Stella1952

I don't know if we temper the same way that a large operation would... It only takes a couple of extra minutes in the process, but it SURE makes a big difference in the tops and consistancy of the soy wax - MUCH smoother.

I am not sure what these turkey fryers look like - does anyone have a link to a picture? The ones we use around here for frying turkeys are the same pots and burners that we use for boiling crabs & crawfish. Because these are huge pots set on a base over an open propane burner, I cannot imagine that that is what y'all are using... You also have to use turkey fryers outside because of the size, flame, etc. I can't imagine melting wax outdoors... seems like it would get stuff in it from the air, etc. and besides - it's COLD out there! I have another question. Why would you want to melt wax in the presto pot then transfer it to the larger container? I don't think I would melt any kind of wax in a container where the wax could actually contact the heating element! Sounds like a bigtime fire hazard to me, not to mention that the wax contacting the element would be heated to a much greater temp than the surrounding wax... Please educate me! If there is a good reason to use these, I'll go out and get one; but if I am gonna have to melt stuff in the presto pot first, I just can't see why I would transfer a pot of liquid wax to another larger pot... I would just fire up another presto pot if I needed more wax... I just don't get it...

We mostly buy pre-tabbed 6" wick assemblies, but not everything we do needs a 6" wick, so we save the trimmings and tab them ourselves. Because they are prewaxed, we don't have to prime them. We do use some rolled wicking for the "oddball" molds and sizes we make and we do prewax those wicks with whatever wax we are pouring. It's a PITA, but unavoidable... I WISH that we could get the wicks we like in longer assemblies than 6" ... we have molds which are much taller than that and it really throws a monkeywrench into our plans to have to wick them differently than their shorter counterparts. I am sure that buying rolled wicking and assembling it ourselves would be less expensive, but we make a lot of items in standard sizes, so it wouldn't be cost effective for us to sit around and prime, tab and trim all those wicks! Much faster to use the assemblies - time is money and the amount of time saved on labor is well worth the extra cost of the assemblies.

People have lots of different experiences with the way palm wax presents itself after pouring. Most palm wax candlemakers know that the crystallization varies with temperature. Here's a good example of that. We poured a little votive at 175°. There was a small amount of wax leftover which was poured about 5 minutes later (at a much cooler temperature, about 150° - almost slushy) into the same mold. It was insufficient to fill the container, but we figured we'd keep it as a "sniffie". When we placed the two side-by-side, it looked like the little piece was a top for the larger votive! What attracted us was that this was the same wax out of the same pouring container, same color, same scent - just poured at a different temp... the contrast was amazing! When we layer candles, manipulating the appearance of the wax with temperature makes for some interesting results. Here's the difference - one on top of the other... This is an example of why we enjoy pouring palm wax so much - it has such interesting properties and one can obtain such varied effects with the same batch of wax!

oops! wrong thread! sorry!

100% soy means that the oil used is 100% soy. The additives used to stabilize and enhance other desirable properties are never listed - those are trade secrets. The tempering process is the real secret there... there is a thread about tempering chocolate that explains this process... Tempering soy increases the creamy, velvety smoothness of soy. Now as for BS - "100% natural" is the one that gags me with an entire place setting... unless an ingredient is from Alpha Centauri, EVERYTHING on earth is 100% natural! The implication is that somehow 100% natural means it is more pure, more safe... Well, ricin is 100% natural but it'll kill you in a heartbeat! Black mold is 100% natural but you sure don't want it in your air conditioning ducts! Over-the-counter menopause herbal preparations containing black kohash will harm folks with thyroid problems, as it impedes uptake of thyroxin - but hey! it's 100% natural... :rolleyes2 Caveat emptor, y'all!

What kind of dye are you using? I use liquid pigments & dyes and have no problems... what kind of wax are you using?

I love it - looks like a phoenix rising...

A quick Google search for "cotton core wicks" turned up a large number of hits... http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cotton+core+wicks&btnG=Google+Search Hope you find what you are looking for there...

Why not ask the suppliers themselves whether they have tested their FOs in soy? Whenever I have had a question from the suppliers I use, they have always been very prompt in getting back to me with an answer. I have also found that there is a lot of variance in what folks look for in fragrances... I have bought from some places who say they test in soy and I did not find the particular FO I purchased to live up to their claims; I have conversely bought from places who do not advertise that they have tested in soy, yet their FOs were wonderful. I think people have different criterion which they use to judge the longevity and hot/cold throw in candles. What is acceptable to one person might not even make the cut to another... This is where those nice little sample sizes really come in handy. For a small investment, you can get 1/2 oz. or 1 oz. testers which will give you plenty of FO to make votives to test (@1/2 - 1 oz. per pound). I also do my "sniff" tests several times... I find that my "nose" varies - some days, nothing seems strong enough; other days, I can smell every little nuance of a fragrance... Good luck! I have been partial to most of the FOs I have received from JBN, Peake and Wellington.

We like C-3 very much! We melt at 160°-165°, temper, then pour at about 145°-155°, depending. The tops are very smooth and we do not have to do a second pour. We use liquid colorants which seem to work better for us than the solid color chippies. If you are having adhesion difficulties, try warming the jars before pouring. Be sure to allow them to cool to room temp slowly, out of drafts. After pouring our jars & tins, we check all the wicks one mo' time, then cover the cooling candles with a big ol' cardboard box. Keep trying - new things are frustrating to learn, but it sounds like you are right on the brink of "getting it."

It DOES seem like it would be that way, Stacie, but with our tins, they actually feel a little cooler than the glass jars do... maybe because the metal is thinner and releases the heat more quickly than the thick glass in canning jars...

The crystal effect is highly diminished in dip tapers - about all you get are some sparkles. Adding a small amount of softer wax does diminish the crystals in pillars, but not totally...

Yep. Pouring cool with palm diminishes the crystals - when making layers, we do this deliberately to get a clear layer between the crystallized ones. I don't use the same distributor, so my results may not be the same, but I think there are SOME properties that most of the brands of palm wax share...

We have been playing with this technique using a blend of palm and soy - no stearic acid, UV inhibitor for the yellowing, pouring relatively cool to discourage crystal formation. The great thing is that if the project sux, you can melt it down and adjust things for the next time. Haven't noticed the yellowing (perhaps because of the UV inhibitor?) but I agree about soy - it is just too opaque for photos, although it does all right for other types of embeds. Have fun! This is one craft that you can rework easily and not lose materials!

Try using palm stearic - it helps a lot with mold release. What composition are the molds you are using? If they are plastic, the high temp may be causing your sticking problem... if metal, try the stearic. Good luck!

We do 6 oz. tins and like them very much. I think they do not get as hot as glass, which kinda surprised me. W use glue dots to stick the wicks. I got my labels from the same source already listed - different web address... Creative Label Concepts I was very pleased with the quality of them! We got our tins from Specialty Bottle

You could blend in a softer wax...

Ilona, those are beautiful and what a nice, rich color! WHat palm wax are you using? That's a nice, stable crystal pattern you have going on there... What was your pour temp? And, candleman is right - just like any candle that's overwicked, has an uncentered wick or not properly turned - palm can blow out a side and make a real mess! Because when palm blows, it really FLOWS, we recommend placing it on a large plate or in a flat-bottomed bowl. Guess how we found out? :D Can hardly wait to see your layered ones! AND the bayberry tapers! Maybe next year, I'll get some bayberry wax...

GMTA, silverm00n! Lotsa folks make as much for the AFTER Christmas sales as they do for the preseason. Good luck - both with the pretty tins AND the pink tree! Maybe you could work in some deep magentas that will pass muster...

Those votives look good! Now do your homework stuff with the testing, wicking, etc. Palm can sometimes give problems "dialing it in..." to the best wick. You have to power burn these to see what they will do because some important aspects of testing just don't get started in the first hour or so of a test. We not only power burn for testing, but we also light and blow out after 30 minutes... allow to cool... repeat... over and over to see what will happen when people burn the candle WRONG. We do a power burn without trimming the wick (except before lighting) to see what's gonna happen when the customer totally ignores the instructions we give with every candle we sell ("I don't need no steenkin' instructions to tell ME how to burn a candle..."). We even deliberately burn them in drafts! Short of allowing the cats to rub up next to them to see if they go "WOOF," we try to think of every abuse a customer will perpetrate on our candles to be sure they will perform safely and adequately. I think what trips folks up with palm is that they expect it to behave like paraffin or soy and it just ain't gonna! It behaves exactly like palm wax. It doesn't drip the same, clean up the same, set up the same... but its properties are repeatable, time after time. All you have to do is explore the properties of this wax with a fresh attitude and eye... a chihuahua doesn't behave exactly the same as a bloodhound, but they are both great breeds of dogs (just don't try to put a bloodhound in your purse and don't ask the chihuahua to track Gramps when he wanders off... unless he left a trail of malted milk balls)! When a good quality palm wax is used and the same techniques, pouring temps, FOs, colorants, etc. are used time after time, palm is as predictable as any other wax. Start with the manufacturer's recommendations and experiment from there. I would not go so far as to say forget what you know about paraffin, because there ARE some properties the two waxes share, but just do not go into it with expectations based on your experience with another wax, or you may be frustrated. Me? I LOVE the stuff! It's fascinating! Hope you make lots more, airforcewife!

Hot iron & paper towels (when brown bags or newspaper are not available) will remove the wax from nearly any surface. Don't get the iron hotter than the surface will tolerate! Any dye remaining can be cleaned with Oxyclean.

Another pre-burn trimmer here because I don't trust people to follow instructions...

Lugnut, a "balloon hurricane" is a wax globe (or luminary) formed not by molding, but by dipping/holding a balloon filled with water into wax until it forms a shell. The photo shows a perfect example of how these beauties look. If anyone is interested in the specifics of how to make these, just search the forums for the word "balloon" and I'm sure you'll find more information. Donita makes some lovely examples with pressed flowers on them and has shared a lot of "how to" info here.

I noted that the links in the Fire Marshal's article are pretty old - one is from 2000! The Consumer Product Safety Commission link (in the other thread) http://www.cpsc.gov/volstd/candles/candles.html was last updated in November of this year and includes a link at the bottom for comments. Their email is cpsc-os@cpsc.gov