Alohagirl

Thanks for the replies. Dee, I had the same experience with drugstore mineral oil, it wouldn't mottle or make frost. Parol oil works, but I usually get that cloudy look you mentioned. (That's why I asked this question--to see if anyone else noticed a difference.) Top, I've found that if I do a cold-pour with no oils at all, I get a rough washboard finish but not the kind of frosty rustic everyone posts in the gallery. I finally figured out how to make those (by using at least 1 oz FO per pound of wax.) I'd really like to make unscented ones, though, and I'm thinking that maybe mineral oil and parol oil are thicker than fragrance oil, and that's why they don't work as well. I wonder if it's possible to buy whatever low-viscosity oil they use as a base for the FO's?

Very nice. They remind me of frosted gingersnaps. Yummy!

Very nice. Great color choice for that FO. :smiley2:

Nice packaging and intense colors! :smiley2:

I've been wondering about that, since it's all about the oil anyway. BTW, I love the translucent-with-mottle look you've achieved.:smiley2:

LOL So that's the problem--mai tai on the brain!! Thanks all. (I forgot to mention this was made with Peak's new preblend.)

Every time I look at this, I crave the real thing!

forgot to attach photo

...and got another Mai Tai. :undecided

I'm wondering if using parol or mineral oil gives a different result than using fragrance oil. Anyone know?

I make those embed pillars with palm trees and dragonflies. That frost happens when the overpour wax works it's way between the embed and the mold. I can see from your pic that a lot of the edges of your motorbike got stuck to the mold, but not the whole thing. That's why the wax got in. Try warming the embed until it's pliable, then press the whole thing hard with your fingers onto a warm mold. HTH

You're so lucky you turned the dial only to 220. A few days ago I absentmindedly turned mine up to the highest setting, 400. Thankfully, it was only a few seconds before I realized what I had done.

Thanks for the reply, Breanna. I like how the new preblend is granulated--so easy to measure.

I'm wondering if it can make a rustic.

Speaking of lampshades, several times I've been at someone's house and they still have the plastic dust cover on their lampshades. The only thing they removed was the sticker that says, "Extreme Fire Danger, remove plastic before use." Duh!

Another vote for Candles and Supplies' production blend flakes. I order the one they sell for pillars. It's practically fool proof.

Hey Henry, these were done with 1274, 1/2 ounce FO pp, and 2 Tablespoons Stearic pp. poured at 180 degrees, slow cooled. Not exactly what you're going for, but they did come out splotchy instead of perfect.

Hey, jumping into the discussion here with something Henry might find interesting regarding 1218, temperature and humidity. I just got back from Arizona where I used a whole case of 1218. Room temp. was consistently 80 degrees, low desert humidity. I made about 5 dozen pillars, most of them the kind you're trying to make: solid-colored-translucent, glow-all-the-way-down when lit. Some with fragrance, some with mineral oil, some with neither; I used various amounts of stearic and/or vybar, some with no additives. Pouring temps varied from 170 to 190, wax was never cooked at high temp. Result: Some were great, some were not, but out of 5 dozen pillars, there wasn't a single fingernail in the bunch. (A previous case of 1218 in Arizona also produced no fingernails--low humidity perhaps?) This probably doesn't help, but thought I'd share anyway.

Thanks, DanaE and everyone. I'm making a bunch more today using all the suggestions. Keeping my fingers crossed...

I got it on a square pillar, but not on the three rounds. This is so frustrating!!

Beautiful! I really like that siver gray color.

Those are fantastic!! I love the colors too!

Thanks for the replies. I asked because this weekend I made a whole bunch of rustics, and 4 out of 5 slid out easily but left all the frost in the mold. On the good ones, the frost was smooth and uniformly distributed all over the pillar. (A nice look, but not exactly what I was going for.) Here's the thing that has me tearing my hair out: There seems to be no rhyme or reason to why some worked and some didn't. They were all made in seamless aluminum molds. Of all the good ones, one was poured at 140 degrees, another poured at 155 degrees; one was slow cooled on the counter, another placed in the fridge to cool fast. One had 3 TBSP stearic, one had no stearic. All (including the bad ones) had the same amount of the same FO. I had taken notes on each candle and duplicated the methods exactly. Every one of the duplicates left all frost in the mold!! All opinions would be welcome.

when making a cold-pour rustic pillar? Has anybody ever figured out why sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't?

Pin holes can be caused by mold release or PAM if you don't wipe it out really well with a paper towel after spraying. Another way you get tiny holes on a cold-poured candle is from the wax being so cool, it gets frothy as you pour it. When those bubbles burst, you're left with tiny holes. HTH