TallTayl

Have not heard of it specifically, but wonder if the burnt part may be a nag champa or cedarwood or even a vetivert? When thinking FO my mind shoots to dragonsblood, but that may be too smoky and less burnt. To test out the proportion, you could take a q tip with a drop of each EO and seal it in a mason jar for a day. If it's too much of one thing or another add another q tip with the one you want to stand out. Just keep notes on how many drops of each eo you added to the mason jar. Easy peasy. 50:50 on orange/patch I would think would drown out the orange. Patch can be pretty strong in blends... Off hand I wouldn't think orange or patch would make a balanced soap formula with stable oils any more prone to DOS. HTH

Totally makes sense then. I love working on the edge at thin trace just past emulsion. It makes getting even layers in soap a snap. If you try this method again, maybe kick start gel in the oven. If your mold doesn't fit - or isn't that heat safe, you can make a quick and dirty heating pad from plain uncooked rice in a pillow case or even an old towel. sew it securely shut, then MW the bag for a minute or two (like the heating pads for your back), and place it beneath the mold with the usual covering to help boost the gel along. P.S. my name is thanks to my uber tall horse, Taylor Made.

When you made this one, was it your usual formula? Did it go through gel? If it didn't gel that could totally explain the softness.

I used them to release fragrance. They absorb FO and release it very well. I didn't try EO's. I did not try them au natural as an odor absorber - I lean toward activated charcoal for that.

Sure do. Thanks for the local Farm & Fleet it is available locally and works pretty well. Sachets I made last year about this time are still very strongly scented in my workshop, cars, closets and drawers. I sell a fair amount of them. People like that they can get double-duty from them by sprinkling them on the carpet and vacuuming them up.

If you are sure it is ecosoya PB, and that you melted to the mfr recommended temp, stirred the right amount of FO for the full 2 minutes before pouring and this is how your wax performed, then I would be inclined try some fresh PB. That's a lot of oily residue. It sure would explain the sticking in the mold. I'd be a little extra careful if/when burning them.

That looks might convenient with the built in spout an all. Please let us know how it performs for you. I'm intrigued.

TY for the post-post invite to stick my nose in... When I tried the freezer to short cut cooling they cracked on me. When I learned patience, I also learned that they all release from my metal votive molds great when they're ready. Generally I get to un-mold them after 2-3 hours. I'm wondering if the sticking and oiliness problems you mentioned are related. How did you make them? Temps, etc.?

I'm not any of those people specifically asked, but may I raise my hand on this? I'm an Ecosoya PB user for votives. I do use wick pins and do not use stearic. My shipment of the PB is plenty hard all on its own. Like you, I use FO at 6% and have been pleased with it - long lasting, decent throw (LX wicks) and an all around pretty votive. I've not personally experienced an oily feeling on any. I wonder if it was your FO? Or maybe your fo just didn't mix in as well as it should have?

Pillar para with soy pillar blend? Sure, for votives it works very well for me. I've liked Ecosoya PB and IGI4794 at 70/30.

Moonshine: I've never had a problem with them sticking in the molds at that proportion. The ambient temp in my soap/candle room is about 65 - not sure if that makes a difference. To make them I just: 1) heat to the waxes in the presto pot to180 2) weigh out the amount of wax I need into a tin wax pitcher (from CS) 3) add a reddig-glo color chip stirring until it's completely melted 4) add FO (6-9% depending on the FO) stirring for 2 full minutes 5) pour into little 1 oz metal tartlet molds. If pouring into a lot of tart molds I'll stir after every 6 or so pours. Any leftover wax gets poured into either silicone icecube trays or tiny plastic ice cube trays. After about 2 hours they all fall out of their molds with no muss, no fuss. If any seem to not be completely cooled, I just flip the little tartlet mold over onto the cooling table and let it sit. By the time I come back to them they've fallen from the mold. I shrink wrap them the next day and they hold up very well in transit to/from shows. the ones I use at home sometimes stick a little in the melter, but they all pop out after a few minutes in the deep freeze (same as YC tarts IME). HTH a little

I've been reasonably pleased with the LX14's for EcoPB. I like that wick even better when blending PB with 4794 at about 75:25.

ITA w/Barbara Al, give it some time. It may reabsorb. I think of 'trace' as a generic term that spans a continuum that ranges from very, very thin (almost a milk consistency you get right after you reach a stable emulsion) to medium (like a rich thick chocolate milk) to thick (like cake batter) to very thick (like pudding). Depending on the swirl or effect I'm going for I often pour just after emulsion with no problems whatsoever. Wishing you well for your batch:).

that time with the 464 sounds about right. I LOVE burning tealites in bathrooms. The scent is just about right for the space. I also love burning a several different scented tea lights in larger rooms. My 'people' are latching on to the tealites too since they realize what a bargain they're getting. It's a great way to sample a lot of fragrances and to make their own custom scents in their homes. A couple people have told me they light one scent in the bottom of the melter (like vanilla) and have a different melt on top of the burner (like apple or lavender).

If it's a newly made soap I wouldn't add much liquid. Chunk it up into the pot. If it looks really dry, then add a small amount - perhaps an ounce - just to get it moistened. Often I'll use milk or coconut milk as the liquid to add a little 'something' to the final soap. It's not a precise suggestion since I'm not sure what lye concentration you used in your original formula or how much liquid has been lost since being unmolded. Like Kitn said, what have you got to lose since it's not usable now anyway? A lot of factors impact how long it will take to cure fully. I'd do the rebatch, then chalk it all up to experience:-)

Which wicks specifically and container type/size? And, have you allowed them to cure at least several days before burning? I wonder if you'd get more response if this question was in the veggie wax area?

I usually do adjust down a bit. It's not scientific at all, but here's my logic: 1) figure our how many bars you usually get from your mold/batch size. 2) Convert the number of shredded bars into what %they are of the total number of bars you usually get 3) Decrease your formula by that %. Example: 1) Let's say I get 15 bars from a particular batch 2) I'm using 5 bars as shreds in a new batch (33%) 3) My usual 15 bar batch is 55 oz of oils, less 33% for the shreds, so about 37 oz in the reduced batch. Just plug that amount of oils into your calculator of choice. Would this work for you?

Congrats Milford! I'm a horse person myself. For tarts, I been liking 464 at 75% and PB at 25%. YMMV, but it seems I get the best features of both products in this ratio. I use all of the FO vendors you listed along with several others discovered through swaps. As with anything, you'll find FO's that perform extremely well for you and some duds regardless of the vendor. You may spend more per oz initially, but you may want to start with 1 oz sizes and look for sample size sales that pop up periodically. When you find some you absolutely love, order them in larger bottles. At least you won't have lbs and lbs of failed FO's to look at if you don't like them. I also soap, so I look for B&B safe versions that can perform double-duty. This is a very expensive hobby to learn. And people wonder why we have to price our products as we do. Don't forget to give your creations some time to mellow and cure. I'm burning a few that I thought were failures a couple of months ago. Now that the temp is changing in my home these suddenly smell heavenly. Thank goodness I take good notes so I can recreate these!

Moonshine - I have to say that 464, when wicked well, is a very good container wax all by itself. I'm getting a delightful result from a 'garbage' candle made from leftover wax in small jelly jar testers that were burned only about 1/2 way. The leftover of the wax gets quickly melted in the MW, and poured into a waiting wicked Mason jar (usually ECO). When the jar is full I burn it. Imagine the funky colors and layers... As it burns the scent changes every couple of days as new layers are exposed. FWIW, I test using 6% FO load. I guess my point is the overall temp, additives and whatnot don't seem as important as finding the right wick for your application.

Hi Moonshine - my reply was more geared toward the tarts, but I could not figure out how to go back to edit to clarify. For my 464/pb tarts I add FO at 180*, stir for 2 minutes and pour right after. I haven't taken a temp on them at pour time, sorry. I get little frost at all, though other variables like ambient temp could be partially to credit. I did a test with just 464 containers and tarts a few months ago. I got the least amount of frost pouring at 140*. I've been using ECO and CD wicks for the 464.

Sure, making "a" candle is easy. Making a "GOOD" and "SAFE" candle is the challenge.

Hiya! I use 464/ECO Soya PB blended at 75/25 and have amazing, long lasting throw with a nice firm texture that holds up to wear and tear. I don't worry about frosting since I shrink wrap them with a cute label on the top. With this blend I found I don't need load up to your level of FO. FWIW. I don't have my notes handy to quote the actual FO load, but I calculated what I needed based on 6% fragrance load for the PB and 10% for the 464. It comes to something like 9% total - which some may still consider high but it works for me.

IKWYM Bramoncada, I'm in McHenry County and am surprised that there are none near us at all. I had thought about doing a co-op for chandlers in this area. Just over the WI border is NuScents Candle. No 464 though. I'm not in love with their FO's but if you use any of their waxes you could save a little on shipping. Look on e-bay for 464. There's a seller in Naperville that offers 464, 444, and a few others. Maybe you could work out pickup and save some$ that way?