Some of the FO didn’t dissolve thoroughly

[Mithco]

Hello everyone, I’m new to candle making and a couple weeks ago I poured a batch of soy candles. After adding FO and stirring as needed until I poured I noticed this  oil like bubbles at the bottom. All the candles came out fine but I’m noticing a weaker hot throw. It was hive and honey caramel apple crisp at 6% , millennium soy. The last candle I poured was a mess, cottage cheese top. I guess that’s where all the excess FO ended up.  I heated to 160 added fragrance oil at 150 as I have the last few times. But this is a new problem. Any thoughts folks. Thanks in advance. 

[BenderSF]

I haven't seen it too often but I know what you mean.  Every once in a while I will run across an oil that just 100% refuses to dissolve.  I never really figured out how to solve the problem.  I've had _some_ luck with extra stirring, and/or adding the oil at a higher wax temp, and/or trying a different wax blend.  In the end I never really felt comfortable using any of those candles.  I was always afraid that the oil would end up pooling at the bottom of the candle, so I ended up using those oils in melts instead of candles.

 

Hopefully someone else here will offer some good advice.

 

2 hours ago, Mithco said:

The last candle I poured was a mess, cottage cheese top. I guess that’s where all the excess FO ended up.

That sounds like it might just be soy being soy, not necessarily related to the oil problem.  I've never used millennium, but a lot of people recommend pouring soy very cool, some soys work well when poured hot, but it depends on a lot of factors like the the size and shape of your container, ambient temperatures, etc.  If you haven't already, you might want to try making a batch of 4-6 candles and pour them at different temperatures to find the sweet spot.

[birdcharm]

5 hours ago, Mithco said:

... I heated to 160 added fragrance oil at 150 as I have the last few times. But this is a new problem. Any thoughts folks. Thanks in advance. 

 

I don't use your wax, but it seems that the wax should be raised to a higher temperature and the scent should be added at about 20 degrees or so higher than 150dF, that's pretty low a temperature, imo, for adding fragrance oil.

[TallTayl]

Generally retail wax blends need to be heated more to fully melt and remix the base ingredients. you need to heat the wax initially to the temp of the highest melt point additive in the blend. Millennium is close to 464 which recommended 180 last I looked. Things may have changed though. 
 

adding the fo drops the overall temp enough to start the crystallization of some lower melt and congeal point additives in the wax. The combo of too low to start with and drop temp when you added the do may be the culprit. 
 

some fragrances need more heat to fully blend. I remember a candy corn that just would not blend until it hit close to 200. 
 

 

[Mithco]

Thanks everyone. Millennium instructions are heat to 160 add fragrance oil at 130 pour at 110. 

[TallTayl]

I tried it their way with their wax and it honestly didn’t work for me. I heat higher. Let it cool back to 160 or so before adding FO and it usually fixes my problems. When I followed their instructions, I could literally shove my finger through and it looked like cream of wheat.

[birdcharm]

It seems that there have been other instances in the past with other waxes in which crafters have found their own temperatures that work well, rather than the manufacturer's suggested temperatures -- sometimes I wonder how much they really test these things out before advising.  Maybe it's okay to add oil at a lower temperature for this wax, but I can't help but wonder what makes it so different than other waxes in which the oil should be added at a higher temperature.  And, here we have someone who has met things half way (not as low as advised, not as high as the usual), and it didn't work out.  I don't really think I'd go lower, I think I'd go higher, since usually heat is what dissolves ingredients.

[NightLight]

You need to add higher temp for incorporation into wax.

Also make sure your containers are super dry. I have had issue making oil products and forgot to dry and then you get bubbles.