Robyn64

Holly, Am sorry to hear about your mums friend. It can be confusing as to what is good for you and not. It is very hard to determine whether to continue with any soy products or not. A lot of sites do say its a protection against cancer, but sometimes they can discover things that say different. Have a good day, Robyn :-)

Stephanie, Thanks for that link. Was trying to locate the cancer council site of NSw as they are supposed to be issuing guidelines today. Although this is consumption of food and drinks , it really does make me wonder what a soy candle can do, as it is basically soy too. It is a very tricky thing when it comes to ones health and what is good and what isnt. I have heard many things about petroleum based, paraffin candles and now this. I just wonder how are we really to know ??? I have the article from the paper here if anybody wants a copy , but that link Stephanie supplied is the exact same story. Weird thing is , I looked up " soy & cancer " and there is current sites out there stating to have high soy based diets to combat cancer. I had precancer cells removed, so one lot of experts tel lyou one thing and another just finds scientific evidence and tells you to avoid it. What does a person do , its ridiculous. I have my telly on too and it just did headlines for the new later about avoiding soy products. Thanks, Robyn :-)

Hi there, I have been a candlemaker since 1995. I tried soy about 1 year ago and wasnt a big fan of it. But here in Australia in our sunday newspaper today across the headlines it says " SOY CANCER WARNING". This is obviously to do with soy in our food and drink products, but am also wondering if the what is given off from lighting a soy candle would be the same ? According to the article it says ........ Drs find link to prostate and breast cancer" , soy they have discovered can accelerate the growth of tumours. The Cancer Coucil has never has never supported the use of soy because of the risk of feeding cancers. There is an ingredient in soy that they have linked to aggravating cancer conditions. if this is the case, what is in soy wax ? , can it be the same as just lighting these candles ? Thanks, Robyn

Thank you carol, had a look but cant find it on their site. have emailed them. Thanks for letting me know, Robyn :-)

Hi there, Im looking at designing my own oil burners, just wondering if anybody knows of a wholesaler or supplier of the glass dishes or bowls for the tops of Oil burners. I found 2 , one of them was fairly expensive , the other cheaper but still hoping to find a wholesaler or somebody cheaper still. Has anybody found such a place or an alternative ? Thanks, Robyn :-)

Hi there, I do have soft microwax , might give this a go. Thanks for your message, Ta, Robyn :-)

Stearic should not be used in conjunction with mineral oils for a mottling affect. I would think this to be a much cheaper alternative than using stearic. There are a few different ways to make mottled candles, using parol oil, mineral oil , snowflake oil and also using stearic without the use of the abovementioned products. But just plain baby oil works just as good, I did also try vegetable cooking oil mixed in the paraffin, the results were actually the same. With the vegetable oil though , a tiny bit was used , eg. a tablespoon per 1 litre, not sure of your measurements there , this is Australian. Anyway , there is heaps of cheaper ways to achive a mottled effect, Take Care, Robyn :-)

Kemamide powder is used to allow candles to be more easily removed from a mold. Melt 1 teaspoon of kemamide powder per pound of wax as a mold release. This can also be used as a releasing agent. Robyn :-)

Hi again , I just took this off a site about mottled candles. ***You can make mottled candles on purpose by adding 3 tablespoons of mineral oil to 1 lb of melted paraffin **** Mineral oil is also baby oil that you can find in your local supermarket, if you can find the unscented type would be best. Hope this helps , Robyn

Hi, Just read your post about your paraffin and stearic. From all my readings on mottled candles and through experiments, stearinc actually inhibits the mottling affect on candles. When making mottled candles, stearic should be avoided. If you do a search of how to make mottled candles, most of them will tell you not to add stearic, it cancels the mottling effect. Robyn :-)

Hi there , Been making candles about 11 yrs but only recently went into making tarts where I worked for a little while with another candle company. The y wanted me making tarts an had to find a suitable recipe. I did make them with paraffin wax and 1 % vybar. These were made in rubber molds so stearine wasnt added. Now I have left that company and am back in my own business again, Im not quite 100 % happy with these tarts, I call them meltz. Could anybody suggest a way on improving maybe the scent throw on these ? I dont have any other waxes except plain parrafin with a melt point of 55- 60 c. Should I add a little more vybar, this would cause more shrinkage or waving of wax ? Help much appreciated , Thanks, Robyn :-)

Hi Geekrunner,, if you are able, could you please send me a wick chart please ? Would be a great help, Thanks, Robyn :-)

Hiya, I have been experimenting today on making soy met tarts. I myself believe this to be a little difficult because they would need to come out of the oil burner after they have been used, soy bein a soft wax, I do find a little hard to imagine that they can come out so easily. Would I need to add possibly beeswax or palm wax to this to make these pop out of oil burners ? The lady who wants this ongoing order when testing is finally finished is only interested in natural ingredients, so vybar and stearine would be out unless the stearine is palm based ? So would I need to add beeswax or Palm wax to make these tarts harder ? if so in what proportions ? Help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Robyn :-)

Hi , in reference to Iamamommytwo or Sheri's earlier message about self trimming wicks , I did read about Lx wicks , but the sites I have read do also recommend RRD wicks as the ysay , self trimming with a curling feature. Which is what this lady was seeking. This is an extract about RRD wicks which does mention they are excellent for vegetable container candles ....... RRD Wicks .. This is a round wick with a uniquely braided cotton core designed with tension threads that give the wick a slight, but effective, curl during combustion. The wick is directional in that capillary action flows more freely in one direction. Due to their intricate design, the RRD series provides a centered burn pool, self-trimming burn characteristics and a consistently high rate of fuel flow. These wicks work well with viscous fuels such as vegetable wax, gels and one pours. They are effective in containers and especially useful in pillars due to their concentric burn pools. This extract came from a site called " Wicks Unlimited ", the link is http://www.wicksunlimited.com/wedo_candle_wicks.php Robyn :-)

Thanks for all the input , will print all these off for my reference. Thank you all, Robyn :-)

"Joy of Soy Candles". Terrific projects for natural soy wax and all the tips and hints you need. Unlike other waxes, soy is very sensitive to use. It seems to crack easily. This book includes simple steps that will help prevent the cracking and guide you to successful soy candle making. Includes projects such as Jewel Tone votives which are so quick and easy to make and so useful, patio candles, nature's bounty candles by using themes from nature to give your candles a beautiful, earthy look, flower garden candles, delightful whimsical candles, layered candles and so much more.

Hi, In answer to Fire N Ice asking where did I read this , I was looking through ebay to try and locate any book on soy candlemaking, I knowthere isnt much on it. I did find one book in there called " Joy of Soy " the person selling this book has it written on her auction that soy can crack. I thought it a bit odd considering that soy is a softer type of wax. I have poured a few soy candles, not many. But doing this big order we have at work which is reaching its final sstages before we start pouring, I just need to make sure I have all info on hand before I start pouring these container candles, we did a couple of trials. Thanks, Robyn :-)

Hi there, I was doin ga little reading and I have read that soy can easily crack, what would cause this and how is this preventable ? Would it come down to temperature ? Thanks Robyn :-)

Thanks for the replies, I will be experimenting to find the best way. Robyn :-)

Hi there, Just wondering if I would have to lightly heat gun glass containers before pouring soy into these ? Would it be a nicer finish if the containers were warmed in this way or just left as is ? Help appreciated very much, Thanks, Robyn :-)

Hi there Geekrunner, Thanks for the info, will also look into those type u mentioned. I did come across another type which also curls and ideal for soy, only going by what Im reading, havent tried. They are called RRD wicks, candlewic also sell it, says it curls, self trimming and ideal for vegetable based candles. I also realised looking thru my junk at home , I have about 200 ft of different sized RRD wicks , will also test with these, but will look into all the types available , also the one you mentioned. As for pouring soy into containers, would I have to lightly heat gun the containers before pouring ? Just wondering if it will give a better result if i warm the container this way before pouring. Thanks for your message, Robyn :-)

Hi there , We are on the verge of a pretty big order through my work of thousands of soy container candles. But I do have a query, we are still trying to iron out a few things ..... The lady who wants to give us the order has mentioned she saw in a shop a certain type of wick, self trimming, which sort of curls off as it burns. She says it was on a soy candle. I am sure there is specific wicks for soy, but what types are they and do they do this sort of thing or is there another type of self trimming wicks ?? Help would be much appreciated, Although I have made candles for many years, we are going to try and give this big order of soy a go, fingers crossed. I know from what I have read that soy can be temperamental. Thanks, Robyn :-)

That recipe is almost exactly as I did mine a few years back, oil marbling paint by brinlay paints, I also went out again today to investigate this again. I was told that oil paints are best. But when I sealed my candles I used blonde shellac and I also used Mod Podge which is a glue sealer , can be used on candles and dries clear. I used these 2 to finish the candle as I had no access to clear wax here in Sydney Australia. Robyn :-)

Hi again, It does not necessarily say candles on site of magic dip, http://www.bcdservices.com/magicdip/store/Individual_Colors.htm but I have seen the actual product box and it says on the box that candles can be dipped too.

Hi just adding this post with a site for marbleizied ink that also includes for candles. Marbling candles can be done with fabric inks such as for silk and some need to be heat treated , as one site said just a brush over with a heat gun for 5 seconds. This looks interesting this site ........ http://www.bcdservices.com/magicdip/store/Individual_Colors.htm According to this site, anything that you can dip in water can be marbleizied. Would make an interesting candle, many years ago I used an oil based paint by Brinlay. Best inks to use to is ones where the colours wont mix together , just butt up against each other in your water to make swirly patterns. Pebeo is also a seller of some of these inks, a few to choose from. Robyn :-)