Please Help Me Diagnose This Candle Problem

[KatieN]

Hi!  I poured a batch of candles this past weekend.  I use Flaming Candle's Problend 600 wax, which is 52% soy and 48% paraffin.  I washed, dried, and heated my jars in a low oven.  I poured my wax at about 160F, which is what the recommended pouring temp is for that wax.  The candles set up in a room that stayed between 72-74 F overnight.  I woke up to find most all of them looking like the candles in the photos I have attached.  I'm not sure if it's frosting or an adhesion issue.  What do you guys think?  I tried to get rid of it with the heat gun.  It goes away, but comes right back, sometimes just as bad as before.  Typically, regular old wet spots don't do that.  I can't figure out what this is and why it's forming on my jars.  This is the first time I've ever had this problem be this significant.  I do sometimes get small patchy areas here and there that resemble this, but nothing this major all over the entire jar.

 

My questions are:

 

1)  What do you think this is?

2)  How do I avoid it?

3)  How can I fix it in my current candles?

 

Thanks so much for your help!!

[NightLight]

Coloring soy candles!  What kind of colorant? Possible you did not let whatever incorporate into the wax enough, and or the wax because of the soy doesn’t handle colorant and it frosts when cools. Also cold weather could contribute. Dig out the wax, reheat and pour and see what happens. Check room temp.make sure it is warm when cooling. Try another color with that wax and see what happens, maybe the colorant.

[TallTayl]

Frosting with soy is a nightmare. Heating the surface only makes them worse.  They are caused by different sized grains forming as the wax cools.  When heat gunning a finished candle to melt the existing candle, the thin layer of melted wax cools at different rates since the inner candle is already cold.

if using dye chips, the base is often stearic acid, which also grains/frosts and can cause more noticeable grains i soy. 

there’s not a solution for candles already this far into frost. I’d stick a big label on them, or paint fros paint on the jars.

 

you could dig out the wax and start again, melting very gently then repour. It will take more time and burn off some scent than those maybe worth. For the learning experience you could try one and see. 
 

in the future, what many old pro soy users learned is to pour very cool. Our wax is cloudy and sometimes at the slushy stage as it is poured. I don’t heat jars as it seems to prolong the long cool down that creates crystals/frost. 

[KatieN]

Thanks for the info!  But the wax is NOT 100% SOY.  It's a parasoy blend.  It's called Problend 600, and I get it from Flaming Candle.  The blend ratio is 52% soy and 48% paraffin.  I don't think it's a color issue because it happened to my plain white candles as well.  I've uploaded a picture of a white one for you to take a look at since it contains no dye.  The batches I'm pouring lately look weird, and I'm not sure if this is frosting or an adhesion issue.  I'm doing everything right with my pouring temps.  Is it just the season?  How do you remedy this issue?  Should I also pour parasoy at a lower than recommended temperature, like you do 100% soy?

Edited February 4, 2021 by KatieN
Added Info

[TallTayl]

19 minutes ago, KatieN said:

Thanks for the info!  But the wax is NOT 100% SOY.  It's a parasoy blend.  It's called Problend 600, and I get it from Flaming Candle.  The blend ratio is 52% soy and 48% paraffin.  I don't think it's a color issue because it happened to my plain white candles as well.  I've uploaded a picture of a white one for you to take a look at since it contains no dye.  The batches I'm pouring lately look weird, and I'm not sure if this is frosting or an adhesion issue.  I'm doing everything right with my pouring temps.  Is it just the season?  How do you remedy this issue?  Should I also pour parasoy at a lower than recommended temperature, like you do 100% soy?

Frosting like that with parasoy blends is still a function of the soy, unfortunately. I treat parasoy (and palm soy like C1) the same as “pure” soy blends for that exact reason.  Once a crystal formation begins it is a chain reaction that is not easy to stop. 
 

many paraffin complaints have surfaced recently in addition to the already crazy soy. We are in a perfect storm of supply chain nightmare which is making our candle businesses harder and harder to enjoy.