Do Wax Melts Lose Their Scent?


Wax melts are a great way to fragrance your home without having to light a wick. If you live in an apartment or dorm room, wax melts can be a life saving product to fight against unwanted odors and to make your home smell the way you want it to. One thing to take into consideration with wax melts is whether or not they lose their fragrance after they’ve been melted for a period of time.

Wax melts don’t evaporate like the wax in candles does, but they do lose their fragrance after a period of time. Brands will typically label their wax melt packages with an amount of time your fragrance will stay in the wax melts. After your fragrance runs out, you will be left with unscented wax to reuse or dispose of.

Despite losing their fragrance after use, wax melts are a great alternative to candles and can bring your home a wonderful fragrance if you can’t use candles. Wax melts also allow you to become creative with the way you fragrance your home. When your wax melts lose their fragrance, you can use either essential oils or fragrance oils to reinfuse them, too.

essential oils

Why Should I Use Wax Melts?

There are many different reasons to use wax melts. The most prominent reason people choose to use them is because they are either unable to burn candles or they want to avoid burning candles. This can be because they live in an apartment or dorm and are not allowed to burn candles or because they have small children and worry less by not burning candles.

When you use wax melts, you are taking advantage of a flameless opportunity to fragrance your home. This proves to be a safer alternative to burning candles. Not only are you eliminating the risk of starting a fire if your candle tips over, but you’re also eliminating the soot that comes with burning a scented candle.

Wax melts are packed with more fragrance than candles are, which provides a stronger scent throw. Also, wax melts are warmed at a lower temperature than candles, which also helps increase the maximum scent throw. Because of these factors, wax melts last longer than candles do.

Wax melts are also a cheaper alternative to candles. You can get a package of wax melts for under $10, while most good quality candles can cost anywhere from $20 and above. You’re also given a fragrance lifespan for your money with wax melts than you are with candles. Because of this, wax melts are a great way to fragrance your home while saving money.

You are given more of an opportunity to customize your fragrances when you use wax melts instead of candles. With wax melts, you can easily place two are three different fragranced melts into the melting dish and they’ll swirl together, creating a cohesive and lovely fragrance that you’ve created on your own. While you can burn more than one candle at once, the fragrances don’t blend together as well as fragrances from wax melts do.

Read our full review on Best Wax Melts.

How to Prolong the Fragrance in Your Wax Melts

When using wax melts, you want to get the most for your money. While they’re cheaper than candles, that doesn’t mean you don’t want to preserve their fragrance as long as you can. Prolonging the lifespan of your wax melt’s fragrance comes down to simply caring for your wax melts.

Most wax melt companies recommend that you seal your melts in an airtight container once you’re finished using them. This will help ensure the least amount of air gets to your melts to stop the fragrance from fading. The more air that is exposed to your wax melts gives the fragrance more opportunity to be used up by filling the air it’s exposed to with it’s fragrance.

Another recommendation from companies that sell wax melts is that you store your melts in a cool area. If you use a wax warmer in the kitchen, you can still store the melts in the kitchen but you should consider storing them in a draw that isn’t near the stove. If the wax melts heat up while in their containers, the fragrance will begin to dissipate, which will give you a weaker scent throw and less time enjoying the fragrance.

It’s also recommended that you store your melts in a dark area, meaning an area not in direct sunlight. A drawer away from heat sources is a perfect place to store your melts. If you place your melts in direct sunlight, it can begin to warm up your melts, which in turn will also cause your fragrance to dissipate.

Another way to prolong your wax melt’s fragrance is to switch out the fragrances every so often. If you use the same fragrance for too long, you’ll become what people call “nose blind”. This means that after smelling the same fragrance for too long, you won’t be able to pick up that scent as easily. This is the reason why you walk into your home and don’t notice what it smells like but a guest does when they walk in.

Read more about 6 Ways to Make Wax Melts Last Longer.

Reusing Your Wax Melts

Once you’ve used up all the fragrance in your wax melts, you have two options: you can either throw away the unscented wax or you can reuse it. Reusing your wax melts is a great way to save money and to create a greener lifestyle. By reusing your melts, you’re creating less waste by not only reusing the wax, but possibly reusing the container the original melts were packaged in.

Most companies encourage you to reuse the unscented wax after you’ve run out of fragrance. All you need to purchase if you’re choosing to reuse your wax is either fragrance oils or essential oils, depending on your preference. This is a great way to expand your creativity and find new fragrance blends that you enjoy. This is also a great way to save money as you can make several batches of wax melts with a single bottle of essential or fragrance oil.

When reusing your wax, place it in a heat proof container and pop it into the microwave to melt it. When the wax is warm and melted, use whatever fragrance or essential oil you choose to add some fragrance to the melted wax. Then, pour the wax into your desired container, whether it be the container you purchased the wax melts in or a cute tray with different shapes.

Once the wax solidifies, make sure you store it in an airtight container to preserve the fragrance you just infused into it. Then, once you’re ready to use it, place a cube or two into the melting tray, turn it on, and you’ll have the fragrance you created filling your room.

Read more about Can You Reuse Wax Melts?

Final Thoughts

Wax melts are a great way to bring fragrance into your home without having an open flame, like you would with a candle. Whether you’re unable to use candles or choose not to for safety reasons, wax melts are a great alternative. The fragrance they hold lasts longer than candles do, too.

There are so many opportunities that are opened up when you use wax melts. You can customize the fragrances by mixing wax melts together and you can reuse your wax once the fragrance is finished. As long as you take care of your wax melts, you can have a long lasting fragrance with a strong scent throw.

Wax melts do inevitably lose their fragrance after you’ve been warming them for a period of time. Regardless, you are still given a long period of time to expect your fragrance to last in each wax melt. And when the fragrance is all gone, you can become creative and make your own blend of fragrances through fragrance oils or essential oils to completely revamp your unscented wax.

Grace Young

I love candles! I have personally tried over 100 brands of candles. The total burn time of these candles is over 5000 hours. I also talk about essential oil diffusers and reed diffusers. Essential oil diffusers and diffusers are also an important part of the scent in my home.

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