DanaE

I'm still testing...today I'm using the 4045H, 1/2 as much Fisher Trop as I originally used, a tad of vybar 343 and 1.25 ounce FO per lb, pouring at 180. I'm doing layers so it'll be tomorrow before I unmold them most likely. Will report any sweating, and will report if the FT helped eliminate the bulge from this batch. If not....well. I'll keep trying. I don't have any bulge on the ugly purple pillar yet, so I'm still going to do rustics that way, with slightly less FT. DanaE

Or people like me, who blow them all out at the same time and wave their hand across the tops of the pillars to disperse the smoke - LOL! Kidding aside, Sharyl's right. Most of them will smoke if you blow them out, so just dip the wick in the wax. As for black particles, you can get that from your wax, from the stearine, from some dust or dirt in the bottom of the pot....etc. I have to wipe out the bottom of my wax melter every few days because of it. Don't know how it gets there, but at least it sinks to the bottom. I can just drain the melter and wipe with paper towels. (yeah, melter has a lid; I actually think it comes from the wax...) DanaE

Me, being a broken record and all, can only say that I love OK6228 for pillars. One pillar scents up an entire room and even the cold throw is banging. I also love mottling waxes and use them virtually everyday( 1274, 4045H) but mostly because of the cool looks i can get. I'm working on a way to stuff as much FO into a mottling wax as I do into the OK6228. When that day comes, I'll switch over completely to save me from buying 2 different waxes from 2 different places. All my opinion.....of course. DanaE

I do what Molly does normally. I make testers of the scents and then burn them in separate rooms. That way I can walk in, sniff, walk out, go to the other room, sniff and then see what I like better. I think most of us here have had to try numerous suppliers to get that perfect scent we wanted. I went through quite a few Mango Papayas, coconut cream pies, banana scents, (for a banana cream pie), creme brulee, vanillas, etc. It's always great to find that perfect scent isn't it? DanaE

Maybe if we try half as much FT? I'm going to try that tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a better mottle. If not, I'll definitely keep using the FT on the rustics to prevent the bulging. I'm on my 3rd or 4th burn on the ugly purple candle and it's burning great - no bulging and it's consuming itself completely. Haven't yet burned the rustic ones made with 1/2 as much FT. DanaE

I have a professional wax melter, although not as huge as some of those. Mine has a spigot too, which makes life significantly easier. But after playing with the Presto pot with spigot, I think I'd prefer to have 6 of those (prestos) versus one huge melter. They melt the wax so fast and I can have several different waxes all melting at the same time . If I owned a factory, those melters with the nozzle would be wonderful! I could see filling tons of containers or pillar molds in short order. But I'm way too small to warrant that expense.... DanaE

Ditto on what Henry said. Couldn't have said it better myself. I love the look of palm waxes, but they are brittle, they are hard to work with (trying to poke relief holes with brittle wax is tough for me), I can't seem to get them to burn effectively and you can't help the pillar by hugging it because the wax will break. As far as soy pillars, I like to mix soy container wax with some types of paraffin because it gives a gorgeous creamy look. There's so many fun things to do with paraffin wax that I could play forever and not run out of new experiments DanaE

And here was the first try - when I was trying to do rustic with the same additives and 4045H. Seriously ugly. I backed off on the vybar and FT by 1/2 and the new pillars came out beautiful! I haven't taken a pic yet but I will. They came out looking exactly like all my other rustics, but they were able to hold 1-1/2 ounces of FO per lb. DanaE

Ok, here's mine. It has the exact same additives as E, but made with 4045H instead of 1343. Looking at it in the daylight...it has a good bit of mottling going on. I think I'll back off the FT by 1/2t and see if I get a full mottle. Oh, and I used 1-1/2 ounces in this ONE pillar and there's no seepage at all! That baby came out completely dry. So if I can get a great mottle, with that much FO and no seepage I'll be in heaven. DanaE OK- this picture looks orange, but the real pillar is this very pretty shade of mango - a deep orangey red. But I took the pic up close, when it was dark outside, using a lamp to get some light. I guess I should try it again, but I'm tried of uploading pics!

Ok E - I haven't pulled mine out of the mold yet this morning so I'm not sure who's going to win on the ugly contest. I *think* your has more mottling than mine does. At least I know how to save it and use it for something! DanaE

Sharyl - thanks for that. I have two cases of the 1260 I bought on clearance but didn't know if it had a high enough scent retention to make it worthwhile to use in a pillar or hurricane (I was using it just for embeds). Whenever I get through with my current experiments I'm going to play with it. I actually bought it to roll cinnamon buns, but I'm too lazy to do it... DanaE

Yeah, gotta agree with Scented. The effect on the ball is really cool. I don't seem to have the patience for the palm waxes so those of you that do deserve a big clap on the back. I think the color is fine too - a light to medium brown is cool for vanilla....I see vanilla pillars in all shades of beige to dark brown. DanaE

To really drag this way off topic, do post pictures of the gift bags your daughter is making. I've had several friends send me homemade gift bags in the last 2 years and they are gorgeous! I keep them all in my closet because there's no way you can throw something like that away. I recently used one to pass onto another friend I thought might enjoy it. And I have a certain affection for you because you live in Alabama. I lived there most of my life and miss it every single day. No way I'll ever be able to move back, but at least I can go visit a couple of times a year! (lived about 25 miles from Gulf Shores). DanaE (searching for something to say to bring it back on topic but I'm lost! sorry!)

I've never ordered fragrances from them, but they have some of the best prices for things like 4 lb pouring pots, large quantities of votive molds, stearic acid, etc. I get my orders so fast that I feel like they must live next door. I highly recommend them. DanaE

Lynda, many suppliers actually carry an FO called Apple Cinnamon. You could either buy that, or mix a straight apple like Apple Orchard from NG, with a great cinnamon (I use Ky's Country Gift Shoppe to add cinnamon to my scents). Cinnamon can be overpowering so if you mix one yourself just be careful or you may end up with just cinnamon. I'd probably go at least half and half at first, and maybe even 2/3 apple and 1/3 cinnamon. I just ordered an Apple Cinnamon from BnL, because I'm a sucker for any apple scent. I'm curious to see how different it is from the various apple pies, apple strudels, nutty taffy apples, Apple Crisps, etc. that I have. (btw, the apple strudel I use has enough cinnamon to burn your nose hairs - lol) DanaE

Thanks for the idea on kitty litter pails! Never thought of it....my boxes are all under my feet and in the way and it drives me crazy. Some are pushed under the work benches, but the waxes I'm currently working with I keep out in the middle of the floor so I can get to them ( good thing the basement is huge). I'll definitely start keeping the kitty pails and cleaning them out. At least I can stack them and it'll look more organized. DanaE

Oh heck, I bite off more than I can chew all the time! That's the fun of it! I'll be right in the middle of perfecting some type of candle, and then someone will post of a picture of something and I'll think "That looks cool" so I go into my laboratory and try to picture how to make it. Just keep copious notes so you won't have to retest when you have 6 experiments going on at one time The 1st year I made candles was solely for fun. Didn't take any notes, had tons of fun playing with waxes and colors and FO's...I mixed every pillar wax with every container wax, made votives out of straight soy, made pillars that were a mix of 5 or 6 waxes; then realized belatedly that I couldn't recreate some of them because I didn't write down what I did. Glad I didn't start out with the idea of selling or I would have had to recreate all of them again! It was just fun to mix all the waxes and find out what happens. (and yeah, J223 will release from a votive mold if you put it in the freezer - lol) Oh, and WixnWax's FO's seem stronger with you mix OK6228 with KY soy DanaE Again, to get back on topic, you asked about how to make them. On most of the mottling waxes I've used you don't have to wrap them with a towel or keep them warm in anyway. Just pour around 180 into a warm mold and walk off. It'll mottle all by it's lonesome. The only wax I struggled with was 1343 and I'm sure that's because I didn't understand it as well as other waxes. Couldn't get an even mottle .....perhaps that one needs to be wrapped with a towel to slow down cooling. Oh, and that 1302B was a total pain to work with, but throws one heck of a scent when burning.

You can use 1343, 1274, 4045H(only sold at Candlewic), M38. and IGI 1302B ...and I think there's 1 more wax that mottles....(I think most of the straight waxes will mottle, but I'm no expert on those so not sure). Any of those above will mottle if you use either FO or a mottling oil if you want unscented. I use 3T stearic pp of wax with any mottling wax. They are great fun. Once you get started you'll have a house full of mottled candles! DanaE

I pour all my layers at 150 and haven't had a problem yet. The only time I had one come apart between 2 layers was when I waited way too long between pours (got busy). Sometimes I pour my last layer hot, just to get a little mottle action going and give it a different look DanaE

I see where you're coming from. Oftentimes I'll unmold a set of pillars and a couple of sides will look really cool and one side will just look strange. I just pass it off like I meant to do it , and face that part against the wall LOL! I love the first 2 pictures though. Your colors and pour placement are perfect. DanaE

I think these look very classy. I've looked at them several times over the last couple of days. The color and the texture is perfect. DanaE

I tried 3 or 4 of these, but they absolutely wouldn't burn right. I did recently see, on someone's website, that they had filled up the inside hole with icing and toppings, so that would make it burn better. What I got was 4 or 5 small holes, then they'd pour out into the center, where no wax was. So I'd recommend that after you take it out of the mold, you put enough frosting on it that it fills up the inside cavity and then add some crumb topping or something to make it look authentic. Oh, I used votive wicks on mine. It was a while ago, but I think it was either HTP41s or 44Z wicks. DanaE

I keep meaning to try this wax. WSP had it on clearance really cheaply and I almost bought a couple of cases, but chickened out because I didn't know how well it worked. I'll have to look around and see if any of the suppliers close by carry it. It's always fun playing with the mottling waxes DanaE

It's a wonderful wax and you can't go wrong with it. It mottles like a dream and makes beautiful rustics. I used it for quite a while, but recently switched to 4045H simply because I could get it cheaper and the shipping was much less. I used 3 tablespoons of stearic as an additive (and some UV) but that's it other than FO. I'd go back to it in a heartbeat if I could get it closer to me. Everywhere I checked wants at least $30 to ship one case, whereas I can get the 4045H for $12 shipping. I don't use the wicks you asked about, but I did find that wicking the 1343 and wicking the 1274 was identical. I used the same wick in both and got the same burn.... DanaE Edited to add - hot throw is better than 1343...it can hold a little more FO, which seems to make all the difference. (just my opinion! I know a lot of people here use 1343 and I'm not insulting it! Just stating how it worked for me).

Another angle