AustinCandleMaker

How does one know if they have the right Fragrance percentage?

You can work to create a candle with a great hot throw.

But I don't want it to be too over powering.

You can do tests with differing amount of fragrance

In a small room it might be overpowering.

In a large room it might get lost.

What's too much is subjective I know.

But you have to start somewhere

What is a good sized room to plan for?

This will help me back into the right fragrance percentage.
I am working with a 12oz 3.75" single wick sized candle.

I don't expect it to fill the whole house.

1 minute ago, TallTayl said:

If heat is a big issue, you may want to consider blending with or switching to a more “sturdy” paraffin, such as 4786. 
 

vybar is like adding “glue” to your wax.  While it may “possibly” help stabilize, it can very easily “lock” the scent so it is not easily thrown into the air. This becomes a circuitous effort to increase wick and scent load to overcome the normal characteristics of vybar, which then means more FO, then more wick, more vybar, etc. 

 

perhaps test your current 4627 during the worst weather in your area to see if it will even be a problem.  Loads of companies use it as-is with apparently little to no reported trouble. 

Awesome.  Thanks for the advise

14 hours ago, bfroberts said:

I get where you are coming from, and I totally agree that it is always a good idea to know how your wax burns with nothing added.  My point is, it will likely burn differently when you add FO, dye, etc.  IME with other waxes, I usually need a larger wick when burning wax with no FO added.  So, just because LX 16-18-etc. isn't giving you the desired results now, doesn't mean that wick series ultimately won't work.  I thought LX and HTP both worked well in 4627 with 6% FO load and liquid dye.  I'd wick conservatively with moderate FO load for the cleanest burn.  4627 is a great wax with a great throw.  It's just too messy for me.  Good luck!

Thanks

I'm working with 4627 because one of my product lines requires vibrant colors.

Couldn't get that from Soy.

I saw a trick from somewhere else here on craft server to put it in the refrigerator.

It does help working with it.  I just cover everything and use gloves and that keeps things in check pretty well

9 hours ago, ErronB said:

4627 is probably the strongest throwing wax I've ever used, I've got no idea why you would try and add vybar to it.

 

I don't know the witchcraft behind LX wicks I cannot for the life of me get them to even remotely self-trim, HTP does work pretty good but it rarely ever does a totally clean burn even at 6%. Off the top of my head in a 8oz jelly jar I think I ended up using HTP 83 for those most of the time, but there was no escaping the soot and smoke unless you add some soy. Tins were better for that reason because they are wider than they are taller.

 

4630 burned cleaner for me with HTP.

I live in Texas and in the heat of the summer I was told using vybar raises the melt point and helps keep the candle from "slumping"

1 hour ago, bfroberts said:

For that jar, LX 16 is where I'd start once you add FO.  I've never burned 4627 without FO, but with waxes I have burned with no FO, they typically take a size or so bigger wick without.

That's where i started.  But i added the vybar and run the wick test with one above and one below the recommended wick.
I wont be using the vybar for my next test run.

I prefer to do a wick test with no FO to be sure the container/wick/wax combo is working as expected before introducing FO

Thanks

31 minutes ago, bfroberts said:

For that jar, LX 16 is where I'd start once you add FO.  I've never burned 4627 without FO, but with waxes I have burned with no FO, they typically take a size or so bigger wick without.

That's where i started.  But i added the vybar and run the wick test with one above and one below the recommended wick.
I wont be using the vybar for my next test run.

I prefer to do a wick test with no FO to be sure the wick/wax combo is working as expected before introducing FO

Thanks

9 minutes ago, bfroberts said:

It will burn differently when you add FO.  I wouldn't add any vybar.  LX will work fine, once you add FO and get the size dialed in.  What size wick and container have you tried?

8oz Jelly Jar 2.75" diameter
LX 14,16, 18
HTP 83, 104

I'm going to do that this evening.  Just thought I'd ask and see if anyone else might know

I'm having a hell of a time wicking 4627.
Candle Science prefers LX series.
Looking through the forums, I see that people swear by HTP series.

I've tried them both and they both soot.

I am adding a small amount of vybar 260 to the batch.

At this time this is only a base wick test.  No color.  No scent.

Any suggestions?

1 hour ago, Laura C said:

 

Regarding colored wax, I'm not positive but I want to say for the most vibrant colors you need to use paraffin or palm wax but I could be wrong.

 

Currently I'm still on the fence with the issue of liquid vs. solid dye. The only liquid dye I have experimented with had such a fowl odor that I couldn't stand to use it and that odor came through in some of my products so I don't use it anymore. Not to mention, I can be clumsy so liquid dye makes me nervous, LOL. I have been happily using color chips/blocks and haven't had a problem. I add my dye chips while the wax is still very hot and make sure it dissolves thoroughly before adding my FO. I use a scale to weight my dye chips.

Thanks Laura.  I notice that nasty odor with the liquid dyes as well.  Where do you get your dye blocks?

Thanks @TallTayl.  Any suggestion on a wax?  I know a lot of people do not use Dyes.  I don't plan to for my Luxury candles. 
But do you have a suggestion for dyes?

I've made some with IGI-6006 (unimpressed), GW 464 (troublesome)

I'm thinking of trying a Coconut blend.  Not sure which one.

There are many reasons to search for the "right" wax as i have learned.

The primary reason i'm still searching is because of color.

If I'm going to make a go of it to make some money and/or make it a business, i have a particular initial market to start in.

I think it's a great launch point.  Rather than Craft fair and such.  Or being just another candle maker with a website or on Etsy.

My initial market is what i plan on using to drive people to my website.

Here's the kicker.

It REQUIRES to have vibrant colors.  I need a RED red, BLACK black, ORANGE orange.  Those are the most difficult so far.

I need to have bright/true colors as close as possible.

Forget Soy.  6006 didn't do it either.  I slightly "overloaded" the colors for the recommended portions.

I could overload them more but that's not going to change the soy results.

I have also heard that if you overload too much, it could "clog" your wick.  Don't know if that's true or not.

Just because you hear/see it on the internet doesn't make it true.  Man I wish more people understood that.  But that's a totally different conversation.

I digress...

I am currently using Liquid Dyes from LoneStar.  I have heard that using blocks might give better colors.

What do you recommend?  What source?

Man that was a lot.  🙂

I think I'll ask the color question in its own thread

Okay since we went there.

Waxes.

I've made some with IGI-6006 (unimpressed), GW 464 (troublesome)

I'm thinking of trying a Coconut blend.  Not sure which one.

There are many reasons to search for the "right" wax as i have learned.

The primary reason i'm still searching is because of color.

If I'm going to make a go of it to make some money and/or make it a business, i have a particular initial market to start in.

I think it's a great launch point.  Rather than Craft fair and such.  Or being just another candle maker with a website or on Etsy.

My initial market is what i plan on using to drive people to my website.

Here's the kicker.

It REQUIRES to have vibrant colors.  I need a RED red, BLACK black, ORANGE orange.  Those are the most difficult so far.

I need to have bright/true colors as close as possible.

Forget Soy.  6006 didn't do it either.  I slightly "overloaded" the colors.  Recommended portions.

I could overload them more but that's not going to change the soy results.

I have also heard that if you overload too much, it could "clog" your wick.  Don't know if that's true or not.

Just because you hear/see it on the internet doesn't make it true.  Man I wish more people understood that.  But that's a totally different conversation.

I digress...

I am currently using Liquid Dyes from LoneStar.  I have heard that using blocks might give better colors.

What do you recommend?  What source?

Man that was a lot.  🙂

Thanks @TallTayl and @Laura C .  Excellent information.  The "if you're lucky this will all work out."  Isn't super reassuring 🙂

"It's a long way there"  -  Little River Band ('76)

I'm new to candle making and quickly realized that testing is the most important and time consuming part if you want a quality result.

I want to be able to make this process as efficient as possible.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.