rjwhite6

Yes, but which paraffin wax?

I like the translucency. What wax is that?

I HIGHLY recommend doing this. You can learn so much. For example, if a wick wax combination smokes with no frangrance or color, it's usually not going to smoke less with color and frangrance. :smiley2: You can also see if the wax itself discolors as it burns. When you get your wick dialed in for the base wax, you will probably find as I did that a high percentage of fragrances will use that same wick. 90% of my 80 production fragrances use the same wick as the base wax.

I found this on the 'Cart Problem' link of all places 5651 Hamstead Crossing Raleigh, NC 27612 Phone: (919) 261-7959

http://www.allstatecan.com/allstatecan/scripts/prodlist.asp?idCategory=10

I hope that I have not unintentionally offended you. My post was not linked to you. That is why I started a new thread rather than replying in yours. I too have struggled with the drowning wick and have seen many many threads about this so I wanted to share my observations and testing experiences.

I don't think that the wick drowning in tall jars is due to lack of oxygen. Here's why: 1.) When I burn all the way to the bottom, I find that the wicking that was drowning is now too big -- tall flame and lots of heat. This is true having repeated the test with different sizes of wick each time. 2.) Using the oxygen tank and airstone that I use when making beer, I fed oxygen to the drowning wick. Not a huge honking mass of oxygen but a nice gentle steady oxygen supply. The wick burns brighter but not any better over time. Here's what's really happening. Wax has a really large expansion coefficient. When you are in the top third of the candle most of the heat goes out the top of the jar and does not heat up the mass of the wax as much as when farther down in the jar. In the middle third of the candle that mass of wax heats up and expands, drowning the wicking. You can see this because if you watch you will see that when in the "drowning" phase the wax has risen partly above the previously burned black part of the wick. When the candle has cooled completely back down to room temperature through and through, you will see that the wick is now miraculously longer and in fact there is white unburned wicking sticking up above the wax. This also explains the sooting of the wax itself. If you watch during the drowning phase you will see the soot coming out from the now submerged previously burned part of the wick. When you get to the bottom third of the candle, there is much less wax mass heating up so there is less expansion and the same wick that was drowning in the middle third is now too large with a nice size flame -- not gasping for air at all. If you would like to verify this yourself, you can see what is going better if you do not add any dye to the wax.

Candlemama, If you're in a mixing mood, I'd like to suggest 85% 4627, 15% Glass Glow. I've found this mix to greatly reduce sooting, widens the melt pool and allows you to use 1 wick size smaller than 4627 alone. The great CT/HT of 4627 is retained. The glass adhesion is not diminished. It does pastel out the color a bit compared to 4627 alone, comparable to parasoy mixes and soy blends. In this ratio, there is no frosting or feathering from the GG.

I'm in Indianapolis and DPS is my prime wax supplier. They have been great. P.S. I love Peak also but since they are in CO it would cost way more for shipping. Peak is my prime for fragrances.

Weigh the water. I have found that multiplying the weight of the water by .85 gives the right weight of the candle batch to use.

I frquently do this with jars with different fragrances at once. I have not noticed any mingling. I usually leave the oven door open just a little bit though.

In testing 6006, 4630, 4794, 6098, and 4627 with Zincs, LX's, HTP's, and CD's I have found the zincs to shroom and smoke more easily than the other types. I use CD's for production.

I know we all want to get that first finished candle when we start candle making but I got a tip that will save you time and money in the long run. Do your testing for wick sizing with no fragrance and no coloring. Currently I have 57 frangrances in production in 10 different containers and two waxes in addition to several other waxes tested before going into production. What I have found is that 90% of the fragrances use the same wick size as the base wax. The other 10% typically need 1 wick size bigger or smaller than the base wax needs. So if you take the time to figure out the wicking without color or fragrance you'll have it made for most of your fragrances.

When you have a lot of tops to smooth at once during production, I have a timesaving tip for you. This may not work for everyone and takes care to get things adjusted for your conditions. I use my broiler. I have adjusted the oven's top rack's distance and the broil times so that I can smooth the tops of many jars at the same time. Much faster than heat gunning so many jars. You have to be carefull at first. I would not try this with a gas oven. Do not get the jar tops too close to the broil element. I have found 4 inches to be safe for me. In a totally cold oven I have found that the first set of jars usually takes 4 minutes. If the oven door was kept closed, then the second set of jars usually takes 3 minutes for me. My oven has a cook timer in addition to the regular timer. I use the cook timer for safety as the oven will shut off after the cook timer runs out. That way If I get distracted by something, I don't have a disaster.

I know it takes a lot of time, but when I join a new forum I read EVERY post from oldest to newest before I ever post. I learn so much and get almost every question answered without even asking. I read every thread because people some times get off topic in a usefull way and give me ideas that apply to other things. I think one of the keys to searching forums or the web in general is to have several different words or ways to say what you are looking for. For example, searching for apothecary, then colonnial for the same jar.

DPS Morris wax sells it. http://www.dpswax.com/DPS_index.html I have bought and tested it against 4630, 4627, 6006, 464, and 444. The top 2 for Ct & Ht were 6098 and 4627. They were equal in these respects. 6098 smokes less than 4630, 4627. 6098 and 4627 are generally more expensive than the others mentioned above. 6098 comes in slab form. I have been using 6098 for production for tins. I have been using 4627 for production for containers.

I received a 4 year old case of IGI 6098 from a supplier recently. I can tell that 6098 is definately too old at 4 years old. The supplier did make it right:). They remain my main wax supplier. As an example, the 6098 was much more yellow, much harder and smelled like the mink oil wax that used to be used to waterproof leather boots. And the slabs had fused into one massive block. 1 size larger wick was needed. However, neither CT nor HT were diminished. The mink oil smell was not present in the test candles. Both IGI and the supplier said that there is no expiration on IGI candle wax products. I believe they are wrong. I chalked the negative aging on the soy component of the 6098. When you think about it, soy wax is basicly vegetable shortening (over simplification). Vegetable shortening can go bad after 4 years! If your pillar blend has no vegetable (or animal) components, you should be more immune to wax aging.

Heinz Verhaegh 5 Mission Way Tenafly, NJ 07670 hvco@aol.com www.heinzverheagh.com tele: (201) 871-4749 fax: (201) 871-5881 This is right off of the package of samples size CD20-CD30 I received (for free) in the mail today. They sent 10 of each, 12" long. They also sent a bag of bases of all sizes and types. The response was very fast. They are the manufacturers. They have a 5,000 piece minimum. I do not have any pricing from them yet, or a list of distributors.

You can test them all at once side by side for HT (or CT). Smell back and forth between them. After the first round, you won't smell the weaker ones anymore. You will still smell the strongest one. For example, I have been testing 4630, 6006, 6098, and 4627 at the same time. When I test for CT or HT, after the first round of sniffs, I can't smell 4630 any more, can barely smell 6006. I can still smell 6098 and 4627. They are very close in strength. I have done this time after time without looking at the labels first, and the results are always the same.

Does anyone know where I can purchase CD sizes 24-30?