Quentin

I'm the master of overthinking things.

I've been poking 3 or more holes around the wick using a barbecue skewer with a rubber band wrapped around it. I position the rubber band so that I don't go too deep and damage the section that will end up being the top. Then I twist it. When I pull the skewer (which is about 1/4 inch diameter) out, it brings some wax with it. I put that back in the pot for my 2nd pour. When I punch my second or third hole, many times some wax pops out of the other holes. Then I keep repeating this until the wax I pull out starts to become more solid and the holes don't close up anymore. That's the point where I do my second pour. This one was made back when I was barely taking any notes. "Who needs notes, right? I'll remember all this, right?" WRONG! Now, I spend more time taking notes and writing comments than I do actually making the candles! Matter of fact, I think I remember @Pam W and you were some of the first ones on the forum that jumped my case for not taking good notes. The CBL-141 instructions clearly say that you will be doing a lot of 2nd, 3rd pouring and topping off. I just wasn't paying attention back then. Thanks to all. Had I not found this forum, I would probably have gotten discouraged and walked away from candle making.

No ideas from anyone? Surely someone has seen this problem before.

I've been thinking about your idea. I like it. How would you calculate something like that? I wouldn't know where to start.

Someone out there knows what this is, I'm certain. Digging through my box of failed candles I grabbed this one and started to break it for use in another project. First thing I found was the empty cavity around the wick. Not too surprising! I stopped burning it months ago because it had no decent throw, hot or cold. Tossed it in the junk bin. I wanted to see just how big the cavity was and the candle split apart and I saw this blue stuff. The red wax was hard, but the blue stuff was so brittle that it only took a toothpick to break it. What is it? Could this be my fragrance? Maybe added at the wrong temperature or something? This was back when I took very poor notes so I can't tell you much about it. I did find one page that had this color wax spilled all over it. I think this may have been my first and last attempt with CBL-141.

@Forrest I don't think you mentioned the name of the book. I'd like to read it.

When I take my father to the grocery store, he always has me grab the smallest bottle of whatever. I can't convince him that the bigger bottle is the better deal even when I point out the price per ounce on the price sticker.

This is GOOD stuff here. I'm printing this one. My first job the summer after college was in a jewelry store. I guess after they figured they could "trust" me, they put me to work taking the invoices (which showed the cost) then I was told to mark that up according to their system. Take a gold chain for example. Invoice reads that the cost is $50.00, I was to price it and tag it at let's say $300.00. I was just following orders . Then they would have a super colossal 50% off sale. The gold chain goes on sale at $150.00 and everyone is happy. Thanks Forrest for passing that on to us.

And it turns out that you and the others are exactly right. I looked at the stickers I used in those candles. They weren't wick stickers at all. The label said plainly "Double Sided Adhesive Sticky Dots", "Foam Mounting Tape". I just wasn't paying attention. But hey, I got a really great deal on them that I just couldn't let go.

Kind words indeed. I do tend to stress over just about everything. Mathematics and I have never been good friends. I don't know where I first got the idea that the dye could or should be added at the start of the melt process. I guess I just assumed that if it mixed in nicely then that was all that really mattered. Apparently I was wrong about that. There's more chemistry going on here than I realized. Since Trapp and Fran's comments, I've decided to go with their advice and not turning back. I'm heating to 190 F and then adding the dye as the temp drops to 185. Then I'm adding my fragrance as close to 185 as possible. Too early to report if I can see any difference but I'm sticking with that plan. There must be something to it because now everywhere I read, I see that same advice. Who knows why I didn't notice all that before? To answer your question: The eventual goal is to sell, but I haven't arrived at the point where I can feel comfortable putting my name on the product and be proud of it. I'll get there. I just try to remind myself of what Edison said. I can't remember exactly the way he put it, but when asked about all his failures, Edison told a reporter that he didn't consider them as failures. Edison replied that he had just learned that many things that would not work! I'm certainly not an Edison, but I just keep on going. It's still fun regardless of what happens.

Clarification: I added the dye at 121 F at the beginning. It was in the mix all the way up to 190 F and all the way back down again. It should have dissolved easily. I think I could have explained that better.

6% of 12 oz. As in .06 x 12 oz = 0.72 oz of fragrance for the candle. Actually it was a batch of... wait a minute. I'm confused. Let me grab my notes. OK, I'm back. It was a batch of 10 identical candles. All from the same pot. That is to say 12 oz x 10 candles = 120 oz x .06 = 7.2 oz of fragrance for the batch. 7.2 oz / 10 = 0.72 oz. Pleeeez don't tell me I've been doing it the wrong way for a whole year now. This can be tough for a guy with A.D.H.D. I never mentioned the wick because it wasn't relevant to what I was showing. The square jar is a little over 3 inches wide which would call for an ECO 14 using the Candle Science guide. That was before I knew better! Diagonally it measures 4 inches which CS would say to use an ECO 16. So I compromised and used the 16. Maybe I should take up LED candles instead.

What you see is only on the bottom. I didn't even notice this until I was putting on the warning labels. I try to keep a pretty clean shop BUT... it is possible that could be debris. The colors you see in the picture are probably not exactly true but may be from where I adjusted the photo to make the features show up better. It may not be red at all! It's boxed up now, so I can't check. But to answer your question Fran, the color is Candle Science Butterscotch. My thoughts before I posted this were that it could have been too much dye or the wrong temperature to completely dissolve the chip. I think that's some of what I'm hearing from Trapp and Fran. I'll fire it up. If the wick is small or keeps going out, then it could be clogging from too much wax? Is that correct? I'll jot down some notes based on what y'all told me.

Love it. We haven't had a typical smothering muggy summer around here in a few years now. Must be global warming!

Those factors come into play in just about every activity you can imagine. Simple things like boiling a pot of water are affected by those things. I often wonder about recommended temperatures. We all use different thermometers on different heat sources and in different climates. Were those temperatures tested on top of Mt. Everest or at the bottom of the Marianas Trench?

Now you're talkin'. I like it when people think outside the box.

You are correct. I should have been more specific. Some of the sellers of the hybrid waxes are coming close to making claims that some of their products are "one pour" pillar waxes. IGI 6028 is one that comes to mind right now. At least that's the information coming from Candlewic. As I said, I'm skeptical.

What could have caused the problem shown in this picture? All the specks and smears you see are in the wax and not on the jar. You're looking from the bottom. The big white dot in the middle is obviously the wick sticker. Here are the pertinent facts from my notes: Pour Date: 8/3/18 at 1:30 PM CDT. *Ambient temperature (in non-insulated garage/candle factory): 95 degrees +. *Wax: GB 464. 12 oz *No additives. *Dye: Candle Science dye chip--- Started with 1.5 chips. Added another 1/2 chip. Total for desired color = 2 chips. *Fragrance Load: 6% = .72 oz (CS Amaretto Nog) 1) Added dye at 121 F. 2) Raised temperature to 190 F and removed from heat. Added fragrance between 185-190 and stirred for a minimum 2 minutes. 3) Began pouring at 140 degrees down to 130 degrees. 4) Let cool at garage ambient temperature overnight. Next morning brought candle into nice, cool air-conditioned house. 5) Cured for 14 days + Haven't burned one yet. My plan was to use GB 444 but I was out of stock on it. After thinking about this, I have my own idea of what caused this. I'm not telling, because I wouldn't want to prejudice anyone's opinion. 🖖

Hey, wait a minute. I just noticed you mentioned square paper dust covers. That would work too.

Another great Dollar Tree item.

My feelings exactly.

The gaudier and tackier is all the better! That'll draw em in there. I like P.T. Barnum's famous quote, but I won't post it here.

Yes. Pillar single pour wax is what I was really after. I guess I can't change 160 years of candle making overnight. I'm trying though.

I think you may have found it @Laura ! I went to the first link and that is the type lid I need. Looking around the site I found this: https://www.candlemakingsupplies.net/glass--boxes--jars--lids/glass-containers---jars/cate_104/p___P0941826.html That's my jar! Only mine is more like 12 oz. However, the 3.5" dimensions it gives match up with mine. Thank you! I've got it bookmarked. After I posted that yesterday, I did manage to find one that looks like what I need. It all depends on from where they measure. Outside to Outside, inside to inside or from the center of the groove. The lady at the company I found yesterday is sending me a sample. I think I'll ask these people to do the same. Now we're getting somewhere. Hey, you're pretty good at this.

Is it possible that the tall flames at the beginning of the burn are a result of the shape of the container? For example, if the jar or whatever is narrow at the top and gets wider as you go toward the bottom. I actually just finished watching this happen this morning. I was unsure what wick to use when I first poured it because of the strange shape. Heart shaped, narrow and pointed at the top. To make it even harder my candle is 5 inches wide but less than 3 inches the other way. To put it another way, it is flat and wide. Sure enough, big tall flame at the start of the burn then more "normal" size as it burned down to the wider areas. Perhaps?