Having issues with soy wax cracking

[Scents and Warmers]

Here recently I have been having some major issues with my soy wax melts cracking after being poured and setting up. I have adjusted my coconut oil thinking maybe this is just a dry batch of soy, but still to no avail, have not fixed the issue. If it is colder than usual in the room that I am pouring in can this make them crack? So far it is only in my 6oz clamshells that they are cracking, the 8oz clams are fine, smooth tops, look great. Can the temp of the fo itself make this happen? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I have not changed anything, same wax, same percentages, same fo's. I am totally baffled as to why this all of a sudden is happening.

[kandlekrazy]

I've had it happen when they got too cold way too fast.  Try putting a box over them while they cool.  Also if you warm your pour pot and add fo first to it, the fo will warm enough for addition of wax.  You have to get pretty good at guessing how much wax to add and then weigh of course.  I warm pot, put on scale, tare, add fo, tare, add wax and then add more wax if needed to make my weight.  I use glass measuring cups so I can get pretty darn close after doing it this way for a while.

[TallTayl]

Slow the cool. Insulated them, along with the table top you are pouring on.

[Scents and Warmers]

I have tried every which way past cohple of days. This is a fairly new batch of wax. It is GW416 and I got it from Lone Star. When I got it, it felt different than the last batch they sent me. And I know this sounds weird, but it even sounded different when I poured the flakes into my measuring cup, sounded drier. I compared the feel and the sound with the last batch and it is definitely different feel and sound. It is almost like the wax itself is just dried out. Does anyone ordef their wax from Lonestar? Or uses the 416? I am using the same mixer, my problend 650 and I increased the coconut oil and it belped eith the look of the toos, looked great, but still ended up cracking when cooled. This is just weird...

[runner14jc]

I've found that everything in my pouring environment affects how the wax cools and finishes. Most of the year I can pour at 135*F with no issues, in the colder months, I have to pour hotter (between 150-160*F) to achieve the same results. I also discovered that pouring in different areas affect things. I think due to how the airflow is. In my main pouring area I have it down to a science, but if I switch where I pour, I always have to go back to the drawing board on pour temp. My favorite tool is my heat gun though. It saves me from doing a second pour or being stuck with cracks or sinkholes when I do have issues. I highly recommend getting one if you don't have it already. 

[Scents and Warmers]

On 2/27/2018 at 2:11 PM, runner14jc said:

I've found that everything in my pouring environment affects how the wax cools and finishes. Most of the year I can pour at 135*F with no issues, in the colder months, I have to pour hotter (between 150-160*F) to achieve the same results. I also discovered that pouring in different areas affect things. I think due to how the airflow is. In my main pouring area I have it down to a science, but if I switch where I pour, I always have to go back to the drawing board on pour temp. My favorite tool is my heat gun though. It saves me from doing a second pour or being stuck with cracks or sinkholes when I do have issues. I highly recommend getting one if you don't have it already. 

I have a great gun but don't like to use it because I always end up melting the clamshell and the tops aren't smooth and glossy anymore when I use it. I use the same area each time. I put a space heater in the area a couple hours prior to pouring area to get the air temp equal to the rest of the area around it this last pour and they look perfect! I've never had these issues before, hopefully with the weather warming back up the issues will go away. Thanks everyone for your feedback.