FlameyJamie

I am really beginning to hate CBA. I have been heating to 155 and pouring at 125. I get a huge sink hole every freakin single time. Any advice at what is causing this and how to prevent it?

7 % Fo.

I was talking with a woman that has a little boutique here in my town, she makes candles as well. I was hoping she wouldn't get mad at me for asking but I asked her how much FO she adds to her soy. She said for years she has had people tell her they add no more than 1oz. pp but she doesn't listen to them. I laughed my head off. She said that she started adding 1 oz. but didn't get the throw she wanted (she uses a diff brand of soy) and started experimenting by increasing the FO loads a percentage at a time and ended up with roughly 9%. I gasped and said everyone keeps telling me that is way too much. She laughed at me and said with soy you can add a little more that the typical 1 oz. pp but just be consistant with heating and pouring temps and all of that. So I bought a couple of her candles and asked what % of FO they all had and she said 9%. Came home and burned Grandpa's Pipe. Wonderful candle. No soot (of course... it's soy) , very little mushrooming. Some but not enough to even worry about and AWESOME scent throw, both hot and cold. So... Like her... I am going to increase my FO's a little at time, remain consistant with my temps and try that. I was flabbergasted that she used 9% FO.

Just curious, do all of you use more FO with soy?

Actually even with the wrong thing added, they did not do too bad. There is a little frosting on the top outer edges but nothing on the sides. I could live with this. I will burn it Saturaday and test the scent throw. It's got a great CT at least. I made one without the UVH (wrong thing) and it was fine too.

Whoops! I added the wrong stuff LMAO. Like I said, trial and error. My life is more on the ERROR side right now. I'm such a dork! Guess I will be ordering some USA from.... JBN. Thanks FunFlames.

OK I will coffeebean. I actually poured a candle this morning. Used 75% CB135 and 25% CBA. Added in i tsp. coconut oil and 1/4 USA (I hope I added the right thing, USA is UV Inhibiter,right?) I heated to 185 and poured at 160. I know some may say that is too hot to pour but I am trying it anyway. It's all about trial and error, right? Where is VanillaSniffie? She was working with CBA and had good results at one point in time and then posted that she had the same results with CB135. Anyway, So we'll see how that does. If it doesn't improve the candle I am thinking about changing brands of soy. I will let you know.

This board is where I get 95% of my information in regards to making candles. I search this board a lot like most of you advise to do but sometimes one may want a live answer or doesn't have time to research or look for old threads on a particlular subject. I know it must get frustrating for some of the VETS to share their wisdom with us but I know I appreciate it.

I am not looking for you to give me your exact details of how or what you make your candles with. Just general information which most of the time I get.

Again, thank you. This has gone from a could be hobby for a rainy day to an addiction and I feel like I have learned so much from all of you.

Love ya all! Muuuuuuahhhhhh! XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Jamie!

Actually I was doing searches while you all were replying! Isn't that funny. I just wanted to post first in case I didn't find anything. I am just shocked right now. Never heard of such a thing. Interesting.

Yeah that must be it. I am going to make some tonight and heat to that temp. What do you pour at?

Take a look at this:

http://www.carolscountrycandlesandmore.com/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=DippedToiletPaper

What? I like the idea of this.... but WHAT???!!! has anyone here tried this? I might experiment with it The site doesn't give much info about it but it could be fun to make.

I was using 75% Ecosoya PB & 25% IGI1250. I didn't know their was a wax specifically for tarts. I definitly am learning something everyday. What wax is for tarts?

Hell I'm the first to admit I'm wrong so maybe it is me. I have been heating the wax to 155, adding the scent and dye (liquid) stirring for 3 minutes then letting it cool to 125. I get my jar ready and pour at 120. Am I doing something wrong?

OK After not getting much scent throw from CBA with many variables (pouring temps, FO loads, testing and so on) I got fed up and switched to CB135. I love the scent throw from this wax, except........... the frosting is driving me nuts!!!! I have several candles that I am happy with and want to stat offering them to friends and family. Very little mushrooming, great scent, great burn. It's just that stupid frosting!

Is there a way to get rid of it all together or at least reduce it?

does anyone know any good sites to get tart molds. I am having so much fun making them but getting bored with the fluted tart mold (it's the only one I have). I tried using a candy mold but it didn't wrok well. Any ideas?

This is frustating as hell. i have tried the cocobut oil. Tried the 50/50 (with Cb135) and I am just not getting any scent throw off the bakery smells I have. Do the suppliers scents really change that much? Because someone told me to try a different supplier for FO. I am on my fourth scent and still nothing.

OK then I guess I was wrong. Maybe I just worded it wrong. I don't want to add any "paraffin, or "paraffin-based" additives if I don't have to. So soy has paraffin in it? I have never heard this before.

does anyone here use 50 CBA and 50 CB135 in their formulations? I have been thinking about trying it out but just wanted to see if anyone had some insight on how well it works. My reasoning behind it is because I am trying to get best HT and staying 100% natural. Thanks in advance!

i want in on this too. Is it in a liquid form that you add it because my brother said it comes in liquid or solid like shortening (he's a health nut!) So do you add 1/2 tsp. melted CO or 1/2 tsp. solid CO? or are they the same?

Thank you Stella. That was so much help! I was only letting these sit for 24 hours, sometimes not even that. Maybe that was my problem. I appreciate the help. It's hard for me not to test them right after I make them but I guess I have to now. Maybe I'll pick my nose or something to pass the time and get my mind of the candle! Just kidding.

I am fairly new to candle making. Right now I am only using CBAdvance. But as great as this wax is... I am getting no scent throw. I have one solution I am going to try which adding coconut oil.... but the other I was wondering was... I was using 10% Fo then decided to go down to 8%. The reason I went down to that is because when I told someone in another board that I was using 10% they said that was too much. I will admit I was getting better results with the 10%.

So my question to my fellow soy candle makers is... do you just automatically use 10% or do smaller amounts work with you?

It's closer to 3/4. I only poured one small container, but thank you. Your calculations make more sense to me than my did!

As for the amount your calculations really confused me.

Join the club! I confused myself, LOL. i appreciate your input. I'll go try it and let you know.

I was making a carnation scented candle and wanted a nice light pink. This was my first time using this dye. i added it and couldn't tell, added more, still couldn't tell, added more... in total four drops. I now have a flourescent/hot pink carnation scented batch of wax!

Is it possible to add a certain percentage to a batch of wax that has already been made up? I made up a batch of Tulip scented CBAdvance about a week or so ago and I am still not getting a scent throw at all (not even a little) when I test burn. I used 8% of FO (I am getting the abbreviations down, didn't understand them at first!) . I want to increase the FO to 10% on this batch but am not sure if it is possible. So I did the math and here's what i came out with:

If I broke a pound down by 1/4ths I would add 4.0. Want to add 10% to that... so that would be .40 which would make the wax go down to 3.60.

Here's my problem now.... how do I get that extra 2% Fo in there that I am wanting to add to the original batch without overloading the wax? just add .70 to 3.60?

I just wanted to thank everyone who has replied. Had I not come here and made this post I would never have guessed that one's enviroment affects the way a candle burns. It makes sense now. And just reading your replies and what you do for this and what you do for that has stopped me from posting certain questions.... all because the answers are here. Thanks. I will post a pic of my French Vanilla I made tonight. I plan on burning it on Monday.

You all have been great, thank you. And I am on vacation so I spent all day researching this board like most of you advised me to do. I took notes, read old threads over and over, I even quizzed myself after I was off the computer. Thanks for your help!

Thanks. I was thinking that too. That sometimes these things are just a way of life of making candles! It is true, I have become more pickier about burning candles than I was before I started the classes and making them myself. I used to buy K-Mart candles all the time, loved them in fact, despite the soot and never burning to the edges no matter how long I burned it.

Thanks Ronnie for your input...Love your site too!