Stearic acid

[DasBreenee]

Had anyone every used it, or even vybar in melts? I'm wondering if it affects melts badly? I've found so many good container waxes but I just can't find a good pillar wax to even out the consistency and still have a good throw. It's driving me insane. Has anyone uses stearic acid in container wax for melts? Does it harden it up pretty decently? Does it affect throw or anything? Same for vybar! 

[Sponiebr]

When I was a kid, which wasn't that long ago... I remember seeing the Rockies pop up out of the ground, and... unfortunately I don't have the time to tell you about the events that led up to using paraffin wax. Suffice it to say when I was a kid we didn't have any other kinds of wax that I can remember other than paraffin, beeswax, carnauba, and crayons. The stores had paraffin in Gulf Wax boxes (by the pound), shrink wrapped slabs of beeswax or little square slabs sold unwrapped (and sometimes comb wax), carnauba was in granules. There was always a bag of stearic acid in the same area for hardening waxes. There weren't any soy or other preblended waxes, if you wanted super hard you mixed in carnuaba. if you wanted soft for votives it was mostly beeswax or (if I remember right, vasoline mixed with paraffin). People were doing crazy stuff like melting 6 pack rings and milk jugs and adding wax, They'd mix in hot glue sometimes, and crayons were always a staple. It was a lawless and CRAZY time. I really didn't mess with it, I had my hands full with the rest of the funny farm insanity, but I remember the women talking about it and in my family (I'm getting to it... ) 

for dipped table candles we used straight paraffin with stearic acid colored with Crayola crayons, (not those Rose Art crap-ons). I have no idea what the usage rate was but the stearic acid significantly hardened up the paraffin and increased the burn time of the dipped table candles.  I'm going to assume that it also increased the melting point of the paraffin.  I also can't tell you anything about scent throw because I'd never even heard of a fragrance oil or an essential oil until I got to college.

Not much info, I know, but FWIW I hope it helps.  

Sponiebr

[Jcandleattic]

I only used stearic it in my pillars, as it helps with opacity, and also works well as a mold release. I've never used it in a container wax and dont' think it would be beneficial to do so. The only reason IMO to use it in a melt is to make the melt a bit harder (but with container wax, it wont' harden it significantly IMO) and a bit more opaque. 

Vybar, too much and it can bind your scent, so there would be no throw. if you are using a paraffin blend it usually already has the vybar and stearic incorporated into the waxes. 

 

Most people blend a pillar wax with a container wax to get good throw in their melts. This is what I do, and I have very nice smelling, long lasting melts.