chris77

Thank you to all who responded. I am going to give up on the 125. I thought I'd try since I had 50lbs of it.....have had some better look appearance wise with 100 degree pouring and mixing with beeswax. The wicking is difficult and I can not get it to hold much scent....as much as I wanted to use 100%, why should I settle for 3-4% FO max when I can get 8% in some of the Golden Brands soys? I guess I'm back to the drawing board on which soy I want to use. Frustrating.....

Thanks again for the feedback and on your experiences....

Chris

Ok, if you left it in the mold that long and used your heat gun, the wax melted and ran between the solid layer and the mold...making it more difficult to get out. At 8 hours you should've popped the first layer out, remelted it and started over. wait 2 or 3 hours, check the thickness of the layer and heat and then pour your next layer. 8 hours is way too long to add another layer....you don't want to reheat your mold or the top of the layer as the wax will run back inbetwee the wax and mold and make things impossible for you. If the candle is complete, just 15 minutes in the fridge should suffice.

HTH

C

Well I waited 8 to 10 hours then used my heat gun to remelt the top layer and waited until it was cool again then poured at a much lower temperature than the first.

The problem I am having now is getting out of the mold. I put in in the freezer for about 5 minutes and it cracked. LOL. I figured it would. How long should I have left it in there? Would putting in in the refrigerator work better?

Sorry for all the questions.

it's 100% soy

So I'm finally starting to get somewhere with Candlewic's Soy125, although not completely sold on it. Figured I had 50lbs, might as well do something with it.

Here are the troubles

- low fragrance load. Rated 4-5% I have successfully made it with 6.5%, however the texture on the side of the jar is not creamy and solid, you can see where the oil is not mixed completely with the wax. Makes for a great smelling candle, except I want the creamy/solid look and I'm afraid it will bleed on top when it gets warm.

- I have to heat gun, several times to get a nice top, however sometimes after I heat gun I get what looks similar to frosting, but I think it's tiny tiny airbubbles.

This is a wicking problem I think, so maybe someone will chime in

- I'm in a 8oz jj and have tried anywhere from eco8-eco12 and am not happy with any of them. The 8 and 10 do ok with vanilla for about up to 3 hours. If I burn longer than 3 hours, then the wick dances and mushrooms. The 8 does not give a full melt pool. Now, after about 3 burns, when it cools and you smell the candle, the Fragrance smell has greatly diminished and most of what I smell is burnt wick. Is that normal with any of your candles, or does my wick search unfortunately continue for me?

Mushrooming, do you consider it a good candle if it goes 4 hours with no mushrooming, or can your candles marathon burn all day with no mushrooming and trimming?

Sorry so long, thank you if you actually read the whole thing!

C

Well I waited overnight or 8 to 10 hours so I don't think I poured to soon. Maybe too hot?

you waited 8 to 10 hours to do your second pour? If your first layer gets too cool, the hot wax on the next layer can get between the mold and the first layer...causing more undesirable effects and can make it harder to get the candle out of the mold. I wait a couple of hours or more depending on the candle and how hot it is.

c

Won't that cause bleeding? If not, what does cause the bleeding of the colors?

Your colors may bleed if you pour your second layer too soon while the first layer is still too hot. First layer should not be too warm or too cool. You'll have to experiment a little to find out when the best time is for the pillar you are doing. I did one too soon the other day, I didn't have to push too hard on the skin of the first layer for it to move or sink....that is definitely too soon.

hopefully someone else will chime in with what works for them, that's about all I can tell you.

Good luck

C

You have to poke relief holes to let any trapped air escape as the candle cools and shrinks, otherwise you end up with air pockets in your candles.

You want to pour each layer 5-10 degrees hotter than the previous so the layers will adhere to each other.

hope that helps

Chris

Top, I knew you were a thug.....LMAO

Get a digital scale from that guy on ebay he has great scales for great $$...I did and love it......forget his name though...maybe someone else can chime in.

Wildernot? maybe something close to that.

I have a digital scale, not from ebay....but I'm not liking it all that much. paid too much for something that is so jumpy and does not allow me to measure easily. It's hard to know what is going to be good, even when they give the specs for it, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be good. ok, venting done

That's twenty-eight cents for the wax, isn't it?

I'm not irritated; heck I even made the mistake of first calculating the wax at 8 ounces per jar (duh, I know). Just making sure I have the numbers straight.

*lol* ok, now you got me.....yeah, that would be 28 cents, so about 67 cents when we calculate it that way...hehe...I sure feel dumb about now...so yeah, 67 cents...a great deal.

so Crowded, put the two of us together and we'll get it figured out eventually! :highfive:

She also posted later in the thread that she added 10 cents to the cost of the wax for "electricity", so if she's using 6.7oz of wax per jar that's still a comfy 67 cents a pound for wax, including shipping.

I repeat again from my last post.....she said that she pays 38 cents for the wax in the jelly jar. That would make her pay 91 cents a pound. You can get 1 case of soy wax, 50 lbs at Candlewic for 80 cents a pound. That would bring your cost of you ordered from them down to about 33 cents for the wax per jelly jar.

The moral of the story is that you don't have to buy truckload and by the pallet to get a good deal....sometimes a good sale will suffice.

Not trying to get under anyones skin or to irritate.....just want to clarify the misunderstandings from some of the other previous posts in regards to numbers.

Thanks,

C

If she's getting her wax at 56 cents a pound with shipping I'd bet she's also buying more than a dozen jars at a time, too.

Just a guess. Buying in major bulk is often much cheaper.

I'm thinking she pays more than 56 cents a pound. If she's using an 8 oz jelly jar, she's only getting about 6.7 oz of wax to it. so 6.7 oz at the 38 cents that she posted.....comes out to about 91 cents a pound. I'm Candlewic normally sells their soy 125 for .96 a pound when you buy a case, right now however it's only .80 cents per pound until June 9. That gets your cost down to .33-.34 cents a jelly jar for wax.

I'm a numbers guy, what can I say!

C

I am still learning about soy and have poured several lately....I myself do not care for the funny textures that it gets...however my wife could care less about it. I'm the anal one about how it should look...she likes the smell. My sister who has severe allergies could care less how it looks either, she is just happy to be able to burn a candle without having a reaction. I guess it's a toss up either way. Maybe I shouldn't mind the texture if other's just like the fact that it's natural.

That's my 2 cents....now I'm "centsless"

Chris

I'm starting container candles and have a question about your pricing structure vs profit. When doing the formula of 4 x cost to get your selling price, are you making a profit on the container itself, or multiplying the cost of the candle itself, using the container as a means to sell the product? so if it costs 2.00 to make the candle x 4 = 8 dollars plus the cost of the container? or do you try to factor in a little more cushion to make money off of the container as well?

I hope that didn't confuse you all.....thank you to all who respond!

Chris

Nice looking candles....good color choice.

Check out the clearance section of bed bath and beyond. They put out displays and cases that are missing a glass. I got several for like 48 cents.

Love the tumbler! Mind if I ask where you get that?

Gretchen

It's not an empty air bubble, though there is a little air in it. I made another using 3% BW instead of 2. Much better results...top was better initially, head gunned it once and got a shiny, slick looking top....with the exception of an airbubble that made it's way to the surface.

thanks for the response!

Chris

The top of the candle is baffling. Have you poked the "growths" to make sure they are not air bubbles????

Other then that everything looks really good. Nice work.

Thank you, I made another one before I got your response....upped BW to 3% and got better results...better top. I poured 2nd layer cooler and you were right, there is a line between my layers. It also frosted a bit this time. Going to up the Frostop a slight bit and see what happens. Thanks for the help!

No you will still need to pour hotter so that the layers will melt together. I don't use the same wax as you, but do use a 100% soy. I always pour at the slushy stage which is around 100 degrees. Try pouring the first layer at around 90-95 and then the top layer at 100 and see if that helps you. I've only done layers once a few years ago. You can also try upping the BW to 3% but if you go over 5%, you might need to wick up and could get cracks.

So my new question is this, unlike a pillar where you have to pour hotter on the second layer to get it to adhere, in a soy container would I pour the second layer cooler?

Thanks

Sometimes my wax will set up like that if I pour too hot or in the summer months when my house is too hot. I too have to adjust my BW amounts with the season or I get some pretty funky looking tops.

Ooops, I posted this in the wrong forum first.....let's try this again

Howdy. After a bit of a Hiatus from candles, here is my most recent candle...from last night!

Cucumber Canteloupe

Candlewic Soy 125

1% Frostop

2% Beeswax

5% FO

First layer poured at 150

Second layer poured at 155

I really like the adhesion to the glass. The cold throw is nice. My blend was okay, however I noticed the green layer was starting to crack slightly on top before I poured the orange layer. The orange layer cooled and looked like it had a growth on top, similar to what people describe as cauliflower. I heat gunned it twice and still did not have a smooth top. I'm wondering if I should up the percentage of beeswax?

Thanks for looking.

Howdy. After a bit of a Hiatus from candles, here is my most recent candle...from last night!

Cucumber Canteloupe

Candlewic Soy 125

1% Frostop

2% Beeswax

5% FO

First layer poured at 150

Second layer poured at 155

I really like the adhesion to the glass. The cold throw is nice. My blend was okay, however I noticed the green layer was starting to crack slightly on top before I poured the orange layer. The orange layer cooled and looked like it had a growth on top, similar to what people describe as cauliflower. I heat gunned it twice and still did not have a smooth top. I'm wondering if I should up the percentage of beeswax?

Thanks for looking.

Looks great Christina...I've enjoyed watching your candles progress from when you first started posting on here. Great job figuring out the layers. I have a thought, punching a hole in the lid, running your wick through once you've secured it to the bottom and putting the sealer on top of the lid to keep wax from coming through?

Looks great...I just poured cucumber cantaloupe myself last night! Looks like we're on the right track!

:highfive:

I finally just resolved to making unscented/uncolored tealights with 100% soy and the tedious testing is over!! Plus how much scent can you get from a tealight...it's just not worth it. But they are great for holders and using for tart burners. I've got a few customers that have massage therapy and other holistic type therapy that they don't want scent anyway.

My last round of tealights were strong...one tealight would fill the bedroom with scent.

Chris

I've been away for awhile, but thought I'd check in today and see what's new and there were your candles. I've got to give you props, your candles have really come along way. you should be proud of yourself! Great job Ellen! :highfive:

These are two of my newest rustics. They are both made with Seafoam green, kelly green and plain wax with Island Paradise scent. Thanks for looking and TIA. Ellen

Thank you all! I feel much better now. I knew it couldn't be my candles, but it sure was a relief to hear it from the pros on here and not the "pros" from partylite.