scottopus

You might want to get a hold of Wayne from the old board. From what I can remember, he has some history with Mia Bella.

Use the links under my tread for information on Mia Bella from the old board.

From the old board

Here's a couple of thread to read over from the old board: Soy candle NOT a soy candle? Any other wax besides Palm Wax for Crystal effect? Oh No! Another Competitor/How Did They Do... Test Results Finally In

It's not quite displacement as it is total weight. I'll break it down again: You said you would like to end up with 4 pounds of a blended wax with beeswax making up 3% of that total weight. 4 pounds * 16 oz = 64 oz 64 oz * 3% Beeswax = 1.9 oz of beeswax The next thing we need is to figure out how much of our "wax" (soy, paraffin, ect) we'll need to weight out. To find that we could take the total waxes needed (64 oz) and subtract the amount of Beeswax (1.9 oz) which would be 64 oz - 1.9 oz = 62.1 oz of "wax". This isn't a bad way of doing it unless you have multiple additives. In that case you should break it down by percentage which would be total amount needed (100%) and subtract the beeswax percentage (3%) which would be (100%-3%=97%). Then you'll have: 64 oz * 97% wax = 62.1 oz As you can see they're the same as they should be. A lot of people would've just measured out 64 oz of "wax" and added 1.9 oz of beeswax, but then you wouldn’t be exactly at 3% you would be at (1.9 oz of beeswax / 65.9 oz total weight) 2.9%. This may not seem like much, but if you use higher percentages with multiple additives it could become significant. For the record, this is the proper mathematical way of doing it is using 97% "wax" and 3% beeswax.

This is why you should use percentages and not ratios (1 oz per pound). Here's how they got two different answers: Total weight = 16 oz of wax + 1 oz of Beewax = 17 oz of waxes % of Beeswax = 1 oz of Beeswax / 17 oz of Total Weight = 5.9% This means that 5.9% of the waxes used was Beeswax. Kaybee just took 1 oz of beeswax / 16 oz of wax = 6.2% This is a ratio since it doesn't take in account the total weight.

I can answer your question about how to figure out how much weight you need if given the %. To find out how much wax/FO/additive or whatever, you need you start with how much total weight your planning to mix up. I use the handy calculators on the left side of the screen to calculate how much I need to mix up for the number of containers I'm going to make. Now here's the how to: Est. wax need for 1 container = 6.88 oz Say you want to make 5 container = 6.88 X 5 = 34.4 oz total Now you need to calculate the weights of your blend of waxes&FO's. I'll use 3% beeswax (BW) and 8% FO as example. Weight of Beeswax @ 3% = 34.4 X .03 = 1 oz Weight of FO @ 8% = 34.4 X .09 = 2.8 oz Weight of Wax = 34.4 - 1 - 2.8 = 30.6 oz or 34.4 X .89 (100% - 3% - 8% = 89% = .89 ) = 30.6 oz As a check you can add all you weights back up: Wax 30.6 + BW 1 + FO 2.8 = 34.4 Total Here's a thread that also talks about this.

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It doesn't sound like your doing anything completely wrong when making your candles. Let me give you a "nudge" about hot throw (scent while burning). Hot throw comes from the FO evaporating from the melt pool. The melt pool is the liquefied wax when the candle is burning. Let's start with a talk about the melt pool. Your wick choice is what determines the size of your melt pool. A good melt pool is one that after a 3-4 hours burn, you'll have no or a small amount of hang up (un-melted wax on the sides of the container) and a pool depth of 3/8-1/2". In your posting you didn't give us any of these parameters (burn time, hang up, and depth) so that we could give you an option about your wick choice. But let’s assume that you have a good melt pool so we can move on to the next part of hot throw - the FO. I’ve never used CBA (have a sample of Old CBA), but I've read on previous thread that CBA has a lighter hot throw. Since you only used 6% (1 oz per lb), I would increase your FO load to 9% (1.5 oz per lb) to see if that helps. Another problem maybe that your FO's doesn’t work (throw) in soy. Because soy bonds so well with some FO’s, it could be that your FO won’t evaporate from the melt pool. Some people have found that if you let you candles cure longer that I’ll help with throw. I also believe that curing soy candles helps cold and hot throw. My FO’s must cure within 5-7 days otherwise I move on to another one. So you could let you cure longer, but it still may not help you hot throw. As you can see, a lot goes into making a good candle. It sounds like you’re on the right track. I would recommend that you wait till you get a good candle before testing candles add any additives (Crisco, vybar, ect.). That way you can compare your good candle to your additive candle.

The best supplier for me is one that has quality supplies, ships quickly, reasonable shipping charges, and good customer service. I started by ordering sample sizes of wax and FO's from the closest supplies first, then moved on to the next closest suppliers. I have 6 places where I get my wax, wicks, and FO's. I don't like having so many suppliers, but these are the ones that met my requirements and had the best FO's. If I placed an order at anyone of these suppliers on Sunday night, I'll have my stuff by Friday or earlier. Here is a website listing suppliers by state. It doesn't have Peak Candle Supplies which is in Colorado or Indiana Candle Supplies which is in Indiana . My other supplies are Candlewic, CandlesandSupplies, KY Candle Wax Supply, Natures Garden, Taylor Concepts Candle & Soap Making Supplies, and Bitter Creek North. Some of these suppliers I don't order from anymore due to my products changing.

Your question can be looked at two different ways. What is the hottest wick given that these wicks are the same weight? or What is the hottest wick given the largest size you can get in that wick? If we're talking about same weight, here's my SWAG rankings of those wicks from the hottest: RRD ECO Cotton HTP CD Paper If we're talking about the biggest you can get- ECO 14 RRD 55 HTP 1312 CD 22 Cotton 62-52-18C Paper 62-52-18P

By this comment alone, I know your on the right track. I'll just add a couple of random comments for encouragement. When choosing a wax, there is no one right answer for everyone. All you try to do is choose a wax that you think will exceed your customer expectations. It sounds like you testing a lot of different waxes right now. Be sure when comparing different waxes you try to keep your FO, FO %, container, and testing method the same. I go as far as to use two rooms in my house that are about the same size to test hot throw. I'll run from one room the other and back again testing throw until I decide which one is better.

Baby Food Jar threads from old board: For those who've done baby food jars Baby food jars?

When you're pouring a 100% soy wax it's not so much the exact temperature of the wax but the look/consistency of the wax when you pour it. I find that with different FO's my exact pouring temperature changes. While I do leave the temperature probe in, I really watch how the wax looks. If the wax starts to get cloudy, has a light film on, and has the consistency of cough syrup then I pour it into my containers

What temperature did you pour it at? It has a lot to do with what the tops look like.

What about: candles-and-beyond.com candles-n-beyond.com

According to the Baker Petrolite website: Olefin is according to Fire Net : Ethylene is according to Wikipedia:

According to the IGI website:

You might have already tried this but, have you tried to insulate the candles as they cool? This might help the top from setting up to quickly.

For most FO's at 9%, my starting wick for a 100% soy wax in a 4oz jelly jar (2and 5/8" diameter) is a HTP 104. If needed, I'll wick up (105) or down (93) after testing the 104.

Did a quick google of 6060 soy wax and found this link: 6060 soy wax But I couldn't find it on the IGI Candle Waxes page.

You might want to try Cenzo . I can't remember if they have a 2 oz deep draw round tin with a clear lid, but you can ask them Sales@Cenzo.com. You have to have a tax id number, and they have high minimums.

Here's a couple of links to pictures on the old board: KY VP Test Testing soy pillars pictures

When I said: When pariffin burns, it produces CO2, H2O, Heat, Light, and some degree of incomplete combustion (soot). Pariffin soot is black macro-particle carbon chains. Soy soot is tan/grey micro-particle carbon chains. A properly wick pariffin or soy candle will produce small amounts of soot. With pariffin, these small amounts of macro-particle soot will collect somewhere (on the jar, wall, lampshade, table, ect.) and you'll be able to see it since it black. With the soy, you can't really see it since it's grey/tan color and it micro-particle doesn't make it as "sticky". Anyone who says soy or even a pariffin candle don't give off any soot doesn't know the facts.

This is such a broad question. I'll answer it in very general terms: Soy is: Renewable sustainable resources requiring plant growth Longer and cooler burning than pariffin When properly wicked, cleaner burning without soot buildup (soy soot is grey) Made in the USA with domestically grown crops Clean up with soap and hot water eliminating solvents Pariffin is: A petroleum product Even when properly wick, burning pariffin will give off black soot that will eventually build up Mass majority of petroleum is imported into this country Since pariffin is oil based, it need oil solvents to clean up Very stable inert wax These are some of the big ones.