Kerven

There's a frosted glass paint? Is it a spray paint? I must know. Would a spray on sealant work with the alcohol inks? I've been thinking about using the alcohol inks to stamp glass with a logo but I know how easily they wipe away. Maybe a clear enamel like those used on wine glasses?

Over a month late... I'm searching for CDN wicks as well so I went browsing through old posts. According to the posts, the main difference in CD and CDN wicks is that the CDN, before being primed, is given a treatment to resist the acidity of vegetable waxes. Other than that, they're the same style of wick. Here's a link: Stella1952's post (How do I do one of those post within a post things?) Edit: And I just realized that wasn't what the question was asking... Oops?

I only noticed smoke with Candlewic's coconut/apricot when the wicks were too large, small, or mushroomed. Haven't worked with 83 yet. Got a bit sidetracked trying to source rice bran , sunflower, and castor waxes. I went back and burned my coconut/soy testers for the third time yesterday. It seems I burned them too early when I began testing and the soy didn't have enough time to set up. The 75/25 is doing better, none of the sizes mushroomed - not even the slightest - this time but the flames danced and flickered a lot (they were burning very clean, but the wick wasn't trimming itself and got a bit long) and seemed cooler than before. The 50/50 testers mushroomed heavily after 2hrs. That was with ECO wicks. I'm not sure about C&S's 1hr test. The unlit candles appear to have a small dip and aren't completely smooth, which may be due to lighting. The row of IGI coconut testers seem to have a swirl of some sort around the wick as though something didn't blend completely. They're also shiny. The original coconut and easy bead blends are smooth. The easy bead blend appears slightly softer than the original coconut and its surface appears more level, although, the colors, to me, seem to be ever so slightly lighter. The lit candles... well, they're all over the place with melt pools. The flames appear to be a decent size, not those huge flames some of us are seeing with coconut waxes. None appear to be mushrooming in the original coconut blend. Papercore 51 appears to be mushrooming in the easy bead blend. Wedo 37, papercore 51, and maybe CD 8 and CD 10 (tall flame on this one) are oversized in the easy bead blend; MP's are either a hair from the edge or ~1/4". In the easy bead blend, Wedo 40 has a ~1/2" to go before reaching the glass. As for the original coconut blend, Wedo 37 and Wedo 40 appear to be the best fits as both have ~1/2-1/3" until full MP after 1hr. Papercore 51 might work, but I'd suggest wicking down a size or two. The Wedo 37 results are interesting. The difference in MP size between the original coconut and the easy bead blend is large. The papercore 51 has similar differences. The Wedo 40 is hard to discern with that particular color of wax and camera angle, however, the results are closer for each wax than with the other wicks... although, its performance in the IGI blend was surprising. I can't explain some of the MP's. The smaller Wedo wick size (37) creates a decent sized MP in the original blend and IGI blend, while creating too large a MP in the easy bead blend. The next size up (40) creates a decent sized MP in the original blend and the easy bead blend, but creates too large a MP in the IGI blend. Wicking up a size leads to a smaller MP in the easy bead blend??? Maybe there was an accidental swapping of wicks? The Wedo results for the original blend and the IGI blend are as expected: an increase in wick size resulted in larger MP. However, the easy bead blend is the only wax to show the opposite... the MP is reduced with an increase in wick size. You've burned your unscented, uncolored candles? My ECO 6 results for the unscented, uncolored coconut/apricot blend were positive during the 1st burn. It mushroomed a bit by the end of the 3rd hour but performed best out of the 2-8 sizes. The second burn was much different: smoking at the 2nd hour mark. The coconut waxes are terrible smokers (not as bad as paraffin, IMO) when under or over wicked. The "sweet spot" wick sizing is very narrow. C&S tested unscented, uncolored waxes as well. They used the 2/0 cotton wick, which appears to perform best in the original coconut blend. The easy bead blend didn't have a full MP after the 1st hour, but the rim of wax appeared to have warmed enough to partially gel, which is what I've seen in my unscented, uncolored coconut tests that complete a full MP by the 3rd hour. An interesting observation... The rate of consumption of the IGI blend in C&S's tests looks a bit high. The MP's are noticably more shallow than the other blends. The original coconut blend doesn't appear to be as rapidly consumed as the IGI blend, and the easy bead blend seems even less than the other two... but it does appear to have the largest MP's overall of the three.

Popping in because I came across something from Candles and Supplies: Their coconut tests The jars used are the 3" diameter 8oz straight sided tumblers.Poured @ 180F with ambient temperature of 72F. 2 drops dye per 6oz candle, 10% FO... Well, you'll see what they used in the link. From the picture of their 1hr results, it appears to me that most of the wicks are too much for the original coconut wax and easy bead blends. After 1hr on the first burn, I'd be a little concerned if I had 1/4" to go before FMP. Looks as though the Wedo 40 wick is a decent fit for both the original coconut and easy bead blends. Wedo 37 may be suitable as well, depending on how the FO influences the burn. The IGI coconut/paraffin blend.. eh... I'm not interested in paraffin. Are Wedo/RRD wicks sized backwards - larger number means smaller wick? Look at those MP's for the easy bead blend with the Wedo 40 and 37... Huge difference. I think they should have tested with a single FO + dye combo, unless these are their results from those tests. So, the RRD wicks... Now, I have to test those. It never ends.

Are those black specks floating around in it? I wonder if your wicks are ashing into the melt pool. That may be something else... Repeated burns that are too hot or frequent and incomplete can supposedly change the melt pool's characteristics, causing it to turn dark among other things. I might have missed it, but what FO are you using? You might get a better feel for which wick size to aim for if you made a few candles with different sizes and tested all of them at the same time. As they burn, watch how the flames perform. Check for sooting, smoking, mushrooming, excess heat, rate of consumption, flickering, melt pool diameter/depth per hour, etc. Those wicks appear to be mushrooming and producing smoke (soot). If that's after a 4hr burn, check it each hour to see if there are mushrooms. If the mushrooms appear at the 4th or later hour, then it's probably not a huge problem. Ideally, a candle shouldn't smoke, especially early on. I'd suggest wicking down two sizes but I know nothing about that wick style... so I'm not. I can, however, say that, in my experience, ECO wicks in straight coconut wax, double wicked in particular, are going to be near impossible in anything but a massive container. CD's will be difficult as well (mine turned into mini flame throwers). LX was... meh but worthy of going back to to test the larger sizes (they burned cooler than the others). Keep in mind that this wax is very thin like paraffin. Wicks made for viscous, natural waxes are likely to cause problems. Have you tried HTP or Premier?

Disclaimer: I'm not good at this. Snow-kissed Apple Yuletide Apple Yuletide Marmalade Festive Orchard Snow-covered Orchard Spiced Apple Rings Winter Solstice Apple

That's a good way to get moisture in your wax. No details on the wick size, no details on how much EO to add (not that it should be added), not securing the wick, not properly trimming the wick... People worry about their tree catching fire and burning the house down. They should be worrying about these candles.

What gets me the most are the pictures used for the scents, especially when there isn't a description. I see a nice beach, the name includes something along the lines of "ocean spray" or "seaside breeze" (just an example), and I think it'll smell "beachy"... but it turns out to be a 100% citrus scent. Frustrating. I'm a sucker for the pictures. I was a little skeptical about their dupes which is why I asked. Over 200 dupes of a single company's scents... Eh... I'll give a few a try and see.

I'd like to try sniffies of each if it's not too late.

Home Sweet Home is on my list. I'll have to hop over to Cierra's site and take a look around. I've seen Pink Sands a lot lately but I've never smelled it. Does it have powdery notes? Thank you!

I've been browsing through the holiday blends in the Yankee mixology lists and saw a few things that looked interesting. Now, I'm on the hunt for Yankee dupes and came across The Candlemakers Store. They have over 100 dupes... and I'm overwhelmed, especially so since they don't have descriptions and ratings/reviews. Has anyone tried their Yankee dupes? Are they close to the real fragrances? Is the quality adequate? Anything I should be aware of before placing an order?

The C&S coconut/soy beads? I kind of see bits and pieces where it might have been in bead/pastille form at some point It could have melted a bit in shipping. My coco83 slabs from Cal Candle Supply arrived quite mushy. Would you agree that C&S's coconut is coco83?

@moonshine Candlewic does have the coconut/apricot blend. They also have the coconut oil blend made with palm and stearic. Swans has a coconut/apricot blend as well. As for Candlewic's, they've been sold out for a couple weeks. Speaking of Candlewic's coconut/apricot, I think it's a nice wax. It's white, translucent enough that the flame's light causes it to have an attractive glow, burns clean (depends heavily on wicking), accepts color quite well, and doesn't have an odd smell (mine smelled faintly of apple peel). The only downside to using it by itself was the wicking. Either it requires a smaller or cooler wick (maybe zinc) or it requires an absurdly large wick. I couldn't figure it out and started blending with 464, which was a huge improvement in burn quality. I haven't done extensive testing for HT, however, but I will say that my testers had a "clearer" scent than the same FO in pure soy. The coco83 probably has less than 10% paraffin, so it shouldn't be a huge, noticeable difference. Actually, I should say that I hope it's less than 10%. I don't think we'll ever know the exact percentage, unless one of us were to work there and just happen to leak the info...

... IGI's response to Accu-Blend's coco83 sans the soy, maybe. I don't understand why suppliers aren't coming out and openly stating that their wares contain paraffin. The dishonesty and lack of disclosure makes me want to start creating my own coconut blends.

@moonshine The calwax ccp1 that Swans sells as being identical to Northwood's coconut? Not unless something fishy is going on with their product claims. Northwood's website says 90% coconut and their Amazon page for the same product says an additional 5% soy and 5% palm. If you mean Northwood's coconut being the same as Cal Candle Supply, then I'd agree for the most part. I suspect Northwood's coconut portion of the blend is coco83, but they've added extra soy and palm. Cal's is sold as "coconut 83" wax, the same name used as the manufacturer. The C&S slab is coconut and soy. However, like most coconut wax suppliers, C&S has conveniently avoided stating whether or not the product contains paraffin or byproducts of the petroleum industry. If the product was truly paraffin/petroleum-free, I don't see why they wouldn't want to boast about it. The market for all-natural, renewable, green, and what-not products continues to grow. Nevertheless, coconut 83 does appear to contain soy, hinted at by a single line in the wax's MSDS which mentions a soy odor. The SKU having "coco83" in it could be a total coincidence. Regardless, that is a coconut/soy blend. The whole coco83 issue factors in when considering whether or not it has petroleum products in it. It seems that most suppliers of coconut wax are using coco83, which appears to contain paraffin, petrolatum, or something similar. Granted, this is all speculation based on bits of information found in various "official" locations. I haven't and almost certainly will not be having samples sent to a lab for testing to confirm any of it. Based on that list I made, if you want a petro-free coconut wax, Candlewic's coconut oil blend looks to be the most reassuring bet.

Short version: Cal Candle Supply - coco83. Candlewic - coconut/apricot blend (with paraffin), coconut oil wax blend (no paraffin/petrolatum). Candles and Supplies - suspected to be coco83 blended with a hardener. Northwoods - I'm convinced it's coco83 blended with soy and palm. Swans Candles - mystery coconut blend, coconut/paraffin blend, and coconut/apricot blend (with paraffin). Aztec - ??IGI 6570?? Not enough information. CandlemakingSupplies.net - ??Ultra Wax?? Not enough information. IGI 6570 is "vegetable based" and does not contain soy. That doesn't mean it is void of paraffin, petrolatum, and such. Until more information is released, it's a big ?. Long version: Cal Candle Supply: Coco83 sold as coco83. Candlewic: Coconut/apricot (contains a "very small percentage" of paraffin - the Q&A section). The SDS sheet for the coconut/apricot blend also lists "paraffin fume" as a hazardous product of decomposition, which supports it containing paraffin. Their other coconut wax, sold as "coconut oil wax blend" appears to be an actual coconut oil blend. The SDS lists palm wax, coconut oil, and stearic acid as the ingredients and there is no mention of paraffin or the like. It's quite pricey. Candles and Supplies: Item #'s of "WAX-COCO83-LB" and "WAX-COCO83-CASE" would seem to indicate that it has something to do with coco83. However, it is sold in "soft beads" form, which coco83 would seem to be too soft and delicate to hold without the beads squishing together (based on my experience with coco83). The new pelleted coconut wax may be the same blend as their slab coconut wax only in a user-friendly form. Both are listed as coconut/soy blends. Northwoods: They claim it is "90% coconut wax blended with palm and soy waxes". 126F melt point. Sold in chunk or slab form. Contains palm wax. Alright, so after finding their coconut wax on Amazon, it states: Blended with 5% Soy & 5% Palm Wax. I guess we solved that 10%. If that's absolutely accurate and not misleading, it's 90% coconut, 5% soy, and 5% palm. The big question is this: is that 90% a coconut oil or a pre-blended coconut wax from a manufacturer (read: coco83)? I'm thinking it's coco83, because if the soy and palm had melt points of 200F it would barely make the total melt point >100F with 90% co92. 90% 126F coco83, 5% 125F soy, and 5% 140F palm would reach a ~126F melt point. Until they state that it doesn't contain coco83 or paraffin/petrolatum, I'm convinced it's coco83 blended with soy and palm. Swans Candles: They offer an "all natural coconut container wax", which they suggest adding 15% palm stearic to as a hardener. No melt point is given. They also sell Calwax CCP1, a coconut/paraffin blend container wax, and an apricot/coconut container blend, which they do state as containing paraffin. Their lotion wax blend also contains coconut oil. Aztec: The apparently exclusive supplier of IGI 6570. Haven't been able to find anything about 6570. IGI is stingy with their documentation. Although it has no soy, that doesn't rule out the addition of petroleum products, which there has been no mention of in the product description. CandlemakingSupplies.net: Ultra Wax soy/coconut blend. 128F melt point. No idea what it could be made from.

Just an observation regarding C&S's coconut wax. I took a peek at C&S's coconut wax. There was no mention of wax blend number or anything to identify it except... I noticed that the item number was "WAX-COCO83-LB". Coconut 83, eh? That fits the product details, considering coconut 83 appears to have soy in it (the MSDS for it mentions a "SLIGHT Natural Soy Odor") and the melting point is ~119-125F. If C&S's coconut wax is coconut 83, I suppose we can chalk it up as another coconut spiked with petrolatum or high melt point paraffin. I'm hoping that's not the case, since they are selling in bead/pellet/pastille form. Coconut 83, judging by what I received from Cal Candle Supplies, is too soft and squishy to be kept as beads. Maybe they're using coconut 83 as a base and blending it for a harder wax with similar melt point?

I'm almost tempted to say that they can reach that melt point with the addition of cetearyl alcohol and a little hydrogenated castor for extra congealing. I haven't read much about the use of stearyl/cetyl alcohols in candles, but it looks promising albeit expensive (stearyl by itself is hard to find!). Going to wait a bit for more information to develop about their wax before trying to get my hands on it. I'm not purchasing 25lbs of wax, that I may not like, just to test it.

Has anyone heard of or tried this wax? I stumbled upon it on Aztec's Facebook page. Aztec claims to be the only company that has it. An IGI custom blend? I'm a little skeptical. The congeal point is 128F, which seems higher than the coconut waxes already out there. Aztec states there is no soy in it and that it is vegetable based. However, as we've found out, not all coconut waxes are petro-free. I wonder if it's harder and has a higher melting point than the other coconut waxes. Edit: I just realized the Aztec post was made two days ago. Well, then, since no one is likely to have used it, does anyone have any tidbits of information about it they may have heard or read somewhere?

Depends on what I'm testing. If testing wicks in unscented wax, I'll remelt and rewick but only once to avoid changes in the wax from repeated melting. If testing waxes with FO added, I toss them out as FO may be diminished after remelting and affect the throw of the tester. I put finished testers in the freezer to loosen the wax so that it pops out the jar (tip: don't use wick stickems... they don't unstick when frozen). Other than that, they get shoved to the back of the supplies cabinet as a reminder of what not to do next time.

Probably not what's causing the discoloration, but paraffin is prone to discoloration and polymerization. I think I read somewhere that excess heat and repeated burning sessions can trigger it. When it happens, wax can turn brown or yellow, the wick can become clogged, flame size decreases, and throw is diminished.

I thought that at first but... is it that simple? My inner skeptic wasn't sure. Thank you!

Without the fancy lab equipment and manual testing of blends, is there a method to get a ballpark melt point for a blend consisting of ingredients with differing melt points? For example, if I made a blend of 50% castor wax (180F melt point) and 50% coconut oil (92F melt point), is there a formula that could be used to calculate the melt point of the resulting wax blend?

They're sneaky when they don't want you to know there is paraffin and the like in their waxes. Candelila and carnauba are on my list. Fatty alcohols and rice bran, as well, although, those are costly. I was under the impression that ozokerite was a byproduct of petroleum.

Interesting tidbit I ran across while looking at the coconut83 MSDS at Accu-Blend: it mentions paraffin. It also references CFR title 21 section 172.886, which deals with the use of petroleum wax in foods. I think it's safe to assume that it may contain a bit of paraffin or petrolatum. That's alright for me, Candlewic's did too. Straight coconut oil sounds like something to look into. I can only think of a few things that could harden it and raise the melt point. None of them are particularly cost efficient. This coconut83 stinks. I don't like it.