FO melding time.

[Tea]

I tried a new FO on Friday, Frank & Myrrh at 6%, and I noticed that at first a portion was sitting on the bottom of the wax, not being absorbed by the wax. By the time I have finished pouring and reheating for the final pour, all the FO had been absorbed. So I was wondering, does it take a couple of minutes for some Fo's to be absorbed. I noticed this also with a vanilla Fo, but I though at first that maybe I have put in to much FO.

Can you tell yet that I'm a newbie. By the way I was using parafin.

Wondering,

Tracey

[topofmurrayhill]

Some people say that warming those FOs a bit with hot water is helpful. I've never understood why since they get hot the moment they hit the wax and still don't mix, but I haven't tried it yet and maybe it works.

Apart from that, all I can tell you is that "a few minutes" can be pretty optimistic with some of these fragrances. The last one I ran into took 1/2 hour to incorporate. In these cases I lower the heat (it only helps so much) and let it sit for a while between stirring sessions. Time can be a factor in and of itself.

I don't think you should pour until it's really fully mixed. They all get soaked up eventually.

[Dustpuuppy]

Warming them beforehand, does help a bit. The FO doesn't heat up as quickly as you might think, when it hits the wax. Especially if it's gotten cold enough to crystalize. At 6% you're adding quite a bit of cold liquid to the mix. Drop an ice cube into 20 oz. of boiling water... it will take a minute or two to melt.

Of course, heat is one of the most common catalysts in chemistry.

The only time I've had this problem was with the vanilla based scents.

[topofmurrayhill]

Warming them beforehand, does help a bit. The FO doesn't heat up as quickly as you might think, when it hits the wax. Especially if it's gotten cold enough to crystalize. At 6% you're adding quite a bit of cold liquid to the mix. Drop an ice cube into 20 oz. of boiling water... it will take a minute or two to melt.

Of course, heat is one of the most common catalysts in chemistry.

The only time I've had this problem was with the vanilla based scents.

I'm willing to believe it helps but I don't know what the explanation would be exactly. It's not because the FO doesn't heat up quickly. Give it a few swirls and the whole mixture will be at the same temp before very long. I have tried holding these mixtures at 200 while mixing and it still took forever. Warming the FO just seems like a drop in the bucket compared to that.

The ice cube is a different case because it's absorbing energy to change phase. The part that's still ice remains at the same temperature until it melts and it can't mix with the rest because it's solid. Mix in water just above freezing and the temp will even out real fast.

I have to get around to doing this experiment and see if it really makes a difference. Maybe there's something special about what happens the moment the FO is added and temperature affects it.

[SatinDucky]

If it's very cold where you're working, warming it does help with some. The Amish Harvest is one like that for me. The first time I mixed it, it formed little balls of oil and took me nearly a half hour to mix well. The second time I warmed it up and it mixed right in. Though we're talking about a room temp of 55* to 65* too, so the oil was very cold. Some of the heavier scents just take longer to mix. The F&M is one too if I remember right. Boy, wait til you try to wick that bugger! :tiptoe:

[scentsibility]

I had that problem with BCN EGG NOG...love it to death, but have to stir and stir and stir. It's worth it, tho.

[Dustpuuppy]

I'm willing to believe it helps but I don't know what the explanation would be exactly. It's not because the FO doesn't heat up quickly. Give it a few swirls and the whole mixture will be at the same temp before very long. I have tried holding these mixtures at 200 while mixing and it still took forever. Warming the FO just seems like a drop in the bucket compared to that.

Yeah, it doesn't solve the problem but it seemed to cut the mixing time in half. More sometimes.

There's a chemistry thing to it that I kind of understand but not well enough to explain it to anyone. Since I can't explain it, all I can do is offer up the anecdote that it worked for me.