What materials make the best embeds?

[lisa22422]

Hi, I'm new here and I'm so excited there are others out there to talk to about gel candles! I was just wondering what people think are the best embeds - particularly, I'm going to do some valentine's day candles and was looking around for some embeds and came across some confetti hearts but I don't know if the paper-like material would cause those annoying tiny bubbles to adhere to it the way something like wood does. I'm guessing wood does because there is air inside it though so I thought maybe the confetti would work. I tried to use that clear spray on wood to seal it and that didn't work. Any advice on that too? Thanks guys!

[Vicky_CO]

First if you are going to use anything that can be flammable you need to use the double glass method.

 

Any thing that is porous is going to cause air bubbles. Most of us use glass or wax embeds. I have used silk flowers but again the double glass method.

 

http://www.craftserver.com/page/articles.html/_/tutorials/gel-candles/double-glassed-method-gel-candles-r81

[lisa22422]

Yes, sorry, I should have said that I do use the double glass method so I have more of a selection with embeds plus I don't have to worry about someone's container cracking.

[Kawboy888]

Glass is the best embed material in my opinion. Paper based embeds release their color into gel over time and of course are highly flammable. Get on ebay and search for embeds. You will find wax for most of the fruit and glass for pretty much everything else. I've thrown lots of stuff into gel candles over the years, including spent bullets from an F-16 when i was a jet mechanic in the Air Force. Air bubbles will stick to anything, that's just the nature of the gel candle beast.

[lisa22422]

Yes - I feel like bubbles are my nemesis!! I hate those little bubbles that stick all over everything but I like the bigger bubbles. I think it's a great characteristic of gel and it makes it so it doesn't just look like decorations in glass basically - but, of course, it's hard to get the big bubbles. I've actually poured it thick and try to layer it back and forth to trap the air or poke my tweezers in the gel - sometimes it works - mostly I just ruin the candle and have to do all over again.... grrrrr....