How Much Wax and Fragrance Should I Keep as a Retained Sample If I Need to Investigate Future Customer Complaints?

Size the sample from the test you will run

Most advice on retained samples gives a flat figure. A flat figure is easy to follow but it ignores the only thing that matters: what you will do with the sample when a complaint arrives. You will remake the candle. So the amount to keep is set by how many comparison candles you want to be able to make, at your real candle size and your real fragrance load.

A useful investigation compares a candle remade from the retained lot against one made from current stock, poured the same day and burnt side by side. One comparison candle per side is fragile, because a single wick placed slightly off centre can mislead you. Two per side is better. And because complaints sometimes need a second look, or two complaints about the same lot arrive weeks apart, it is sensible to keep enough for two such investigations.

That gives a suggested starting point of four candles' worth of wax and oil from each lot, plus a small extra reserve of oil for smelling strips. It is a starting point to validate against your own complaint history, not a rule. If you never need a second investigation, you can reduce it later.

The arithmetic, using your own formula

Fragrance load is a percentage of the total candle weight. So for any candle, the wax in it is the candle weight multiplied by one minus the load, and the oil is the candle weight multiplied by the load. At 8%, a 200 g candle holds 184 g wax and 16 g oil. Four such candles need 736 g of wax and 64 g of oil.

Run the same sum for your own sizes. The table below shows three common fills at 8%. If your formula uses a different load, change the multiplier: at 10%, which is the stated maximum for Luxury Soy Wax CSI 464, a 200 g candle holds 180 g wax and 20 g oil, so four candles need 720 g wax and 80 g oil.

One lot, several products

Many workshops pour one wax lot into more than one product: a 100 g travel tin and a 300 g jar, for example, or the same wax at 8% for one scent and a higher load for another. Size the retained wax for the most demanding case, which is the largest fill at the lowest load, because that candle needs the most wax. Size each fragrance lot for the largest fill at the load that scent actually uses. In the travel-tin-and-jar case at 8%, that means retaining 1.104 kg of wax rather than 368 g, since a 300 g complaint cannot be investigated with a sample sized for 100 g candles.

If the same fragrance runs at different loads in different waxes, calculate the oil for each combination and keep the larger figure. Stay within each wax maker's stated maximum when you plan: up to 10% for CSI 464, up to 13% for CSI 468 and for Luxury Soy Wax Chunks.

Round up rather than down. A few extra grams cover what clings to the pouring pitcher and the stirring stick, and a retained sample that falls short by 20 g is a candle you cannot make.

What that means against the size of the lot

A fixed retained quantity is a small share of a large lot and a large share of a small one. It is worth seeing this in numbers, because it changes how you should behave for small purchases.

For small fragrance purchases, such as a 100 g or 500 g lot bought to trial a new scent, the four-candle rule is too heavy. Keep two candles' worth, or simply whatever remains after the trial, and move to full retention once the scent becomes a production line. For wax, the figure is modest against any bulk pack you would sell from.

Storing the sample so it stays a fair reference

Quantity is wasted if the sample degrades. Wax is forgiving: a sealed bag inside a closed box, in a cool, dry place away from sunlight, keeps it comparable for a long time. CSI 464 and CSI 468 both carry a stated shelf life of 60 months under cool, dry storage, which is a sensible outer limit for how long a retained wax sample remains a fair comparison.

Fragrance oil needs more care, because air, heat and light all change it. The enemy is headspace: every time a half-empty container is opened, fresh air sits on top of the oil. Split the oil sample into two containers from the start. One holds the candle quantity and stays sealed until an investigation. The other is the strip reserve that you may open occasionally. That way, smelling the oil never compromises the portion you will remake candles from.

Wicks, dye, jars and the finished candle

The other components are cheap to retain because you need so little. Match the wick count to the candle count: four wicks for four comparison candles, plus one or two spare in case one is damaged while wicking. Keep a small amount of each dye lot, enough to colour a few candles. Keep one or two jars from each jar delivery so you can check dimensions if the melt pool changes.

Finally, keep one finished candle from each production batch, cured and stored with the others. It does not replace the raw-material samples, but it tells you exactly what the customer received, aged in the same conditions as their candle.

Put together for a 200 g candle at 8%, the full retained set for one production lot is 736 g wax, 64 g oil plus a strip reserve, four to six wicks, a little dye, a jar or two and one finished candle. It fits in a single small box. Against the cost of guessing at a complaint, it is the best-value storage space in the workshop.

Where this page fits

CSI already has guides that cover parts of this question. This page takes the production-floor angle; these go deeper on the rest:

Three things to buy for this job

Frequently asked questions