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Having problem with wax blends needs suggestion


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I am new into candlemaking for a while and having tried many combination during the course and need some expert comments

since i am in India and no pre fabricated wax blends are available 

all has to be done by yourself

my first blend was 

450 gms soy wax

5% palm stearic(22)gms

4% vybar (18 gms)

30 ml fragrance oil

color dye

and appropriate wick

problem faced were low cold throw and big wax pool

 

second experiment

250 gms soy wax

200 gms bees wax

50 gms paraffin oil

same fragrance oil and dye and wick

 

good things were good cold and hot throw

 

problem faced 

very little wax pool 

tunnelling 

and ugly looking jar with wax adhered to the sides of jar

pics attached

 

can anyone suggest the right blend that fixes these problems 

really stressed

image.jpeg

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Hello Amy,

 

You will need to be more specific on the following for any one to help you.

1.  What brand  and style wax and where from?

2.  What brand wick, the size you used, and where from?

3.  Is that what looks like to me a 16oz country comfort or apothecary jar?

4.  How much oil in ounces did you put per each pound of wax?

 

From the picture I detect:

1.  You are severely over wicked.  This causes sooting.

2.  If you use more than the recommended amount of oil per pound of wax that can cause it could be clogging the wick.

3.   I would suggest testings of another different style wick.

 

So many things come into play when blending waxes.  No one can tell you what to use.  You have to continually test.

I don't know what you mean when you say you are using paraffin oil?   Did you mean paraffin wax?

All the additives of stearic acid and vybar sure do come into play in the performance of a candle.  Maybe you don't need all this?

 

I don't blend any waxes so I can't make any suggestions of what is or isn't proper to be adding together to bring a nice wax combo.  Everyone has their own wax formula combinations and it is a never ending battle to a great blend is achieved.  There are a lot of chandlers here who I'm sure will come and make suggestions for doing blends. 


It would be great if you could state what you use in ounces and pounds for most of us to understand.

 

 Good luck to you!

 

Trappeur

 

 

Edited by Trappeur
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Here’s a nice place to learn a bit about the chemistry behind blends. Maybe some of the ingredients and ideas from this site will help you choose from what is available to you:

http://www.howtomakecandles.info/cm_article.asp?ID=CANDL0401

 

do click the various article links on the left of the page to learn more about how and why each ingredient behaves as it does. 

 

You have an infinite combination of possibilities with candle making. It takes a lot of time, experimentation and note taking to learn nough to make a great, safe candle from scratch. 

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Okay, so your first blend was about a pound of wax and too much stearic and vybar.  My suggestion is to skip the vybar completely and add only about 1-2 teaspoons of stearic acid per pound.  I think the excess vybar may have had a negative effect on your fragrance.

 

On your second experiment, I'm not sure of that combination since not all soy waxes blend well with beeswax and I've never used paraffin oil.

 

Can you tell us the wick size you used, for instance, in the yellow candle? ... and the dimension across the top of the glass? The flame looks quite bold. 

Edited by birdcharm
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5 hours ago, birdcharm said:

Okay, so your first blend was about a pound of wax and too much stearic and vybar.  My suggestion is to skip the vybar completely and add only about 1-2 teaspoons of stearic acid per pound.  I think the excess vybar may have had a negative effect on your fragrance.

 

On your second experiment, I'm not sure of that combination since not all soy waxes blend well with beeswax and I've never used paraffin oil.

 

Can you tell us the wick size you used, for instance, in the yellow candle? ... and the dimension across the top of the glass? The flame looks quite bold. 

Thanks bird harm for your concern and your tips 

in India there is no such standard wicks or brands or sizes and even wax are unbranded too.

and everything has to be done on presumptions and assumptions by experimenting

the yellow one in the background is forsurely over wicked and was

Blend no 1 no problem in burning but of course with fragrance that can not be seen

the blend no2 is in the forefront and is quiet sticky may be due to paraffin oil or beeswax I don't know

and the wick seems to be clogged too while burning

i appreciate your suggestion of avoiding vybar 

the question that come to my mind is when it is stated that vybar increases the scent throw so can i use both stearic and vybar in moderation may be 1 tsp stearic and 1/2 tsp vybar 

and moreover is there any need to add beeswax 

and what good or bad it will do

 

do reply please

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20 hours ago, Trappeur said:

Hello Amy,

 

You will need to be more specific on the following for any one to help you.

1.  What brand  and style wax and where from?

2.  What brand wick, the size you used, and where from?

3.  Is that what looks like to me a 16oz country comfort or apothecary jar?

4.  How much oil in ounces did you put per each pound of wax?

 

From the picture I detect:

1.  You are severely over wicked.  This causes sooting.

2.  If you use more than the recommended amount of oil per pound of wax that can cause it could be clogging the wick.

3.   I would suggest testings of another different style wick.

 

So many things come into play when blending waxes.  No one can tell you what to use.  You have to continually test.

I don't know what you mean when you say you are using paraffin oil?   Did you mean paraffin wax?

All the additives of stearic acid and vybar sure do come into play in the performance of a candle.  Maybe you don't need all this?

 

I don't blend any waxes so I can't make any suggestions of what is or isn't proper to be adding together to bring a nice wax combo.  Everyone has their own wax formula combinations and it is a never ending battle to a great blend is achieved.  There are a lot of chandlers here who I'm sure will come and make suggestions for doing blends. 


It would be great if you could state what you use in ounces and pounds for most of us to understand.

 

 Good luck to you!

 

Trappeur

 

 

Hi Trappeueur 

thanks for the reply and your concern

for your first set of questions i would say there are no branded and standard wax blends as well as wicks are available in India we do all the things through hit and trial

the jar is is a 6 oz yankee jar

the oils is paraffin oil that is mineral oil and i use about 3.5 oz in 2 pounds of wax( 17.5 ozsoy wax and 14 oz bees wax) and 60 ml of fragrance oil that makes a total of 2.3 pounds

i agree every one has its own wax formula 

and through this platform i would like to hear experiences of the pioneers like you and benefit 

thank you 

and waiting for your reply further

 

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Wow Amy.....that is unbelievable you have to do things trial and error...God love ya!

 

Geesh, I sure wished I could help/make suggestions. -  But that is sure shooting in the dark!

 

You know there are so many seasoned chandlers on this board who will come and make their sugguestions, but  I know they will be saying the same thing.

I'm thinking what may help others to help you some is if you told the actual name of the companies of where you buy and what you buy and let them go over to those websites and they can read up on what you are using and go from there and give some suggestions?   

 

Trappeur

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7 hours ago, Amy2180 said:

Thanks birdcharm for your concern and your tips ......

.......  and the wick seems to be clogged too while burning

i appreciate your suggestion of avoiding vybar 

the question that come to my mind is when it is stated that vybar increases the scent throw so can i use both stearic and vybar in moderation may be 1 tsp stearic and 1/2 tsp vybar 

and moreover is there any need to add beeswax 

and what good or bad it will do

 

do reply please

 

Hi Amy,

Maybe try still using the vybar at less than 2% if you wish to experiment, but note that there are two types of vybar, one of them being for lower meltpoint waxes.  Is the wicking you're using a cotton wicking?  Most likely if it's cotton, you need only to down size it a bit, as cotton should work fine.  I think the beeswax/paraffin oil or something in your one blend might be the problem with the sticky part, but if you can get your other blend fine tuned, that would be a great start!

 

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Thanks birdcharm and  trappeur

the wick i use is a cotton flat braided one and are available in diiferent sizes

to fine tune my blends i will be experimenting with several combinations around 5 of them

1. 75% soywax 25% beeswax

2. 80% soywax 20% beeswax

3. 75% soywax 20% beeswax 5% paraffin oil

4. 80% soywax 15% beeswax 5% paraffin oil

5. 80% soywax 15% beeswax 5% palm stearic 

with same fragrance load in all 

 

will report the burn result in few days and ask for further suggestions

thanks

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I've seen recipes that call for 75% soy and 25% beeswax ... and, I'm pretty sure I've read some recipes on this board.  You may wish to check that out.  This is something I'd like to try sometime, but haven't gotten around to it.  I don't know about adding the paraffin oil though ... if it's needed, or if it will make for a marbled candle, etc.  Good luck and I'll keep an eye out for your test results! 

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wanted suggestions for the best wax to be used to prime the wick 

should i use pure beeswax only I used it once and the wick turned quiet harder than the soy ones 

is it good or bad 

or i use the blend of the container candle i am using;  to prime the wick

i want to avoid paraffin for priming 

Need more suggestions on this also

thanks

Edited by Amy2180
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16 hours ago, Amy2180 said:

wanted suggestions for the best wax to be used to prime the wick 

should i use pure beeswax only I used it once and the wick turned quiet harder than the soy ones 

is it good or bad 

or i use the blend of the container candle i am using;  to prime the wick

i want to avoid paraffin for priming 

Need more suggestions on this also

thanks

 

I think that the wax blend you're using is probably best, but a test for any differences would probably be good to do.  You can dip the wicking into the wax and then lay it on a waxed paper or something similar and allow it to harden.  Depending on the metal wick tabs you're using, you will find it easier one way or the other to prime before or after threading through the tab.

 

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  • 4 months later...

I would use waxes that are easily available to you. Beeswax and coconut oil could make a very nice candle. Also if you have something 

we call crisco you can use that to make candles with as well.

It sounds like you don’t even know if it’s the same Soywax batch to batch. So start very simple.

With Candles you want consistency. So start with a very simple blend, and find wicking you know is the same.

What kind of candle do you want to make? Container?

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