starlessjade

"candlestuff" okay Top, now you're just making up words.

I checked my purchased candles (I work at B&BW, I can't help it!) and they all have a listing of "Net Wt. XXX" on the label which would be the weight of the candle itself

I poked around the website a little, and they do sell dye- http://www.barnloftcandles.com/candle_making.html

I'm working on finding the right wick for my 3" diameter pillars (IGI 1343 with 3 T stearic and 1/2 oz FO pp) but have no idea what I'm doing, lol. I've played with flat braid and square braid, and did not like the flat braid at all- the flame and melting pool always ended up way too off-center when I burned them. I tested two (identical) pillars side by side, one with #1 square braid and one with #1/0, and didn't see any difference at all between them. The melt pools were both exactly 2 inches after a 3 hour burn, and were a hair over 1/4 inch deep. The flames both looked good and the wicks didn't need to be trimmed during that burn. Should I keep testing those two wicks and see what happens? Try something else? Everyone has been talking about using LX's for pillars; should I give those a shot too? Thanks!

It's because the container is measured in fluid ounces, which is a volume measurement, and the wax is measured in regular ounces, which is weight. Or... sorry, I'm confused at what you're saying... do you really mean that an 8 oz jar holds 6 fluid oz of wax, because you don't fill it all the way to the top? Either way, I would claim the weight or volume of wax, not of the jar.

Beautiful! I was just thinking about trying to make sand candles for one of my friends- maybe I could throw in a shell or two. Is it scented?

Thanks! The solid rustics still won't turn out at all though. I think I'm going to just make layered ones for a while so I can feel better about myself.

My mom requested citrus-scented candles, so I'm trying to have some tested and ready by Mother's Day. I'm using Citrus Splash from BCS (I love it!) and I've decided to do a set including one orange, one yellow, and one green. Here's my attempt at orange. I'm going to do a test burn tonight, so maybe I'll post some photos of that later.

Beautiful! Wow, your phone takes much better pictures than mine!

Thanks! Yep, I'm pouring layers over and over again. I have three pouring pitchers and I mix up the wax plus additives and fragrance oil in one, then pour about 1/3 into each of the other pitchers and add dye chips to each one. Actually, for this one I did two pitchers, navy blue and aqua, then poured some of each into the third one to make an intermediate color. It takes me about 2 hours to pour all the layers (my mold is 4.5 inches tall) but you only have to wait 10 minutes or so between layers since they are so thin. I like that.

Okay... the candle poured at 137-ish came out smooth too. I then poured a layered rustic, since all of those had turned out in the past, and this one was smooth too so I'm trying to figure out what might have changed. Could the temperature of my apartment be affecting the candle finishes? The wather has warmed up a lot since my first pours and my apartment is definitely a few degrees warmer. The only other differences are that I cut FO from 1 oz pp to 1/2 oz pp, have been repoking relief holes throughout cooling instead of just doing it once, and have been smacking the mold with a knife to eliminate air bubbles. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/starlessjade/layers.jpg The purple one is an older one that has texture, the blue one is the new one that is smooth. The smoothness is weird... it looks like the candle has a texture, with lots of striations in particular, but the surface is smooth to the touch and glossy. It's almost like someone took a rustic candle and polished it or put a gloss on it. Honestly I think it looks pretty neat on a layered candle, but I'm still dying to know what is causing it!

Is that the one from JS?

I have no idea. Hmm... Yep, looks like you're right. I wonder... if I tried to make smooth candles, would they come out rustic?

Okay, I ignored the thermometer and poured as cool as I possibly could... the wax was getting sludgy in the bottom of the pitcher and kept developing a skin over the top, even though I was stirring it. The thermometer said it was between 135 and 140. I felt the mold as I was pouring, and it was not hot at all above the level of the wax- every other time, it has become hot as soon as I started pouring. I'm really interested in seeing how this turns out, lol. I wonder... has anyone ever tried putting a mold in an icewater bath and pouring into it? I'm sure that would keep it from heating up! :whistle:

Nice! Glad it worked for you.

The candle that I poured at 140 turned out perfectly smooth. I'm really at a loss for explaining this. Is it possible that my thermometer is off? When it says 150, the wax seems normal to me with no noticeable signs of cooling. At 140, the wax leaves a layer on the pouring pitcher when swirled and tries to become frothy. Does this sound right?

That's exactly what I've been doing.

It did seem like they were coming out a little better in the beginning when I was pouring more slowly, but all the instructions said to do it quickly. :rolleyes2 Now I'm thinking that was probably just to prevent jump lines, and I really don't mind them. They actually look pretty cool in the layered rustics! I'll try pouring one at 150 but slowly and one at a lower temperature... so maybe 145-ish? I've tried around 148 and that didn't seem to help. Wick'n'Wax, I've tried both chilled and room temperature molds and haven't seen any significant difference. I've even done a few tests where I've poured two identical candles but with one in a chilled mold and one room temp, and couldn't tell which was which at the end. Most sources say that chilling is unnecessary, but being the experimental type I had to try it myself just to make sure.

Did all that- and they come out smooth every time.

Do they have seams? I think seamless molds are only made with aluminum, so maybe that could be a clue. But I could be wrong. I mean, I can't even follow simple instructions without screwing up!

I'm using a seamless aluminum mold. I've always heard that plastic molds wouldn't work for rustics at all. I've also heard that tin works better than aluminum, so maybe that's something for me to try, but a lot of people said they used aluminum and it worked just fine.

I work at Bath & Body Works, and in our men's line we have massaging soaps. The "spines" are a lot shorter though, really more like half spheres. Maybe a mold more like that would work.

At least I'm not the only one! All the instructions, including the tutorial here, make it sound so simple, but it's totally not working for me. I just poured one at 140, and there were billions of bubbles... so even if it did work, the candle is still going to be totally screwed up.

I posted about this in the gallery but I'm not sure very many people saw it there. I started out pouring layered rustics, and they turned out pretty nice, but then I tried to make solid rustic pillars, and I have yet to make one with a "rustic" texture- they are all coming out smooth. I have been pouring IGI 1343A with stearic 3 T pp and FO 1/2 oz pp, at 150 degrees (the melting point is 139). I have been trying to pour quickly but it seems like maybe the mold is actually heating up enough as I pour to ruin the reaction between the wax and the cold mold. Chilling the mold hasn't seemed to make any difference. Someone suggested pouring at 140 and also coating the walls of the mold with wax before filling the mold, so I'm going to try that in a few minutes. Anyone have any advice? I'm just getting really frustrated because I've been following the directions posted everywhere on the internet and it's not working! If you want to see the photos, they are in a post in the gallery. I am also getting bubbles and pinpricks in the surface.