Cold Transport

[Candle Rick]

Hello all, I live up north and am trying to make container candles that can be shipped via transport truck in below freezing temperatures. I am working with 8oz clear glass tumblers, IGI Parafflex 4630A as my base wax, and 8% FO. As you may have guessed, I am having issues with the wax pulling away from the glass after sitting in the freezer for a while. I have been experimenting with different additives like petrolatum and soft microcrystalline but I haven't had consistent success across my testing. Maybe 1/4 of the candles I make will randomly survive numerous freeze/thaw tests but most of them pull away/form spots after 1 or 2 trips to the freezer. I mostly would like to know if anyone believes this is an achievable task or if anyone has had consistent freeze/thaw success with their glass containers.

Any advice, ideas, or stories would be very much appreciated.

Thanks  

[TallTayl]

That’s a tough one since all wax will shrink to a degree in freezing temp.

 

How about using a pillar blend or similar that totally pulls away by design? The entire candle becomes a single wet spot, so no unsightly differences of texture. The down side to pull away is the seeping of molten wax into the gap on future burns. 

 

or a more opaque vessel? Frost, Amber, etc. might disguise it. Or even a larger label.

 

or... just embrace for what it is. 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

 

[Candle Rick]

Thanks for the suggestion @TallTayl! I had thought about either trying a pillar or votive blend to get full separation when frozen but I haven't tried it yet, I have no experience with anything other than container wax. My one concern would be the potential for the wax to crack in the cold, but I guess I won't know until I try.

 

Ideally I'd like to use up the glasses that I have but frosted glass seems like it may be the easiest solution so long as the spots aren't too noticeable through them.

 

I may put in an order for some new wax after a little more research, but for now, the testing continues!