Mottling wax

[Old Crab]

Hello

Could you all recommend waxes that mottle for

Tarts / votives

Pillars

& containers

My wife saw them at a store the other day and really liked them.

I'm not too sure if I could "cheat" and get an additive that would mottle the igi 4786 & 4794 I use.

Thank you

[Chefmom]

Mottling happens to paraffin pillar wax with NO additives. So basically it's paraffin that doesn't already have stearic or vybar etc in it to prevent mottling.

I have old candle making books that state how mottling is unsightly and candles that mottle should be melted down and repoured. It's the rage now, so people are making mottling candles everywhere.

I have played with mottling with the 1343 wax. However, I made lovely candles with no mottle and some with mottle from the same wax. For heavy mottle I used some "mottling oil" that someone gave me just to try it and those candles are more mottled than others. This oil seems to be mineral oil, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

If you buy the raw paraffin from Michael's in slabs, it will mottle. I use it in pillars and tapers and it is a basic wax. I only buy it with a 50% off coupon because their price is 50% higher than it should be. It only holds 3% FO and less, so it's not a fragrance powerhouse like the container waxes.

If you check out Peak's wax page it will list the 1343 and the 1274 that are mottling waxes, they would work for any pillar or votive etc. I think the melt point is high for tarts, so you may have to mix to lower the melt point. I don't know about mottling container waxes, I use 6006 for my containers.

[Faerywren]

I use IGI 1274

[Pam W]

I use IGI 1274

beautiful mottles every time -- and ya don't have to increase FO load either :-)

[ksranch]

I use IGI 1274

Me too... great mottling every time - and if I want to increase FO load it just takes a little Polyboost

[Old Crab]

Thank you for the replies.

I have been combing through the forum pretty hard on this and notice that Topofmurrayhill was a specialist on this subject. Though it appears he has been silent or off busy doing something.

I've decided not to do mottled containers since most people buy them for hot throw and work on pillars.

Anyway I have noticed that a lot of people are using varying amounts of stearic in their formula.

I will need to test as to how much, but... Which stearic?

I notice that there is a triple press palm stearic and a regular animal (?) byproduct.

I am assuming the triple press since it is newer.

I have also read that 1274, 1343, & other waxes are not always reliable for mottling.

Would it be possible to use any straight wax (which one lol) and add the stearic & mineral oil. I am thinking of IGI 1260 which I use for Hurricanes, but is the MP too high at 160?

What is a good MP for a pillar to help prevent bulge, slumping, etc?

What else would be recommended to be added to the formula?

I'm going to go more for looks, burn capability, with a "light scent" max 3% load.

TIA

[Chefmom]

I have spent this year pretty hard core into pillars. I solved my issues with 2-inch diameters pretty quick and they are doing well with 95% consumption.

However, the 3-inch diameter are different and I have been playing with several recipes. I did some mottled ones (no fragrance) to play after being given some mottling oil. For the most part my pillars are a creamy recipe, not the translucent of raw paraffin or the 4625. I also am playing with stripes with the creamy and translucent.

For mottling, you don't add stearic. Stearic will make the paraffin more white and solid colored. Basically you will just use straight wax with either fragrance or a little mottling oil or if the 1274 works as is. It's on my list to try when I order from Peak's again. That's getting to be a big list!!

I believe that my pillars are in the 135-melt point. I was starting with the plain 140 MP from Michaels just because it was there and easy to buy. Since I do want to scent my pillars eventually I started using 4625 as my base and then I add my "recipe" to that.

In my testing the bulging and slumping is in your wick. I think that the higher 160MP would give you a good solid pillar, but it may be tough to wick for a total consumption, if you want the tunnel effect, for the hurricane glow (paraffins best feature) then try it, especially with a 4-inch diameter pillar.

I agree with Topof Murry Hill. I have written down a LOT of his advise. He made a post with a pillar of 130MP and had photos of the burning, they were very helpful.

My biggest piece of advise would be not to skimp on poking holes!! I was lazy in the beginning and I just let the wax tunnel and then filled it the next day. I had a LOT of holes that I didn't see until I was burning the candle. It's a lot of work to then have all the wax pool disappear and the wick turn into a torch in front of my eyes!! I use wick pins because with my first pillars I had issues with the wicks stretching and getting off center with the shrinkage, the pins solved all of those issues.

As to stearic. I buy from Peak's because I buy a lot of things from there. Theirs is listed as triple pressed vegetable stearic. I have used others, listed as just "stearic" and it acted the same as the Peaks.

[rjdaines]

I have spent this year pretty hard core into pillars. I solved my issues with 2-inch diameters pretty quick and they are doing well with 95% consumption.

I've been working on and off for a while now with 2" pillars and have not cracked that nut. I am using 4625 and an LX-8 wick and still get some slumps and blow outs. Any tips or directions I should look into to solve this?

[Chefmom]

I've been working on and off for a while now with 2" pillars and have not cracked that nut. I am using 4625 and an LX-8 wick and still get some slumps and blow outs. Any tips or directions I should look into to solve this?

What I discovered pretty quickly with the 2-inch pillars was that they are wicked similar to a taper. You want the wick to burn a concave dip and then as it moves down, then it consumes the sides so that the melt pool is contained by a small lip of semi-solid wax that isn't too tall. Even though it was only 2-inches wide it still took a larger wick than you would think it should.

I started with a 12 ply and a 6/0square, thinking that smaller diameter is a smaller wick. However with my slightly softer pillar recipe (paraffin) I was having the lip blow out and the wax pool spill over. So I moved up and found that the 1/0 and 2/0 square braid and the 15 and 18 ply were the wicks that worked best, the wick depended on how deep I went with a color and then again if I mixed soy into the paraffin to make a blend.

If I make a plain, white 2-inch diameter pillar, 15 ply is my favorite wick.

I also use the LX in my containers with 6006 and I like them very much!! I have used them in my pillars as experiments and have found that they do well in the paraffin and soy blend 3-inch diameter, but I'm using the LX-24 and 26 for those pillars.

I have only made a few paraffin 2-inch pillars with LX wicks and I'm using a much larger wick than LX-8. I'm using 14-18 depending on if I add scent or a lot of color. My most recent experiment last Fall was with some soy in the paraffin and I had a LX-18 in it, with scent and color and it was iffy. I wrote down to try a different wick, I didn't think the LX was going to work with that recipe.

I make paraffin votives and am using LX-10, 12 and 14 depending on the scent. Obviously they burn a little different, since they are in the little straight votive holders, but I don't think I have anything that uses a smaller LX than LX-10. I have since then scrapped the LX for votives and gone with the smaller ECO series.

I also use the 4625 and I prefer to add stearic to it. First I like the more white appearance that stearic gives and I had a few bulge issues with my 3-inch pillars and straight up 4625. I use 10% stearic with the straight 4625.

At first you think that it's just a 2-inch diameter, however you have to have the wick consume that wax pool before it melts the lip, if it doesn't then you get blow outs and that makes a mess and the candle never burns right again. I have solved issues with the larger 3-inch pillars by wicking DOWN, but with a 2-inch it's the opposite, you wick up to get that higher consumption. It's the same theory with a dripless taper candle. If it drips, wick up.

I may have only been in this for 2 years, but I jumped in with both feet. You can learn a LOT by making 12-18 pillars all with different wicks and then burn them all side by side for the exact same time. My husband laughs at me and my "laboratory" some times. It's an art studio/lab all rolled into one.

[rjdaines]

Thanks for the detail reply Chefmom, I will test out some of those suggestions. With have to get some ply wicks. Here in AZ I can only burn pillar wicks in the winter when the ceiling fans are not running, otherwise, the draft just wreaks havoc on them. So this is the best time for me to make and test.

Thanks

[Old Crab]

I want to thank everyone for giving me some good information.

I am out of town for awhile with limited Internet, so I apologize for the delay on the TY.

I can't wait to get back into the shop to try some things.