Help with C1 Blend. Any info?

[Dominicanaaa]

Hi Everyone!

 

With the shortages in the more popular waxes, I stopped using Coconut Apricot and Coconut 83 wax. I love the 83 but it is so difficult to source now, and the melt-point is really low. I wanted to try blending something that would not melt in the summer, and give me great hot/cold throw. So I've been experimenting with Nature-wax C1 with 25% paraffin added. I've had some success with this blend, however in my final tests before I was considering switching to this blend fully, I discovered this morning that one of my test candles with a hairline crack throughout the wax that was not there 18 hours prior. I also noticed after burning for a while, it cracks at cooling. Any way to remedy this? Does anyone have insight on C1 wax, I can't find much information on it but I was attracted to the palm soy blend, trying to stay as natural as possible after using coconut for so many years.

 

I'm not use to using soy either, so perhaps this is normal, but before I decide to put more time into this blend, any insight on performance and if this is something I should be concerned with - or is this an easy fix - is much appreciated.

 

I've attached an image of the test candle that cracked for reference. It was heated to 215, and I poured my fragrance at around 200 degrees. 8% Fragrance load. The ambient temp is around 75-80 F in the house due to a heatwave (we hit 90 yesterday). It was cooled near a window.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Dominicanaaa

[TallTayl]

I had similar issues with c1 with some added waxes. Some paraffin blends are too brittle when mixed with c1. The adhesion to the container was stronger than the bond between the developing wax crystals. Drove me crazy.

 

c1, in my years with it, was a nice wax, but not immune to lot variations that were super frustrating. It is supposed to be 80% soy, 20% palm. Not sure which fraction of palm - all of the different palm waxes have very different characteristics. The variances may have been simply due to the factory using different palm waxes, such as 5801, 5301, etc.  or maybe more palm in some batches than others. Who knows?

 

my most reliable c1 blend used 20% midwest soy to smooth out the palm inconsistencies and 5% coco83 treated as an additive to keep the soy and palm crystals more “lubricated”, for lack of a better description.

80% c1

20% midwest soy

5% coco83

 

Soy wax dries out with time.  Palm wax can feel very dry. The coconut 83 that I had tons of helped a lot.

 

c1 is finicky to pour too.  It can develop nasty cavities, can crack, and can frost with the best of them.  The coco83 helped “some”, along with pouring when the wax in the pitcher was around 105*F.  It slowed production down during peak season, but with enough fans and pouring pots I would finish 300 8oz tins in a session (from empty to covered and labeled) in a couple of hours. 
 

you may like C3 with paraffin.  It was a wonderful waIn its day too. 

[Dominicanaaa]

@TallTayl Thank you so much for this insight, this is so helpful and helps with my decision for this wax. It does seem like it has nice qualities especially with throw but I can see where it has inconsistencies and some of the worst parts of soy it seems like! I have stayed away from soy just because I've heard what a learning curve it has, and with my current stockists for my shop looking for consistent candle performance, I'm trying to find something reliable. I will try the C3 with Paraffin for sure, I've tried all of the C-series except C3 so far so this is something to take back to the drawing board. Also if you know any tips for Coco83, I would love your insight!

 

Thank you again for your help! 

[TallTayl]

13 hours ago, Dominicanaaa said:

@TallTayl Thank you so much for this insight, this is so helpful and helps with my decision for this wax. It does seem like it has nice qualities especially with throw but I can see where it has inconsistencies and some of the worst parts of soy it seems like! I have stayed away from soy just because I've heard what a learning curve it has, and with my current stockists for my shop looking for consistent candle performance, I'm trying to find something reliable. I will try the C3 with Paraffin for sure, I've tried all of the C-series except C3 so far so this is something to take back to the drawing board. Also if you know any tips for Coco83, I would love your insight!

 

Thank you again for your help! 

I think the learning curves for all waxes are similar, it’s just that soy takes longer to get to the end result.  You just get to make mistakes faster with paraffin… 😂

 

Coco83 has become so inconsistent any advice o offer would be limited to the case lots I have on hand at the moment. 😢 in general, I don’t like coco83 as a stand alone wax. It has done well for me as a main component wax blended with 25-30% of either soy (C3, c1, midwest soy) or 25-30% palm (5301-A, 5601, 5801). ALL of the blends wick differently depending on the soy or palm. I prefer 5301 palm in narrower jars and C3 in wider tins. CDN wicks usually get the job done. 
 

the February lot of coco83 was so bizarre and different I threw midwest soy into it for a particular fragrance and container and it worked fine at a 5050 blend. That usually never happens. The FO could handle the blend and I was able to wick it safely. Midwest soy can be a nice wax and additive, you just need to be extremely patient as it does not complete its cure for many many weeks/months. In this case the Midwest soy weaknesses made up for the coco83 weaknesses and Vice Versa. 

 

I used C3 for several years and liked it well enough.  It changed on me and threw my wicking off back around 2016/2017. It got very hard to burn. I used to love cdn10 in tins and never once had a problem before the changes.  After the changes I could barely get a decent burn and throw with cd18 in the same container with the same exact FO. That’s when I panicked and tried c1, liking it enough to stick with it. 
 

c3 has been super stable in hot humid conditions, which was great for my outdoor markets. It dries out over time, turning grainy and gets harder to burn, like all other soy.  Paraffin and coconut waxes as additives often help solve that.