Help!! Please critique my candle

[BrittBritt]

Total novice to candle making here. Always wanted to do it and finally got myself a kit. I am making candles as a hobby with intention to gift but would still love to give away something of quality. I know there is a lot of information available but nothing seemed directly applicable to my variables AND was understandable to a novice like myself. This is the second burn of the very first candle I poured, cured 24 hours, 100% Golden brands 464 using CDN8 wick in 8.5cm (3.3inch) diameter jar (used old candle jar). My fragrance load was roughly 8%: 26g FO in 325g soy flakes. I think the tunnelling (am I correctly identifying tunnelling?) I am seeing is probably due to me using wicks from the kit in a jar with a wider diameter to those provided in the kit. I am unsure why I am getting this beading condensation on top, this only occurs during the burn but not when it is sitting cold. After my second burn, the melt pool solidified with a weird texture like you can see in the second picture. I added fragrance at 80C (175F) and poured at 65C (150F). FO load was . I add a few scrapings of my dye chip to my unmelted soy flakes before I add to heat. Fragrance throw was shockingly good cold but totally average hot. I am also using a laser pointer type thermometer. Which is better, this or the mercury thermometer I received in my kit??

 

Any kind of advice to point me in the right direction is greatly appreciated. What size wick would be more appropriate? Would you suggest a wick type better suited to GB 464? Did I add the dye at the wrong stage? Am i adding fragrance at the right temperatures/load? I followed the temperature steps recommended by the supplier I used. Would love to get some quality feedback rather than my guesswork research. Very excited to finally be a part of this thriving community and very eager to learn!!

 

Edited August 4, 2017 by BrittBritt
change order of photos

[TallTayl]

Welcome! you're off to a good start.

 

First, give soy candles a longer cure time. Some take 1-2 weeks. Some more. Some less. Soy wax continues to harden over time. The burn you see today will be different tomorrow and next week.

 

That wick does look a few sizes too small this early on in the burn. You don't want soy to burn to the edge on the first couple of burns, but you have a LOT of wax to go. I doubt it will catch up eve at the end of this one.

 

As a general rule, CDN and CSN burn about half a size cooler than CD of the same number. Soy wax is weird this year and makes suggesting wicks a ballpark guess right now. I'd go up to a CD 12 on that one next time. then compare.

 

The rough tops are normal for soy. Bummer, but true.

 

Laser pointer thermometers are good for a "spot", but stir the wax well first. Hot pockets develop in the pouring pot.

[BrittBritt]

3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Welcome! you're off to a good start.

 

First, give soy candles a longer cure time. Some take 1-2 weeks. Some more. Some less. Soy wax continues to harden over time. The burn you see today will be different tomorrow and next week.

 

That wick does look a few sizes too small this early on in the burn. You don't want soy to burn to the edge on the first couple of burns, but you have a LOT of wax to go. I doubt it will catch up eve at the end of this one.

 

As a general rule, CDN and CSN burn about half a size cooler than CD of the same number. Soy wax is weird this year and makes suggesting wicks a ballpark guess right now. I'd go up to a CD 12 on that one next time. then compare.

 

The rough tops are normal for soy. Bummer, but true.

 

Laser pointer thermometers are good for a "spot", but stir the wax well first. Hot pockets develop in the pouring pot.

Thanks TallTayl! I had read that soy candles need a cure but couldn't resist lighting one up, I was not aware it was a few weeks though. I have a few more questions if you dont mind?
1. Why don't I want the soy to burn to the edge on the first couple of burns?

2. Are you saying that my using CDN wick is disadvantageous to achieving a full burn? 

3. Might sound silly, but I have been swirling my wax rather than stirring it, would this make a difference?

4. Is the GB464 a good wax for a starter? It was suggested on a lot of the supplier websites I checked.

 

Thank you for all your help! I am very eager to get these candles right  

 

[TallTayl]

31 minutes ago, BrittBritt said:

Thanks TallTayl! I had read that soy candles need a cure but couldn't resist lighting one up, I was not aware it was a few weeks though. I have a few more questions if you dont mind?
1. Why don't I want the soy to burn to the edge on the first couple of burns?

 <<Because further down the container it can become far, far too hot. This creates a potential fire hazard, burn risk and can distort fragrances>>

 

2. Are you saying that my using CDN wick is disadvantageous to achieving a full burn? 

<< It all depends on what that particular container, fragrance, color, etc requires. Sometimes an inbetween size is perfect. It all comes together as you learn your wax.>>

 

3. Might sound silly, but I have been swirling my wax rather than stirring it, would this make a difference?

<<Possibly.>>

 

4. Is the GB464 a good wax for a starter? It was suggested on a lot of the supplier websites I checked.

<<It is very popular. Many people love it. Others move on. It is a personal preference type of thing.>>

 

 

Thank you for all your help! I am very eager to get these candles right  

<<We were all there at one time or another =) )

 

[moonshine]

My couple cents worth is, first off welcome! ?

464 is a good easier soy wax to start with when using soy, in general soy is harder to work with and unfortunately especially at this time with all the soy issues out there with it not burning the way it "should" or used to 

I am not being discouraging in any way in fact this actually may be a good thing for you as your starting out testing you can learn how the wax is now as opposed to many of us throwing our hands up having to re-figure out our wicking 

you don't want the wax to reach the sides the first couple of burns in most containers because that is pretty much an indication your wicked to big and your container is going to get way to hot the further it goes down 

the wick your using now CDN tend to burn cooler like Talltayl stated than the CD  series, they are the exact same wick just different coatings resulting in a touch different burn, seeing yours looks to small for that jar Talltayl suggesting a CD12 is to help improve the burn - if you find your getting to much melt pool to quick and it's getting to hot try a CDN12 which will be touch cooler than CD12 or a CD10 which would be more cooler than a 12

get a candy thermometer- that's what I use from various candle supplies and heat your wax to 180-185 then add your FO and dye and stir it up, swirling won't really incorporate the FO with the wax, stir stix, wooden spoons or even chop stix work great 

after a few minutes of stirring keep checking it giving a stir until your pour temp

I don't color my soy because it frosts easily, could be the type I use but I see you have some and not that it's a bad thing but partially what your seeing when it sets up and yes soy doesn't set up baby butt smooth, nature of the beast and I actually have grown very fond of my craters ?

Soy does need to cure as well for optimal hot throw, a week minimum - the longer the better 

I would suggest burning your wax naked at first to get a feel for how it behaves and then add variables like FO and dye 

good luck and have fun 

Edited August 4, 2017 by moonshine

[GoldieMN]

@BrittBritt Asked about the condensation.  Is that normal?  Also, when you say candle should not reach edges during first two burns, how long are those burns?

Goldie

[BrittBritt]

Thanks for all your help guys! Will keep this in mind in the future. I have another problem though! After my third burn I came in this morning to find this! What on earth is all this white stuff?! I understand the cracked top is normal but this white stuff didnt happen after the first two burns. 

Just so you guys know, I am from Australia so it is a bit cool at the moment. 

 

[obsessed]

On 8/5/2017 at 1:58 PM, BrittBritt said:

Thanks for all your help guys! Will keep this in mind in the future. I have another problem though! After my third burn I came in this morning to find this! What on earth is all this white stuff?! I understand the cracked top is normal but this white stuff didnt happen after the first two burns. 

Just so you guys know, I am from Australia so it is a bit cool at the moment. 

 

that's frosting I think Britt. It happens with soy and is much more noticeable with colours. I don't think there's a lot you can do about it. I also am in Aust. and find this worse with the cold. I haven't yet found how to avoid it ... so I make mostly natural candles! LOL If I'm wrong , please someone else jump in! I love this website ... it's so friendly an informative. 

[Trappeur]

From this picture, I would say your wick is too small at this stage.

 

Is this the 3'rd burn?  How many hours are you burning each testing?

 

I've never seen a candle frost like that....but I guess anything is possible.

 

Trappeur

[BrittBritt]

wick was definitely too small and i kind of expected that but i was just trying to get a few practice pours into an old container that didnt matter.

 

This was my second burn and i dont know why it frosted so bad, none of the other candles i have poured and burned since have frosted quite so bad. Each burn at least 2 hours. 

[birdcharm]

This might make much difference, but it could be worth trying a liquid dye to see if it offers any better results.  I have some lightly colored GW464's and they didn't frost, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything! 

[lumoscandles]

I have a lot of experience with soy and I have definitely seen candles frost just like that. Unfortunately, soy is really unpredictable as to how, when, and why it frosts. It can be affected by the rate at which it cools, so it very well could be due to the drop in temperature in your environment. I personally prefer to us a soy/paraffin blend which almost completely eliminates the frosting effect (except with black candles sometimes) but that's just what I like. I know a lot of people who prefer soy candles don't mind the frosting, and others just don't color their soy candles so it's less noticeable. Since you can never really control every aspect of the environment they are in and the way they cool, frosting is something that just goes hand in hand with soy. It usually gets worse after time, too. Check out this tutorial I did a while back: https://candletech.com/candle-making/make-soy-container-candles/ and if you go to the bottom you can see how the candle frosted over time. 

[birdcharm]

Apologies about my post ... it makes a big difference when the word "not" has been missed!  That was supposed to be: "might not make much difference" ... that is to say that it might not be the dye chip, as there are many reasons for frosting, as others have noted.  But, the reason I mentioned that is because in the photo of when the candle is burning, there is a whitish ring around the meltpool and that's where the frosting occurred.  I have read that liquid dyes do not have the solubility issues that dye chips can often have.  Maybe it's nothing, or maybe it's something, I don't know, I'm simply throwing it out there as a "maybe possibility."  Since I use the same wax with liquid dye and have candles half-burned from last winter without any frosting on pastel colored candles, I thought I'd chime in. 

 

Really, frosting isn't a very big deal, yet, if there's a way to troubleshoot it because you'd prefer to see if you can somehow avoid it, then I don't think that's a total waste of time if you know that it can be possible.

 

[Candybee]

Congrats Britt on jumping in and making your first candle. I think your very first candle will always turn out to be your best way of learning about candlemaking. Lots of good suggestions and info on soy here. I no longer make soy candles so don't have anything much helpful to add.

 

Re curing time, I did find with my soy candles that different scents required different cure times but the general range of cure time was from 2 - 4 weeks depending on the scent. As in some scents require 1-2 weeks while others can take 4 weeks or even longer before they throw enough to scent a room.

 

But there is also another reason you don't want to burn a candle too soon. Especially right after the first 3 days or so after pouring. The wax needs time to harden. If you burn candles side by side, one that has cured 2 weeks beside one that was made 24 hours ago, you will see that they burn noticeably different. If you prematurely burn a candle before the wax is fully hardened chances are you will not correctly wick it based on that burn test. Let you candles fully harden and cure then test burn them to get the best results for properly wicking them.