candlechic74

Today I made a couple 8 oz mason jars with GB 444. Heated to 170-175 added dye and FO poured at 145. Noticed puck like marks around the wick on both candles so I did a second pour hoping that would take care of it and it didn't so I warmed up some more leftover wax and poured again(small amount) and I still have the puck marks. What is this and why does this seem to happen to me every time I make container candles? I have changed the heat temp and pour temp but I still get this result. I'm wondering if maybe I need to try another wax for container candles....recommendations??? Thanks! [ATTACH]20303[/ATTACH]

I have been testing and testing and i'm wondering if I am being too particular so i'm going to ask all of you. I tried some different wicks in my votives and have found some that didn't work at all but I have had some luck with an Eco 4 but here's where i'm torn...I start my test burn and i'll get some guttering maybe 30 minutes into the burn but as it burns longer it seems to straighten out and then i'll have a full burn pool and as it burns more it seems to burn even and normal. How picky should I be? I want to sell these so i'd like to stop the guttering all together but I can't seem to totally get rid of it. Anyone else have this problem?

So far i've only bought my FO's from Candlescience. I was thinking of trying some from Lonestar soon too.

Thank you B@blissstreet and Chris R for the info. I know I have to do my own testing but i do like to hear what works for others even if it may not work for me. I would like to do a soy/parrafin blend because it may make candle making a little easier but I like the idea of a cleaner, healthier burning candle and if I throw parrafin in the mix I can't say that! Anybody use palm wax? I was wondering if Palm wax may be an easier wax to work with??

Since I have not had much luck with soy candle making so far I'm asking all of you for advice. One day I want to make a business out of doing this so I would very much appreciate any suggestions! I want to make the following size candles.... Votives, 2, 4 & 6 oz tins, 3 oz hex jar, 5 oz apothecary jar, 8 oz jelly jar and 16 oz mason jar. I'd like to know what wax works best for all of those. I'm also interested in using all natural pre tabbed wicking as well.:smiley2:

Don't get me wrong I do enjoy making candles and will love it even more if I have success! Going into this I had no idea how scientific it was so of course i'm disappointed after 2 months of doing this. I thought I could look up directions online and go ahead and make them but it turns out that even when I follow instructions they still fail. I have been using Candlescience.com as a supplier. Does anyone else use them? So far I have been happy with their servce/prices.

Hi Everyone! I'm new to soy candle making, I started 2 months ago. I don't understand how there is not a specific formula to follow to do this!! I've been making candles and testing them over and over and honestly i'm getting tired of it and if I didn't spend money on the supplies I have I would give up but I owe it to myself to try my hardest to make this work since I want this to be another source of income. Votives have been difficult for me...I now am using Ecosoya PB wax and have wick pins but I still get some "Guttering" I guess they call it. When I say "Guttering" I mean that it looks like a gutter runs off the top/side part of the votive even when burned in a snug votive holder. The guttering does seem to go away the longer I burn it but I plan on selling my candles so I don't want that to happen. I have tried the following wicks....44-24-18 burned very fast. HTP 41 did the worst and was junk after 45 min of burning. Eco 4 was ok but I did have guttering and like i said it did straighten out after burning a while. Today my new wicks arrived...HTP 73...HTP 62... LX-16...LX 18...LX 14...I will be testing these soon. Suggestions anyone??? I would very much appreciate it!!

Thanks kay! I guess I just need to buy a bunch of different types of wicks so I have them on hand. Have you ever used Palm Wax? I'm thinking of giving it a shot since I heard it may be easier to work with than Soy.

It probably is mushrooming...I'm new to this so i'm not familiar with the lingo!! LOL! I'm using Golden Brands 444 soy wax. I'm thinking that particular wick is probably better for a bigger candle and that might be where i went wrong.

Last nite I decided to test burn a 8oz mason jar(Cucumber Melon) that I made last week. I was pleased to see that it seemed to burn even with a good sized pool so I was happy~finally! Of course my happiness was short lived because today I lit the candle again to find that it seemed as if I was smelling wax in the air so I took a look and noticed that the wick looked like it had a bunch a clumpy back stuff on it. Where did I go wrong???? :confused:I used a ECO 10 6 inch wick that I purchased from Candlescience.

I'm new to candle making and have been using Soy but have been having a hard time getting good results especially with votives and jars. I like the idea of using Soy because it supports Americas farmers..on the other hand I was thinking of Palm Wax also and was wondering if that may be an easier wax to work with. Can anyone give some input on this??

Thanks everyone for all your input!

OK I'll give that a try next time. I never thought that candle making was so scientific! LOL!

Update! Using Golden Brands 444 soy wax. First batch I heated to 175 and poured at 155 and I got a sinkhole(used a one pint jar and also some Tarts...Tarts came out great, only the jar had a sinkhole. Did a second batch today heated to 180 and poured at 135(I figured maybe I poured too hot the first time) and this time I used the small flower pot type jars and also made tarts..once again tarts came out great but have sinkhole or pucklike marks right around the wick of my flower pots. I don't understand what i'm doing wrong...I thought for sure pouring at a cooler temp would fix the problem.

Thank you! It's frustrating because it seems that like I get different directions depending on what website I look at. After looking at another site I may have poured todays batch too hot so I'll try another batch later.

I'm making votives, tarts and containers and so far the only thing that i've had any luck with is tarts! I finished a bag of Ecosoya CB135 and today started a bag of Golden Brands 444. Since my votives have been a conplete failure I decided to do one mason jar(a pintsize) and a couple of tarts. I followed the instructions I found online. Heated the wax( one pound) to 175-180 removed from burner...added dye and scent(one oz)...mixed well and poured at 155-160. Well my tarts look great as always but my mason jar seemed to have sunk a bit! I'm really ready to rip my hair out!! I'm really hoping to be able to sell the candles I make especially since i've become unemployed but it seems as if I'm doing nothing but wasting money on supplies!

Haha yes I have to learn patience!! I'll keep you posted! Wish me luck!

Good to know! Their prices are pretty good too! I recently took advantage of a FO sale they were having...1oz scents were 99cents so I got a bunch!

I've used several different scents....Clean Cotton and Cucumber Melon are the ones my Mother In Law tried out and she said the scent wasn't very good. I order my scents from Candlescience.com and on that site they rate the scents and i've tried to only order scents with a good rating. Tomorrow i'm going to try my new wax(Golden 444) and add the scent at a higher temp and see how those come out. ~Thanks for your help! I welcome all suggestions!

Ok thanks so much for your help Judy!

Hi Judy! Well...I heated the Cb 135 wax to 185 per the directions and poured it 125. I'm not clear as to when to add the scent though. I add the color right after I removed the pot from the burner and then I usually let it cool a bit and add the scent but now i'm wondering if I need to add the scent right after I remove the pot from the burner. I'm anxious to try the Golden Brands 444 to see how that works. Have you used the 444 and if so what advice can you give me on heat temp, pour temp and when to add scent? Thanks!

I'm brand new to Soy Candlemaking and need advice! I have made some candles and gave some to my Mother In Law so she could be my tester. I just got feedback and i'm not happy! She said the scent throw was not strong enough and the candles(votives) didn't burn right. How do I get good scent throw? I know there is a certain time to add the scent but when is that? Also...why is it that some batches of votives seem to get cracks at the top and when I try to remove them from the mold(I do use mold release) they don't want to come out? I've had to dig them out and when I do I notice the candle is sort of mushy at the bottom. What am I doing wrong?? I just finished a bag of Ecosoya CB 135 and I just got a bag of Golden Brands 444 so I will be trying that for my next batch of candles.