Frosted candles..

[SherylSher]

Hello! Im just strating to make paraffin candles with silicone moulds and Im always getting frosted candles. 

I tried pouring at 135, 165, 155 and it doesnt make a difference.  What am I doing wrong? 

[bfroberts]

Sounds like mottling, which is probably characteristic for the wax you are using.  What wax is it?

[SherylSher]

18 minutes ago, bfroberts said:

Sounds like mottling, which is probably characteristic for the wax you are using.  What wax is it?

paraffin wax.. it happens with or without color, with or without scent..

 

[TallTayl]

Are you lubing the silicone molds? If the wax is sticking to the silicone it will have a less than smooth appearance. 

[bfroberts]

3 hours ago, SherylSher said:

paraffin wax.. it happens with or without color, with or without scent..

 

There are multiple types of paraffin.  Do you know what kind it is? Did you purchase from a supplier, a craft store, etc?  

[SherylSher]

3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Are you lubing the silicone molds? If the wax is sticking to the silicone it will have a less than smooth appearance. 

Never lubed them.. but they are not sticking to the silicone.. just coming out frosted.

43 minutes ago, bfroberts said:

There are multiple types of paraffin.  Do you know what kind it is? Did you purchase from a supplier, a craft store, etc?  

No idea unfortunately. Its a craft store just for candles. 

[bfroberts]

1 hour ago, SherylSher said:

Never lubed them.. but they are not sticking to the silicone.. just coming out frosted.

No idea unfortunately. Its a craft store just for candles. 

Sounds like you are probably using a straight paraffin, general purpose paraffin...  whichever, it's paraffin wax that "mottles" and is used to create a more rustic style pillar candle.  You would need a blended (meaning w/additives) paraffin such as IGI4625 to produce a candle with a smooth finish.

[TallTayl]

6 hours ago, SherylSher said:

Never lubed them.. but they are not sticking to the silicone.. just coming out frosted.

No idea unfortunately. Its a craft store just for candles. 

A picture might help us troubleshoot. Sometimes people use different terms to describe something than what we use.

[SherylSher]

7 hours ago, bfroberts said:

Sounds like you are probably using a straight paraffin, general purpose paraffin...  whichever, it's paraffin wax that "mottles" and is used to create a more rustic style pillar candle.  You would need a blended (meaning w/additives) paraffin such as IGI4625 to produce a candle with a smooth finish.

Thats the thing i saw so many people using this wax and nothing went wrong.. the whole process is going exactly like the tutorials ive seem until the point of the final product  

3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

A picture might help us troubleshoot. Sometimes people use different terms to describe something than what we use.

Some of them just look dry, or have lines, some of them are almost cover with white

[NightLight]

From those photos. It looks like type of paraffin wax, and also the dye you are using, and pour temp.

Pour temp you will get those lines.

I do some molded candles in silicone and never have issue with wax sticking.

 

Also you have to test burn those to make sure the wick is correct size for each candle. You do t need a torch nor do you want a candle that doesn’t burn.

 

Do you have a thermometer for candlemaking?

 

Also if you tell us what wax this is this will help. Not all waxes are equal.

[SherylSher]

12 minutes ago, NightLight said:

From those photos. It looks like type of paraffin wax, and also the dye you are using, and pour temp.

Pour temp you will get those lines.

I do some molded candles in silicone and never have issue with wax sticking.

 

Also you have to test burn those to make sure the wick is correct size for each candle. You do t need a torch nor do you want a candle that doesn’t burn.

 

Do you have a thermometer for candlemaking?

 

Also if you tell us what wax this is this will help. Not all waxes are equal.

As you can see from my other replies I know its paraffin wax and dont know what kind. I am using a thermometer and the dye is wax dye. I never said I had a problem with candles sticking to the silicone

Im just looking for a way to make them look normal right now.. 

[bfroberts]

@SherylSherThat's just what that type of paraffin wax does.  In the long run, it will be easier and more cost effective to just order the correct type of wax for your application.  I personally like IGI4625 for things like this.  It is a blended paraffin with a smooth, more opaque finish, easy to work with, and it is widely available at many online candle suppliers.  

[TallTayl]

The first pic looks like jump lines (all the parallel lines from bottom to top.) that is minimized by warming molds and/or pouring warmer.

[SherylSher]

1 hour ago, bfroberts said:

@SherylSherThat's just what that type of paraffin wax does.  In the long run, it will be easier and more cost effective to just order the correct type of wax for your application.  I personally like IGI4625 for things like this.  It is a blended paraffin with a smooth, more opaque finish, easy to work with, and it is widely available at many online candle suppliers.  

 Thank you ill try it! do you know of anything i can do with the left overs? I heard about adding stearin to paraffin to solve it, do you know anything about it?

53 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

The first pic looks like jump lines (all the parallel lines from bottom to top.) that is minimized by warming molds and/or pouring warmer.

Thank you! Its just this one with lines and not as white as the other so it’s weird..

[NightLight]

There are different types of pillar wax. Look at flaming candle.

leftovers not sure what you mean, you might be able to melt down and make into tarts. You would have to see how they work in melter.

Sometimes you just have to toss stuff into garbage! Fails happen many times.

Have you tested with wicks yet.

First get some test waxes, then you can test wick.

If you do not know what this wax is, personally would not go further with it, smae iwth wicks. if you do not know EXACTLY what you are working with its a waste of time.

[NightLight]

Also what kind of dyes, did I miss this was it liquid or solid.

[SherylSher]

7 hours ago, NightLight said:

There are different types of pillar wax. Look at flaming candle.

leftovers not sure what you mean, you might be able to melt down and make into tarts. You would have to see how they work in melter.

Sometimes you just have to toss stuff into garbage! Fails happen many times.

Have you tested with wicks yet.

First get some test waxes, then you can test wick.

If you do not know what this wax is, personally would not go further with it, smae iwth wicks. if you do not know EXACTLY what you are working with its a waste of time.

Ok so from a little research around the web Ive found that paraffin wax is like not good at all for silicone molds? Do you have any idea about what wax should I use? 

Im not sure what the type is the lady at the store told me "its from Germany and 7931 is the number its labeled". and the wicks are great (dont know what type ill have to look it up) they are not the problem at all, right now im just  testing the wax. 

7 hours ago, NightLight said:

Also what kind of dyes, did I miss this was it liquid or solid.

solid wax dyes, they are great. The same thing happend without using any color so its not that.. just the wax type. Ill try adding stearin today and maybe that could help 

[TallTayl]

Circling back to lubing the molds.  A spritz of a silicone release spray helps reduce surface tension between the mold and the wax. Surface tension creates weird textures.

[NightLight]

I use silicone molds and have not had any issues with release. Make sure you allow to cool your candles completely before trying to unmold this can cause issues. 

Silicone is fine for candles otherwise there would not be a million molds on the market.

 

Regarding dyes in some of the photos it looks like dye not dissolved enough. Make sure you heat and stir the dye in very well. Problems occur when wax is not hot enough for solid dye to really dissolve and incorporate into wax.

 

Again I would stop what you are doing. Order samples of other paraffin wax.  How much wax did you buy?

 

Go to Candlescience or Flaming Candle and search pillar wax and it will bring up the types.

[SherylSher]

3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Circling back to lubing the molds.  A spritz of a silicone release spray helps reduce surface tension between the mold and the wax. Surface tension creates weird textures.

Thank you Ill try it. 
 

1 hour ago, NightLight said:

I use silicone molds and have not had any issues with release. Make sure you allow to cool your candles completely before trying to unmold this can cause issues. 

Silicone is fine for candles otherwise there would not be a million molds on the market.

 

Regarding dyes in some of the photos it looks like dye not dissolved enough. Make sure you heat and stir the dye in very well. Problems occur when wax is not hot enough for solid dye to really dissolve and incorporate into wax.

 

Again I would stop what you are doing. Order samples of other paraffin wax.  How much wax did you buy?

 

Go to Candlescience or Flaming Candle and search pillar wax and it will bring up the types.

Thank you ill try getting a bunch of samples. I got like well.. 150 ounces.. mainly because thats what the store told me would work for me and ive got so many molds to try.

It wont go to waste, ill still make tarts too so its fine but i will try different paraffin