Heat temps - HELP

[lisamrtr]

I am hoping someone with much more candle making experience than me can help shed some light because I truly feel at a loss after months of testing with so many uncertainties and no firm answers. 

 

I have just recently gotten Freedom Wax because i was liking the looks of my GB464 but had read numerous reviews that it is just extremely inconsistent so I figured Freedom is the closest thing with consistent reviews. Their instructions are to heat wax to 160 - i had previously been heating my GB464 to 180, so thought i would switch the temp to try. I poured one of each scent i am working with and on test lighting them today, unfortunately learned that the wick was too small. I decided to pour numerous candles with all the wicks i have which obviously created a much bigger batch. Due to the increase in wax, it was not fully melted at 160 and I had to heat it to 180 to get it all melted. Now i am feeling that the ones I poured at 160 are going to be irrelevant since I plan to only pour in larger batches. The supplier i get my wax and oils from had said temperature doesn't matter too much and she usually just gives it an additional minute after it's fully melted.

 

How true is this?? Any information will be a huge help i really feel at a loss right now and don't even know how to continue testing with so many variables.

[TallTayl]

Welcome.  I feel your pain. 
the ONE most important thing with candle making is consistency. Consistent heat temps.  Consistent pour temps. Consistent measurements. 
 

I am not sure how your wax wax not fully melted at 160. The melt point of freedom wax is much lower than 160.  When heating wax it is important to stir while heating to distribute the heat and blend as evenly as possible. Stir frequently with small batches especially since they can get overheated in the blink of an eye. 
 

to swap out your wicks, you can do a “wickectomy”. this way you can continue to test without having to chip out wax, remelt and pour. 
 

 

I am in the process of a wick and wax test with freedom soy.  Stay tuned. 

[lisamrtr]

That video is awesome i wish i had come across it much sooner! I was swapping out wicks into unscented wax to see which one performed best and then learned the hard way that 1) the flame acts different as it gets lower into the container and 2) the whole thing performs different when you add in fragrance anyways!

 

I'm interested to hear your findings of wicks for freedom soy. I will do my best to patiently wait the 2 weeks to cure now that all scents have been made with multiple wicks

[Marisa11]

@TallTayl I have been meaning to search this on the forum because I saw the term on a few posts. Thank you for re-posting this! Genius!

 

 

[lisamrtr]

@TallTayl How is your testing with Freedom coming along? Are you finding a decent scent throw with it and what temps have you been heating/adding FO at? 

I am just lighting mine after waiting a few weeks and am finding some fragrances not as strong as i would like but some being ok. 

 

 

On 7/21/2020 at 3:43 PM, TallTayl said:

Welcome.  I feel your pain. 
the ONE most important thing with candle making is consistency. Consistent heat temps.  Consistent pour temps. Consistent measurements. 
 

I am not sure how your wax wax not fully melted at 160. The melt point of freedom wax is much lower than 160.  When heating wax it is important to stir while heating to distribute the heat and blend as evenly as possible. Stir frequently with small batches especially since they can get overheated in the blink of an eye. 
 

to swap out your wicks, you can do a “wickectomy”. this way you can continue to test without having to chip out wax, remelt and pour. 
 

 

I am in the process of a wick and wax test with freedom soy.  Stay tuned.