Peggy T

Interesting! I've seen my wax do a lot of crazy things but I haven't seen something that looks like that.

I use apricot kernel oil. It's a nice light oil with a shelf life of around a year.

Do you have a picture? That might help figure out what is going on. Also when you say "hole" do you mean a sinkhole or something else?

I dug out some candles I made a while ago (maybe 6-9+ months) and the wax appears to have expanded. So now, instead of there being a gap between the top of the wax and the top of the jar, it has filled up the space and even stick up a tiny bit above the top of the jar. I think I originally poured it to about 1/8" from the top although I can't say for sure since it's expanded. Color me befuddled once again by the mysteries of wax...

Yeah, it's art...that's it.😂

My general practice is to heat to 195 (because of the coconut), add fo, stir for 3 minutes and pour right after that (pouring hot again bc of the coconut wax). I store everything in my garage so there are fluctuations in temp and humidity.

What's up with this? I get these on some candles after a few months. Wax on this particular candle is 80/20 464 and easy beads Coco 83 FO at 8%. However I've gotten them at other wax and FO ratios/%.

The Flaming Candle has great service and fast order turnaround. I usually pick up orders there but shipping is quick and reasonable.

USPS Regional Rate boxes are my go-to shipping method--unless it's going across the country.

Hmmm I wonder if this is the same Very Vanilla I get from The Flaming Candle. I'm pretty sure TFC sources there's from AFI based on conversations I've had with AFI. I would suspect that CS gets theirs from AFI as well since AFI is in Georgia and CS is in NC. With all that said, I use the VV pretty frequently in a fragrance blend and hadn't realized it was reformulated. I have noticed that the color of the FO has some variation but the fragrance seems consistent. But perhaps that's just because I don't use a ton in my blend. So I guess my best advice would be to talk to the folks at TFC and/or AFI. Just know (if you don't already) that the minimum order at AFI is 10#.

I've used coconut83 (cal candle) and easy beads (candles and supplies) in various ratios. I've tried (464/coconut) 95/5, 90/10, and 80/20. So much does seem to depend on the 464 batch. I used 90% 464 with 10% coco83 in glass tumblers with wooden wicks (1/2" booster wick) and had pretty good results, you just have to trim those wicks all the time but that seems to always be the case with wooden wicks. I've had a harder time in my ceramic jars with "regular" wicks. The ceramic makes it a bit trickier since they hold the heat. I had what appeared to be good results with 80/20 (easybeads) and an HTP 105 wick (my jars are ~3.5" diameter) BUT then I got a new batch of 464 and everything was a hot mess. My FO was seeping out at 8% and I had a bunch of cavities. So I am not trying to resolve that issue. So all of that to say I would thing that between 10 and 20% coconut wax you should be able to find a sweet spot. Just pay attention to your LOT #s of 464 in case you have problems.

I wonder if they actually work...

@TallTaylHave you tried burning this yet? I ordered the freedom wax as well as the midwest soy. I'm going to pour some tomorrow. 🤞

It doesn't look like it's in stock yet. I would start with a sample (delivered) anyway. Then if I really liked it, I'd drive up to Knoxville to buy a bunch. But I don't foresee that happening for a while (testing the wax or going to Aztec).

How would you stir the FO when you add it?

What about a HTP wick? Those are self trimming. I make a soy/coconut blend (not Northwoods Coco) and they seem to do OK. I have other issues that I'm trying to work out but the HTP wick seems (overall) to not be problematic. My jars are ceramic though so you'd have to take that into consideration. They're 4" tall and 3 3/4" in diameter. I use HTP 105.

Hmmmm Aztec is relatively close to me. OK, it's not that close but I pass through KNoxville when I visit my daughter so if it's a good wax I could buy in bulk and pick up. Thanks for the tip.

I am super curious to hear what you think. As far as Midwest soy, I've never used straight soy. Any thoughts on how it might do blended with some EasyBeads? I have a ton of it here. I also have some universal soy additive from Cargill that I've never tried.

I'll give that a go too as I try different options. Plus, I'd save money.

I kept searching and found this post which says that American Soy Organics had taken the 464 flakes and processed it into beads which they claim controls moisture and inconsistencies. It seems weird that they'd change their marketing to make it look like an entirely different product but who knows...🤷‍♀️I reckon I can try both the Freedom and 100% soy and see what I think. I just want a product that's CONSISTENT.

I looked up American Soy (boy is their website terrible) and saw they have a few different waxes: the plain old Midwest Soy (100% soy), Millennium Wax as well as Freedom Wax. So I called them to talk about the 100% Midwest Soy as a base for a soy & coconut blend (I've been using 80% 464 and 20% Easy Beads). The guy starts out asking if I use Coconut 76 or 92 in my candles which was confusing since those are oils not waxes. I tell him I am using Easy Beads Coconut Wax and 464. So he starts telling me about Freedom Wax and how great it is, people love it so much more than 464 because it is a consistent quality, etc etc. I'm thinking "this is great" but decide to come back here to see if others have offered feedback. I found this post where @lovelyscents was saying how the Freedom Wax is just 464 repurposed into pellets. How can that possibly be ethical or even legal?

I've been using the same formula for 3 or 4 years and it has worked well but in the past 6 months or so it has become more unpredictable (weak burns, seeping FO). My gut says a big portion of my problems have been from the 464. I have been trying to limit my testing to the waxes I can get locally. Those are the GB family of waxes, C3 and C6. I don't use paraffin because my customer base wants plant based waxes. I tested C6 for a while last year and hated it. I've chosen to order Easy Beads because I don't use that in a particularly high percent.

This kind of blows my mind, TBH. How can you manufacture something without a fixed formula??

I use Easy Beads Coconut Container wax: https://www.candlesandsupplies.net/Easy-Beads-Coconut-Container-Wax-Blend-per-45-lb.-Case?sc=7&category=333096 At one point I was using (and liked) the Coco83 slab wax from California Candle Supply but it was out of stock for such a long time and expensive to ship across the country so I got the Easy Beads. They're listed as Coco83 so I thought they were the same except one was a slab and the other was the beads.

At this point, I'll try anything. A while back I made a bunch of candles where I poured them into the shipping boxes I received the ceramic jars in. Each box held two candles so they cooled very slowly. I thought I was being super clever but then my FO started seeping out and I came to the conclusion it was because the box insulated them too much. Maybe's there a temperature sweet spot for cooling that I haven't yet found.