calan Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 (edited) New to this candle making thing and have been doing a lot of experimenting, logging results, and lurking/reading here for the last 3 weeks or so. First of all, thanks to all of those that have posted so much useful info here for us newbs. Has anyone blended some 4630 with say, 20-30% GB444? I'm just now burning some 4630 test candles, and have been playing around with 444 and some ProBlend 600 this last week or two. The PB600 is nice, but I didn't ever get the scent throw I wanted. This 4630's HT is already phenomenal (wick testing at the moment with 8% FC "Coffee House" in little 4 oz straight jars)... but I'm wondering if a little of the 444 mixed in would clean it up and cool it down a little, without losing much HT. I've been playing around with CD, HTP, and premier wicks in the other waxes. Going off of that data, I started with a CD-12, HTP-83, and Premier 755. The CD-12 was a smokey torch as soon as I lit it; just cored it and replacing with a zinc 51-32-18 sample I have. The HTP-83 seems a little warm also, but gonna let it burn a while. The 755 seems just about right, but we'll see how it looks a little further into the glass. I also have some ProBlend 650 to try. I know it's a harder wax for tarts and votives, but I'm curious if it would work in containers as well. Just what I need...another project. So much stuff to test...so little time and money. Edited September 24, 2019 by calan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 I've played around with all kinds of blends. Specifically 4630 with various % of 464. Ultimately I didn't see any advantage to any of my blends over the various parasoys already on the market. Maybe your results will be different, but I wasn't able to produce anything worth doing do the extra work. It is always fun to experiment though. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calan Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 (edited) Thanks. I'm an engineer, so experimenting (sometimes way too much) is right up my alley. Read a lot of your posts on here...thanks for the helpful info. Edited September 24, 2019 by calan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calan Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 This cored and re-wicked 4630 test candle with the zinc 51 wick is burning really nice and clean so far. Hope it stays that way. The premier 755 also looks good, but the HTP-83 is mushrooming and a little smokey. I wish someone offered comfigurable sample packs of wicks. I end up with a gazillion different wicks that I'll never use, and not enough within the narrow window of what I need to play around with. Meh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 (edited) There are several wick types that I think work great with 4630....HTP, LX, zinc, paper core...and I'm probably forgetting some. Maybe just get sample packs of those and see if one makes you happy. I'm not familiar with your jar, but I'd think 51z is probably gonna end up being too large. 44-24z maybe or HTP 62...just guessing really. 4630 is easy to wick. You'll land on a good one quick enough, I'm sure. Edited September 25, 2019 by bfroberts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calan Posted September 25, 2019 Author Share Posted September 25, 2019 This is the jar I'm using: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam W Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 Calan: I use 4630 exclusively...after many years of experimenting with different waxes and wicks, for me the 4630 burns perfectly without any other waxes while using Eco wicks. If using 4630 alone and that particular container, I'd recommend that you try Eco 6....yeah, that's just another wick that you have to test!! But for me, it works. After testing many waxes and wicks, I find that I get a tremendous throw with 4630 and Eco wicks so why even try blending waxes except to spend more money?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calan Posted September 25, 2019 Author Share Posted September 25, 2019 Thanks Pam... those are about the only common wicks I haven't tried (and the LX). I'll order a sample pack and give them a try. Thanks much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 As a fellow engineer I’ll offer some advice. The first thing is your wax and FOs are all blended hydrocarbons, we are dealing with organic chemistry; so if, like me, you are not an expert in organic chemistry don’t try to understand it. Pick a wax and container and stick with it until you have that down pat. I would recommend you start with 4630 because any wax with soy requires curing. I find my HT is best with 4630 if I give it a week, but some FOs need a month or more in my soy blend. Now is the time to get your process down. If you start experimenting and your process isn’t fixed you can’t trust the results. I am a big proponent of blending. I read once that you only needed to stir the wax a few seconds and I ended up with a batch of candles with no HT. If you search this forum for Wick List you’ll find a thread with my wick list in it, it isn’t perfect, but it is a very useful tool. If you haven’t learned how to do a wickectomy do so. I find that wick size is more important than wick type; you will get a lot of different opinions on which type of wick works best in any given wax. Also I should warn you that your testing will sometimes yield anomalous results, if it looks wrong it probably is, and it probably wasn’t anything you did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted September 25, 2019 Share Posted September 25, 2019 16 hours ago, calan said: This is the jar I'm using: Oh, I was picturing a different jar with a smaller diameter. You might very well be able to get away with 51z with this jar. Let us know how it goes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calan Posted September 25, 2019 Author Share Posted September 25, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Forrest said: Quote As a fellow engineer I’ll offer some advice. The first thing is your wax and FOs are all blended hydrocarbons, we are dealing with organic chemistry; so if, like me, you are not an expert in organic chemistry don’t try to understand it. Pick a wax and container and stick with it until you have that down pat. I would recommend you start with 4630 because any wax with soy requires curing. I find my HT is best with 4630 if I give it a week, but some FOs need a month or more in my soy blend. Now is the time to get your process down. If you start experimenting and your process isn’t fixed you can’t trust the results. I am a big proponent of blending. I read once that you only needed to stir the wax a few seconds and I ended up with a batch of candles with no HT. If you search this forum for Wick List you’ll find a thread with my wick list in it, it isn’t perfect, but it is a very useful tool. If you haven’t learned how to do a wickectomy do so. I find that wick size is more important than wick type; you will get a lot of different opinions on which type of wick works best in any given wax. Also I should warn you that your testing will sometimes yield anomalous results, if it looks wrong it probably is, and it probably wasn’t anything you did. Thanks...I've read a bunch of your posts actually. Very helpful. I got into this hellish hobby (lol) because we have a bunch of empty store-bought candle jars laying around, and I figured I could grab a bag of cheap wax and a package of wicks off Amazon and refill them...which I did. (GB 444 and some EricX wicks). Long story short, me being me and wanting to learn "a little bit" about melting and pouring wax...I hit up Google, and down the rabbit hole I went. I now have 35 FO's, 4 different waxes, pots, kettles, bags and bags of wicks, my significant other is putting a home business plan together (she's delegated the candle stuff to me, and researching the bath and beauty products)...and my entire kitchen is now a mad scientist's labratory. I initially asked about blending these two because I have a bunch of the 444 left, and just can't see it making the type of candles I want. For now, I think I've settled on the 4630 for some max throwing tins (no worries about wet spots, etc), ProBlend 600 for glass jars (less HT but smooth and beautiful), and maybe ProBlend 650 for tarts (still have 5 lbs of it that I haven't tried yet). Right now I'm in wick-testing hell...recording everything in a spreadsheet and trying to figure out at least which "types" of wicks I like for what, while also slowly learning their up/down needs and quirkiness with different FO's. And, I am already a master at wickectomies. lol Edited September 25, 2019 by calan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted September 26, 2019 Share Posted September 26, 2019 17 hours ago, calan said: If I might make a recommendation based on painful experience, make candles with your 444 and put them away for several months. I made my Fall/Christmas candles using 6006 back in early June. I made my first candles with 464 and they had almost no HT, I eventually gave up and went to 6006, about a year later I found one of those first candles and it had the best HT of any candle I have ever burned. I would not use soy for a business because of the product is not consistent and you either have to buy large quantities or you may end up rewicking everything. Soy blends seem to be more stable, but there have been some minor issues with 6006. Good luck with the business! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxAlpha71xxx Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 On 9/24/2019 at 5:04 PM, calan said: (wick testing at the moment with 8% FC "Coffee House" in little 4 oz straight jars) That Coffee House is just awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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