Asher

Hi there again...a few weeks ago I tried to use 1 oz per lb of Peak's Blueberry Muffin scent. Not only was I a bit disappointed with the 'cold throw', but there was that pesky 'fuel' odor mixed in. In the past, I have used 0.5 oz per lb of Lone Star's Blueberry Cobbler. Not only was there no fuel smell, but the cold throw was stronger than the 1 oz of Peak's. Since the blueberry muffin issue I have been using 0.5 oz per lb of the other Peak's scents I have and they are coming out very strong. Is it possible that using more scent can somehow decrease the scent? (Hope that makes 'scents' ) On these boards I read about people using 1 oz or more. Honestly, I'm afraid I'll get that mutant fuel smell again if I go beyond 0.5 oz. Just so I feel better, does anyone else use 0.5 oz per lb? And are you happy with it? I know I could go stronger with the scents, but I don't know how to do it without the candles smelling like kerosene.

Nice! Thank you!

I'd like to make votives that have a surface similar to these pillars shown below: Any idea what kind of wax they used for these? I really like this better than the mottling....assuming this isn't mottling.

Ha! I'm well versed in this practice. Donna, since these are your first batch of votives I wonder if you are using wick pins. If not, you can save yourself so much time and frustration by getting some for yourself. I spent a few years without them and had to center the wicks manually. Of course, I didn't know wick pins existed until a few months ago.

Oh, well as long as you have the burn cream close by what's the big deal? Besides, it saves money on costly thermometers.

Can we assume you are indeed accident prone, Alex? Sounds like you are speaking from experience on these things. I really have made things hard for myself. Only recently did I get those wick pins so I wouldn't have to manually set the silly wicks in place. But I'm still using the double boiler on the stove, which requires frequent stovetop cleanings. In addition, I don't even have a heat gun yet. Oh, and I hadn't been using ANY type of additive until a week ago when the stearic acid arrived. Well, those days are over. Mark my words. Just don't ask me next week if I've gotten a heat gun or presto pot yet. I need to save some ideas for presents, right?

Wow, I didn't even know this. Learn something new every day. Do they have a pour spout and a place to set the thermometer (or perhaps they have a built-in thermometer)?

I'm certainly not the pillar expert here, so I'll let some of the others answer your specific questions about the pillar shell and pouring temps. However, as for the other additives I know that Vybar and stearic acid are quite popular. I like stearic acid for the votives I make. I know there's also "universal additive" and some people will also include something called microcrystalline in their mixes.

Never used it, but apparently it increases hardness and opacity (which both vybar and stearic acid can do). Also aids in mold release. The only problem is that it has MP of 208...you'd have to melt it separately. Plus, it seems to be a bit more expensive than the others.

You've heard of Vybar and stearic acid and universal additive.... Well, I'm sure these are all fine and dandy in the apropriate conditions, but with all of the problems we seem to have with candles (air bubbles, too much mottling, not enough mottling, shrinking wax, mushrooming, clogged wicks, dull finish, etc., etc., etc.) it would be so nice if someone created an additive that could make a "perfect" candle, no matter what kind of wax or dyes or fragrances or pouring temperature was used. We could call it Perfectus™. It would be kind of like that "easy button" in the Staples commercials. I'm thinking 100 bucks per ounce would be a fair price. Is that worth having no more candle headaches?

Thanks for all of your comments on these. As for the questions about the wax, it's just good ol' Yaley Premium Wax (or, to make it sound 'cool', XG-467). Most of you seem to use stuff called J220 or IGI 4467 or some other combination of numbers and letters. I felt a bit out of place using boring-sounding Yaley Premium Wax, so from this point onward it shall be known as XG-467. I use a 40% off coupon from Michael's. Otherwise, that place is way too expensive. These candles seems to burn just fine. Of course, because I use the zinc core I have to make sure the wick is trimmed. Also, I have found it is best to burn them about 3 or 4 hours at a time max. Otherwise, Mr. Mushroom will start to appear....and I hate him with a passion. Someone commented on the smooth tops. You have no idea how many dozens of votives I have made in my life that gave me disappointing tops. It has been a recurring issue, though I think I have found the remedy. I started using the wick pins the same time that I started using stearic acid. The 5 or 6 batches I have made with this combo have produced some wonderful tops. In many cases they almost seem to rise, instead of forming indentations. As for the mottling, I have gotten this same even mottling since using the 1 tbsp/lb of stearic acid. Oh, and I recently started using Peak's fragrance oil (0.5oz/lb), so perhaps this all contributes.

The red looks a bit pinkish on this photo, but it is a deep red in real life....promise! These were made using those wonderful wick pins. The red is 'Apple Jack & Peel', while the green is 'Home for the Holidays'. I used 0.5 oz per pound of fragrance and 1 tbsp of stearic acid.

Do you live anywhere near Allison Park, PA? There is a company called Early American Candle Supplies in that town. I don't know anything about their liquid dyes, but you can view them here: http://www.earlyamericancandlesupplies.com/liquiddyes.asp Heck, if by chance you're within driving distance you could get them today P.S. I ordered some supplies from them last month and got them in about 3 or 4 days here in TN. I had no problems with them. I just can't comment on the quality of their dyes.

Of course, you'd need to include a miniature garbage bin in the base as well so you can dispose of the used matches.

I actually like the concave (or convex, whichever it is) bottom. It was just the edges that were giving me issues. Also, I got perfectly flat votive bottoms when I manually set the wicks, but I'd rather have wicks that are actually centered Thanks to those of you who encouraged me to go ahead and order the wick pins. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to start on my egg nog candle.

Honestly, though, I'm probably making a bigger deal out of the uneven bottoms than it really is. I tend to be way too much of a perfectionist. Below is a good shot of the same blueberry votive as was shown above. You probably don't see any problems with the bottom: Besides, as someone said earlier, it will sit in a holder anyway, so the bottom won't be so important. I can get them looking decent and standing upright, so what more do I need? It's just so much easier than trying to manually set the doggone wick in place :smiley2:

Well, Batch 1 did have double the stearic acid as the others, so perhaps that suppressed the 2 tbsp of snowflake oil (BAD STEARIC ACID ). Of course, the others had no snowflake oil at all. In the past I have tended to notice more mottling when I used less dye, so perhaps darker colors somehow are not conducive to mottling. Goodness...so many variables and so many outcomes. But this is the fun of it. I wonder what affect egg would have on the wax surface. It's oil-based, isn't it?

I actually did three batches, but the third one used no liquid dye (instead, I used a huge chunk from a red dye block). Here is a photo of some batch representatives....the first candle is from the first batch, etc. Again, these are from the first three batches of wick pin candles. I must agree that wick pins do simplify the process quite a bit. Nice to see the wicks in the center for once.

This idea is nearly as silly as my egg candle project. I have a matchless lighter that I keep in a drawer. When I want to light a candle I walk 6 feet and retrieve it...then walk another 6 feet to the candle and light it. Of course, I do have to return the lighter to the proper drawer and then come back, so that's another 12 feet. However, if I had one of these nifty matchbox candles I could save myself the hassle of walking 24 feet.

Thanks again for your replies. Obviously, different things will work for each of us, so I appreciate all of the input. I haven't really had problems with air bubbles rising to the surface, but I do notice they will form around the base of the wick pin. I tried 'burping' one last night and the base was already stuck to the bottom of the mold. I had just poured it and the wax congealed within seconds...and this was 200 degree wax! I'll bet my hardware was cold for it to do that so quickly. However, because it congealed so quickly it sealed off the underside of the wick pin base so that air was permanently trapped during setting. Honestly, I've done 3 batches with the pins and I can live with doing some extra maintenance on the votives. What I've been doing is just placing the votive on a flat surface, pushing down on the top of it, and then running it along said flat surface. It lightly grinds down the candle and seems to be pretty effective at making it level. I wanted to point out something quite odd about the different batches that I have made: Batch 1 - I used 1oz/lb of Peak's Blueberry Muffin, 5 drops of Peak's Country Blue dye, 2 heaping tbsp of stearic acid, and 2 level tbsp of snowflake oil. Not only did the mottling effect disappoint me, but the candles had that annoying "fuel" smell everyone keeps talking about. Batch 2 - I used 0.5oz/lb of Peak's Sugar Plum Berries (which smells more like peach to me), 1 drop of Peak's Country Blue dye, 1 heaping tbsp of stearic acid and NO snowflake oil. With half of the scent and no snowflake oil I got great mottling and the scent seemed to be stronger. There was no fuel smell that I could tell. Can anyone tell me why all that oil in Batch 1 produced scattered mottling, while Batch 2 with so much less oil produced a nice even mottling that covered the entire candle? I did cut the stearic acid in half on the second one.

Well, there's a company called Mia Bella Gourmet Candles (which looks to be like PartyLite). They appear to be the only distributor of candles using this scent...but nothing is mentioned about having access to the scent itself. I suppose you could do an online search for Mia Bella and try to find a contact number. I get the sense that this is a very new up-and-coming scent, so it may not be readily available right now.

One of my favorite scents is fruit slices from Lone Star. I haven't had issues with any odd smells while using this one. I suppose you could always try the Lone Star version (sorry Peaks). By the way, it seems that all of you are using these fancy-sounding waxes...like IGI 4361 or J220 or C-3P0, etc. I just use something called Yaley Premium Wax (which, for the sake of sounding cool like the rest of you, I will call XG467). I tried some IGI votive wax a few years back and just didn't like how it behaved. However, I have had great results with the XG467...and with a 40% off coupon from Michael's it is just 0.95/lb (after Tennessee's insane sales tax is figured in). I assume that's comparable to the others, once you add in shipping charges for online wax purchases.

I may have to draw the line with motor oil. A "Pennzoil candle" would most certainly not need a wick. It would burn very well....and I'm sure the kitchen would burn along with it. Is toothpaste oil-based? That could make a very strong minty candle.

I've heard about this "fuel" smell in different contexts. There are times I'll notice a certain "mystery" smell with my candles, though I wouldn't categorize it as a "fuel" smell. It does make the fragrance oil smell less pure, though (unless the fragrance oil itself is to blame). Of course, in the few times I've used vanilla fragrance chips I seem to always get this mystery smell. The liquid dye has a strong chemical smell, but it didn't appear to affect the strong blueberry oil I used last night. Does this "fuel" smell resmeble burning kerosene or paraffin oil? Is it noticeable when the candle is cold, lit, or both?

My package from Peaks arrived yesterday. Among its contents was a container of blue liquid dye. Having never used liquid dye before I wanted to see how it compared to dye chips. Well, it certainly gives me better control than the chips, and overall I'm guessing it's more economical. My concern revolves around the strong chemical odor of the dye. I know we're only talking about a few drops in a pound of wax, but is this enough to alter the candle fragrance? Is there such a thing as odorless candle dye? Thanks again