birdcharm

I've purchased jars before, made candles with them, and sold them or gave them as gifts. What am I missing? For instance, the fruit preserve type of gel candle has been popular for years, they are made in jelly jars.

Although I haven't worked with either one, I believe the 1284 is a straight paraffin wax while the other is a container wax.

A candle's throw has to do with the scent ... if or how it "throws" it off when either not lit or while burning. Typically, numbers have to do with product codes of various waxes. I'm new here too so I sometimes have to look up abbreviations of supplier's names, which I found in the fragrance discussion area. Some kits, imo, can be a waste because you end up buying some things you may not really want. To simplify, I would start with what type of candle you would like to make. A container? Then select a container you'd like to start with and you can then explore the various types of waxes available for that type of candle. The diameter of the jar will play a role in what size wick to get; the type of wax will narrow down your choices of what type of wick. And scent -- a world of possibilities, with an addictive side, as you know.

From my experience, you can use many different types of jam & jelly jars, or salsa jars; some relish jars are nice, especially the smaller ones.

What's the melt point of your paraffin, Lora?

That's a great point Moonshine -- it's important to understand what we are handling and scented oils can pose risks if handled incorrectly. The same goes for essential oils, which, in some ways with certain ones, the MSDS may have many more handling instructions, as mishandling can be very dangerous. It's that way with many crafts though -- there are safety precautions to be taken with just about anything.

One concern some people may have is in regard to phthalates in scented candles. I believe the most harmful phthalates that were once part of products, such as hair spray, are no longer on the market. Also, from what I understand, in terms of "harmful," they are not known to be carcinogenic. That aside, these chemicals are found in so many products now, that there's no way to eliminate them from our indoor or auto environments. I bet there's more phthalates in the air anywhere in which people may be wearing a tad too much of perfume. The "new car" smell and so many other smells from plastic materials, as well as nail polish, household products, etc. contain phthalates. There are candle scents on the market that do not contain phthalates, but I personally get the feeling it's become a "buzz word" -- because there are so many phthalates everywhere we go, that I highly doubt it matters much if there is a bit in a candle that holds a bit of fragrance oil and is burned over a period of time. As for waxes, the most natural and clean burning is beeswax, as someone has already mentioned. Some people may say that paraffin is "green," being a by-product of petroleum (not taking anything away from the environment in its manufacturing - which could be argued on some levels) and burns clean when well refined. Soy wax (how "green" it is in terms of production, is not exactly a 100% rating, imo) burns clean. Palm, may not be so "green" -- due to destruction of rain forest for palm plantations, yet there are "sustainable sources" of palm; the palm industry as a whole has not been kind to the earth or its creatures. It's a matter of what's most important to you!

Sorry, Moonshine, I misunderstood you. Yams, I was just wondering out loud about possibly trying to soften your wax up a little since it's not performing well. I have no idea how much soy you could safely add and still have the same fragrance load; I'm the type to experiment with small candles for such things, but don't want to lead you down the wrong path! I've read wonderful reviews of this wax, so maybe Flicker will have some answers for you since she has experience with it. It sounds like it's a really nice wax!

Now I get it ... the GW415 is compatible with beeswax, but (according to Peak anyway), 444 & 464 is not. Moonshine, can you tell us how the 415 with 1T beeswax does as far as any wet spots? I'm in the midst of switching from the 415 I was using previously, lured to 444 due to the add'l fragrance load feature, but having some wet spot issues. I will say that although the manufacturer says you can pour this at 125dF., it seems as though it does better poured a bit cooler than that. You've got me thinking that perhaps I should have kept on with 415 adding some beeswax.

It seems that the writer needed to step back from their frame of reference enough to see that some folks were going to read that literally and not in terms of a scent that they carry. If it said, "our Vanilla Extract scent" then there would be no confusion -- looking back, I guess they thought of course we would know that alcohol flares up immediately, but the wording can easily throw you off at first. Perhaps someone here would like to gently tell them this ...?

I've never heard of that, don't think I'd ever try -- but, I think alcohol does mix with or dissolves oil if I'm correct.

So I went looking around to see if I could gather more opinions about GW464 to see if I should talk myself into ordering some to try it out. Well, I must say, I ended up in the wrong place for that ...http://www.soycandlemakingtime.com/review-soy-wax-gw-464-golden-brands/ The page was obviously put together in order to illustrate some various tests, although I don't quite understand why some of the pouring temperatures were selected. In any case, just wanted to share this, most of you have probably already seen this, but it's new to me. It's a great page that would save some people the trouble of doing similar tests, if you happened to be headed down such a path.

I think some soy waxes do not mix well with beeswax. I did notice that mentioned on a website somewhere, for instance, for some Golden Blends. I wonder also if you're wishing to soften a parasoy blend just a bit, if it could help to add a little straight soy? That might be something worth checking out. Yams ... anything in candle making is never a waste imo ... that's one thing I adore about it ... you can usually melt things back down, use the wax for chunk candles, or burn them in the winter to keep warm. When you're first starting out, and even when you're not first starting, often times, everything is an experiment until you've come up with some solid techniques & recipes and have tested them thoroughly, which is usually, at least for me, after several tries and a few failed attempts!

It has been less than one year when I received a couple of bottles which I left in the hard plastic brown containers they arrived in. A couple of months ago, I started to notice that things were smelling awfully nice in that closet, which should really not be the case with everything sealed up -- so I checked the plastic bottles -- those two scents were dissolving the plastic. Many types of ingredients are best stored in glass, I guess these two fit that description!

Vybar helps with paraffin, but I don't know if it does anything with soy, I've been told it has no affect with soy wax. I know that some people add a tiny bit of shortening to their blends to soften the wax to enhance scent throw, but I've never experimented with it -- I also wouldn't do it unless I really read up on it.

First, I'd like to offer ... there's no need to be stressed about this at all. If your scents arrived to you in soft plastic, I would transfer them to glass, amber glass is best. They can keep for ages that way. If they are in the rigid type of amber plastic, that can serve well too, but glass is better. You can purchase amber glass bottles, or use dry brown glass from certain liquors, or even clear ones if you store them as you've mentioned. My personal belief, which is probably correct, is that glass storage is key to keeping & storing scents.

I've seen differences in opinion in regard to the "burn off" topic -- I think it's interesting to note anyway. I was taught that the wax should not be too much on the hot side when adding scent, but never read too much about the specifics of what that would be. I noticed, for instance, on Cajun Candles site that they say the following in regard to adding scent: "Check your temperature again and be sure the wax is around 170 degrees. Add 1 oz of fragrance oil per pound of wax. Pour in your pre-measured amount of fragrance oil and stir slowly for two full minutes. This will allow the wax, fragrance oil and color to bond together. Keep a close eye on the temperature and keep it regulated at around 170 degrees. Fragrance oil will begin burning off at about 205 degrees, depending on the type of wax, and fragrance oil, so be careful you wax does not get too hot." Although we're not making creams here or trying to achieve an emulsion where you add liquid by the drip while whipping, we are trying to fully incorporate the scented oil into the melted wax, so, imo, doing it slowly does makes sense. I'm not saying there is anything wrong in pouring it in fast, I've done it many times, but I was recently reminded about the slow-adding and I feel there may be something to it. Thank you for the correction regarding the use of vybar -- to be used only if you have created your own blend using straight paraffin.

In some ways, other possibly or not possibly at all about when to add the scent (except, I wouldn't add it while wax is still on a heat source thinking that it may burn off, but I could be wrong), I think the stirring is really a main component, as mentioned by moonshine. I've seen "how to" (not) videos on youtube showing adding scent -- first, they always pour it like they're pouring a drink and swishing a stick through the wax for a minute -- that's not how to add scent when making candles (it makes me so mad to see them teaching people that!!) My old books say to add scent a drop at at time!!! Now, I don't seem to have the patience for that entirely, but I do add it slowly, while stirring -- with a SPOON, not a stick -- in circles, in figure eights, back & forth -- and again before I pour. I really think that incorporating the scent into the wax has a lot to do with all of this -- also, with paraffin or blends, the use (not overuse, which can have an opposite effect), of the correct vybar (there are two types, based on meltpoint of the wax), can help too. That's my two-cents anyway!

Oh gee ... when I bought the 444, I figured that would be the one with a better throw! A customer of mine likes candles that burn for a longer time, so my guess what that 444 would also suit that. Am I wrong about all of this? Here's one of the things I read when making my decision ... GW464: Has a lower melt point which helps with the burn and gives better glass adhesion. Pour Temp: 125-145 I Melt Point: 115-120 I FO Load: 7%-9% GW444: Has a higher melt point which enables it to retain a higher FO load to give you a stronger scent throw. Pour Temp: 125-145 I Melt Point: 120-125 I FO Load: 9%-11%

Thanks for the tip ... perhaps that occurs in some soy waxes and not others ...? I haven't had any issues with them doing that with the wax I've been using.

You might be able to lightly swipe the tops with a soft cloth dampened with white mineral oil, I know that this is a way to clean dust off of gel candles.

I plan to pick up some of these on my next trip for supplies. I've been hoping to pour GW444 and thought that I would use a #3 square braid cotton to see how that goes. If it can't melt out to the edges, I may try two 2/0 square braid cotton wicks about an inch apart, although those might be too large. That's my guess for my wax anyway!

Those are very nice looking labels! My only question is probably going to be considered a strange one, but I'll ask it anyway. When saying "100% natural soy" -- does that mean that the wax used is a type of organic soy?

I must say, I thought that was funny (in a serious kind of way, of course!) If I find that I have to use multiple wicks, such as in an oval, square, or larger diameter (if a single larger wick won't do, such as in a tart pan), I try to envision the meltpool size of the wicks. If I have a 4-inch+ diameter, then two wicks that each create approx. a 2-2.25" meltpool would be the ones for me to start testing with, for instance. That's the guideline I start with anyway! So, yes, a 60/44/18, is typically for a 3-3.5" candle, so in order to double wick with that size wick, the container should be about 5-6"+ across, imo.