starlessjade

I poured a couple more... this time I whacked the molds with a knife, and did see some bubbles coming up... good... and I'm also cooling them with a box over the top to see what that does. I chilled one mold before pouring and left the other at room temp to see if there was any difference between the two. I did notice when looking down into them that the bottom half of the molds had "cooled" wax coating the sides right after pouring but the top halves did not... interesting, I'll have to see if the top and bottom halves come out different from each other.

Reading the subject line, I thought you were talking about a fragrance oil called "Coconut and Lilac".... ew!

Okay, my batteries are recharged. Here are photos of the whole candle http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/starlessjade/wholecandle.jpg Top http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/starlessjade/top.jpg And bottom portion http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/starlessjade/bottom.jpg

Well, at least the smooth surface does make them slide out of the mold more easily.

Even if it was a cheap item, you should still get what you paid for and I can't imagine that they would mind fixing the error as long as you were polite about it. And if they do mind? You should probably find a different supplier IMO.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/starlessjade/pillarcloseup.jpg I left the photo large so you could see what was going on. When I pour rustics with fairly thin layers, I like how they turn out. But whenever I try to pour a solid-colored rustic, it comes out like this. It almost looks like there are teeny tiny bubbles all over the surface, and here's the interesting part- it's completely smooth to the touch. The other interesting part? The top of the candle always comes out with a nice rough texture and some frosting, nothing like the sides. I'm using IGI 1343A with 3 T stearic per pound, 1/2 t UV inhibitor, 1/2 oz FO. I'm pouring into a room temperature aluminum mold with no mold release at around 150 degrees, and allowing to cool at room temperature. This has happened with different dyes, different amounts of dye chips, different fragrance oils, etc. I've even tried different pouring temps within the range of 145-155. I've tried pouring both slowly and quickly. In other words, I'm completely lost here... what in the world am I doing wrong? Thanks so much! p.s. also, the bottom inch or so of the candles doesn't have so much of the "crystalline" look to it, and has actual pinholes that I can feel. I don't know if that helps any. My camera batteries just died, so that's it for photos at the moment.

Quote of the week.

Will do. Thanks everyone for all the help! I hate to annoy anyone or sound like an idiot, but I really do want to learn and so far I haven't been able to find any good resources other than this board. Even the halfway decent instructions I've found on the internet are not specific to the wax and method that I'm using, so they don't help much. My case of 1343 came yesterday, and this week is my spring break... time to play!

I hope it's okay, because all of my slabs look like that too!

Okay... so the consensus is 3-4 percent, or around 1/2 oz pp with the 1343 and just stearic, but if I were to add vybar, losing the mottling but still getting a rustic finish, I could bump it up to 1 oz pp or maybe even 1.25 oz? lol that was a mouthful. Actually, I might just stick with the 1/2 oz pp... somehow I doubt I'm going to get much of a throw from pillars anyway. I would make them unscented, but for some reason I feel compelled to add fragrance to anything and everything. Is that one of the warning signs of FOCD?

Yes, I remember that you said that. Sorry I ignored you... others were saying that the melt pool looked good so I guess I wanted to agree with the people who said I was right rather than the one who said I was wrong. :embarasse The surface of my candles has been coming out weird lately, and I was going to ask about it as soon as I had a good photo, but maybe the problem is just the FO overload. I'll pour something tonight at 1/2 oz pp (that's correct, right?) and see what happens. If only container candles could be as pretty as pillars! I want a good throw, but I just can't resist all the gorgeous layering that you can put in a rustic.

You're absolutely right! For some reason I could have sworn that it was 6 or 8%. I actually hadn't noticed any problems when burning... but I will cut down and see what happens. I'm pouring rustics so I don't think I can add vybar. Thanks!

Thanks, that was just what I was looking for... do you think maybe I should try around 1.25 oz and see what happens?

Before I ever made a candle, I made a couple batches of lip balm and used a "wax" aluminum pouring pitcher. It seemed to work perfectly fine. I used the double boiler method and when I lifted the pot out of the water, I wiped the bottom with a towel so I didn't have to worry about getting water in the lip balms.

I can't give you any advice because my rustics are still coming out pretty badly too, but if you describe your method a little more someone should be able to help. For example: what wax are you using, what additives in what amounts, what temperature are you pouring at, how quickly are you pouring, are you using mold release, are you cooling at room temperature or in a fridge or water bath, etc. *sits back and eagerly awaits advice that may apply to me too*

I'm working with IGI 1343 with 3 tbs stearic pp. So far I've been using 1 oz fragrance oil pp and would like to try increasing that amount for some of my fragrances, but I have no idea what the limit would be for this wax and I'd hate to waste a bunch of FO and wax figuring it out if someone already knows. Thanks a bunch! p.s. just a general idea would be fine- I'm not necessarily trying to force in as much FO as possible, just want to try a little more while still keeping it within the reasonable range

Oops, yes they are. The purple one is Ume Blossom from Scent Works (I'm not sure if I like it in a candle, but it's gorgeous and I'm making some lotion out of it!) and the green is Rocky Mountain Christmas from FOH. It's super strong. I used 0.8 oz pp and I can smell the unlit candle whenever I walk by.

I've been contemplating what color to use for Blueberry Muffin... basically whether or not blue and golden brown would look good together... and it looks like they do! I would suggest just a little more brown, but they really are gorgeous.

I was thinking about the blueberry cobbler. Dang it, you guys were supposed to help me shorten my list, not lengthen it. Now I'm tempted to buy two samplers... I did get paid yesterday...

NOOOO don't suggest more of them! :laugh2:lol

lol at this point I still have never poured a scent more than once, but every time I walk by the Bartlett Pear candle (Peak) I can't resist jamming my nose into it. Mmm.

I'm trying to put together a sample pack (10) from Just Scent and I just can't make up my mind. I've narrowed it down to 12 but I am having the hardest time eliminating any of them. If you've tried any of them... which are awesome? Which are disappointing in any way? Please help! Oh yeah- I'm using them in paraffin, and I'm trying to find a good citrus scent and a good berry/pine scent if you hadn't noticed. mandarin mimosa fruit slices peach fizz red mac apple white grapes sweet pomegranate and orange captivatingly currant sunkissed currant fuji apple ginger <-- discontinued but I want to get it to make some lotion for myself celestial waters holiday rendezvous berry balsam

If you click "general information" on the left side of your screen, there is a calculator to help you figure out how much wax you will need for a certain mold or container. The amount of fragrance or dye is variable, but 1 oz fragrance oil per pound of wax is usually about right. Are you using the Reddig-Glo dye chips? I usually use 1 chip per pound, then spoon a little wax onto a white ceramic plate and wait for it to cool to see what color it is. In your candle it will be just a little bit darker. Then you can add more chips until you get the color you want. Adding too much dye can clog the wick, but honestly I have no idea how much is "too much"- anyone want to chime in? The most I've done so far is 3 chips per pound and haven't had any trouble with that. The calculator says you will need 1.45 lbs of wax for that mold. You might want to write that on the outside of the mold with a permanent marker so you won't forget.

OOB is Out Of Bottle (referring to fragrance oils) I'm pretty sure DH is "dear husband", someone jump in and correct me if I'm wrong

I've also seen that conversion factor somewhere, but couldn't remember where or what exactly the number was. The calculator is probably just using that conversion.