48-72 hours before burn testing". Its stated range runs from 6% to 10%, so both worked designs (10/9/8 and 8/7/6) stay inside what the page states. It is ₹4.53 a gram at 100 g, 500 g and 1 kg, so a test bought in 100 g bottles costs no more per gram than production stock. Argued against our own interest: if you already pour this oil, test from your production stock; do not buy new bottles for a ladder.
Size Price Per gram Covers design A (129.6 g)? Covers design B (100.8 g)?
15 g ₹93.22 ₹6.21 no no
50 g ₹271.40 ₹5.43 no no
100 g ₹453.12 ₹4.53 two bottles two bottles (0.8 g short with one)
500 g ₹2,265.60 ₹4.53 yes yes
1 kg ₹4,531.20 ₹4.53 yes yes
Design A uses 129.6 g, design B 100.8 g, at ₹4.53 a gram. Buy 100 g — ₹453.12
2
jar · the worked production jar · test in the jar you sell
200ml Salsa Glass Jar with 63mm Lug Cap (Golden Lid)
The worked candle's jar, because a load test only counts in the jar you sell. The page states "The 200ml capacity" with no dimensions and no gram fill, so the 160 g fill here is a worked example: at about 172 g–180 g of wax by the ml rule of thumb, weigh your own test pour. It says the glass "withstands the heat of hot wax without cracking or warping" and describes the jar as "Upcycled and ready to be reborn": ask us on WhatsApp about condition and batch consistency before a test depends on it. It is the only 200 ml listing with a pack saving: ₹10.62 less per jar in 50s.
Pack Price Per jar For a 9-candle ladder
5 Pcs ₹200.60 ₹40.12 two packs (one spare)
50 Pcs ₹1,475.00 ₹29.50 only if you produce in this jar
100 Pcs ₹2,950.00 ₹29.50 production quantity
Two 5-packs (₹401.20) cover a nine-candle ladder with one spare. Buy 5 — ₹200.60
3
wick · the same wick in every arm
Eco Candle Wicks — Thick (C2)
One wick for all nine candles, because the wick is held constant in a load test. The page states no length or jar range in the text we captured; whether C2 suits your jar is a separate bracket test, done before the load ladder. Flat per wick at every pack: the 10-pack covers a ladder. The C1 10-pack is out of stock on 4 October 2026. Limitation: if a lower load changes the flame, that is a finding for the lower-load wick post, not a reason to change the wick mid-test.
Pack Price Per wick For a 9-candle ladder
Thick (C2) / 10 ₹94.40 ₹9.44 covers one ladder
Thick (C2) / 20 · 50 · 100 ₹188.80 · ₹472.00 · ₹944.00 ₹9.44 flat per wick
Thin (C1) / 10 ₹59.00 — Out of stock ₹5.90 Out of stock on 4 October 2026
Thin (C1) / 20 ₹118.00 ₹5.90 only for a separate wick rung
₹9.44 a wick whichever pack; the 10-pack is enough. Buy C2 10 — ₹94.40
4
wax · the worked ladder's wax · ceiling up to 13%
Luxury Soy Wax Chunks for Jar / Container Candles
The page states "up to 13% fragrance load capacity" (its FAQ says "13% of total wax weight"). A 10% control is 11.11% of wax weight, inside that ceiling on either reading, so every arm here is a cost question, not a ceiling one. Use one lot for all nine candles. Argued against our own interest: buy 1.5 kg for the test, not 10 kg: the 10 kg costs ₹9.00 more than ten 1 kg bags, and the 500 g is fractionally the cheapest per gram.
Size Price Per gram For design A in Salsa (1,310.4 g)
500 g ₹299.00 ₹0.60 with a 1 kg bag
1 kg ₹599.00 ₹0.60 1 kg + 500 g covers it
5 kg ₹2,995.00 ₹0.60 production, not the test
10 kg ₹5,999.00 ₹0.60 production, not the test
1 kg + 500 g (₹898.00) covers design A in the Salsa. Buy 1 kg — ₹599.00
Diwali is 8 November 2026, 35 days from 4 October 2026. A ladder poured this week can finish its day-14 judging before Diwali, but not its full-life burns for most candles. Pour festive stock at your current load; move to the new load in January, after the burn record is complete. Send us your production quantities when it passes and we will quote with a GST invoice and dispatch date.
WhatsApp my ladder plan
The CSI principle
Test down from what you pour, one point at a time, with one variable and a blind panel.
The lowest arm that passes every gate through the last third is your load. Nothing else is evidence.
"A load test is nine candles and three weeks. A wrong load is every candle you sell after it."
— CandleMakingSuppliesIndia
Why trust this guide

CandleMakingSuppliesIndia sells the oil, wax, jars and wicks named here and does not sell finished candles. This page still tells you to test from your own stock, to buy two 5-packs of jars rather than our cheaper 50-pack for a test, and not to test in any jar you do not sell.

Every CSI price was checked on the live store on 4 October 2026, size by size; every size shown is in stock on that date except the Eco C1 10-pack and the Candle Making Weighing Scale, both flagged. Product wording is quoted from the pages; where a page is silent in the text we captured, we say so.

The 160 g Salsa fill, the 200 g candle, your jar price, the panel size, distance, room and judging times, the pass thresholds, 300 candles a month and labour at ₹150.00 an hour are labelled worked examples; which load passes is your test's answer, not ours. For bulk pricing, GST invoicing, and MSDS and IFRA documentation on request, message us on WhatsApp at +91 7397976926.

Frequently asked questions

What fragrance percentages should I test to lower candle cost?
Your current load plus two rungs one point below it: 10/9/8 from 10%, or 8/7/6 from 8%. Stay inside both stated ceilings and the oil page's stated range.
How many test candles do I need per fragrance load?
At least three per arm, so nine for a three-load ladder, all poured the same day with the same wax lot, jar batch and wick.
How do I judge hot throw fairly when testing fragrance loads?
Code the candles so judges do not know the load, use the same closed room, distance and burn time, compare each test candle with the control, and repeat after cure and at day 7 and 14.
Should I test 0.5% steps in fragrance load?
Not in a first round. One-point steps are easier for a small panel to tell apart. Half-point steps suit a second round with more judges and candles.
How much does a fragrance load test cost?
For the worked nine-candle ladder in the clear Salsa with Woody Oud, about ₹2,718.21 in materials consumed and labour, or ₹3,199.84 cash as bought with spares left over.
When is a lower fragrance load safe to use in production?
When it passes all five gates against the control (blind throw, melt pool, flame and soot, last third, surface) through a full-life burn, and is written on the recipe card.
Testing lower loads
Current load and two rungs below, one variable, judged blind, burned to the end.
The worked ladder costs about ₹2,718.21 and protects every candle you pour afterwards. Send us your candle size, jar and current load on WhatsApp and we will tell you the smallest packs that cover your test.
Shop Woody Oud 100 g Plan my ladder on WhatsApp
Continue the read — fragrance oil is costing too much
Editorial standards & sources
About this guide: part of CSI's cluster on fragrance oil costing too much (6021–6040) in the series on candle cost reduction and raw-material optimisation. It owns the design of a lower-load fragrance test for cost reduction: which percentages (current, −1, −2 points, inside both ceilings and the oil's stated range), what stays fixed, the blind panel, the five pass/fail gates, round two, and the cost of the test at CSI prices.

Customer reviews: The six reviews at the top of this page are genuine, published Judge.me reviews left by CSI customers on the product pages named on each card — British Rose Fragrance Oil, Eco Candle Wicks, Jasmine Fragrance Oil, Luxury Soy Wax Chunks for Jar / Container Candles, Woody Oud Fragrance Oil. They are general product reviews, not assessments of the cost-reduction advice on this page. Names, star ratings, dates and products are as recorded by Judge.me and wording is unedited. "Verified buyer" appears only on reviews Judge.me recorded as verified — Payal Patel, Subhankar Roy, Kaushiki Satarkar. The reviews from Ashwini, Emma Bechara, S.A. are published but not recorded as verified, and carry no badge. Reviews below five stars are included as published, not filtered out.

Figures verified 4 October 2026, CSI live pricing: Woody Oud Fragrance Oil 15 g ₹93.22 (₹6.21/g), 50 g ₹271.40 (₹5.43/g), 100 g ₹453.12, 500 g ₹2,265.60, 1 kg ₹4,531.20 (₹4.53/g each); 200ml Salsa Glass Jar with 63mm Lug Cap (Golden Lid), clear: 5 Pcs ₹200.60 (₹40.12 each), 50 Pcs ₹1,475.00, 100 Pcs ₹2,950.00 (₹29.50 each); Eco Candle Wicks Thick (C2) 10 ₹94.40, 20 ₹188.80, 50 ₹472.00, 100 ₹944.00 (₹9.44 a wick); Thin (C1) 10 ₹59.00 (out of stock), 20 ₹118.00; Luxury Soy Wax Chunks 500 g ₹299.00, 1 kg ₹599.00, 5 kg ₹2,995.00, 10 kg ₹5,999.00; Corrugated Box for Candle Packaging (11 x 11 x 8 cm) pack of 50 ₹1,121.00 (₹22.42 each); Pen Thermometer ₹354.00; Candle Making Weighing Scale ₹354.00 (out of stock). Every other size listed is in stock on 4 October 2026. Per unit = price ÷ grams or units, two decimals.

Non-price figures: the clear Salsa page states "The 200ml capacity" with no dimensions or gram fill; the 160 g fill is a worked example (weigh your own pour; ml-to-g rule of thumb 0.86–0.9). The 200 g candle, your jar at ₹70.00, 3 judges, 2 m, a 10 m² room, judging after 1 and 2 hours, the gate thresholds, 300 candles a month and labour of 6 hours at ₹150.00 are worked examples. Load is a percentage of total candle weight. Wax ceilings as the pages state (Chunks up to 13%, its FAQ says of total wax weight; CSI 464 up to 10%, basis not stated): formulation limits, not regulatory ones. Cure 48–72 hours is the Woody Oud page's wording; day 7 and 14 judging is common practice. Diwali 8 November 2026 is a calendar fact.
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