EricofAZ

Well, I was joking about blowing up the lab in another thread.... I have some containers that I wanted to re-wick due to soot resulting from blowing out the wick (vs dipping it to stop the flame). They were wicked right for ROC and MP and leaving a bit of stuff on the wall that would catch up, but just smoked too much when blown out and blackened the rim of the container. I found another wick that had the same burn and power burn characteristics without the sooting when blown out and decided to put the containers in boiling water and melt, add a tad of FO and re-pour with the new wick. Great plan.... Water got low so I poured some tap water in the pot to raise the level. Heard a pop. I pulled the containers and looked very closely. Nothing to see. I was looking at the bottom and it was fine. I looked at the sides and it was fine. I don't recall scrutinizing the area where the sides curve to the bottom (will remember this in the future). When they were about ready to remove I grabbed one with tongs and the bottom dropped out perfectly right where it curves up to the sides. All the wax went into the boiling water and the pot overflowed. Poof. The wax hit the burner and lit. I put the pot in the sink and some of the wax sloshed out and down the drain (joy of joys). Mr. Plumer will get some revenue from moi. Got the fire extinguisher which was reaching distance and pulled the pin. The huge flame went down on its own so I watched. It went out. I did not need to use the extinguisher, but putting the pin back in is not going to happen (they make them that way for a reason). So, I have a cleanup job tomorrow. Einstein is sitting on the top of her chair looking at the wall and ignoring me. Her body language says it all.

Looking for a white dye. I learned that pigments are not good (clog wicks) so I bought some EVO White from CS or one of the regular biggies we all go to. It clogged the wick and before it clogged, the burn pool showed flakes of white moving around. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I tried some of the luster crystals, they didn't work. Might try some other ideas. By the way, the mica did clog the wick. The lab did not explode. :rolleyes2

I'd be interested in hearing back if their FO's are stronger than the regular folks we go to.

I don't know about crystalizing palm. I have that and it pulls away from the mold/container big time. I use that characteristic to pour another layer and let the new layer go down the sides. Looks more like feathering palm, or probably GG but I agree, it is a tilted technique and the top definitely looks like palm. This is doable in a container. I tried it in a pillar and found that you can't let the layer set up all the way before pouring the next layer because the pillar will separate there. I also think that there has to be a rocking motion to get the rounded look. I do that on pillars sometimes.

Anyone ever use Mica or Titanium Oxide as a colorant in wax? I'm testing a candle tonight with red mica in the wax and so far so good. It glitters in the wax on the side of the container when light hits it and if you look in the flame/melt pool you can see it moving with the wax in an upward and outward pattern. Has anyone experienced any negative effects like the lab blowing up or something?

You can get it at www.snowdriftfarm.com It might look a little spendy, but it is very strong. I have some. Glad to send you a sample, PM me if you want.

Well, I don't have any experience with acrylics (water based) or oils on wax ... or the wax color pens that I've seen referenced here from time to time. I do think that the hurricanes you created are quite attractive and this is one of your better "art" projects you've shared with us so far IMHO. Test a lot, light that acrylic on fire and see what happens. If its benign, then you hit on something quite wondrous and inspiring.

I used CD's and they were fine except for blowing the flame out then they blackened. Zinc was just a mushroom maker for me. I went to the Eco's and am really liking those. Also, the 36-24-24 cotton core worked for me but I liked the Eco's better.

Greaaaaaaaaaaaat. I just threw away a nice shirt. Thanks for the tip, I'll try it next time.

Great info folks. Here is some feedback... The formula that I first used with soy and beeswax is OUT. Not sure if it was the soy or the beeswax (probably the beeswax) but this stuff coated my skin too much and did not wash off. The skin has to breathe so that's just a bad idea. I made a second candle with no wax. Shea butter, cocoa butter, and the oils. I added some lanolin (bag balm) to thicken it up when cooled. Same light wick, Eco 1 I think in a 8 ounce tureen jar. Now this was better. It didn't wash off first time but second shower it did. It burned with some "popping" in the wick so I think the bag balm was hydrogenized. As for the wick vs. electric warmer, this is purely a choice of character and mystique. Yeah, electric is safer. At one point I tapped the wick while lit with a fork to break off a slight 'shroom and the piece floated free and remained lit. Not a good idea. So, I'll work the formula around a bit more. The video in the thread above from the soap queen was interesting. I used CB135 in my first attempt. She recommends C3 so I might try that instead of the bag balm.

Alright, I let it burn for about an hour. Still tunneling. Wick is great. I blew it out once and very little smoke. It ashes on the bend rather than mushrooming. I poured some on my chest and rubbed it. Felt OK, but kinda waxy. I think this does need to be more of an oily mix. Maybe I'll wake up feeling like a twilight zone wax museum prop. I'm going to increase the oil ratio and maybe the wick size. I can see why this is not for sale. The pour temp can go from cool to very hot in about 5 degrees worth so it would be for someone used to using this to decide whether to pour on the hands and rub in or pour directly. Einstein says to just go buy a thing of chap stick at the dollar store, light it on fire and pour it down my back and save the money and hassle. Who would have thunk?

OK, I poured some directly on my quads and rubbed it. It is not hot enough. I think the last pinch of beeswax was wrong. Maybe less soy, more bees in proportion and certainly more oil. No sneezing. I suspect I'll wake up feeling like a twilight zone wax dummy scifi episode. Definite tunneling. Oh, a sneeze.

Houston, we have ignition! Well, after quite a while (15 minutes?) it is tunneling at about the same you see in the pic. Wick turns nicely. Flame remains very steady as in the pic. No shrooming or sooting. I dipped my finger in and it was fine. Rubs fine on the back of my hand. When I lit it, I sneezed like crazy. Rare for me. Sneezing is over. Photo is dark, this is a light white/cream color.

Great job. I like to see well thought out packages.

I read another site that says to snuff the wick then pour. Here's a recipe. Looks very much like lip balm to me. http://candles.lovetoknow.com/How_to_Make_Massage_Candles I thought I'd play since I have everything here including tamanu oil. I split open a few vitamin E gel caps. So I mixed 3 oz Eco 135, one oz yellow bees, 1/4 oz soap safe FO (from the lady that sells me her EO's). I added the one ounce of oil which was equal parts of alloe, olive, and tamanu. I tossed in a teaspoon of coconut oil and a teaspoon of shea butter. It seemed a bit soft at 95 degrees so I added a pinch of beeswax. A light spread on the back of my hand seems kinda nice. It's setting up now in a half pint wide mouth mason with an Eco 2.

The nice lady at my EO supplier asked if I could build her a massage candle. After chatting, I'm pretty sure she is talking about something like this: http://www.abodycandle.com/products.php Has anyone messed with this? EO or Flavor Oil instead of FO I think and it appears to be a low temperature mix of what is probably just nothing more than lip balm with a wick. Not sure though. Any recipes?

Nice pattern. A bit of dye on the mold and add the wax and away you go!

Very attractive colors and patterns.

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/45517/ QVC is recalling a "spinning" tealight holder for fire hazard. Yeah, lets just light wax, melt it, and sling it around the room. Kinda reminds me of when I was a little boy and got ahold of my first kitten (by the tail).

Wait, how is this a 7 pound candle? Given the proportions of the wick to the size, and that it is a 70 hour candle, I would say less than one pound. Also, no floating embeds, so low density gel. I'd bet the cost on that is more like $6 There is some art and craftsmanship to it so that's fine. I'd be delighted to sell one of those for $30 and look a person in the eye and know I'm being fair.

I got to thinking about this. It makes sense to increase ROC but the problem is that you can't really increase ROC without increasing flame height. Flame height increase generally = heat output. Flame height info is also available for your wicks. Increase the heat and you are increasing the melted wax that the wick is required to consume. Increase the consumption rate and the heat increases. Never ending circle. So decreasing ROC may seem counter intuitive, but it comes with a corresponding decrease in heat output and therefore smaller melt pool to draw from. There will be a happy medium where the consumption matches the pool creation rate and both match the size of your pillar. That is the wick you are looking for. It has occurred to me that ROC and flame height are not all the data we need in "guessing" where to start. A small flame that has a large base diameter will make a larger pool than a tall flame with a thin base diameter. At least, at first. The taller / thinner might tunnel for a while then catch up nicely. The fatter /shorter may just take the sides down as it goes. Some chandlers prefer to tunnel and then catch up for safety reasons. So flame height info is not necessarily the best info on that issue. I have noticed that different websites have different ROC's for a given wick. I suspect that if the numbers are accurate from a test, then the next question is what wax was used for the test? Was the wick saturated with primer or just coated on the outside with wax? Yada, yada. I rather suspect that wax selection and FO/dye/additive have a huge effect on this. This is, unfortunately, more art than science. A chandler's choice in how the candle burns is as distinct as a fingerprint. Hence, test...test...test. Reminds me of tracking and balancing helicopter rotors. Yeah, $50K of equipment will give some data but years of knowing what to do with that data will make the difference between a good tracker who gets the job done in a flight or two and a novice who burns hours on the machine and gets stumped when there is an anomaly. But I digress again.... Oh Einstein? Where be thou?

Great ideas, thanks. Chocolate is OUT. I test burned the Chocolate Raspberry/French vanilla one (or at least, the rose is gone now and its into the vanilla). Woke up craving chocolates. Bad. I read where chocolate scents don't sell well. I suspect because people want the real thing. I can see how that lavender color worked out, it does make sense to me. Now to finalize a wick that doesn't 'shroom. The ECO's are the least at that but they still mushroom even if I underwick the container. The single fragrance idea is easy to do of course. The thing is that the rose center burns through in about 4 hours or less and then it mixes with the container and the container is good for 60 or more hours. I thought the rose should be a "delicate and fleeting scent" followed by the main course. I could see a boy giving this to a girl with flowers and it burns like the rose flowers for a day or so then the Pink Sugar for the remainder after the flowers are long gone.

Ok, this is Chocolate Raspberry on the rose and French Vanilla in the body. I think the FO's might not sell (as do others who say chocolate candles don't do well) because they make me want the real thing. Also, I think the colors are not right. The yellow/white reminds me of lemon chiffon and the red/burgundy of cherries so the scents don't match.

Ok, dark red rose and hot pink top layer. Should go fine. I have Chocolate Raspberry from CS that smells nice. Some peppermint too. Lavender and vanilla? Lovespell and something? Pretty good selection here so I'm all ears for ideas. Maybe I'll only make one or two yellow roses and leave those for the special buyer. Any thoughts on price? Cost is $5. (.99 for the container and lid plus tax, one pound of paraffin, 1.5 oz FO, and the wick and fixings.)