Grace5810 Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 I am fairly new to making wax melts and every now and then I run into a little hiccup. I use Golden Brands 494 for my melts and heat them up to 180 then I add my color wait till 160 then add my fragrance then wait till 130 to pour. For the most part everything comes out great the first pour into the mold however after that it all goes pear shaped. At the moment I only own one silicone mold (11 cubbies) so after pouring the necessary amount the rest remains in the pouring cup, where it hardens and then has to get remelted (normally at 140) after the second time doing this I noticed that the wax refuses to fuse and harden. It has the same consistency of damp flour. The smell is still great and I can still put it in the warmer however I t just refuses to harden. My main question is, if it is because the remelting. Does it permanently mess with the soy's molecular structure? I have 6 molds coming in from amazon so my redundant method of production should become more efficient. Grace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 Sounds like the particular additives in that specialized wax need to hit that magic 180 number to properly disperse and then regroup into the harder molecular structure. Have you tried heating the wax without any additives to 140 Then pour at your Normal temp to see what it does? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace5810 Posted August 27, 2020 Author Share Posted August 27, 2020 By additives do you mean FO and color? If so I have not tried doing it that way. On the other hand if you mean additives in the sense of extra compounds to aid the wax then, I am not adding any to it. On an other note, I have been hesitant to reheat to 180 again and again because I do not want to loose potency. There has been a lot of debate from sources I have read which argues that this is not true however many say it could happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 I mean additives within the wax when it is manufactured. i would just reduce my batch size in your case to prevent the need to reheat scented and colored wax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace5810 Posted September 3, 2020 Author Share Posted September 3, 2020 I am updating this topic for anyone who may come across it later. After receiving the six molds from amazon I proceed to create a batch to test my ongoing theory. I heated the wax to 185 added the color chips then let it cool to 165 and added the fragrance. After having it cool down to about 135 I poured all 300g at once into my molds and two hours later they were perfect! I tried again with 5 different scent and color combinations (each time following the same procedure) and each time the wax hardened and was quite smooth. On a side note, Once or twice I used my heat gun to smooth any uneven tops which actually made the wax melts much more grainy on the outside (the inside still being quite solid.) So, my advice is to avoid using the heat gun on wax melts as it heats up the first layer of wax around the melt at a temperature lower then 180 and gives them a weird surface texture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 On 9/3/2020 at 11:23 AM, Grace5810 said: On a side note, Once or twice I used my heat gun to smooth any uneven tops which actually made the wax melts much more grainy on the outside (the inside still being quite solid.) So, my advice is to avoid using the heat gun on wax melts as it heats up the first layer of wax around the melt at a temperature lower then 180 and gives them a weird surface texture. Glad you are having success now with your melts. RE the heat gunning the tops it does not necessarily ruin or change all wax types. For example I use palm and occasionally heat gun the tops of my candles or my melts and it hardens up without leaving a soft or grainy or textured surface. However, with heat gunning palm tops you can lose the crystal pattern in part or full but it still hardens to a smooth top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace5810 Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 13 hours ago, Candybee said: Glad you are having success now with your melts. RE the heat gunning the tops it does not necessarily ruin or change all wax types. For example I use palm and occasionally heat gun the tops of my candles or my melts and it hardens up without leaving a soft or grainy or textured surface. However, with heat gunning palm tops you can lose the crystal pattern in part or full but it still hardens to a smooth top. Thanks for sharing. I have not strayed from soy wax so I am unfamiliar with how a heat gun would interact with other types of wax. I use GB 494 so my comment only applied towards that. Since posting my original post I found my statement to hold true in my makings so now I try and refrain from using the heat gun on my tops. If I have an issue I wait for it to completely harden and then remelt the messed up peices or flakes to 180 degrees and then repour. As far as the functionality of this process, I find that it works well and does not effect the scent quality ( I use 10 percent). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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