Candle Making

[Cokiki]

Hi! I'm new, very new in candle making. I've completed one batch of candles from soy 464 wax. I understand the wax isn't to frost if melting and adding fragrance in the right way. Well, my candle frosted and it has a few small holes in the surface. Any help on what I did wrong?

 

[TallTayl]

Welcome to the world of soy wax.  It will frost eventually, you just got there quicker.  Soy is hydrogenated soybean oil.  It dries out and reforms it’s Crystal structure for the entire life of the candle.  Any swings in temp will make those pesky grains form quicker.  
 

dyes and many fragrance oil components also contribute to the frost.
 

to prevent frosting (well, delay it as long as possible) it needs a support wax like paraffin, some kinds of coconut waxes or fine grained vegetable waxes like ceda cerica.

 

before people get all “my soy doesn’t frost”, pick out a well aged candle and dig out the wax.  It grains, and moreso over time as the wax dries. 

[Crafty1_AJ]

If you don't use dye, the appearance of frosting may be minimized.  White on white makes it less noticeable. 

 

The rough texture on top is fairly normal as well.  Wax expands when hot, then contracts as it cools.  Small pockets of trapped air near the surface contribute to the bubbly, uneven texture.  You can smooth that top out with a heat gun. 

 

Experiment with pouring temperatures to see what works for you.  I like to pour soy on the cool side, just before it sets up.  But I've also played with pouring hotter.  Be aware, however, that the speed of cooling can also be a factor; the ambient temps in the room where the candle is cooling will contribute to either faster or slower cooling.

 

Lastly, soy can be finicky batch to batch.  It's the nature of the beast.  Keep pressing on and experimenting!  I've been working with soy for a long time...it's do-able!  You just can't be a perfectionist in terms of frosting and weird tops, unless you like making yourself crazy.