Vybar...Universal Soy Wax Additives, Stearic Acid....OH MY!

[wild4waxmelts]

Hi All! Hope everyone is surviving 2020 as best as we possibly can.

 

Vybar....What the actual heck is it?

I've read all about it, how it evolved....I find more "types" and "forms" of Vybar the more I Google it, which leads to my next sentence:

I know 99% of everyone (including myself LOL) will think, "Just Google it!" and I have and I feel like I end up right back here!

I understand that it's *supposed* to extend the hot throw is candle making. I don't make candles.

You see: I make NOTHING! Some would debate that because my house looks like a wax melt factory; I hoard them.

 

I buy wax melts in bulk when I find scents I love and, more so, can tolerate. I buy newly-released retaill wax melts when I hear the rumor mills churning, even scents not in my genre! I like to know what's out there so when people in the wax melts groups discuss them. I've also reviewed some retail wax melts a retailer that sells via Walmart.

 

SO: why my interest in FO's, Vybar, etc? I have an array of autoimmune diseases with the main being Lupus. My sense of smell is like a two-year old stuck, forever, in the terrible. I literally hoard clams of a scent I love.....and then since a few weeks before COVID-19 hit, my Lupus raged into  HUGE flareup. I won't get into what that means other than that for the first time ever, some of my long-time retail (hoarded) scents either smelled way, way, way too weak, or way, way way too strong. Some I couldn't melt at all. I tried blending. and ended up finding myself tossing bags of full clams of wax melts.

 

Someone suggested getting the oils (if I could figure them out) for my faves, and make them throw longer and harder. That works like a miracle with the scents I figured out. Then I found that mixing/blending existing melts with oils was MUCH easier to test out and much more successful. I've even created my own "recipes" LOL. But still: I seems to smell them way less than others because when people come over I need to cut back to melting my wax melts "normally" LOL for lack of a better term.

 

So in summary: I have about 40 wax melt warmers, all types. I'm in the process of "dehoarding" some of the wax melts that I will NEVER get through. When I first discovered wax melts.....WOW...just TWO YEARS AGO!!!!....I was in Aldi, saw these candybar-looking things.....and the warmers.....bought TWO warmers and 2 of the four scents Aldi released (They always release 4 scents at a time and they used to be the "Triple Pours" which was like trying three scents for the price of one clam which were like $1.49/2.5 oz and they were the 12-cube type!). I went home, googled it...and the rest is history. The woman who did the review I happened to click on is now my "BFF" for real! We talk every week at least once, and recently had a 7.5 hour call followed by a 7 hour call!! We're co-admins of the two wax melt groups on FB (well: there was only one group back then....for RETAIL ONLY!!! LOL Wax Melts ONLY!!! No Candles, no vendor, etc....and it truly has been life-changing on my levels.  So all that said: I pose no competition to anyone in this great CraftServer Community.....I love, love wax is what it boils down to. I'm obsessed!!! But for my purposes thus far: I've joined to learn about FOs, and the seemingly completely unconventional use of buying them to "soup up new recipes" that I can smell, and tolerate (I forgot to mention that since the Lupus has flared up, certain scents are 100% intolerable as I suffer from wicked headaches 24/7/365......without adding scents to the mix.  I have a wealth of knowledge about wax melts: nearly every brand out there (retail) is in my home now LOL) so if anyone wants scent notes or my opinion of, say, "ABC's Brand of Blueberry Cheesecake" throwing better by adding "ZXY-scented FO", etc....feel free to message me or find me on FB. I don't know if I am permitted to loist the groups but the RETAIL ONLY wax Melt group is fairly easy to find! The 2nd group is very new, very "controversial" IMHO, and was started May 2020! It's for everything scented: Vendor, Candles, Sprays, oils, plugins, etc. Addmittedly: the last 8 weeks I was almost too sick to participate in life....but I started Chemo on Wednesday, Oct. 7th and I'me hoping that will be a "New beginning" date for me!!! So...what the heck is Vybar....LOLOLOL!!!!

 

Thanks to all for listening. I rambled and I'm stating that I did NOT proofread this before hitting enter!

 

Stay safe! Healthy! Scented!

    -Karen "wild4waxmelts"

[TallTayl]

In your case I would skip the wax and just get fragrance oils and warm them on your warmers in salt. Couple tablespoons of any salt and a few drops of your favorite oils will often throw stronger longer and more true than in a wax.

 

To answer your question about vybar, in simple terms think about vybar as a glue. A little bit can help hold together your wax and your fragrance. Too much and everything is stuck together permanently.

 A visual for you if you’re a crafter: imagine you have a Paper card that you want to stick some glitter to. But you want that glitter to be able to fly out when a person opens the card.  A little vybar glue can help stick some pretty glitter (fo)  to the paper (wax) temporarily. A lot of glue like gorilla glue you can put a lot of glitter on that paper but it’s never coming off. There’s a fine balance between too little and too much. Most candle wax already have some sort of additive like that in it so adding more doesn’t improve anything. You’re just glueing more fragrance into your wax.

 

[Kerven]

Can relate to the melts collecting and I don't even use them often. Had to stop when I had two shoe boxes stuffed with them. It's hard resisting the temptation when passing by a huge bin of seasonal scents. And then, I save and never use the ones I really, really like because I hope to at some point use them for comparison while hunting for a matching FO... but that never happens. I've got a couple I've been holding on to for nearly 5 years and haven't found a match for. Sedona Cilantro Avocado and Essenza Olive Avocado, why do you evade me in FO form?

 

@TallTayl's description of vybar is better than I can do. I'll add that vybar is a synthetic polymer. I suppose, in this context, it could be compared to a plastic but that's not a very accurate comparison. Polymers can range from materials like polystyrene to the protein in your steak. It's synthetic, nonetheless.

 

The problem with blending retail products with waxes and additives is that what may already be present in the product could interfere with or be disrupted by anything added. Manufacturers will use an array of additives from GMS, Vybar/polymers, silicones, various microcrystalline waxes, various petroleum products, SMS, and a bajillion other things. Since melts aren't for burning, the selection of potential additives goes through the roof; there's no worry about burn performance, only throw and mold release. The primary goal is to boost and prolong the throw. I mention additives because the majority of retail melts are made with baseline, cheap paraffin and low cost fragrances. The additives make the difference and allow them to shine. Otherwise, they'd cost a lot more than $1-3 from the bin.