Fragrance oil sinking when re-melted

[Elle Farrelly]

Hello! Newbie question alert: 

I’m having wicking & HT issues, so I remelted a candle in a double boiler to repour into a same sized vessel with a larger wick size. When the wax had melted I could see some of the FO had separated and had sunk to the bottom (I used a blend of 3 different oils). I’m assuming this shouldn’t happen, as I’ve never seen it in store-bought candles or wax melts. Did I do something wrong when making the original candle, and could this be why I’m having HT issues?

 

Wax: 90% Soy 10/10% MP117
FO 9% load
Heated to 200
Added FO immediately
Stirred for 2 mins
Poured immediately (all per manufacturers instructions)

 

Thanks in advance 🙏🏻

[TallTayl]

To swap wicks it’s super easy to pull with a pair of pliers and stuff a new wick in to continue testing. Or, if you like a tab, do a “wickectomy”. 
 

 

remelting a completed candle is tricky since you need to get all of the components back to the original melted homogenous state and cool at a rate that lets it all set up properly.  

[Elle Farrelly]

Wow, this is brilliant! Thanks! I immediately didn’t like wickless testing because of all the leaning, so this is a great trick to know

[olivebaneweb]

Congrats on trying your hand at candle-making! From what you're describing, it sounds like the fragrance oils may not have mixed well enough with the wax before you poured it into the original vessel, which could be why you're experiencing wicking and HT issues. It's not uncommon for fragrance oils to separate or sink to the bottom, especially if they're heavier than the wax. To prevent this, try stirring the fragrance oils into the melted wax for a bit longer before pouring it into the vessel. And don't worry, it's all a learning process, so keep experimenting and have fun with it!

[birdcharm]

On 4/16/2023 at 9:41 PM, Elle Farrelly said:

... Heated to 200

Added FO immediately
Stirred for 2 mins
Poured immediately (all per manufacturers instructions)

 

 

 

What brand/type of soy wax are you using?  I know with some waxes, some people pour at 150dF, but with others, it's quite a bit lower than that and the melting pot gets another quick stir just prior to pouring. I'm under the impression soy wax can discolor somewhere over 185dF or so.  Sometimes I think the manufacturers guidelines versus how crafters have figured out how to use the products differ greatly!

[Elle Farrelly]

Thank you so much for these replies. I appreciate the insight and the encouragement

For reference I’m using Soy 10 but will definitely play around with heating and pouring temps 🙏🏻