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Sinkholes in candles


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Hello and welcome.

soy and soy blends are famous for sink holes/hidden cavities.  Often they can be eliminated or minimized by reducing the temperature you pour the wax.  Much depends on the specific brand and type of soy wax you are using.

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Some waxes do create sink holes and require a 2nd pour.  You don't need to wait any specific length of time between adding the FO and pouring as long as you've stirred the wax mixture sufficiently.  I don't do soy waxes but assume that if you end up with sink holes, that you can level out the top of the candle with a heat gun like I do with my paraffin candles.

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On 1/10/2021 at 12:54 AM, Eirini katselou said:

Thank you....

I add fragrance in wax in 55 celcium and in 50 celsium degrees I pour it.

How long I must wait from adding my frangrance until pouring?

 

 

 

Typically we stir for a minute or two with a tool that really moves the contents of the pot around thoroughly yet gently to not introduce air bubbles. A spatula creates more movement than a chop stick, for instance.  

 

From there, each soy wax has its sweet spot for pouting to prevent cavities. Every wax expands when heated, and contracts when cooling.  The cavities result from the top of the candle cooling before the middle.  The air is drawn down around the wick as it the path of least resistance.

 

Soy wax is quite brittle and you often see mini cracks around the wick when the shrink occurred.  

 

Some soy is forgiving about heat gunning, others are terrible about it. Heat gunning some soy (like 444, c1, etc) can cause frosting, additional cracking and weird marbelized swirling as the priming wax from the wick heats and mixes with the soy wax. I dropped 444 like a hot potato when filling cavities took several (up to 5 repours) to fill. The cavities created new cavities, and more wax went in than I though possible.  It was like a TARDIS inside the container.

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All of those are cooling issues. Cavities around the wick are where the top cooled and solidified before the middle was cooled. Wax expands when heated and contracts when cool. Even cooling is what you need to prevent holes under the surface. Sometimes no matter what you do a heat gunning or second pour is required. 

 

the clothespin surface one is related to heat trapped under the insulating wood. The slower the soy wax cools the larger the grains of soy. 
 

to get smooth, shiny soy heat enough to ensure all of the components of the wax blend are nice and fluid. Cool quickly and evenly. Or use additives that do that work for you like paraffin or micro waxes or polymers.

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56 minutes ago, Eirini katselou said:

Do you have also an opinion about fragrance in soy candles?

I put 70 ml  of fragrance in 1 kg of wax but the smell is not so strong.Why?

Hello! I did the math in a reply to your other thread that the fragrance load using your measurements is about 6%. This is typical for soy wax as a starting point for typical candle fragrance.  An awful lot is dependent on the wax, wick, fo and jar balance with the wick. It all needs to hit a temperature, fuel and air current balance to produce hot throw. 
 

I would experiment with wick sizes, wick manufacturers and increased fragrance in different steps to see if you an achieve the hot throw you want. 

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