Hope

Thanks, Hope, for the recommended melt pool depth. I'm a real novice with wicking and appreciate your help!:smiley2:

Happy Holidays!

Glad I could be of service (insert hat-off-bowing-smiley here). Another common guideline is one hour of burn per inch of container diameter. Just guidelines though, actual results will vary. Have some great holidays too!

Thanks for the feedback, Hope. Do you know what a good rule of thumb is for an acceptable melt pool depth?

1/4-1/2" seems to be more acceptable. I seem to usually end up with ~3/8".

...when the wax melts and creates a 1 in. deep melt pool?

Whoa... that seems a bit deep! An 8 oz. jj is only about ~3.5" deep.

Great link Hope...I wonder how I missed that one...

Surprised here, thought you'd beat me to posting that one!

Hillary... hope it works out for you.

For people who need peanuts, I wonder what Hobby Lobby and Micheal's does with their peanuts? If I need any, I usually get dept. store friend to hook me up.

www.earth911.org may help get rid of them, they have a great reuse/recycle directory. Type in zip code, 'Reuse & Recycling Services', scroll down to the plastic box, then, 'Plastic Peanut Reuse'.

Great presentation, beautiful candles. Looks quite cheery with those flowers (label).:smiley2:

JMO: If it were me... I'd make the "funky..." line a bit smaller so it doesn't compete with the "eco.." line. Also, so that "eco..." line will pop out a bit more.

I once thought it might work that way. I even saw a company selling pillars claiming that they included a tab as a safety feature. Actually they do it because it's easier and cheaper to make them that way. I did many tests and found that this design burns to the bitter end. It might stop when it hits the tab neck if you're careful to seal the bottom with silicone. Otherwise the melted wax feeds up through the hole in the tab.

Now that you've explained it, that definately does make more sense. Doesn't a pillar warning sticker say something to the effect of stop burning when 1" of wax is left at the bottom? I haven't burned near as many pillars as containers and, I haven't seriously ventured into the pillar realm yet. But, I usually ended the candle's burning life b/c it can be such a PITA to get off of the pillar holder (if left to burn too close to bottom of pillar).

Realize the great amount of consumer ignorance & carelessness that wouldn't think to extinguish the candle before it burns to the very end. So, kudos for your thoughtfulness of the non-burning 'cushion' of wax.

I have burned container candle testers w/o some securing adhesive (just wick & tab) to see how much wax would be consumed, and temp'd the MP to see what happens. They can wipe their plates pretty clean! Some had a couple of grams left over, some had one gram, some had zero grams. It is interesting how very little molten is needed to keep a flame going. But, I suppose the same can be said or done with votives.

Some experts believe that candle safety will improve if wicks do not extend the full length of a candle - with perhaps a 1/4 inch margin of wax left at a candle's bottom. Such candles would self-extinguish, thereby helping to address the fairly common problem caused by consumer carelessness.

I wonder who those 'experts' were. Wonder if they are candle-users and makers. Logically, that proposal doesn't seem very stable for the wick & tab.

There probably is some group out there that probably thinks we need to wear helmets and various paddings to protect ourselves after we get out of bed and on with our day.

Smells fraud-y. Who's she using for e-mail? You don't need to tell here. I can't think of anyone (non-friend/aquaintance) who'd use a non-business e-addy for business. If handling the situation nicely doesn't send her on her way, be polite and firm about seeing some credentials from her. If none, you're "really not interested, and please don't contact me again". The before mentioned of contacting the ins. co's isn't a bad idea either. Hope she doesn't waste too much of your time.

what is fmp?

Full melt pool.

Since when was candle wax considered "vitamin-rich"???

Perhaps it was enriched with a good nutritional supplement... like a Flintstone's vitamin.

Great. Next, we'll have someone on this board trying to make a candle out of earwax.

Lastly, I purchased LP 416 and my tarts don't melt in the electric tart burner or the simmering pots. (....) These tarts are very hard,...

MP of LP 416 is 130-135F. What is the temp. of some melted wax in your burner/pot? If the 416 isn't melting, then the 'simmering' temp. may be too low to do the job. Then you'd have to just rely on the cold throw of the unmelted melt.

I am thinking that If I bring up the fo to 12% instead of 3tbsp per lb (I think the difference isn't a lot) that I might get a better through as long as I bring the temp. up to 180, maybe ?, and add fo at 160 and pour at 120.

It sounds like you may be using weight & volume measurements to calculate FO %. Of course I could be mistaken and you could be using volume(FO) & volume(wax). It'll help to communicate FO amount here on the msg board using weight(FO) & weight(wax) measurements/calcs. That is *if* you were going to ask for help in that area. However, whatever you do, maintaining measurement consistency is important for your own purposes. :smiley2:

Major difference seems to be the melt points of each.

402 + additive(@2%) = 464 (464 mp: 115-124F)

415 + additive(@2%) = 444 (444 mp: 120-125F)

Now I'm putting them in plastic bags in the freezer, is that a good place to store them?

Storage at room temp. should be fine, unless you have extreme temps inside the house. If you made a lot of candles, you'd probably run out of room in the freezer. :smiley2:

Welcome!

Now for the silly questions...when I measure out a lb of wax, is that a lb of unmelted wax? lol Also, how do you make a candle that doesn't show so much soot? And is it preferable to do a mixture, like soy and parrafin?

I usually have a spare bucket of questions myself. After one conundrum is put to rest, more spring to life... doesn't seem to end. Feasible wicking can do wonders for the reduction of soot. But, it really depends on your particular application in question. For example, excessive FO can contribute to the problem as well.

There are many types, combinations, and blends of waxes so it really is a personal preference. Shipping and availability of materials from suppliers can also be important in that decision. A case of 415 can be bought for just under $40 + shipping, while a particular case of 70/30 can be around $70. Add shipping... It really just depends on what kind of candle you want to make,... and aesthetically, what kind of life you want it to have. :smiley2:

Best wishes!

Wow, great I think I will give them a try....if I was using 100% soy, what wax of theirs would you all recommend? Thanks!!

That would be a personal preference. Sorta depends on what you want to do with it. Get a couple pounds of whatever you find interesting. :smiley2:

Do they sell these in bakeries?

Probably doesn't have a long enough shelf life due to ooey gooey goodness... mmmm. Check out the cakes... www.betterthansexcake.com

Those would make for quite spunky lil' (bon)firestarters! Now, I want to go whip one up and examine it's finer combustible properties.

I've never seen anything like that in my 444, but I'd love to know what you find out.

What I found out...

The additive powder is used (as opposed to the beads) for the formulation of 464 & 444. My initial experimental portion of wax I rec'd may have been one of those two. Can't be certain because I don't have any left, and had thrown away the bag it which it was shipped.

When melting flakes, sometimes they melt together and become a mega clump o' flakes. Similar thing may have occured with the additive. That may have been what I saw. Or it was many entire strange galaxies appearing in the molten for the briefest moment, only to be snuffed out prematurely by my selfish desire to make a candle.

Seriously, Call and ask Jason at Golden Foods.. He would know if there were issues with this wax.

Good idea, thanks. I'll try & contact him this morning. I think I found the mp of the additive. 156-162F. That would explain why it took longer for the balls to disappear... That is, if that was what I was observing.

Anyhow, thanks to all who responded. :smiley2:

I would reckon this was a male version you received, lol. As opposed to the smooth, differently behaved, ball free version.

Also explains the disproportionate shipping charges.

I wish my wax had balls, then I would have something to play with while it melts...

:lipsrseal

Users of 464 or 444, or people who have used it.... I was curious if it exhibits the tiny spheres while the non-2%-additive portion melts. Apparently, the emulsifier seems to have a higher mp. (I've melted it in some 415 before and noticed it doesn't melt as quickly.)

Anyhow, I'm asking b/c I rec'd a couple of pounds of a certain wax. Then, bought a case... which seems to exhibit a different texture, is ball-less while melting, and behaves a bit differently post pouring, and during burn. I'm just trying to nail down what stuff I may have rec'd.

TIA

i did a google search.

http://www.peakcandle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PCMS&Category_Code=WICKS

Thanks for taking the time. I wish Peak's sold the particular item of discussion, I'd be quite :smiley2: . There seems to be a supply/demand issue. Perhaps I should just start demanding a supply...

Just to update, WU only sells full spools of the raw HTP wick.

Candlewic has a 4 oz. spool and 5 lb. spool of every HTP wick -EXCEPT 93!

Pretty much my feelings. Oh well. Somehow, I'll eventually find it! A&P has a larger min. than I need. I think WU was the same. I'll just contact them again. Thanks for the response.