The state of 4627 in mid-2022

[BenderSF]

Anyone purchase 4627 recently?  If so, how is it these days?  I need to get some more paraffin soon, but my last batch of 4627 (September 2020) wasn't great.  Not terrible, but not great.  There were a few posts here in 2021 that sounded like it was getting even worse.  With wax changing so quickly I'm wondering if maybe it's better now.

 

I'm just a hobbyist, so a 23-lb box lasts a really long time, and I'm not sure I want to risk getting another sub-par (or worse) batch.  Although I guess everything is more or less a crap shoot these days...  😆  😢

[ErronB]

I got some from Aztec not that long ago and it’s crap, you gotta add the FO around 190 so it has better hot throw, and it’s still nowhere near as good as the lot I had before from Candlescience, that was great HT. This lot makes the wicks drown with some of my scents it’s just crap. 

[BenderSF]

Thanks @ErronB.  That's what I was afraid of.  I'll probably order something in the next couple weeks.  Not sure if I'll try some more 4627 or something else.  Depends on how lucky I feel that day...

[Darbla]

Gosh, I hate to hear this.  That had been my favorite wax for yeeeeeears.  I might run out of the last of my stock when I start making holiday candles, so now I'm worried about that.  😟  Might be time to let candle-making go and stick with tarts......

[ErronB]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:06 PM, Darbla said:

Gosh, I hate to hear this.  That had been my favorite wax for yeeeeeears.  I might run out of the last of my stock when I start making holiday candles, so now I'm worried about that.  😟  Might be time to let candle-making go and stick with tarts......

That’s exactly what we are doing, tired of the crap candle wax. I loved 4627 too, the hot throw used to be so immense. Could literally blow out a decent sized room with a tin candle.

[BenderSF]

This is a long and rambling post.  tl;dr: I tried it, and I'm happy so far.

 

The ramble:

 

Well, I made the leap of faith and got a 23-lb batch from Aztec.  Initial impressions are good.

 

I haven't done comprehensive testing, just a quick test so far.  Ideally I would make a candle of something that threw well in the "good" 4627 but not in the "not-as-good" stuff, but I don't have enough of those original oils or candles left.  For reference, my experience with "good" 4627 is 2 25-lb batches from 2018 and 2019.  My last batch was from Sept 2020, which is useable but doesn't throw anywhere near as well as the earlier stuff.

 

I made two small scented/dyed testers and one unscented/undyed.  Observations:

• Out of the bag, it's definitely softer than any of my previous batches.  Still vaseline-like, but softer.  Still sticky, but less sticky than the 2020 batch.
• When melting, it released a ton of tiny air bubbles, but they had dissipated by the time it reached 190 degrees.
• When melting, stirring and pouring it looks and feels pretty much the same as previous batches.  No strong odor, clear but with a slight yellow-ish tint.
• It cooled beautifully, nice smooth surface, semi-matte finish.
• Two testers took solid dye blocks very well (I don't use much dye, just enough to give it a little color.)
• An unscented and undyed tester turned out noticeably whiter than any of my previous batches.  It's still slightly translucent, but noticeably whiter.

I've been burning one scented and one unscented tester for the last four hours.  They're both burning great: nice steady flames, no flickering or dancing, no noticeable smoke or soot, perfect size for the containers.  4627 has never been my favorite to use straight, but these are both burning better than any of my previous straight 4627 candles.  (But, these are also not in challenging containers.  Paraffin in 2 oz tins with LX 12 or 4 oz tins with LX 14 almost always works well for me.)   The scented one is throwing incredibly well, and the unscented one is not throwing any bad/chemical scent.

 

So, still early days obviously, but so far I'm really happy with it.  And man, it's nice to finally smell Indiana's Cinnamon Dolce Latte in all its glory again.

[SRez]

I too am trying 2 different lots of 4627.  One from last Spring / Summer (2021) and one from this Spring / Summer. 

 

Right off the bat there is a noticeable difference in appearance and feel.

 

I should mention that I only used the batch from last year to play with blending so I don’t really have anything to gauge as far as how 4627 “used to be / should be”. 

 

So with that being said... I then made a couple of 4627 candles with Frosted Juniper from CS @ 6% in 9oz straight sided jars and burned after 7 days or so of curing.  I did not get that “in your face” like everyone mentions.  Which is why I’m now comparing these 2 different lots.  I tried LX 12, 14, 16 and HTP 83 and going to try HTP 73 for the fun of it.

 

Anyway… here goes..

The old batch from last year has that Vaseline look and feel to it… sticky, messy etc.

The new batch from this year is more like Crisco… white, harder and less sticky.  I literally scooped it out with gloves with not much sticking to the gloves. 

I made 4 testers… 2 scented and 2 unscented. 

1 old batch unscented

1 new batch unscented

1 old batch with Mac Apple from CS @ 6%.

1 new batch with Mac Apple from CS @ 6%.

Using 9oz straight sided jars.  7 ounces of wax for each jar. 

Double boiler method.  Melting it down there was a noticeable difference as well. 

The old batch was fully melted with no intervention (stirring) at 196F.

The new batch was fully melted also with no intervention (stirring) at 206F.

Both batches I let sit for about 2 minutes or so around 195F.

 

I used a digital thermometer with probe for the temps.  Compared with another thermometer for accuracy and got the same readings.

  

 

 

Added FO at 188F for both batches.

 

 

I poured the old batch at around 165F.

 

The new batch at 165F was clouding up and some residue was left in the pouring pot.  I then warmed it back up to around 175 to melt the remaining wax inside the pot.  I poured this one around 167ish. 

 

I’m going to wait 5 days or so before I test burn them unless others recommend less or more days.

 

I’ll report my finding after that.  Hopefully both batches work well and give that super strong throw and maybe the Frosted Juniper that I used just wasn’t working in this wax.  

A boy can dream… right?