Debbie73

I make palm wax candles and I need to get the container pretty warm plus pour the wax at 200 degrees. For me, if either of these steps are not done correctly, then the crystalizing will not be good. I have tried heating my jars using a heating gun, but I did not like how the crystalizing turned out. Your only heating the outside of the jar and for me that just isn't enough, especially if the jars are a thick glass. I never have trouble with the wax getting underneath the stickum until I start to burn the candle. Now, it did not always happen, but it happened more often than not. I like the stickums, they just didn't always work for me....just wanted to know how others faired with them! I forgot to say I always wipe my containers out before I wick them, just to make sure it is free of dust.

Me too!

I too use a whole lot of paper towels. I put the pour pot in the oven and melt any hardened wax, then wipe it out. I take a cookie sheet and put foil over it and then put paper towels on top of the foil. I do this because sometimes I turn my pour pots upside down that way the paper towel absorbs the wax.

For all of you using the stickums, do you ever have a problem with the stickums coming loose when you do your testing? I never had a problem with them coming loose while making the candle, it was while I was testing that one or both would come loose towards the end of the testing. One actually wondered off to the side of the jar and obviously the jar was very hot. Now I only use the stickums for testing and the GE Silicone for selling. I do prefer the stickums because you can just wick and pour. With the silicone, I usually wick the jars the day before to give it time to set up.

Those are the most gorgeous candles. I am happy to see that you can do different things with palm wax, as this is the only wax I work with. Again, congrats on your beautiful candles.

Thank you Stella! Start out with the correct way of burning (3 to 4 hrs) all the way to the bottom. If all works for what you are trying to achieve, then do the power burn? I have gone over these threads now for 2 weeks looking for wick suggestions and I had the csn spooled wick so I started with that. I had intended to go back and do a test burn the correct way, just got excited and started out backwards. I never burned pillars myself, only bought them for decoration. But I could not leave the palm pillar wax alone and want to do my chunk candles. I thought it might be nice to have a wick that I could start with, so here I am! Thank you again.

I just started making pillars out of feather palm wax. I made 4 of them but only one had the blow out and one on the way. The one that had the blow out is a square 3x3 1/2" with 5% FO with a csn 12 wick. I did start out burning all four in 5 hr. test burns. I was going into the 16th hour when I saw two small holes. I know that you're only supposed to burn for 3 to 4 hours with this size, but I know I will get someone who will want to burn it longer than that. For all of you that make pillars, how do you determine the size of wick that you use? For me this is way harder than trying to wick a container where at least the wax is confined. I would hate to ruin someone's furniture! Thanks everyone!

Stella and CathyinME, thanks for the pictures and for great suggestions. I hope to get started on it this week. I am excited! Thank you all again.

Thank you CathyinME. Your candles were the ones I was talking about! I think they are beautiful! I'm going to order the mold from Bittercreek and try it both ways. I love the irregular shapes that you have made. I have seen it both ways and they both look very pretty. Thanks to both of you!!

Thank you mparadise! I have looked all over the internet. I actually did order one but when I got it in the chunks were going to be way too big. I found a picture of a pillar candle that was done and it looks like they could have poured it on a cookie sheet and then after it set up, took the wax and just broke it up into pieces because they did look irregular. It was a pretty candle, too. I guess there are different ways to go about acheiving the chunks. I am going to check out Bittercreek's. Thanks again!

I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but I am wanting to make a container palm wax chunk candle and really do not know how to go about making the chunks. I know with soy and with paraffin, you can make them by pouring the wax onto a cookie sheet and cutting the chunks before it as completely set. But with palm you would not be able to do this. Are there any molds that I could use that I could make up a bunch at one time? Right now the only thing that comes to mind would be the clamshells, and to me that would be extremely wasteful because you could not re-use them. Thanks for any help you can give!

The silicone molds that I use, I got from JoAnn's. You can get them on line from several places. Check e-bay. They call it a daisy mold. They are not as large as the tin's, mine weigh about .68. The thing I like about it is you can make 24 at a time. I use glass glow in mine and they come out great. I heat the mold in the oven, pour the wax and then cover the mold. I have been buying different shapes in the silicone molds, just to give customers a variety. So far everyone is liking them. I made some heart shapes for valentine's day and some four leaf clover for st patrick's day.

Thank you Stella! I do know that Let-it-Shine is different than Peak's and Candle Science, but was not sure about other companies. Trying to do a little price shopping! Thank you again. :smiley2:

Is the glass glow palm wax the same wax just different suppliers, such as Peak's, Candle Science, Let-it-Shine....etc? I have used Peak's and Candle Science and they both seem to be the same, but I was wondering about other suppliers. There is quite a bit of price difference in the wax, depending on the supplier.

Thank you everyone for your input!

For those of you that use the Levine warmers, do any of you use palm wax tarts/melts in them? I would like to buy the ones that use the light bulbs in them. They suggest the 40 watt light bulb. I have been reading thru the threads and see that several people have suggested the 40 watts. Will this wattage be too hot for palm wax that could cause it to smoke? I am afraid that the 25 watts will not be hot enough to melt the wax. Thanks for all of your help!

I am sorry, I failed to tell you I use the silicone molds!! I have not tried the metal tart molds, so they may stick with them. As I stated, I tried the feather palm (pillar) and I got these little pit holes in half of them. The silicone mold tarts are not as large as the metal mold tarts, I can make 24 at a time. I use the wilton silicone molds and have been very happy with how they have turned out. I have used the daisy molds and the heart molds so far. I also have sunflower and clover molds. I hope that I have helped in some way! I am a little curious if those of you who use palm wax to make tarts are you using the feather or starburst and do you have problems with getting sink holes in yours??

What is the width of the jar? I use 2 cd 6 wicks for a 3 inch jar and 2 cd 8 wicks for a 4 inch jar. With that said you have got to test each and every scent, they do not all burn the same way. When I first started with glass glow I tried the rrd wicks because that is what Peak's suggested. I tried rrd 29 thru 50, and had a terrible time with everyone of them. You may even try the csn wicks from Candle Science. They did pretty well, but I did not like the big flame and the mushrooms that you get with the csn's. This is what worked for me, you have to try different wicks and test the jar all the way down to the bottom. There is a wealth of information on the board you just have to do a search. Have fun! :cheesy2:

I use glass glow palm for my tarts. I just recently started making them and tried different palm waxes. I tried the pillar/votive (feather palm) and did not have very good luck with them. Half that I made got little pits in them (sink holes). Everyone of the tarts I made with glass glow turned out great, had a great CT and HT.

I use little cards that I tie on with a thin satin ribbon. The card has a picture of a beautiful waterfall (Waterfall Candles) and the scent of the candle. I also have the name of the company and the scent of the candle on the warning label. My son does all of the designing with photo shop. I, also, do not like to have a candle label on my candle when I am using it to decorate my home. Some of the jars I use would be hard to put one on anyway. I use the medium size vibe and whisper jars. I like the elegance of the jar!

I don't know anything about the candlemaker's store palm wax, but a sweet friend on here told me that the glass glow from Peak's and from Candle Science are the same. I get the same look using it from both places with no problems. Candle Science has a better price. I like the look of the glass glow better then the frost palm, but there are a lot of people that use the frost palm.

I was not sure which one to use, glass glow (container) feather (pillar.) So I made some with feather palm wax (pillar.) They came out of the mold fine, I am using silicone molds, but almost all of them had these caved in places in them. I also did some clamshells, and they turned out great. Then I did some glass glow (container), and they all turned out beautiful! Now I don't know if it was because I was using the silicone molds vs the metal tarts molds. But for me I will stick with the glass glow in the silicone. That said, when I first started making palm wax candles, I was not paying any attention and grabbed the wrong bag of wax for my containers....I grabbed the feather palm (pillar). This is going to sound crazy because I know that this should not have worked, but it made the most beautiful candle. I never had any problem with it not adhearing to the jar. I waited for several months before I burned it and it adheared all of those months, but burning it was a whole other story....the thing is you sometimes just have to just jump in and try it. I was not sure what I was going to get with the silicone molds, but they crystalized great on the top and marbled on the bottom. When I make them I treat them like I would a container or pillar, I heat the molds and cool them real slow by placing a box over them. I have been really happy with how they turned out. You just have to experiment and have fun!

I know that this has been talked about, but I am curious about the wickless palm wax candles. I understand about glass jars cracking from the heat, etc., but I have looked all over the "net" and see a whole lot of people selling them. Is it the difference in jars that people are using? Some of the jars look like some that I considered making wickless out of, until I was reading on hear that it was not a good idea. I was wondering if one method of heating the jar might be safer than others, like the lamp that has the heat on top of the jar vs. heat from the bottom of the jar. Right now I am telling my customers not to use it on a heating plate, because I would rather be safe than sorry, rather than to have someone bring it back and say look what happened. Have views changed about this?

I bought some small metal measuring cups, I think that they hold 16oz. I have some metal trays that I put the clamshells on top of. I then fill the measuring cup 1/2 or a little more. For me it was easier to control the pouring by not having it completely full.

Thanks everyone, I will check them all out!! :cheesy2: