rjdaines

Adding dye to soy candles can aggravate the frosting that soy is prone to do. For me, the best color added is none. All of my candles are white. Many people don't like the pastel color that soy candle take on with dye. I do color paraffin pillars and use the liquid dyes from Peaks.

I was writing in general terms about how to solve mushrooms, if wicking up is not an option than using less FO may be the answer. Finding a hotter wick may also be a possible answer, a ECO maybe. What do you consider to be a "perfect melt pool" and how soon do you achieve that? CDs may not be the answer in this case. IF you are using a CD10, try a CD14, it has a slightly lower ROC (rate of consumption) but us slightly hotter (as judged by test flame height and melt pool size). As far as apothecary jars, I double wick with CD 5 in 464.

I have never had a candle improve its HT by curing for more than a week. I am not a big believer in curing and have never had a candle, paraffin or soy, improve to any extent. If you are unhappy with the HT after a week, then it's time to look for another FO or try changes in your system.

With candles, one is never done testing. Just start retesting one candle at a time. The bad scale may have led to a lot of confusion that will quickly disappear by using the new one. I've been developing my candles for over 2 years now and I still don't have some right, partially because of time and partially because I haven't hit on the right combinations of container, wick, wax, and FO.

CD wicks work fine with 464, at least they do for me. If you are getting mushrooms, you may want to cut back on your FO or try a larger wick. Mushroom are an incomplete burn of the wax and oils.

It's most likely lot to lot variation. Unless you know the lot number, it won't be easy to investigate. It's my belief that all soy waxes can frost, just a matter of time.

Buy sample packs of wicks, makes it very convenient for wick testing.

464 is a good soy wax though it has it's faults. As most soy waxes are prone to do, it will frost and it will not throw every FO that you put into it. On the plus side, it pours well and makes great tops without the use of additives or tempering.

Weeping of the FO out of the wax and/or a smokey burn are two signs that there is too much oil in the candle 1 oz per pound is a good place to start. The manufacturer will say what range of FO to use, this info is on Peak's web site for that wax.

Spread them out further in a equal triangle pattern, how close to the edge will be trail and error.

Peaks and CS here

Some folks, including myself, convert 4630 into parasoy in ratios of between 50/50 to 75/25. You might take a small hit of HT depending on the soy wax you use but the upside is much less soot and still great HT. All of the waxes I use now are personal blends; pillars, votives, containers, and melts.

Flash point is only relevant to the FO as is, once in the wax it is not an issue. But kudos for thinking of safety first.

Melt pools are too deep on all of those. The first and second burns should make a melt pool but still of wax on the sides of the container. Certainly by the halfway point in the container the sides should start to clear off. Try a smaller wick.

It's a pain to have to plan ahead but this is what I use as well. Tabs held in place with Permatex are also easy to remove unlike glue sticks.

185 and 170

Overall it looks good.

A brief heat gun treatment is not the problem. You will have to test all kinds of thing, larger wicks, smaller wicks, different types of wicks, and in the end you may not succeed. Many here have a "system", a combination of containers, wicks, and wax and if a FO does not work in that system, it is not used. Not all FOs are going to work. If you have the time to test a lot of variables you may be successful or you may not.

I think that by "air pockets" you may be referring to wet spots, places where the wax has pulled away from the container wall. This is common and happens with all waxes that I have used and can occur at anytime in the candle's life depending on the temperatures to which the candle is exposed. The glass and the wax expand and contract different amounts and that is just the way it is. Some claim that heating the contain prior to pouring in the wax helps but others say this is a limited fix. Most say that people don't care about wet spots and that has been my experience too. Heating the containers is just another expense and step in an already expensive process. Now when we talk about frosting...that really gets me mad

Container waxes a typically too soft for melts which is why people add a pillar wax. I can't even use CB-Advanced is containers here in AZ because of the heat in an out of doors venue, the darn stuff melts and look awful. Hot throw with CB-A can also be an issue as it likes a limited range of FOs so mixing in PB (for example) may help that as well.

I tried it and got cracking, gave up and use paraffin. Self trimming wicks like the CD series do curl to one side. As the candle burns down the container will have a more even heat and off-centered melt pools are not an issue.

Sounds like you doing the right things but if you are just starting out (and I don't know if you are), starting with soy wax can be frustrating at many levels. For me anyway, some of those FOs are a challenge even in a paraffin system but soy can be even more finicky. If there are some FOs that work for you, then you are on the right track, some will never work. Blending waxes can also be a challenge, sometimes you get the best qualities of both and sometimes you get the worst. In any case, you are starting over again test containers, wicks, and FOs. Some common blends are 50/50 or 70/30. That can be paraffin to soy or soy to paraffin, so there are 3 waxes to test right there. OR, buy a parasoy blend like 6006. I'm sure that there are others. Paraffin will help with the range of FOs that will work and help with issues like frosting but now it's not an "all soy" wax. All depends on what goals you have set for yourself.

Cinnamon sticks works quite well for me but we need to know more about your candles; wax, FO amount used, container, wick. Can't offer anything else.

Would think that one would get wet spots with this mix as 4794 is designed to release from votive molds; shrinks.

Look here: http://www.wickcenteringtool.com/