I've been experimenting with stearic a little. It does harden the wax quite well. But I'm not able to reproduce any of the effects it's supposed to do. I'm using IGI 4625 (pillar blend) wax. I used a 1 to 1 ratio with this wax. Should I use straight paraffin? And also in my web surfing looking for paraffin, the only place I seem to find a "straight" paraffin wax is at Peak. They are sold out at the moment, I would like to keep my loyalty to them. But how else do you identify straight paraffin wax, some of the vedors call it house blend, regular etc.... Sorry about the two questions in one. I'm still new to this. I love it though!!!!! Thanks for your time. Scott