darciamoonz

Hey everyone. I have one post up here in addition to this one. The other one is titled: GB 464 Temps and other things. I wanted to post a pic of my candle that I made today with Love Spell VS type (FO purchased from Candle Science), in an 8 oz tin container with a ECO 14 wick. I tape my wick in place, a trick I learned from watching Style With a Smile TV. I am sorry that it is kinda grainy, but right now I only have my phone camera until I dig through the forbidden closet to find my digital camera. I have been looking also to find out cure times for this particular fragrance and I see a lot of 10+ days so I will let it just sit. I heated to 185, removed inner portion of crock pot from heat source (which was set on low and took eons this time) and poured it into the measuring cup ( 1 oz of fragrance to 1 oz GB 464 both measure out on the scale), I poured the fragrance oil in at 180 degrees, and stirred until it reached 140 degrees. I made 12 soy tarts too with this batch. The total with the fragrance oil added, yielded about 20 mL of liquid. I did this because of my op about temps with GB 464 and a question about my pouring temp. I hope this helps others too. I live in CT and you can have all four season run through on any given day lol. As stated in my first post, I let my candles and tarts cure on a two lvl fish tank stand. I use the bottom lvl to let the candles/tarts cure. I then put the finished product in one of the boxes I got from supplies I ordered (waste not want not) and then place the box in the closet until someone wants to purchase them or I give them as gifts. Right now I am only giving/selling to family and friends and the friends who tell other friends. I have not sold my other candles made with Ecosoya CBA because for the life of me, I just couldn't get a good throw from this particular wax, and in good conscience would not then or ever sell anyone something that I know only smells nice when not lit (too bad the local stores don't do the same *sigh*). I did get a good HT with CBA once and that was with a 12 oz jar double wicked with HTP 62, that once held creamy ranch dip for potato chips and tortilla chips. I have also included pics in this post of the tarts I made today. I will not release them until Saturday because I have found that with this wax, doing it sooner than 3 days, causes the tarts to dislodge only partially, destroying the molded product. I still get some defects and am working on how many days is good to allow them to sit before unmolding them in these particular molds. I don't have a problem with the stars usually, but those dang fish give me the hang ups sometimes lol. Happy creating guys and thank you for reading and I hope I have contributed something to those who are just starting out just like me and I am always open to suggestions from new and seasoned candle makers. Again, sorry that the pictures aren't that clear, but as you can see, the candle top is smooth and the tarts too. I haven't noticed any tunneling, craters, or sink holes so far with this wax. It sets up like the CBA, but I can actually smell the candle when it is lit, versus no smell with CBA. Others have success with it, I just didn't unfortunately. I like GB 464 right now:-)

Yes Sister, I weigh my FO on a scale and do that calculation thing too (the 16 pounds of wax multiplied by the percent I want to add), and google to see what those numbers are compared to what I get from the scale and calculator. I am a bit OCD I guess when it comes to that lol. When I measure my FO on the scale, I use a small plastic container I purchased from some dollar store and tare out the weight of the Container and then set the scale to measure in oz and then pour FO into the container to my desired weight. In the beginning though I was using the teaspoon method and realized that something was off. Well that "off" I found out later was because I didn't realize that the oils had different weights. Although quick it, it wasn't working out for me using that method. I definitely need to let them sit longer and tame my curiousness to burn them before they are ready. Some one made the reference that waiting for a candle to cure is like waiting for a baby to be born, you can't wait to see what it looks likes and get all excited and that is true. So far I am loving GB 464 over the CBA. Love pretty tops but love scent even more. Even though my left over CBA candles don't smell, I still light them and just enjoy the ambiance they add to the atmosphere. Other things I have done thus far with both is tart making. What I have gotten so far is: The CBA molds nicely and is easy to release from my plastic molds or whatever the molds are made from, but the GB 464 I have to let sit a bit longer before releasing because it tends to stick a bit more and pieces of it remain in the mold. Usually the corners, but I think it may be the mold that I use too. My star tarts just come out easy, but the fish seem to have a bit of a problem releasing. They stay solid, but I store finished products in the boxes that I got when the supplies where delivered. I put them in pairs in sandwich bags, twist the bags in between the two tarts and them lay fold them onto each other, take a labeling sticker to secure them together and keep air out as much as possible and then put them in the closet in there box. I reuse about 98% of the materials that they were packaged in because they are great for storage and the paper is good for re-wrapping things and saves me tons since I am just starting out. I also got some of those little pouches with the colors to put the tarts and small candles in from the dollar store. I use them for the tarts now because the 8 oz tins will not fit in them. That logo in the back is what I picked for our soon to be company.

Thank you guys so much for the reply back. Moonshine, I am pouring at the 135-140 temp and my tops come out like the CBA which is great because I have read so many post all over the internet about this wax being notorious for lumpy looking tops. So needless to say after pouring and having it sit to cure, I started hovering over it using a small light to illuminate just the top to see if there where any lumps. We live in a small room in an attic that was converted so it stays a nice even temp in here and that could be why. I use a fish tank stand that has a top and bottom level and let the containers cool on the bottom level since the temp seems to be more consistent at the lower lvl versus temp change when the window is open at the higher lvl. I will be trying out those CD wicks. I saw a chart somewhere that did a comparison ECO wicks to CD in regards to matching the size in one type to the other making the cross over easier:-). Moonshine let me know how the new wax works out for ya. Yeah deb, I am finding that more is not necessarily better. I am in here like a candle mixing mad scientist minus the maniacal laugh (mwahahahaha). Clean Cotton is a very light scent regardless IMO. I have even gotten one from Yankee (which was the first time I smelled this oh so intoxicating fragrance), and the smell is still very light. So either I got a defected candle from them or this scent just really needs to be in a very large container to really work some magic. I mean the scent is there and my son calls it a "walk by" fragrance: you don't smell it until you walk by and then out of no where you get hit with it. We stopped testing in the same room where we make them because we are exposed to the fragrance for a long period of time so that may be playing a factor in why I can't always smell it but my mom will come over and say she smells it before she gets up the stairs. I will be letting them cure longer, usually the ones that I burn before 4-7 days are the ones I test for wick performance and I am glad I do because I have some patchouli EO candles that the htp wicks worked fine with the lighter smelling fragrances, but not with the patchouli. It so thick that it suffocates the flame, so I know I will definitely have to wick up or double wick for that particular EO. Talltayl, I am working on my cup of morning joe and will be hitting the boards gathering more info about this particular wax. I haven't honestly heard anything bad in regards to HT. Most of what I find seems to be concerns with aesthetic issues with 464 which really doesn't concern me because I think it easier to fix a lumpy top versus trying to get a HT from a candle. Oh, I melt my wax in a crock pot on low setting. I had that crock pot for about 3 years and never got a chance to actually cook in. I weigh out my wax and then just pour it in the crock pot and let it melt. Low setting with the top on seems to work quite well. I've only used the high setting once but noticed that as long as the top is on the pot it really doesn't take that long IMO. I use the time in between to do more research on candle making, and bath products. Again thank you everyone:-) I am actually burning right now the clean cotton 8oz and smelled it as soon as I got up the stairs. It's not overpowering, but light like after you take the clothes out of the wash. Clean cotton is only a few days old though. So I that's a good thing IMO given that it hasn't gone to full cure yet. It's been burning for about 45 minutes thus far.

Hello all, I am new here. I started using gb 464 about 4 days ago after my frustation with trying to get cba to throw. I have followed the directions given by cs for the temp to add fo to 464, but am still wondering if the temp is too high. I made a 1 pound batch with 1.5 oz of fo (.5 cotton candy mixed with 1 oz peach) and poured into 4 oz container I let it cure for 2 days and lit it and actually got a minute ht throw from it (which is good given that i had NO HT from cba at all). My second batch I did 1 pound of 464 and 2 oz clean cotton because it states on cs website that 464 can hold a max of 12%. I poured this into 2 8oz tin containers and 2 4oz containers. I just test burned one of the clean cotton 8oz containers and I can smell it somewhat, but am wondering if I burned off most of the fragrance by putting it in at 175 degrees and letting it sit in the wax for too long before pouring (I always remove wax from heat source . Oh I used the recommended eco 14 wicks for the 8oz tins. Also there doesn't seem to be any agreement on what temp to add fo and then pour. Some are high some are low but none are really the same. Should I let the tester cure longer before burning. It's only been 3 days and I get a whiff of it in a med sized room where I test burn, but want it stronger. Also does anyone know what is the max fragrance load for gb 464. Some areas say 9% others say 12%. GBGF website doesn't state it which is weird since they make it. I want to mix hawaiian breeze with juniper breeze since the juniper doesn't seem that strong to me even though it has a 3 leaf rating on cs website and they kinda smell similar, but am unsure of the fo load 464 can really tolerate. Thank you in advance for those of you who can give some insight and guidance on working with this particular wax.

I haven't tried the LX wicks, but I have used HTP. I made a 12 oz jar for a family member with clean cotton fo, and double wicked it with HTP 62 and it had an ok throw in Ecosoay CBA. I have since changed to GB 464 because I was having scent throw issues with CBA. I've tried different ratios of fo, different wicks, different size containers and still no luck with it. Wasted a lot of time and money. I like the way the tops didn't frost, but I haven't had frosting issues with GB 464 as of yet or sink holes and I am using 8 oz containers (tin) and made a few 4 oz. and pouring at about 140ish.