I wish i could help all of you but i seem to have the same problems , but i have found pouring cooler has helped more for me. I cant seem to get a decent rustic with room temp molds so i set them in the fridge for a few minutes just before i pour, and i pour as cool as i can. I see so many beautiful rustics posted but neaver seem to be able to get them to look as good. I wish someone would write step by step directions and maybe that would help. I love the look of the rustics and dont want to give up trying. Kalamazoo your unscented rustics are perfect to me, so it seems like maybe the fo,s are killing the affect. Hopfully an expert will step in here and help. Lin