redquilt

On 12/13/2022 at 8:48 AM, NETS Candles said:

How to calculate the wax I need for my candles before I make and waste any leftover as I always have 2-3 Oz's left over after pouring my jars.  If I'm making 4- 8 oz jars, I times the 4x8=32 and I still have too much left over like I mentioned earlier. Please,help thank you a lot.

 With the canning and food type jars, 8oz jars will not hold 8oz, by weight, of wax.  So you have to figure out how much wax, by weight, your container will comfortably hold.  My 8oz jars hold around 7oz of wax if I fill to the jar's fill line.     

I've never heard the term lye bloom?  However, many years back I recall once having a lye heavy soap get a very thick layer of ash on top.  I had accidentally doubled the amount of lye.  

I've been testing 6046 and have found that it burns too hot, even when wicked down, in the vessels I'm using.  I also tested both trimmed and untrimmed candles(same vessel, same wick) side by side with 6046 and found a big difference in how they burn. If I wicked for the average person that does not trim their candle, I could get a fairly decent burning candle, but for the scrupulous customer who actually follows the directions on the warning label, that same candle would tunnel horribly.  Wick assuming the candle will be trimmed regularly would cause the same candle to burn way to hot left untrimmed. I found that adding GB 444 at 20% really helped to tame the burn and gave me much more consistency  in how the candle burned whether it was trimmed or left untrimmed.  

As far as beading or sweating, I found  6046 was prone to sweat, especially the longer the candle aged (4 months +), and if exposed to warmer temps. GB 444 helped with this, but I still got a little beading in hot temps of 95+.   FO load was 6%-8%. 

Adding soy wax did affect adhesion negatively, and I got air pockets down deep in in my 8oz jars. However, I didn't play around to much with pour temps.

Overall the soy wax helped greatly with burn characteristics of 6046.

Next I'm going to try palm with this wax.

C-55 coconut tart wax?   Yes, I've tried it and found it it works well with many fragrances but not all.  It doesn't throw quite as strong as paraffin wax(at least not the paraffin wax I've used before in candle melts), but still good.   I do allow it to cure for 2 weeks before testing scent throw.

My experience is limited and perhaps others of more experience will be able to chime in soon. I've found a burnt candle does have a slight burnt smell after burning but cold throw is  still apparent. However, I've also found in my test burns, with the wax I'm using, that on rare occasions I've had the the cold throw diminish significantly after a burn. But I believe it was due to having the candle burning too hot and the melt pour burning off the fragrance before the wax was being consumed.  I hope I'm making sense.   I also have found, again with the wax I'm using, that I can also get significant discoloration of the melted wax with a wick that is too big and burning to hot.  Wicking down helped to deal with these problems. Just my limited experience:)

So you are asking about the properties of soy wax and  the possibility for it to change over time as it ages and thus effect the quality of the burn?

 If so, that has been a question I've also wondered since I've read that soy wax changes over time.   

 If soy changes over time it would seem impossible to wick since the wick that burns wonderfully with a 2 week cured candle would perhaps not burn properly on the same candle that was cured for 6 or 12 months.  

On 10/25/2021 at 3:21 PM, NightLight said:

Heating and holding at 185 - 200 depending on the wax. Did not like polyboost. Caused more problems with appearance. Heating higher than I normally have and sitting with pot has worked really well. 

So you are heating a holding IGI 6046 before adding fo to help with sweating?  Or are you heating a holding a blend of IGI 6046 and the soy wax  (cant remember which soy wax you mentioned) to keep the candle from sweating?     

I too have found Rice bran oil, castor, and even olive oil to be draggy in feel when compared to some other soft oils I've used.  From memory Rice bran oil and Castor were more draggy in feel than olive oil.  I love the hardness that Sodium Lactate gives a bar of soap but it too can produce a draggy almost tacky after feel when drying my hands. Perhaps some of this is due to my hard water.

Both are Palm and Lard are lovely in soap an offer some different qualities and they are nice combined. 

Generally my recipes have ranged with soft oils making up 30-50% of the recipe and hard oil 50%-70%.  I generally use coconut oil in the 27-30% range.  The softer oils do contribute to conditioning but can make for an overall softer, less lathering bar of soap in my experience.   

I confess I haven't studied fatty acid profiles as much as I've just made numerous recipes subbing this oil for that to see how they preform and feel and compare with each other, but then I do really enjoy the experimental part of soap making.

Using IGI 6046 (Coc/Par wax), I've been experiencing occasional popping and sometime spitting of carbon off the end of the wick right after lighting.

It does not continue to pop/crackle  just the first second or two after lighting then It burns okay.

It happens in the later burns of the candle and on wicks that have not been trimmed between burns.  I've read that moisture in the wax is the cause.  Is that the only 

cause of this?   It never happens on wicks that are trimmed  between burns.   Of note, I remember having a Votivo candle that did this also.  

Thanks  to you all, for all the info, I usually just read and have rarely posted over the years.

But here's my 2 cents worth:

I've been test burning IGI 6046  this past 14 months, burned many candles and I've found that in warm temps (80+) this wax will sweat, even in my  candles containing no FO I can get sweating if temps are warm enough, long enough. 

The oil that comes to the top is not straight FO IMO.  When I've put a sweaty candle into the fridge the oily beads  harden like melted coconut oil would if put in a cool place.   I can heat gun the top of sweaty candle and once they resolidify, the oily beads are gone only and will only reappear if the temps get warm again.  

Just my experience😊

I've read this thread with interest because I have an acquaintance from the shows I attend that sells container soy candles, and she markets them as "organic" soy wax candles .  I've never been able figure out how she does this.  She doesn't seem to be a dishonest person but I've never seen   "organic" soy wax available from suppliers, but then I don't make candles so  my search has not been extensive, and I've never asked her for her sources out of etiquette.  Actually, now that I think about it, I remember last fall seeing another container soy wax candle maker promoting her fragranced candles as organic.  She was making good sales.

 I may be too late in responding but I  use to use Scent Works PS version for many years in soap, until they wen't out of business, and since then I've tested many Pink Sugar versions including several listed above.  Earlier this year I tested Nuture Soap's version called "Vanilla Cotton Candy" and to my nose it smells  the closest, if not identical, to SW's version. Again, I've tested it soap and B&B products not candles. It goes a very dark color in soap just like SW's version did and so far it sticking well in my  test soap and it smells delish.

I just received a 3lb sample of coconut83 from CalSupply today.  I'm in NW Oregon and  so it arrived in fine condition. However, seeing that it is a softer wax, I'd imagine it would be a problem to ship from LA in the summer months.  The texture is firm enough to cut with a knife yet soft enough to use a spoon.  This wax feels greasy like... uh... coconut oil.   

5 hours ago, TallTayl said:

 Wick Slumping is when the wax coating on the wick melts off, causing it to sag in the melt pool. When a wick sags it can look like the flame is sniffing out, as if it is under wicked. Pulling on thenwick shows how much wick has sunken into the melt pool. 

 

 

So what is causing the slumping in the coconut wax?   Is it pouring too hot and melting the coating on the wick causing it?  Is the melt pool of a burning candle getting too hot and melting the coating on the candle?  

 Does the the firmness or viscosity of wax correspond to melt pt?   With fats viscosity does not always correspond.  For example, my lard is much softer in texture than my coconut oil, but the coconut oil has a lower melting point. 

So the problem with the softness of the coconut wax has to do with fear of it melting in warmer temps and/or a problem with the wicks "slumping" ?

What exactly is "slumping"?  And the main problem people are having as far as wicking coconut wax is too large of a flame?   

I've been following this thread and wondered if the Coconut wax suppliers list a melt point?

Thank you for your replies and  I will do some side by side comparisons.  I make soap for a living, but in 2008/2009 I started testing some of my fos in candles.

I have notes from candle testing starting  back then, and as I've had the time I've continued testing  keeping  records off my results.  I've never sold a single candle, only soap, but I would ( I think) some day like to offer some limited edition candles, so I've continued to work on this as a side project.  I've had my ups and downs with soap making  and lost batches do to various inconsistencies in supplies and so on, but it's nothing compared to what you chandlers have to go through.   My goodness it take a special breed of people to weather the ups and downs of making candles for a living.  My hats off to you all! 

Dang.  I just found my answer.  All wicks are not created equal.  All my testing  using wicks from Peaks down the drain.  Oh well.  

I know this has been discussed, but after much searching I still can't find the answer.  So my question is: Are the LX wicks I have from peaks the same  wicks carried by other suppliers that sell LX wicks, or are there various manufacturers of LX wicks that the different suppliers buy from?  Am I making sense?  Same question goes for Zinc Wicks  and HTP wicks.   

On 8/5/2017 at 3:49 PM, Moonstar said:

Bramble Berry had a winter gardenia. It's light on the gardenia and more on the mint and other notes. 

Ditto.  Never tried it in wax but in soap it is lovely.

On 8/26/2017 at 4:21 PM, Scented said:

So I believe this was on MSC's early round of dupes. You might want to check it out. 

May I ask who MSC is?  I did look under the page that has all the supplier abbreviations and did not see MSC.

Is it Maple Street Candles?

I just noticed that page 8 of the "fragrance twins" thread had several Peaks fos and their fragrance twin listed.

I'm an old fashioned lurker and don't post much( if at all) but I have used many of Peaks fo's, mainly in soaps, but several in tarts, and here are a few fos I've found to be nearly identical to Peaks:

Holiday Sparkle = Element's "Balsam & Citrus" 

Island Nectar = Nuture's "Island Oasis"  

Bartlett Pear = BB's "Anjou Pear"  The Anjou Pear is slightly sweeter but otherwise very close to my nose.  

I hope this helps!

I've put it in paraffin tarts and I smell lots of vanilla. I smell other notes but they are hard for me to identify. For example, my nose smells linen or some similar clean notes along with some spicy notes (though not your typical fall type spices). If I were to describe it I would say it's a clean vanilla scent with other hard to identify (at least to me) notes. I'm sitting on the fence on this one too. I do like hot throw better than cold throw though due to more vanilla scent in the hot throw.

It's not my personal favorite, however, it sells really well in candle melts, so many of my customers really enjoy this blend.