DanaE

Looks wonderful to me . Getting the right shades of green has always been a struggle for me. You nailed it on the head. DanaE

Henry, there ARE two different things going on with the pillar. I had left over wax from two 'fresh' scented batches so I poured them into the molds. The top layer, which has the type of mottling you want, had 3 tablespoons of stearic per lb of wax, 1 ounce of FO pp, and approximately 1/2 teaspoon of Gloss Poly C-15 for a 4 lb batch. The bottom layer was made without the Gloss Poly, all other additives the same (and of course UV - I never say it, but I add it to all candles). It's candlewic's mottling wax. They have two 4045 waxes, I use the 4045H. Edited to add - no bleeding at all. In fact, none of the mottled or rustic pillars I've made lately have bleed and I don't know why....at one point during the summer they all weeped so bad that I couldn't touch them for days. It could be because most of the scents I'm doing lately aren't sweet; the sweet ones seem to weep the most. DanaE

This is during the burn....

Here's a picture of one of the test candles I burned. I used OK6228, 1-1/2 ounces FO, 1/4 teaspoon vybar and some Crisco. This burn is about 2 hours after I lit it. Eventually all three melt pools came together to make one large melt pool. I used low smoke 21's in this one. They were almost too large. If I hadn't grubbied the candle it would have had a breakthrough. Without grubby I'll wick them with low smoke 23's (I wick the 4045H with low smoke 19's). This is before the burn... DanaE

LOL! I have one large wax melter and one presto pot. When I'm pouring the layers cool I can just about empty the presto then refill it with small pieces of wax and have the wax melted and ready to go when it's time for the next layer. (love my hammer - I beat that wax to death, into little pieces so they melt faster). So all day long I drain the presto and add more, drain and add more. The other melter holds my OK6228 and since I only did 24 votives, 3 pillars and about 25 tarts I didn't have to drain it and refill it........ DanaE

I love the square and octagonal shapes too. Even though customers don't specify it, if they order several pillars I'll usually make 2 of them either octagonal or square, and the others rounds. DanaE

I love the turquoise and teal colors. I think I'd use them in every pillar if I could get away with it . (and sage green). It's great to get an order for one of those scents just so I could use those colors. I get sick of red, orange and green this time of year! DanaE

If you fill it to the top it'll hold around 6 lbs or so. I usually make these 4 lbs. I've found that filling the mold to the top just makes the candle look weird....hard to explain. The line I stop at is perfect for me so I do it to that point every time. DanaE

Another pic - had to make 24 votives to go with the order, along with 12 tarts... DanaE

These are made with OK6228. The colors came out so beautifully soft that i had to take a picture, but the lighting is just bad right now, with no sunlight and the flash on the camera being so bright. Still, I love them and wish I'd made a few extra for me! DanaE

Another fresh, ocean scent.... (I made a bunch, but cropped the pic to just show the ones on the front row..) DanaE

Who wants Ocean Mist in winter??? I guess some people like the 'fresh' oceany scents all year round DanaE Edited to add - the tall square one is from a polycarbonate mold that was 3x13". I wanted it rustic, and some layers came out rustic-some didn't. That one was a test candle for me so I'm curious to burn it and see how it burns.

Last picture.. DanaE

2nd pic DanaE

This is 4045H wax, with 3 tablespoons of stearic per lb of wax, 1 ounce of FO and 1/4 teaspoon of UV per lb. Here are a few I made yesterday. Just got the pyramid molds and I'm having a ball with them! I'm going to put the pics in several posts so they'll show up and you won't have to click on a link.... DanaE

Henry, here's the picture. It's not the best picture I could take, but the weather is bad here and the indoor lighting seems faded.... DanaE

Although it's a preblend, you can still add vybar to help increase the scent throw. Don't add more than 1/4 teaspoon per lb of wax and you'll be fine. I've used this wax since 1999 and started out using 1/4 teaspoon of vybar and a couple of tablespoons of crisco and always got wonderful candles. DanaE

Henry, I'll take a picture and put it up in the morning of two triangle pillars I just made. I used a small amount of Gloss Poly C-15 and I got virtually the same effect as the candle you showed. I didn't measure because I was just playing around with the new molds, but I put a pinch of the Gloss poly into 4 lbs of wax, and instead of the completely even mottle I usually get with 4045H, I got the other effect. DanaE

Thanks Eugenia - I have a bunch of those wicks, so I'll start there. DanaE

OK6228 isn't too far removed from 4625 so you shouldn't have a problem with it. As mentioned above, it doesn't mottle or make rustics, but it's a preblend like you're used to, and colors about the same as your wax. (I tried that wax at some point but went back to OK6228). If you want to try mottled, use either 1343A, 1274 or 4045H - I don't know if your supplier carries any of them, but it doesn't hurt to ask DanaE

Hey guys, I need a starting point for wicking votives with this wax. I've made a million pillars with it, but my votives have always been OK6228 or 4794....never the 4045H. HPT 31? 36-24-24? HTP 41? 44Z? Thanks! DanaE

I wonder if there's a huge difference in quality from one polycarb mold to another? I just bought 4 large ones and they are incredibly thick. I used to make votives with polycarb molds, but they had a tendency to stick, so I threw them away. I'm going to spray the insides with Pam before I use them (and wipe clean) but I'm just curious if the thickness of the plastic will make a difference... We'll see. I got mine very cheap (on sale) at candlesandsupplies.com, so if they get ruined on the first use, I'll either throw them out, or use them and grubby the pillars afterwards. Or I could make rustic pillars with them; that should hide some of the imperfections. DanaE

Just to confuse you more, I wick my mottled/rustic pillars to completely consume themselves...I wick my OK6228 pillars to have a small shell. The only reason I don't wick the OK6228 to consume itself completely is that I haven't found a wick that'll burn that wax all the way to the edge without spilling over. I don't want it to spill over because some people don't use holders under the candles and I don't want to ruin their furniture. Whatever makes you the most comfortable is what I'd go for. For the first 3 or 4 years I wicked all my pillars to burn with a shell - I felt safer that way. Now I'm a little more dangerous and work at wicking so they burn very close to the edge. DanaE

I pour around 180-185 into heated molds. This is a pretty versatile wax as far as pouring temps. You can pour it pretty hot, you just can't pour it cold or you'll get jump lines and wrinkles. If you're going to make layers with this wax, make sure to heat the mold between every pour. If you don't, the pillar will come out kind of....um...ugly. So I heat the mold and pour. When I'm ready for the next layer, I take the heat gun and heat all around the inside of the mold to get it hot again, and pour at the same temp I did the first pour (no need to get it hotter, it just needs to be hot enough to melt some of the first layer so they stick together). I do the same thing for each layer. At the end, I poke relief holes all the way through all the layers and do a repour with the last color I used. DanaE

Wholesalessuppliesplus.com has them also, and there's a co-op going on in the Co-Op section for those clamshells. DanaE