Henryk

Are you guys aware of this? http://www.igca.net/nca_tealightalert.asp (As I understand things, you want to make sure the cups are polycarbonate). Wanted to add - I know the ones that candlewic and candlescience stock should both be fine.

I would try one of the perfect blend mixes from KY Candle. If you want "about" a 50/50 try their parasoy.

Yes, give them a try. They are one of the few FO suppliers that carry FOs that I don't get sick of! Seriously, those "custom blended" ones - though I haven't of course tried them all - the ones I have are really good. May want to try: Antahala Vanilla Tuscan Patchouli Polynesian Black Ginger Maduro Sarsen Used to like Indonedian Teak, but I'm burned out from it. Its one of those super strong FOs.

Based on what you are saying for the 9oz. I would say yes, you are over wicking. 2.75" in only two hours (especially on the first burn) indicates you are over wicking - and perhaps you are just burning up the FO instead of "throwing" it. I would wick down on that one. Or, go up to 9% (1.5 oz per pound) and see what you think. I can tell you that I was burning a little paraffin votive all by itself the other day. I walked out of the room to the porch to put something away and right back in - and it was filling the entire (large) room. Unfortunately this wasn't one of MY candles but it goes to show you that you may just have "candle nose" too!

Marsha, I've not used this wax, but if it truly is a palm wax then I have documentation from the old Astorlite site (before it was bought out) that palm waxes are extremely acidic and therefore wicks having NST treatment balances that. When I was using palm a couple years back (only in pillars though) using wicks with this really burned the best for me. So, perhaps you can try LX wicks (24 and up), or any of the RRD series - I'm pretty sure the whole RRD line has NTS. If it is palm, I'm kinda surprised S&P recommended cotton wicks - as you found, and in my tests of other palm waxes from Astorlite and Candlewic, they just didn't work for me. Anyway, if you have either of those two types lying around maybe give them a shot. For the wicking, I've used busted metal pins from pillar wicking pins. I've put them in prior to the wax fully setting just like a wick without a tab - then you can pull them out once set instead of trying to make a hole in already hardened wax and risking it cracking. Hope some of this helps.

Thank you very much !

Has anyone come across these? The white ones just stand out too much even if you do hide most of it. TIA

Melt some paraffin and put some wick in and wait until it stops "fizzing" - take it out and wipe excess with a paper towel and stretch it out. Works for me.

Hi Marsha, I totally forgot about that one. I tried it a while ago and I was all set to love that wax, despite it being a blend and not too transparent, because it was sold in pellets! It does make beautiful-looking pillars, but unfortunately for some reason I had a hard time wicking it without having a large sidewall. Would you care to share a starting wick size/type for a 3" pillar if you remember? TIA.

I don't know what wax they use obviously, but one time I used IGI 1288B in those pumpkin containers everyone uses around this time of year and it looked just like it IMO. Its a "shiny" finish mottling wax. (The 1288A is the same type but has a dry finish). The finish of both of these waxes were great - I don't know if IGI makes them anymore.

I think the 4144 is a good straight paraffin (so use additives). I have not seen mine mottle (but its not supposed to). There is absolutely nothing wrong with using it as opposed to one of the IGI waxes as long as you keep shipping costs in mind. (I'm eventually going to do some real testing with the 4144 against the 3144, which is a lower meltpoint pillar wax of theirs of the same type - so at this point I can't recommend one over the other). The 141 is a blend. I have not used it and won't simply because it is a blend. I would rather use additives to control how I want the wax to look. (However if the finish of it is what you want than you'd be crazy not to use a blend and save yourself time and money). I'm pretty sure Candlewic would send you out a sample of these two waxes especially since they are there own (but they even sent me sample of the J waxes before).

So I used to use flats with my BW tapers for the last couple of years. Haven't made any recently so a while back I started making them again and went with squares this time to test. Both types are giving me problems. So I figured I'd post to see if any one else has this issue? ... 2/0 is not trimming - at all - every other hour it seems I have trim this. So I went to 3/0 and its curling way to much besides needing trimming. So, went to the flats as I have always used before. 21 dripping, 24 dripping, 27 dripping, 30 dripping! This is with both the white and yellow. No additives. I've always used BW from two places but one is now no longer selling it and what I'm using now I've never had a problem with in the past. I have some of the other places but its all made into pillars - I supposed I could melt one down to test it but I'm so discouraged I may just shelve this for the moment. Is it the wax? I'm using the same stash of flats and braids from a couple years back - could that be the issue? I've NEVER had so many problems with this. Thanks for any suggestions.

When I was a newbie and first started a few years ago Vicky posted that she never looked for a full meltpool on the first burn - this was on the old board in the natural wax section. It was some of the best advice I've heard on this board. So many people wick for that inch per hour rule so that a customer gets that scent throw right away - but what happens later on? You can get major sooting, flickering flames, glass that gets way too hot, etc. Sadly, this still gets posted to newbies over and over again even today. I'm glad that this is finally being addressed by others also.

I am sooooo jealous ! Really beautiful ...

Votives are just small pillars that turn into container candles as they melt. If you look at the melt point of CBL129 its around 128-131. If you look at at lower melting point votive/pillar paraffins they are in the lower 130s. Since CBL129 also does indeed shrink a good deal (which is why it requires at least one re-pour) it will not stick to votive molds - unlike most other container blends which are designed NOT to shrink (so containers can be done faster with only one pour) and to ADHERE to container walls (so wet-spots are minimized). HTH

Even in the same line, some colors have a strong odor - some none at all. I personally can't STAND that chemical-type odor and I DO notice it in the finished candle - its so obvious to me that I can't use them. I've been using the French Color dye blocks with great results - now the French liquids - some of those have a strong odor to me. I'd love the convenience of the liquids, but the odor bugs the hell of out me.

I seem to get less of a bulge with 4045 - and I LOVE the mottling it does. The 4144 is simmilar but not a mottling wax. I don't see any difference in transparency either - at least in the slabs I have.

Yes - why don't you just use 4144?

I'll just use my Candlewic organic yellow beeswax from Mt. Everest and avoid all this

Hmmm... maybe worth a try

No its not flaking at all and no chips which is why I got it. I know it'll be slow to melt - but at least it won't get over 212F. Thanks for the reply!

Hi all, I got this white/red old 1950's style double boiler for a couple bucks for when I do just a candle or two. Don't mind the heat and humidity in the winter! Absolutely no cracks at all except the inside bottom of the inside pot feels a bit rough - like very fine sandpaper - like if the enamel is worn off. It doesn't look any different than the rest of it though. Guess its OK to use right? I assume just because the enamel is a worn off doesn't mean it that will contaminate the wax. The only thing I'm thinking of is it may stain or absorb FO if I add it directly to the pot - so I guess I'll avoid that.

Thanks Top - appreciate it!

Any one try this? Is it maybe some sort of micro? I just don't want to buy something I already have ! Thoughts?

Lynn - see 1/2 down in this thread where we talk about adding stearic: http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3792 The original version did not have this issue for me. The second version did. I think its personally the wax as Sherri said as, for example, I never had this issue with KY125 in years.