Tokoo

27 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Anyone can  make a candle/soap/melt/bath bomb. It takes a lot of work, luck and skill to make a profit from them. 

I honestly have know clue how beginners can make money off of soap. Just looking at most of the stuff used, seems really pricey, without buying in huge bulk. However I haven't researched it.

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

Same here. 

 

If you can smell you wax and scent on a melter, the. You have figured out the wick is not hot enough to  candle scent and wax. 

 

The trick is to find the balance of a wick that can heat the wax enough to throw it, and consume the wax at the same rate to prevent too much of a melt pool. The bigger the melt pool, generally the lower the overall MP temp (have been taking temps using a digital thermometer for months trying to figure out a few new waxes...).

 

464 is difficult because for the last year it has melted very easily, meaning most people have had to wick down. This has resulted in  the imbalance of temp needed to throw that waxand FO. I would try ECO next. 

Thanks, I will give ECO wicks a go first, and go from there.

20 minutes ago, GoldieMN said:

I mainly use 770 Premiers in my pint canning jars with 464 at about 7.3%.   If you tried burning after one week, that could be your problem.  I wait 2 weeks.  I had to retest all my candles with the changes in soy and still had  problems wicking two fragrances with the Premiers. One  I found CD10s worked.  What fragrance oils did you try?  

 

Yes, I have gotten a good hot throw in a warmer, but no hot throw in a candle.  When that has happened,  I figure it is the wick.  If I can't get a Premier or a CD to work, I move on to another fragrance.  

GoldieMN

I waited 2 weeks on the pure soy, only a week in parasoy. Forgot to add that actually. I used Fruitloops - FlamingCandle very strong. i also used ButtNaked, and Volcano Carbi - Aztec. I've heard CDs are suppose to be pretty good, might try those and ECO. I really like zinc ones but I don't think they be great for small jars. 

I have been using Premier Wicks 700 series, for my first batch of candles, and I didn't get a single HT. I chalked it up to not enough FO since they were pure soy 464, and I had no clue what I was doing. I have since changed to parasoy, and I made a test candle, let it sit for a week, and tested it. Again no HT, with 8-9% FO this time. So instead of adding more FO and making another candle, I threw some into my tart warmer, low and behold the HT is a little to strong.

I have used 4 different size of wicks 760,765,767,770. I am using a 9oz hex jar, not sure if that could be the issue either. 

I am convinced these wicks are not that good, or I missing something. I mean 767 burns perfect, with little to no mushrooming, but they seem to not produce a hot throw at all. I wished I bought the ECO's first but live and learn I guess. Has anyone else had this issue with these wicks. 

On 3/24/2018 at 11:39 AM, Jcandleattic said:

Mix them 50/50 then test after a couple days to make sure they are completely set. I think you will like the results much better. 

 

I use 4625/4794 for one of my melt blends and I like it a lot. 

70-75% 6006/25-30% 4625 seems to be exactly what I wanted. Not to hard, yet not oily. 50/50 was still pretty hard, at least for my taste. This is for molded tarts though. Maybe 65/35% will be needed for clamshells.

Actually what company did you order from by chance. I have never had a credit card incident in 15+ years, but last month my was stole. I don't like jumping to conclusions either, but the only sites I bought from last month was a few candle suppliers, and Amazon.

13 hours ago, Crafty1_AJ said:

One percent of fo is pretty low.  I have used 4625 at 5-6% and gotten good throw.  4794 also works well at 5-6% fo.

Actually less then 1% with straight 6006 had a potent throw, but I was just using left over FO. I will try 3-6% and see what i can get. Thanks 

13 hours ago, Jcandleattic said:

Mix them 50/50 then test after a couple days to make sure they are completely set. I think you will like the results much better. 

 

I use 4625/4794 for one of my melt blends and I like it a lot. 

Alright I will start with a few different test and see, I think the results should be better as well.

I bought some 6006 and 4625 wax for tarts. I wanted to test them to see how they would do, right out of the bag I could tell I wouldn't be happy with the results, but I melted a little of each, and poured them. After sitting for 24 hours I  tested them out, I was right The 6006 with less then 1% FO had a good hot and cold throw, but its so soft. feels like butter plus I hate the oily texture it has.  However the 4625 was like a brick, and barely had a cold throw, with no hot throw (that could be fixed by increasing the FO maybe).

So I wonder if I could mix the 2 for a better result, or mix the 4625 with something else. Not sure if that would be a waste of time, or money. I was going to get the soy tart wax, but I don't really like the feeling of soy tarts. 

23 minutes ago, Kerven said:

@Tokoo Have you taken a look at Candlewic's waxes? They're in PA with shipping rates that aren't too terribly high, IMO. I think they're the largest supplier of coconut wax blends on the East Coast, if you're interested in giving coconut wax a try. Shipping transit times are very similar to Candlescience's (maybe better) - all states, except MS and WI, east of the Mississippi are in one or two day UPS zones.

I will take a look. Thanks

16 minutes ago, Jeana said:

 

Is this place near you for the coconut? https://uscandlesupply.com/product-category/case/coconut-case/

I just posted a pic of a candle blend of CB#9 and 4630. I'm really liking this mix so far. The throw is outstanding. And no soot while burning.

No the place next to me barely carry anything, so I have to most stuff shipped, plus they are high, not many candle makers in my area.. https://vacandlesupply.com

That looks nice, very vibrant purple.

Actually Aztec is close by, but candle science is cheaper on shipping, which makes no sense.

Just now, Jeana said:

 

My Coconut sample should be here today or tomorrow. Are you in CA? Right now I have been testing Their CB#9. I don't like it on its own, but I was testing it with the 464. Now that I want to dump 464 I've been doing about 20% in 4630 and I'm getting some good results so far.  

No I am on other end of the map, and since shipping wouldn't be to cheap, I was think about doing some for personal use, unless I can find it near me (Which I doubt since, closet suppliers are about the highest in the business). I am in the same boat. I am new to candle making, but all my 464 seem to have turned out with no hot throw as well. I was thinking about doing 464/4630 blend or 6006 (Reviews are scary though).

On 3/15/2018 at 12:47 AM, Jeana said:

I have my eye on some from California candle supply. http://calcandlesupply.com/sc-21-wax-coconut-hybrid-blend/  

I like to know how this turns out myself.

2 hours ago, Jcandleattic said:

Heat guns and hair dryers are worlds apart. Heat guns get much much hotter, but don't blow as hard as a hair dryer. Exact opposite with a hair dryer, not as hot and blows too hard. All you really accomplish is blowing what little melted wax you can get to melt around. 

Thats true, I was just thinking about the heat.

42 minutes ago, Kerven said:

Frosting and wet spots are very difficult to avoid with soy wax, and even if you don't have any right now there is no guarantee they aren't going to show up eventually.

 

For me, dye chips seemed to cause more frosting than liquid dyes. Browns, dark greens (like hunter green), oranges, and blue were always an issue. Brown was the worse by far.

 

One lesson I learned about touching up a soy candle: never ever use a hairdryer. The frosting is always (at least) twice as worse once it sets up.

I was wondering if the liquid dye might be a better result. how about heat gun for touching up, I figured they both be about the same. 

9 minutes ago, Trappeur said:

Another thing.....curing you need to do that to get a proper burn to figure out your wicking.  And to get the best results for throw of fragrance.  How long have your candles cured for??  I like to keep mine at a 2 week cure time.  At times I get antsy and test them at 9, l0, ll  days...But generally for me 2 weeks. 

 

Trappeur

About a week.

27 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

That;s just the nature of wax. In paraffin it's called wet spots (because the spots look wet) in soy it's called frosting (which is what yours looks like) - in soy, coloring the candles will make the frosting more noticeable, but it is normal. Nothing really gets rid of them, because once the ambient temperature or climate of where the candles are changes, they will come back. 

 

The main thing you need to worry about is getting your wicks correct by testing to make sure you don't have a dangerous candle, then worry about the aesthetics. 

Thanks, I will be doing a burn test later this week. 

15 minutes ago, Trappeur said:

Hello Tokoo,

 

First off, welcome....

 

2'nd:  You made your candles perfectly from beginning to end....great!

 

3'rd:  There is absolutely NOTHING can do about what the physical appearance of all your candles, frosting and wet spots.

          It is a natural characteristic trait of soy and you can heat all you want, do different pour temperatures, etc.....You may have 1 candle turn out perfect and 2 that don't...whatever...even heating your jars may or may not help, most likely not and to me is a complete waste of time.   You would have to go to a paraffin to get the results you are looking for.  So many come here and ask this question all the time who are new to candle making.  The only thing you can do is embrace this situation...plain answer.  I use 464 and used to color my candles years ago...not any more...Leaving dye out is the only answer to the frosting problem.  Now you can get wet spots and we all do periodically but it is something you just have to accept.   You probably don't like this answer but it is what it is.  No one cares in my opinion and I sell to stores...never once did I ever get complaints or negative reviews on the candles.  I didn't like the frosting either and it bothered me.  Once I went au naturelle, no more problems like this.

 

Trappeur

Thank you. I personally think that the frosting adds character to them, but my girlfriend thinks they are suppose to look like the cheap things you get in Walmart, I've tried explaining that those are not Soy. I agree with you that heating the jars maybe a waste of time. I tested this by heating the first 6 jars, but not the last 6, same results. I may just do colorless soy candles from here own, and do colored paraffin. 

My first time making candles, and all was going fine, until they all set. I was recommend using GB 464 Soy Wax, and was advised to play with pour temps. These are results I got going from left to right 120/110/105. if I go above 120 or below 100 I get sink holes. I used 1oz fragrance/1lb wax, and I used dye blocks. I made sure to heat the wax to 185 degrees, before adding anything. I also preheated all jars while wax was cooling so they were still warm during pour.  

Issues I am having.

If you noticed the sandy colored one half of it is shiny looking, and the other half isn't, this was poured at 110 degrees, I only had 3 candles do this. It makes then look like they were poured more then once, but I assure you its one pour.

2nd issue I have is frosting. I personally like it, but my girlfriend doesn't so she want to get rid of as much frosting as possible. I took a hairdryer to them, since I don't have a heat gun, took forever, but it looked fine. 2 hours later, and I noticed the frosting was even worse. The result is the last one in the picture, the brown orange color.

Any help to fix these is much appreciated.