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Well now I understand why I don’t understand


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From the beginning of my candle making journey I believed that if I could understand the chemistry of scented candles it would all be easy. Well today I ran smack into the wall known as organic chemistry. In my college chemistry classes we always referred to organic chemistry as voodoo chemistry. What I do know is that your wax and the carrier oils for your aromatics are all molecular chains of hydrogen and carbon atoms, while your aromatic molecules are rings of hydrogen and carbon atoms. As for the bonding of these molecules in a candle I have no idea, but if I could understand the bonding I might be able to improve my process. Unfortunately I suspect the unknown additives in the wax has a lot to do with the bonding. Combine that with the hundred million other things that could be going on when you mix several hydrocarbons together and clearly I will never understand it. So I’m moving this one to my bucket of things I don’t know that I’m never going to know. Apparently understanding candle chemistry ranks right up there with understanding women.

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3 hours ago, LittleMissSunshine said:

@Forrest have you tried making CP soap? There are books looking at it from a scientific viewpoint, how the chemistry of it all works. I feel like you might enjoy it. 😛

The only reason I don't make soap is that I can't use it. My skin is allergic to fragrances. 

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Sometimes it's better to not understand everything, as long as what you're doing is at a satisfactory level to yourself. I'm a perfectionist so nothing will ever be good enough that I do,  I'm always trying harder for the sake of it. That's probably why I'm such a good husband :D 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/3/2019 at 8:49 PM, Forrest said:

The only reason I don't make soap is that I can't use it. My skin is allergic to fragrances. 

I'm a soap maker. Many of my soaps do not have added fragrance (they still are scented from for instance the salt I add, olive oil I use or another integral component of the soap.

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On 7/16/2019 at 7:08 AM, iansmommaya said:

I'm a soap maker. Many of my soaps do not have added fragrance (they still are scented from for instance the salt I add, olive oil I use or another integral component of the soap.

exactly this, you don't have to scent soap, you can still make it, use it, and enjoy it without it being fragranced. 

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