C-6 testing

[Peggy T]

Hi folks,

I thought I’d share my experience thus far with C-6. For several years I’ve been using a 95-5 blend of 464 and coconut 83. However the ht isn’t as great as I’d like and shipping costs/availability of coconut 83 is problematic. I live near the Flaming Candle so I’d like to find a vegetable wax blend that I can get from them. I got a 10# slab of c-6 recently to test. So far I’ve tested it with 4 fragrances, all at 8%. My jars are 12 oz ask with a 3” diameter. I use a 1/2” booster wood wick with a thinkness of 0.04”. 

Below are my observations thus far. 

1. I did a few initial tests with only 4 oz of wax in the jars. I didn’t want to pour full jars only to find out I hate it. When I poured (around 165) these I noticed the wax seemed soft, even though the slab itself is pretty brittle. The surface wasn’t perfectly smooth either. These first few were scented with Black Tea from TFC and the HT was amazing but it seemed like it could tunnel if you weren’t careful. It took quite a while for the melt pool to reach the sides. There was also more residue on the sides than I’d like. 

2. For a second round I poured full jars at 8% fo. I heated the wax to approx 185-190 and added fo. However I poured all of them at different temps. One I poured at 165, one at 148 and the last at 133. One thing I noticed right away was then as the wax cooled, it didn’t solidify from the bottom up as my 464/coconut blend used to. In fact, you can see really clearly in one of the pics that it crystallized from the outside in. 🤷‍♀️ The ambient temp in my house was 68° and the jars were that temp too. 

3. As the candles finished setting up, the top of one of them (poured at 133°) sort of caved in. It wasn’t like a sink hole (I’ve had plenty of those before). It was like it was tunneling even before it was lit and the texture was almost like dried out cake icing. Really weird. The other candle (I think it was the o e poured at 148) had a small sink hole but nothing major. The  one poured at the hottest temp had the best surface though it wasn’t perfect. They all looked better after I hit them with the heat gun. 

4. I did a test burn with one of them the next day. The HT was underwhelming but it had barely been 24 hours and it’s an fo that is usually a lighter scent. So who knows about that. I decided to burn it like a consumer might (ie—not ideally) so the first time I lit it I only burned it for about an hour. Subsequently it started to tunnel even though the next burn was quite long (6 + hours). 

 

Im going to keep testing by trying to burn the next one after a longer cure and under super ideal circumstances (1st burn until mp reaches the sides). I’m also going write Cargill (mfgr) for advice. But so far I’m not super psyched. 

 

[Sarah S]

I'm not familiar with C6. Does it contain Palm? That cooling behavior is very characteristic of palm wax. If so, I would try pouring in the 180 range.

Thats a veggie blend wax, yes? I would also give it a longer cure, at least a week. Even a straight parrafin improves (I think) with a day or two after the pour.

I love your jars!!

[Peggy T]

Hi Sarah. I think it’s soy and coconut but I’m not 100% sure and I don’t know the %s of each. Do you think a longer cure would make a difference in how it burns (in other words, beyond hot throw)? What I’ve noticed as I’ve continued to burn these is a pretty substantial residue on the side of the jars. I think there’s one size larger of this wood wick (5/8” vs 1/2”). Maybe that would help. But as it stands, with all the residue, I’m not impressed especially since I know people won’t burn them in the most ideal manner. 

[GarthAlgar]

I bought a couple of boxes of C6 from TFC a few months ago and was not impressed.  Normally I use C3, but lately, have been shifting to coconut wax.  I thought C6 would be a nice in between for testing.  NOPE.  It did exactly the same thing that your candles did - cooled from the outside in, underwhelming hot throw, sinkholes, cracks, etc.  I really thought the coconut would help with how the tops cured and maybe there would be less post cure work to do (since coconut cures so perfectly normal).  It's like this wax took the worst parts of soy and coconut and combined them. 

 

Now I have a 50 pound box laying around if anyone is interested...

[Peggy T]

Well, that stinks! I was thinking of writing to Cargill's customer service for advice. I did find this document and I thought I would try some things based on the info in it (for example, pouring at a hotter temp,  warming my jars etc). I figure I have the wax so I may as well try.

https://www.cargill.com/doc/1432078141913/naturewax-c-3-and-c-6-product-handling.pdf

[NightLight]

I wanted to love the C6 but the appearance thing stopped me right away. C6 did not pour up smooth or solidify afterburn nicely.

Also the test candles I did the tops frosted badly sitting for a month. Your test candles look under wicked, as I was able to clean burn on the glass I used. 

I think if you want to use this for making quick candles for home it’s okay and fairly easy but it’s not great for selling.

[Peggy T]

I agree that they look under wicked. I found some larger wood wicks so I think I am going to try some of those as well as adjusting some of the variables I mentioned earlier. As I said, I still have this wax sitting around and I reuse my test jars so I'll keep giving it a go until I run out of wax. But I'm not a fan of how their appearance looks before and after burning. The HT has been pretty good so far and that combined with the ease of getting it is making me want to persist a bit longer. However, in the end, I need something that has good HT, a pleasing appearance, an affordable cost and also be plant-based. I know, good luck with that!! 🤣This is not a hobby, it's my business. I've been making soap for 20 years and candles for about 6 years and I won't sell something sub-par. If all else fails I will go back to my old formula, which isn't perfect but is pretty solid all around. Candles are so much more complicated than soap. 🙃