C3 / Coconut 2 outcome pt 1

[Linda P]

Here's my report from yesterday's candle making venture using Naturewax C3 and Coconut 2. No additives. No dye. No FO. No wicks. One candle each of C3:Coco 2 in blends of 50:50, 60:40, and 40:60. 

 

I followed the mfr's handling instructions for C3. I heated to 185. Poured when temp had cooled to ~165. 

 

I'm not ecstatic about how any of them turned out. The Coconut 2 didn't mitigate any of the usual issues with C3. In all 3 candles, I ended up with rough tops and candles full of air bubbles. I poked relief holes and used a heat gun but the end result was still rough tops.

 

One thing I'm happy about is that none of the candles show frosting or wet spots around the jars. I attribute this to washing the jars in extremely hot water with lemon ammonia and a splash of Dawn dish detergent. They were squeaky clean when I rinsed them. I now have one part of my process nailed: Start with pristine-clean jars.

 

I promised bad photography. At least I met one expectation 

 

↓ The 60:40 candle. Small craters and where it looks smooth in the photo, it's not. It's uneven and part shiny/part matte. As to be expected, this candle is the firmest of the bunch.

 

↓ Here is the 50:50 candle. You can see the remains of my relief holes. 

 

↓ And finally, the 40:60 candle. Maybe the worst top of all of them. It's also the least firm. Not squishy, but with not much pressure, I can impress my fingerprint (that crater in the middle).

 

Today I'm making 4 candles. 1) all C3 plus 2% universal soy additive. 2) C3:coco 2 70:30 3) C3:coco 2 80:20 4) Northwoods coconut wax 100%. Again, no additives (other than usa in candle #1). No dye. No fragrance oil. No wick. Squeaky clean jars. I plan on following mfr's instructions again today so as not to introduce other variables in this test round.

[TallTayl]

🤞🏻👍🏻 Thank you.good job! 

 

One thing I learned with C3, both alone or in blends, is it does not love being poured hot. It does not love heat gunning either 😒 you’ll figure out your sweet spot for pour temp as you work with it longer. 

 

if it burns well and throws, though, I give it a pass. 

[Trappeur]

I agree with TT.  

My experience with C3 is to pour about 149 give or take a few.  If I pour hotter like you did, bad tops....if I pour cooler than 149 bad tops also....

Great pictures!

What wicks do you plan on using and what size for those jars?

Don't forget to let them cure!

 

Trappeur

[Linda P]

14 minutes ago, Trappeur said:

What wicks do you plan on using and what size for those jars?

I've got samples of just about every series, so I won't run out of options. I plan to give ECOs a try. I just received a variety of RRDs, so I'd like to give them a try too. I'll start with those. Haven't decided yet if I'll start with ECO6 or ECO8.

[Linda P]

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

C3, both alone or in blends, is it does not love being poured hot. 

It's so funny to me to hear you and @Trappeur talk about putting at lower temps when the instructions and advice elsewhere insist on pouring C3 hotter. I'm going to pour the same again today as yesterday, knowing full well I should pour cooler. Just to keep the variables the same for this 2-part batch of different blends. But next week when I repeat this with fewer blends, and maybe wicks, I'll go cooler. 

 

I don't like heat gunning, either, so at least C3 and I agree on one thing.😀

[TallTayl]

I experimented a lot with C3 over the long cold winters. I discovered two methods that seemed to work equally well. One was much simpler than the other.

 

1) heat and pour at manufacturers direction.  What the directions don’t tell you is the rate of cooling is very important. If cooled too quickly C3 (and 444, etc.) develop horrible cavities. The Tops end up looking nice but you end up with a potentially unsafe, and usually craptastic burn. As the wick hits a pocket, the melt pool drains rapidly into the cavity, the wick flame flares (I saw some that flared 5-6 inches), then fizzle out. Some people mistake that for tunneling and continue to wick up to far oversized wicks. 😳

 

For science... When I cooled the wax in prewarmed warmed tins very slowly on a very warm surface, like the top of my water jacket melter, and covered with a pour pot the instructions worked well. It took many hours for them to solidify but they looked ok. 

 

A larger scale alternative that worked ok was heating the countertop with heavy stone flooring tiles, heating the tins and covering with an overturned rubber made container covered with insulating towels. Larger scale but still a complete PITA. No way I could manufacture any volume this way.

 

2) The simplest in the end was to cool the wax quickly in the pour pot while stirring gently, pouring when the wax is a good deal cooler, and cooling slowly the rest of the way. My notes are not in front of me but 120-125 comes to mind. Take care not to introduce air as it is being stirred or poured. 

 

2% USA from thecandlemakersstore.com seemed to help with C3 overall as far as pour temps and post-burn hardening appearance. In my case it increased wick requirements often by a full size, but not always, so of course test fully before deciding.

[Linda P]

I've read your posts & comments elsewhere about your use of a fan to cool your pour pots. I appreciate your detailed info here. I've wondered about using a heating pad under the poured jars to slow the cooling, but really, that doesn't seem too practical in the long term. I don't have any plans to go large scale... Too soon to be thinking any further ahead than getting one candle I'm proud of. But the fan solution seems doable, now and later.

 

You're in Chicago area and pour C3 at a much lower temp than @Trappeur in GA. I'm in the Minneapolis area, with climate more similar to yours. So I'll aim to pour in the range that you two use to find my sweet spot, once I come up with a blend and wick series I like.

 

Helpful insight about what's missing from the mfr's instructions re the importance of slow cooling. Surely they know that.

 

Now if I can only master not introducing air bubbles while stirring...