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Mistake :(


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Alright- so I poured a batch of delicious lebermeth lemon creme candles and made a big mistake. Instead of 1oz per candle I ended up using 4 oz for 3 candles (16oz each). I realized this after I poured, but thought what the heck I'll see what happens. They completely collapsed! Huge sink holes in the top. I don't want to throw out the wax and scent, so I'm wondering if I can heat the jars up to liquid and try to reset them OR if I can melt them down and add 16 more oz of wax and repour or will this mess up the scent / wax / etc. I've done about 13 tests with perfect pours & the FO % was the only changing factor so that has to be the issue 

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Well, if that were my candles, just for the heck of it, I would do a repour on the tops to fill up the holes and let them sit and cure for a while and see what happens when you go to burn them....and the other option like you said would be to melt them and pour the melted wax into a pot and add another pound of wax.  I don't see why you couldn't do that.....

 

Trappeur

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I'm forgetting which wax you mentioned you were using ... was it C3?  From my notes, 6% is at the high end of what it's supposed to hold, so you would be over that; but I think it's only about a third+ ounce per candle over, so I don't think all is lost.  If you weren't going to put lids on these or give them to anyone, there is still some room at the top ... I think I'd try warming them just a bit ... maybe in the oven set at 125dF (? ... what do others think here??) and then pour some unscented wax to top them up.

 

On another note ... I never throw out candle wax!  There is always something you can do with it ... it's like fudge, lol, (I make a lot of "failed fudge brownies!")

 

 

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The holes look pretty big in the picture. Im by no means an expect but my first inclination would be to gently warm them and repour some unscented wax

and like Trapper said, see what happens after a long cure. Bird charm makes a good point, there is always something you can do with the wax if that

plan doesn't work out. On a side note the Lebermuth Lemon Creme is such a delicious fragrance. I got a sample to try out in lotion or melt N pour but 

am curious to hear how the HT is. On their site candles wasn't listed as an application . I just assumed it wasn't a strong enough FO for candles. 

Have you tried in candles already besides this batch, how did it perform ? 

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1 hour ago, birdcharm said:

On another note ... I never throw out candle wax!  There is always something you can do with it ... it's like fudge, lol, (I make a lot of "failed fudge brownies!")

 

 

Or, like... Chocolate Frosting... ;)

Uhm... So, everyone already pretty much knows NOT to listen to me regarding chandlery but, when I got my sink holes in those really weird 100% stearic acid candles I used something "similar" to a heat gun and just melted the tops down so that they filled up the sink hole.  I found when I reheated the whole jar I just got a repeat of the sink holes in different places. Messed up all the pretty mottling too. The "similar to a heat gun" method at least left the mottling mostly alone and only filled the hole.   

o.O The similar to a heat gun tool may, or may not have been a small butane torch... O.O (BLINK)

Have all y'all ever done anything similar to that? 

Sponiebr: The Executor of Bad Ideas and Sundry Services (and don't you FORGET IT! ) 

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No Sponey, I can't say that I have ever put a blow torch to the tops of my candles.....lol..but I'm sure if you haven't done it, you will, lol....Please post your findings here.   I need a laugh.

 

Hey, but all is not lost!  Great idea to just melt the candles down just till the holes are filled in with the wax already in her jars.  Better than melting the whole candle I would say.:thumbsup2:

 

Trappeur

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They really don't look that bad ... maybe just try what has been offered ... warm them a bit, poke relief holes, do a repour.  As Jcandleattic has pointed out, there is no floating oil present, it's just air pockets and sink holes, which is not such an uncommon thing really under certain conditions.

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51 minutes ago, GoldieMN said:

Do you have to fix the holes all through candle including those that you might have but don't see?  Also, if a person would melt them completely in the oven, would the holes disappear?

Goldie 

 

That's a good question ... I think "yes" for the most part, as I've seen air bubbles float to the top when using a heat gun.  And, with gel candles, certainly, applied heat raises your air pockets to the surface, which you can see happening since the wax is clear.

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36 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

I would poke relief holes and do a repour. To me, it doesn't look like it's the FO or there would be floating oil. To me it looks like it got poured too hot, and cooled too fast and you got air pockets and sink holes. 

That is exactly what I think also.

 

Trappeur

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9 hours ago, Trappeur said:

No Sponey, I can't say that I have ever put a blow torch to the tops of my candles.....lol..but I'm sure if you haven't done it, you will, lol....Please post your findings here.   I need a laugh.

 

Hey, but all is not lost!  Great idea to just melt the candles down just till the holes are filled in with the wax already in her jars.  Better than melting the whole candle I would say.:thumbsup2:

 

Trappeur


Say hallo to my leetle freand!!!!!  

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I'd poke loads of relief holes and fill with slightly hotter wax, then let her rip. 

 

Warming those could change the wax coating coating on the wicks and cause a different burn. It is only 3 candles. Keep them for yourself and move on.

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So, the same thing kind of happened to me today...

I have been making huge 88 ounce candles.  I have usually done this in three pours-and let each batch set for several hours or even a day.

(the fine print: Wax is Well-Flake Soy and 1 tablespoon stearic acid per pound of wax heated to 175 and 10 percent FO oil added at 160. Poured at 120. Let sit for about one whole day before pouring next batch, carefully and slowly, on top)

 

Of course, today I was impatient and talking on the phone to my friend while I was working, not paying attention fully. Yup, I admit it.

(the fine print: added way more stearic acid than I normally do (9 tablespoons for 3 pounds of wax..so that's three times the normal amount) and added 6 ounces of FO for the 3 pounds of wax, so that might be pushing the Well-Flake limit. Plus, I think I let the wax/stearic heat to 200 (oops) and then I let it cool to 160 before adding the FO and poured at 130 (I was in a hurry) AND I poured the wax kinda fast (like I said, I was in a hurry...)

 

When I returned to check on my little project, it looked like the surface of the moon. (see picture attached which is a pretty good similarity).

It was a big disaster. I used the heat gun to see what would happen and it sort of made a cosmetic improvement, and masked a lot of the pitting (see photo of candle top) but I am pretty sure that there are all sorts of issues beneath the visible surface. I think the pits and holes go on and on for several inches.

 

Should I put it in the oven? I think the FO has a very high flash point..have I ruined it with too much stearic acid or FO or is this a pour temp/container temp issue? Any advice is very appreciated!

 

 

 

 

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I tried melting them down --- I put the jars in a double broiler, got the wax out, combined the melted wax with 16oz of fresh wax and re poured with fresh jars & wicks and they catered exactly as above.... could it be the scent??? @TallTayl I should have chunked them. It took me longer to do the above process then it would to start fresh. I have a small jar of leftover wax I'm going to poke holes as suggested, fill, and move on. Grrrrr

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10 hours ago, infertilemyrtle said:

I tried melting them down --- I put the jars in a double broiler, got the wax out, combined the melted wax with 16oz of fresh wax and re poured with fresh jars & wicks and they catered exactly as above.... could it be the scent??? @TallTayl I should have chunked them. It took me longer to do the above process then it would to start fresh. I have a small jar of leftover wax I'm going to poke holes as suggested, fill, and move on. Grrrrr

Sometimes those darn sink holes just happen, could be the fo, the room temp, the pouring temp..so many variables.  I found with my wax it's pouring and cooling temp.  Mine need to be poured cool (slushy) and cooled very slowly so if the room is not on the warm side, I cover them with a box for a day and then come look at them and usually they are good.

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11 hours ago, infertilemyrtle said:

I tried melting them down --- I put the jars in a double broiler, got the wax out, combined the melted wax with 16oz of fresh wax and re poured with fresh jars & wicks and they catered exactly as above.... could it be the scent??? @TallTayl I should have chunked them. It took me longer to do the above process then it would to start fresh. I have a small jar of leftover wax I'm going to poke holes as suggested, fill, and move on. Grrrrr

 

I'm sorry to hear that you're going through so much trouble, but, it's all lessons along the way.  Due to various conditions, such as temperatures of glass, pouring temp of wax, etc., sink holes can be a common thing sometimes.  Now that you've added more wax and have a similar problem, I do not feel it could be the scent, but I didn't think that in the first place. 

 

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23 hours ago, birdcharm said:

I think the same advice given regarding a relief hole could be used along with heating the candle with your heat gun, I wouldn't use a blowtorch for this one ... too many wicks.  :) 

 

Thank you; just one relief hole...the whole way down to base?

 

i think I might have melted off the wick coatings yesterday (CD 16s)...is that really bad?

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I think a relief hole near each of the wicks would probably be best.  Yes, poke the holes down through the entire candle.  The coating on the wick is wax that has primed the fibers, it doesn't all melt off as far as I know, as it's already penetrated the fibers of the wick, so I wouldn't worry.

 

 

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