BusyBee

It seems like Kerasoy's spec is very similar to GB 464.  *This does not mean they will perform similar way.  

Anyway, if you have added 1 oz FO to 1 lb of wax, then that would be around 6% ratio.  1.6 oz of FO to 1 lb of wax would be 10%.  Some wax will work best with maximum  FO capacity that certain wax will hold(10 to 12% in your wax), and some wax will work best at 6 to 7%.  So, what percentage of FO should work best for your wax need to be find out by yourself since we don't have that wax available over here and do not have experience.

Your wick in above candle picture curled just right to give the candle perfect burning characteristic.  It's just that flame is little bit big.  Try to trim it down first and see how it burns before you try another wick type or size.  *You will need to add FO at higher temperature though.

Good luck with your experimenting!

I pour my GB 464(American soy wax) at 130 - 140(135F best).  Your wax was recommended little bit lower by the suppliers in UK.  So, I say anywhere in between 120 to 135F.

You were doing fine with all other steps.  

Regarding pre-heating container;  How cold is it over there this time of the year, and how cold is your room where candle is cooled.  If your room temperature is above 22C and above, I wouldn't worry about pre-heating the container.  

Welcome to CraftServer, and don't forget to try another burn with short trimmed length ECO.

Are you in UK?  We are not familiar with KeraSoy, so my recommendation could turn out to be wild guess.  

It seems like one of UK supplier is recommending to add FO at little bit above pouring temperature 120 - 125F.  That would be too low for FO to be bond well with soy wax.  Your wet spot might be seepage due to this reason.  Try to add FO in between 170 - 180F.  

You might want to try Stabilo Series Wick size 16 for your container size & 10% FO load.  If not 14 or 18. It is coreless wick, which should perform better for soy wax than ECO.

*You might want to trim your wick on above candle first.  ECO works well with short trimmed length.  

On 1/25/2020 at 9:07 AM, Karen Ov said:

So thinking about spring and summer and can't stand the thought of those mosquitos..is there a good citronella fo that will actually keep these nasties away...This year I'm going to buy a ton of lemongrass plants and put them all around my yard...  These mosquitos cause me stress..uhggggg..lol    

You might want to take a look at this article before you make citronella fo purchase.

https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/citronella-insect-repellent/

That is a strange phenomenon as you have described.  If it were FO or dye clogging the wick problem, then it should have started within 30 minutes into the burn.  I don't think it is problem of lack of oxygen down the container either.  Then, what could it be? 

Only thing I can suspect is the wick.  

1. We have strange wick here in US that is called Cottonwood wick.  This wick will perform excellent for 2 hours.  But, once you pass 2 hours, it becomes monster.  I am still confused & amazed by this Cottonwood wick.  This wick drove me crazy for a while.

2. Even though TCR wick might be popular wick for soy wax candle in UK or Europe, it might not be the right wick for your candle set up.  Here in US, ECO is very popular recommended wick for soy wax candle, but it does not work for many many people.

Sorry that I am not able to offer you with exact solution.  Good luck to you!

I am floral scent lover, and it looks like I am the only floral scent lover in this post. 😊

If I am correct, I believe best sellers of floral scents in candle industry are Lily of the Valley & ylang ylang.  Maybe it's the name that makes them popular because I don't find them impressive as floral person.  

My favorite floral scents are Fresh Cut Roses & Jasmine manufactured by Atlantis Aromatics in New Jersey, and I get them from their supplier "California Candle Supply".  I use 464 also, so it should work well for you.  I get a lot of request for Lavender, but I haven't found one that I like yet.

16 hours ago, droidus said:

Thanks for the response!

Is that soot bad to breathe in then?

I really like the "A clam & relaxing place".  

It is just for hobby.  But I thought about selling them (I doubt I could live off of that alone though).  

I will have to look into this candle tour, thanks! 

I have noticed that you have been to this forum a lot longer than I have.  By the way, your first made candle looks a lot better than what any other person could have done including myself.  Let's try to make this hobby work for you.

I am suspecting you are using KeraSoy with TCR wick both of which are not available in US.   I don't have experience with any of them, but here are my 2 guesses.

1. Starved oxygen down the container

2. Amount of fragrance the wick is having to burn through

What is your container size and what size wick did you use?  *I am pretty sure that you are using FOs manufactured in France.

If you can upload your candle picture, then we might be able to get better understanding of your situation.

Welcome to CraftServer!

You will have to provide us with insights of your scented oil market of France later on.  We are all interested in learning about Grasse France, The capital of fragrance in the world.

On 1/28/2020 at 3:36 PM, droidus said:

I guess what I am getting at is a decent recipe (right wick size, which specific wax to use, which specific company fragrance, etc.) not to copy-cat Yankee Candles (that would be nice to match some of their scents), but to make what I thought was a decent candle like theirs.  For example, I've noticed they always burn all of the way around, and that the scent puts off very well. 

If anyone has any specific tutorials that could help me out in this realm, that would be helpful.  

Yes!  You are right about Yankee candle's full melt pool and its ability to throw strong HT.  Even though I consider their HT to be too pungent, I have to admit that it is well performing candle that gets sold by 100's of million candles per year.  However, it produces too much excessive soot and container gets too hot, which is definitely no no for many of us.  This is the reason why I would never consider making anything similar to Yankee Candle. 

Which one of Yankee Candle is your favorite?  Yankee paraffin candle or parasoy candle?

What is your reason for interest in making candle?  Is it just for hobby or are you trying to get into candle business?  Your learning steps should be different for each case, but either way it's going to need your time and effort.

If you don't want to go thru hard learning process of candle making, then you really have to consider going to their factory tour.  You get to make Yankee Candle during its tour.

If you really like Yankee Candle and want to learn about their candle, then you should go to their factory tour or better yet work there for while.  That way, you would be able to make original instead of similar copy cats.

By the look of your melted wax, I think you are going to need little bit of more of fire power.  ECO should be little bit hotter wick.

Your candle is only a tester, and it looks better than this.  This one is final product.

14 hours ago, birdcharm said:

 

I think cotton core would be good, I'd like to get some.  Since a smaller container I have did nicely with an RRD, I'm thinking positive thoughts about those.  Doesn't anyone sell CD wicking by the yard?  I've only seen it for sale pre-tabbed.

 

~~

For those unfamiliar: "RRD are a round braided cotton cored wick treated with a special NST2 treatment designed to burn better in vegetable waxes.  
These wicks are able to consume viscous materials without clogging or drowning."

https://www.candlewic.com/store/category.aspx?q=c61

CandleWic has most of them.

You might want to make testers without putting a wick at all from the start.  This way, it is a lot easier and faster to keep on changing the wicks.  Poke a hole in the middle, put a wick, test burn, take them out, put another....  (By the way, that's 464 in the picutre.) 

5 hours ago, Karen Ov said:

I seen that pic online so I tried doing it myself, but i use cd wicks...and it wouldn't wrap nicely and stay tight  like the pic   

Thank you for posting that picture!  That picture lead me to discovery of new wick.  

That wick in the picture turns out to be wick made by "EricX Light" of China.  Even though I am not big fan of putting Chinese ingredients in my candle, I think I might try one of their wick.  They have a hemp wick, which got me interest to try in my soy candle.

m/EricX-Light-Organic-Pre-Waxed-Natural/dp/B01M36EZU9?ref_=ast_bbp_dp

12 minutes ago, TallPineCandles said:

Here is some testing I am doing on tins. I am testing the CD 16, 18 & 20. The 20 is on the left, 18 center and 16 on the right. This is after a 3 hour burn. They have now cooled for about 2 hours. You can see the pool rings somewhat. It seems the 16 is winning this battle....LOL

Are you using GB464 instead of 6006?

On 1/23/2020 at 6:49 PM, Karen Ov said:

I tried to do this but my wick wouldn't stay wrapped, maybe  it the wick I'm using 

May I ask what wick you are using?  I don't recall anything like yours.

✌️  Good luck to you!

Here is Vybar information from Baker Hughes, the maker of Vybar.

https://www.bhge.com/industrial/specialty-chemicals/specialty-polymers/candles

*Vybar can be used to hold more FO in basic paraffin wax, but it might cause negative effect on other pre-blended waxes.

You had the right idea to add Vybar to enhance HT.  I did have the same idea as beginner of candle making to add max Vybar to able to maximize HT, which turned out to be bad idea.  All of pre-blended wax already has some type of Vybar like agents added in the wax.  If you add too much Vybar, then it will actually lock the scents instead of releasing them.  So, other people are right about suggesting not to add Vybar to 6006.  There is one question.  Did you add Vybar to wax melts also?

There are many people in this Forum that has good candle using only 6% FO, but I am one of those who likes to go for the max capacity which in my case I go with 12% FO.  I guess either way will work, but 6% FO can save a lot production cost.

The wick is most important part of having great HT.  Type of wax & FOs are important also.  But if you don't wick it right, then there is going to be no HT.  I am one of those who likes to go with 100% soy or 100% paraffin.  So, I don't know anything about your 6006, but I am pretty sure others will help you on 6006.

I always thought it was the wick that was cause of soot, but then your post made me think it could be the FOs also.

I have found a scented paraffin wax candle that burned beautifully without any soot even in heavy drift.  So, I pulled the wick out from that candle and put it in my heavy loaded FO soy candle, and it burned beautifully doing the same thing.  No soot even in heavy drift, no mushroom, no trimming required, quick full melt pool but container stays cool, nice decent size flame, great HT, etc.  This was the reason I believed it is the WICK that matters most, and I think I have discovered THE WICK for my candle.  But then come to think of it, I had experience where I could have put any wick in coconut wax without FO to make it burn really well.  No soot, clean shallow full melt pool, nice little flame, no mushrooming, etc.  But when I added even just little bit of FO, black soot was coming out.

So, which is it?  You got me into think I need to do a lot more experiment again from different angle.  Thanks!  I guess this learning process is never ending journey.

I guess there are several different ways.

I am soy wax user, and General Wax only has 4 FOs for soy wax.  Still, I have tried few FOs from there due to close distance from my house, and CT & HT did not impress me.  Most of their products are from China, and I have feeling that China is where they are getting their FOs also.  Some other person might have had great experience with their FOs other than 4 soy wax FOs that they have.

5 hours ago, CandleBaker said:

Thank you, Tall Tayl. Amen to test test test 🙌

 

So the motivation for the question is to allow me to establish a level of confidence that my candles will remain largely solid as they sit in the back of a UPS truck in the heat of summer. I can predict the melt point of the wax as that information is readily available as it applies to whatever wax and additives make up the blend. The addition of the fragrance oil is the great unknown.

 

Fortunately my brother lives in the high desert of Southern California so summer test test test shipments will be key.

 

Thanks again!

I live in Southern CA, and I do have little bit of information regarding UPS truck.  During hot summer when temperature is around 110F in the desert area, temperature in back of UPS truck is about 146F. (UPS driver showed me his thermometer.)  I even drove around with candles in my car with full A/C on, and it still caused lots of seepage.

Phoenix AZ, Las Vegas NV, and Palm Springs CA have similar weather during summer time.  At this moment, I have no clue how to ship or deliver any candle to desert area during hot summer.  

Thank you!  I did get to try it, and it worked better than I thought it would be.  I tried it in pouring pots.

Now, I am thinking of getting this cheap paint mixer for my wax melting tank instead of getting $2,000 agitator they sell.