Nodtveidt

Okay...I lit up the second candle, the smaller dish with the 60-44-18C wick. It was about 30 hours since pour. Since the candle wasn't heavily scented to begin with, I didn't expect a lot of hot throw but actually, I was a little surprised that I could smell it from quite a distance. Furthermore, absolutely NO frost ring whatsoever, that surprised me as well. The remains of the pool are just as slick as the rest. The only problem is that the wick was actually a little weak, I probably should have used the larger wick for it... But anyways, it looks like, for now, this is my "perfect blend" as SpaceGirl suggested. I'll definately do some heavy scent testing later on...got plenty of french vanilla kicking around.

35 views and no one knows the answer?:grin2:

I rather like the hammer method, tis good for stress relief.

Granted I'm not exactly a newbie to candlemaking but I am wondering about this small detail...the mold releasant I bought states that it needs to be melted apart from the wax. I can only assume that this is because of its high melting point (195F) but if the wax reaches 195F anyways, what would the difference be? And yes, I searched google and the forum for information before posting this.

Because it's far more fun to experiment. We're going to go with palm wax for pillars anyways, and just stick to soy for containers.

geekrunner: I think it is a candy dish. Anyways, I poured it slushy. I tried pouring hot (around 150F) with another candle today in a smaller container using a 60-44-18C wick just to see what would happen...there was some minor sinking at the wick, and a slight wrinkle at the edges (obviously not optimal). However, again, no frosting on the surface or wet spots on the glass. Perhaps I could pour right before it turns slushy, might get the smooth top without the imperfections that I got with the first candle (you can tell where it was poured). GKC: It's Bluegrass Soy (WXBS). Willow: I get my tabbed wicks from Bluegrass Candle Supply. This wick was indeed a cotton one. No complaints so far, so I guess I could say I like them. I've traditionally gotten my pillar wicks from Pourette, although as I've said on this forum before, they tend to be unreliable (they bailed on my last wick order). Anyways, the vybar seems to be the key here...it has thus far completely eliminated the frosting that has irritated me since my very first soy pour a few months ago. Tomorrow morning I'm going to do the burn test. I'll post the results then.

In addition to the candles I make, I also make unique Christmas wreaths as well as miniature trees, both from a coathanger base. My wife likes to make soaps.

I've seen plenty of electric wax melters on the market but I've yet to see any gas-powered ones. Electricity is very expensive here, so I do my melting with a double boiler on a gas stove. Anyone know of any gas-powered wax melters?

Thanks everyone. I'll let y'all know how the burn test goes, I'll likely do the burn on Tuesday to give more than enough curing time. The container is absolutely beautiful though, this photograph really doesn't do it any justice.

Gotta agree...soy candles are definately a handful. Paraffin is incredibly easy to work with but soy seems like a constant challenge. Anyone who sticks with it though and comes up with working recipes has gotta be alright.

There are some minor imperfections on the surface but I think the heat gun will correct that...unfortunately, I left it at my other house...:embarasse

Hrm...I don't think it's that bad, just a play on words, really...but hey, everyone has the right to their opinions.

I've seen a lot of people swear by Ecosoya CB Advanced for containers, though I guess it would be a blend.

Thanks for the tips. Well, wifey decided that if we were going to add palm to the mix, then we might as well just make palm candles, as I've been wanting to do that for awhile now, just a matter of finding a decently-priced supplier. Beeswax though...a little too pricey for us, unfortunately...don't know of any place to get it at a price that our budget agrees with.

I've read in many places how you should never use vybar 103 with pure soy wax, you should only ever use soy additive. Well, after our unsuccessful attempt at a soy pillar using vegetable stearic and mold releasant (it got stuck in the mold and looked terrible anyways), my wife suggested to try some vybar 103. "What do you have to lose? A teaspoon of vybar", she said. So I figured "what the heck", and added a teaspoon of vybar 103 to the batch I had made that was intent on being pillar wax. After the batch had melted down and cooled off a bit, I added some Orange Sherbert FO to the batch and let it finish cooling to pouring temperature. I had a glass bowl-like container prepped with a 62-52-18C wick in the center. Then came the pour...I was expecting the worst. Instead, what I ended up with was a VERY nicely textured soy container candle with absolutely NO frosting nor rippling. It turned out to be the best looking soy candle I've ever made! The burn test comes later, but at least I know that so far, this experiment was a success.

handcraftmarket looks like it's specifically designed for crafting sales sites, looks like they have some kind of site builder or special tools. startlogic appears to be a general web hosting company, as does vodahost (vodahost also seems to have quite the ego...among the most reputable? I've never heard of them!). If you are experienced enough in web design or have a web designer, handcraftmarket is not for you, as it's designed for people with little to no skill in web design, but they look like a good choice if you don't want to mess with web coding. However, I don't see anything on their site about how much space or transfer you're allotted. "Unlimited", in web hosting terms, is a red flag that says "run!" because NOTHING is unlimited in cyberspace.

And I don't mean "just get some ecosoya pilar wax" either. Obviously that's an option, but I've still got half a box of BG Plain 415 left, and I'd like to be able to use it for pillars. Sometimes it frosts like crazy when I use it for containers and sometimes it comes out nice and smooth with no frosting. Anyways, anyone have a recipe for making a pillar blend using just this wax? I don't want to mix it with other waxes, just additives. I've tried using veggie stearic + mold releasant and the wax just got stuck in the mold....

Unfortunately, it does not show up in their list, but thank you for the link anyways.

Oh my, I should not post so late at night as to not notice that it's the same person actually posting in this thread. Thanks for the tip though, dcroome2005, much appreciated!

I don't deal in ball candles but I did receive one as a gift from a local candle dealer who sold us a box of paraffin when we were just starting out. According to her, the ball candle should never leave an outer shell, the entire candle should be consumed. Hope this helps.

Slightly off-topic, but hey...that Backwoods place looks like they have some pretty good prices! I hope they can become my new supplier...scents and eco soya wax at great prices compared to many of the sites I've ordered from before. Thanks for posting the links!

This is a scent I ordered once from Pourette in a .5oz bottle and easily sold a triple-wick heart container candle using it. I've attempted to order it from them three times afterwards and it's always been out of stock. Other sites that have it...I can tell they get it from Pourette, as the price is always a bit higher and the page is always copied from Pourette's site. Is this a Pourette exclusive, or can I get it legitimately elsewhere without paying someone's markup?

I think it's supposed to play on the "softer" side of masculinity, and this seems to be a foreign concept even in this day and age. Shame too, it's a pretty good scent.

You could email the file to me and I could host it on my server, so people could download the actual file rather than a screenshot of the file.:highfive:

I use dye in most of my candles, although for soy candles that don't need color to match the scent (such as peppermint, which was mad popular at Christmas this last year!), I skip the dye. Using dye in soy is always a challenge for me anyways. On a side-note, I made some black soy candles for a former friend of mine for his birthday. They came out a dark purple rather than black. I've heard it said that in order to darken colors in soy, you use a bit of black dye. So, what do you use to darken black dye?