Fahmighazel

13 hours ago, BusyBee said:

1) Given that i live in a hot & humid weather, should i add additives such as stearic acid to make the wax a little bit harder? I heard adding stearic acid will decrease the HT  Please advise if this is indeed true!

Theoretically, adding stearic acid to 464 would be problematic since 464 already has enough in them.  In reality, I did not see any noticeable problem, but I also did not see any improvement adding more to 464.

 

2) Do you recommend using 444 soy wax as i heard that it's a better option for summer weather?

If outside weather is around 40C, then the biggest problem using low melt point wax would be transporting candles to another location.  Even if full blown air conditioning cars are to be used for transportation, it is going to cause problems.  And I have a feeling that 444 would have same problem also.

 

3) Lastly, are there any methods to ensure that the 464 soy wax candle looks good after burning? 

Only way to achieve clean top after burn is to use the right wick in 464.  There are only few that provides clean top after burn, and when you get clean top after burn then that wick will gives you the best HT also.

 

Since you are in Singapore, you might have access to pure coconut waxes over there that we in US are not aware of.  That is something that we don't have in US.  So, I don't have any clue what pure coconut wax would do to 464.  But adding 10% pure coconut wax might cause more problem in hot weather since pure coconut wax is supposed to be close to oil.

 

Below are pictures of 464 after burns.  Other than these, Helix wick would provide decent top(not as good as these) after burn and will produce decent HT.  All other wicks on 464?  Forget about them!

*First one has 4% palm wax in it, and I get mirror like top after burn with better HT.

 

Stay safe and good luck with your candle venture!

Hey BusyBee!

Appreciate your response and the things you have mentioned is extremely informative! The picture of your candle with 4% palm wax looks amazing! Would like to ask you a few questions if i want to mix 464 with 4% palm wax:

1) What is the brand of your palm wax? 

2) At which temperature do you take the wax out from the boiler? 

3) Temperature to mix the FO & pouring temp?

Moreover, I noticed you use wooden wick but also said "Helix wick would provide decent top(not as good as these)", so which wick do you use that results to your beautiful after burn tops in the photos? 

Thank you so much for your insight and help. Appreciate it a lot!

Hi All!

First of all, hope you all are doing great despite the pandemic! 

It's my first time here on this platform and I have a list of questions with regards to candle making, using 464 Soy Wax in hot & humid weather.

I'm from Singapore and the country is located near the equator and has a typically tropical climate all year round. In addition to the tropical climate, Singapore has high humidity as well.

I have been experimenting with candles for 6 months now (still experimenting) & recently decided to work with 464 due to the excellent HT, as described by the company i purchased the wax from. 

Through testing, I noticed the following:

1) The HT isn't great. I used 10% fragrance load & I bought the scents from Candle Science

2) The wax is extremely soft, even after curing it for 1 week

3) The wax looks horrible after each burn, leaving the top look like planet mars

Measures I have taken to make my candles:

1) Given the humid weather, I turned the AC to cool the room temperature

2) I burn the wax up to 185F, add the fragrance oil immediately and then pour the wax into my container jars at 150F to obtain smooth tops 

3) I add 10% pure coconut wax to help increase the HT, but i read some forum stating that coconut wax will make the wax softer than before

4) I cleaned the jars beforehand to ensure that the wax adheres to the glass (it works!)

Questions:

1) Given that i live in a hot & humid weather, should i add additives such as stearic acid to make the wax a little bit harder? I heard adding stearic acid will decrease the HT  Please advise if this is indeed true!

2) Do you recommend using 444 soy wax as i heard that it's a better option for summer weather?

3) Lastly, are there any methods to ensure that the 464 soy wax candle looks good after burning? 

Thank you in advance people & stay safe!