PLEASE HELP!! My beeswax container candles keep CRACKING!! GRRR!

[thehometownhive]

Hey everyone,

First, please allow me to give thanks to the admin for allowing me to join!

Second, let's get down to the nitty-gritty!

I'm new to candle making but I have been attempting to do all of my research & I've run a few test batches. There are things I'm feeling pretty confident with & things I'm not...

(Backstory - My family has been in the commercial beekeeping business since 1978!! We've been dedicated all of the time to caring for our bees so that they can help us harvest the sweetest raw honey around & the purest beeswax you can find! However, until a few months ago we've always packaged up & shipped everything off in mass quantities - honey in 55gallon drums & beeswax capping byproducts from the extraction process have been melted down, coarse filtered & poured into 30lb blocks. Well, enough was enough for me, since becoming a mother I've been more & more interested in living a healthy, ALL NATURAL lifestyle as much as I can & if I can't do it from the bare roots at home with our own company... then... where? I'm sick of seeing our product shipped off & being ruined by being treated with excessive heat (honey) & mixed with toxins (wax). SO - blah, blah, blah - long & short of it, my goal is to make an ALL NATURAL 100% BEESWAX CANDLE!)

So, I'm having the most difficulty with any glass containers that are larger than 4 oz. Specifically I'm attempting to use the 8oz Tureen Jar (honey pot) & the 8oz Square Mason Jars from Peak Candle.

Here's my process:

First, I get my double boiler going with my beeswax. Then as it's beginning to melt I get to work on my containers. I make sure they're clean & dry, then I glue my wicks in (C-85) & I pop them in the oven on the lowest setting so they that can be preheated. Once my wax hits 170 & is melted through I pull it off of the double boiler. I pull the containers out of the oven & I begin to pour (temp. starts at 170 & will end up about 160 by the time I'm through). While pouring I try to make sure I'm doing a slow, even pour, to prevent air bubbles. After I'm finished pouring I set the containers 3-4" apart on baking racks & I let them begin to cool. My first pour fills the container approximately 75-80% of my desired fill line. After about 10 minutes I begin to poke relief holes around the wick. After another 10 minutes I start my wax again for my second pour. By 30-45 minutes after my first pour I pour my second at 185 to help the pours adhere & prevent pour lines between 1 & 2.

After this I let the candles cool the rest of the way, room temp between 70-74, I do not move them, I do not do anything & within a few minutes (around the hour mark from the first pour) CRACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UUUUGH!! STOOOOOOOOPPP IT!!

Please, help me, help me, help MEEEE before I go complete nut house over these darn things!

Thanks so much & please, remember that I really want to stick with all natural, so, if possible, any & all advice should be in accordance with natural remedies.

=D

[Chefmom]

I am not an expert on just beeswax, but I do love my beeswax pillars and hand dipped tapers.

I'm surprised you are doing 100% beeswax in jars. By itself, beeswax is very hard, and it does crack by its own nature. I love it for pillars, but I have issues with it sticking in my metal molds, so I will be trying to switch to silicone molds.

I tried doing beeswax in canning jars a few years ago and I used the biggest wick I dared to use in that size jar and it was still woefully underwicked. Beeswax takes a MUCH larger wick than even soy wax in my experience.

Are you committed to jars? Have you tried the silicone molds? There are some cute ones out there and I think this is where beeswax really shines. It takes the details of a mold very well and it is usually easily wicked with a square braid wick.

Also, hand dipped tapers are lovely. My beeswax ones are my absolute favorite, and I enjoy the process of hand dipping, not everyone does.

Have you tried pouring the beeswax hotter? I dip mine at 160-degrees, but I pour my pillars at 185-degrees and I get a nice smooth finish. I usually do two, sometimes three pours on my three inch pillars.

Hopefully some of the other beeswax people will chime in with more info.

The downfall with beeswax is the fact that it does change from year to year at each harvest.

[Zelda]

Hello and welcome! I've been told beeswax candles do not work in glass jars, either they eventually break the jar due to the large wick needed or they crack on the tops of the candles due to the properties of the wax being so hard. Since beeswax varies, it can burn very differently batch to batch. Are you adding any oils? I played around with beeswax but never felt comfortable with selling it in jars for these reasons.

[TallTayl]

I make pure beeswax candles. I would never attempt to make a glass container beeswax candle. The wax is not suited to glass containers.

when making beeswax pillars you have to tend to the candle and prepare relief holes and control the cool or risk air pockets near the wick inside the candle.

Plus, as mentioned earlier, beeswax gets pretty hot as it burns, much moreso than paraffin, soy or palm container waxes. If you really want to attempt a container candle, then perhaps a tin might work better. Though, truth be told, i have never been happy with how beeswax burns in a tin either.

So, i stick to pillars and tapers where beeswax is a perfect fit.

Good luck with your venture. Beeswax is a labor of love.

[beekeeper_sd]

I too am a commercial beekeeper and have been making beeswax candles for some time now. My recommendation is: Don't do containers, especially glass! The candles burn way too hot to be burned in glass. I have done some small tins but was never happy with the way my beeswax candles burned. I use silicone molds for all my 100% beeswax candles. They worked beautifully and I never have to repour. The most important step in making beeswax candles is to let the candle cool in a fairly warm room. I never pour candles unless my room is at least 75 degrees or higher and, actually, 80 degrees or more is better. Yes, it gets hot working but the candles do not crack and do not need to be repoured. Good luck and enjoy the beauty of this wonderful wax!

Edited November 4, 2013 by beekeeper_sd

[thehometownhive]

All of this advice is so wonderful & disappointing! LOL I was really married to the container idea because they're so easy & convenient to burn, wax is contained & you can throw a lid over them to prevent all of the smoke entering the room once you blow the candle out. HOWEVER! As you've all mentioned... it's not really working!

I was really hoping to get it to work, but I think I should just bag it & get some molds, which leads me to another question...

How do you guys package your pillars? I looked around briefly for packaging to keep them safe & clean before they're sold, but I'm not having too much luck?

Thanks again, for all of the advice!

[Chefmom]

I was really married to the container idea because they're so easy & convenient to burn, wax is contained & you can throw a lid over them to prevent all of the smoke entering the room once you blow the candle out.

There is a really easy fix to your concerns of the smoke after blowing out a candle. Don't blow it out. If you take a skewer or a paperclip that is straightened out (bend a little loop at the end) and then push the wick at it's base, so that it falls over into the melted wax pool you will extinguish with NO smoke. I buy "cuticle sticks" at the local hair beauty supply shop and they are basically 6-inch long wooden sticks with flat ends to "push" your cuticle during a manicure. They are perfect for pushing wicks over.

Be sure to re-position the wick immediately so that it is standing up and centered before the wax sets up around it for the next burn. I give my customers a cuticle stick with any purchase and tell them about how to extinguish without smoke.

As for packaging pillars, you can search online for many different companies for boxes of every size and shape. If you are willing to buy very large quantities you can even buy custom boxes. People also buy the shrink wrap for pillars. It comes in sleeves that wrap around the pillar and then leave the top exposed so customers can still smell the candle, yet the sides and easily damaged edges are protected.

Good Luck with your beeswax! It is one of my favorite waxes to work with, I would love to have my own bees so that I would have my own supply. heck, even a local beekeeper would be great. I have tried to find local beekeepers, but haven't found any that aren't a LONG driving distance. Once I factor in the cost of travel to buy beeswax I may as well buy it and have it shipped in.

Welcome.

[ChandlerWicks]

I found this on FB, don't know anything about BW, but here goes: http://www.myownlabels.com/blog/homemade-beeswax-candles/

[Chefmom]

I found this on FB, don't know anything about BW, but here goes: http://www.myownlabels.com/blog/homemade-beeswax-candles/

Um, did anyone else catch in the photo of the candles still liquid with the wicks? How the wicks aren't centered, and I don't even think the one wick was sitting on the bottom of the jar.

[ChrisR]

Um, did anyone else catch in the photo of the candles still liquid with the wicks? How the wicks aren't centered, and I don't even think the one wick was sitting on the bottom of the jar.

That girl should NEVER give lessons to anyone regarding candles. Who the hell knows what size wick she is using, none of her wicks are secured to the jars, OMG I could go on but why bother, I'm pretty sure no one really listens anyway! It's because of people like her giving erroneous information that makes it difficult for the rest of us, who actually test and are diligent about selling or even giving good, SAFE candles.

[ChandlerWicks]

Nope, I read your posts. How about someone with BW knowledge responding to her? Others may read the comments & notice the cracking & the floating wicks & then be able to choose not to follow her method.

That girl should NEVER give lessons to anyone regarding candles. Who the hell knows what size wick she is using, none of her wicks are secured to the jars, OMG I could go on but why bother, I'm pretty sure no one really listens anyway! It's because of people like her giving erroneous information that makes it difficult for the rest of us, who actually test and are diligent about selling or even giving good, SAFE candles.

[ChrisR]

Nope, I read your posts. How about someone with BW knowledge responding to her? Others may read the comments & notice the cracking & the floating wicks & then be able to choose not to follow her method.

15 years making beeswax pillars, tapers & votives gives me BW knowledge and I KNOW the person in that blog does not belong doing a blog where she has no actual knowledge on the proper procedures to making any candle! I personally won't do beeswax containers as the wicking needed to burn properly is too large to burn a safe container without shattering. There have been many posts stating that fact, so I personally felt no need to post again what can be gleened from doing a search.