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My girlfriend and I started with Parafin, but we quickly switched to soy for a few reasons. The first ironically enough was price. Where we live near Boston, soy is quite a bit cheaper than parafin. Also, the soy's we have been messing around with (GB 444) is giving us consistent single pour candles which we NEVER got with parafin. Instead of buying more pillar soy (we did get some Ecosoya PB which is great, but SUPER expensive) we are focusing on finding the right additives to make our 444 become pillar like. So far I have found that adding 4.5 teaspoons per pound of vybar 103 gives them the finish and texture of pillar blend wax, but some of the throw is lost. We figure we are going to keep testing until we find a mix we like. And lastly...because you work with soy at lower temperatures, when you do spill it on yourself, it doesn't burn anything near what parafin does. Chris and Lisa

We actually did start with pillar wax, it's the blue label box Ecosoya Pillar Blend. It works great, but it is more than twice as expensive when compared to the deal we got with the 444. I was just looking for what additives we could put into the 444 to make the end result more like the Ecosoya PB. Chris

*Update* Ok my batch of candles with the 6 teaspons per pound of vybar has finished sitting (I let all my candles sit for 24 hours before dismantling the molds,) and they DO come out of the molds nicely and have a gerat finish, but they have almost no cold scent throw. I will wait a few days for them to cure before testing hot throw, but has anyone else used 444 for pillars and found a good ratio of vybar? Thanks!! Chris

Colin I haven't tried essential oil's myself, but I read quite a bit about different types of fragrance for candles before buying any. From what I've read, essential oils do not have nearly the same throw as many fragrance oils. Additionally, I've read that you need to add fragrance at a much higher temperature, around 175 so it binds to the wax, giving better hot throw. Using fragrance oil instead of essential oils, I've had the best luck heating my wax to 175-185, adding the dye and fragrance oil, then immediately taking off the heat...letting it cool to 145 and then pouring. I am using GW444 from golden brands, liquid dye from candlescience, and mostly candlescience fragrance oil as well. Also, where do you get your Esential Oils? I've been curious about them and would like to pick up a small batch for testing. Chris

Brittany My girlfriend and I are also new to soy, but I think wicking is one thing we have down. First off, buying prewaxed and tabbed wicks is VERY cheap, we paid like 4 cents each for the ones we use in our 3.5 inch container candles, and even less for the ones we use in votives. Also invest in GluDots for containers...they are amazing. We GluDot the wicks down, and use clospins and popsicle sticks to hold them in place. For pillar candles, buy wick pins, they are pretty inexpensive (I think we paid under $3 each) and have made our life so much easier. Just pour the candle, wait for it to harden, pull the wic pin out, pop the candle out of the mold and slide the wick into the candle. Welcome to your new addiction! It really is fun, and if you can get your husband to do it with you, it's something you guys can do together. That is why my girlfriend and I got into it, we were looking for a hobby for both of us. as odd as it sounds...look on youtube for Martha Steward Candlemaking videos they have been helpful. Chris and Lisa

Ok, a quick question...I'm also new to soy candle making...what is CO in terms of additives? Chris

My girlfriend and I recently picked up candlemaking as a hobby to do together, and I have a few questions I can't seem to find answered on the net already. We picked up a bunch of GW444 soy wax, which we got an amazing deal on locally and liquid dye and FO from candle science. We have been very successful making container candles so far, but when we try to make pillars with the 444, they came out very soft. We pickup up some vybar 103 to try to harden the candles a bit. While it is increasing mottling which we don't mind, we have been having issues where the wax refuses to release from the molds, ending up with us having to put them into the freezer to shrink the wax...but then the pillars crack. We have tried a bunch of different ratios, 1/4 teaspoon per pound, 1/2 tsp/lb, 1 tsp/lb, 2 and even 6 (just to see if we were WAY off). We are using mold release spray, and have even tried to use a pretty heavy dose of it but it hasn't made much of a difference. My question is...what other additives can be used with the 444 to harden the pillars without "supergluing" them to the molds? Thanks Chris and Lisa