Palm Wax won't release

[Mei-Mei]

Working with Greenleaf's palm pillar wax for the first time. I followed the instructions and added palm stearic to make some votives, and the darn things refused to release from the votive holders. So I scooped out the wax and tried again. They are presently curing, but they look as though they are clinging tightly to the votive holder sides and like I'm going to have hard time again. This is frustrating. Any tips to get this stuff to release????

[dcroome2005]

Wow, I am surprised that stuff didnt work.. Have you tried a light spray of PAM? I use that that with my pillars along with the stearic but never had problems with it in my votives.. That is weird.. I get my palm wax from Candlewic though.. So not sure if there is a slight difference somewhere. Try sending Brenda at GreenLeaf a message. She is great and will get back to ASAP with the best possible solution .. Wish you the best

Christina

[Mei-Mei]

Wow, I am surprised that stuff didnt work.. Have you tried a light spray of PAM? I use that that with my pillars along with the stearic but never had problems with it in my votives.. That is weird.. I get my palm wax from Candlewic though.. So not sure if there is a slight difference somewhere. Try sending Brenda at GreenLeaf a message. She is great and will get back to ASAP with the best possible solution .. Wish you the best

Christina

Thanks! I did spray lightly with PAM because that usually helps my votives slide right out with no trouble at all. Since this is the first order I placed for palm wax from GreenLeaf I'm wondering if they sent me container wax accidentally. I don't know, but I'm going to try emailing Brenda as you suggested.

[dcroome2005]

Container wax mistake?? Wow, I would have thought you would notice the difference big time.. Hmmmm

Christina

[CathyinME]

I know I can't tell the difference between the palm pillar & the container. They are both hard waxes! Cathy

[dcroome2005]

Hmmm. Must be different.. I get the granulated wax... That is why I said that LOL

Christina

[greenleaf]

We don't have the Palm Container Wax - only the votive/pillar palm wax, large or fine crystal. My recommendation is double the amount of stearic and re-pour - the secret of release is in the amount of stearic. It depends on the oils used - some we use the amount on the instruction sheet, some we have to up the stearic. Don't use PAM, we never do and I don't know how it affects the candle or release. Make sure your wax is hot, hot and the metal molds are hot - you don't have to worry about the pins being hot or cold. With the right amount of stearic, this will slide right out of the cup.

Let me know how it goes.

Thanks

[dcroome2005]

Thanks Brenda for helping her.. Thanks for the advice about PAM.. I never knew that

Christina

[Mei-Mei]

Thanks Brenda (you too Christina!)

I just poured batch two (I'm leaving batch one alone for now, too frustrating). I followed your directions exactly and I didn't use any mold release. I poured crazy hot and doubled the amount of palm stearic. I'll post again in a few hours and let you know how they look.

[SheilaW]

Container wax mistake?? Wow, I would have thought you would notice the difference big time.. Hmmmm

Christina

They look exactly the same until poured and cooled.

[Mei-Mei]

Well, it didn't work. I called Greenleaf and Brenda is going to return my call later. I'm going to go sob a little bit before re-melting all this durn wax.

[siberia]

How weird is that?!?! I've worked with palm wax for several years (not Greenleaf) and have never had a problem with mold release. In fact, as soon as they are cooled, they fly out of the molds. Also, I never use stearic in palm applications. I hope you get it figured out!

[Mei-Mei]

Brenda from GreenLeaf was kind enough to call me at home and help me with my votives! I'm going to take her tips and try again. Now that's beautiful customer service!!!!

[greenleaf]

How weird is that?!?! I've worked with palm wax for several years (not Greenleaf) and have never had a problem with mold release. In fact, as soon as they are cooled, they fly out of the molds. Also, I never use stearic in palm applications. I hope you get it figured out!

Our palm wax is straight from Malaysia and has no additives since it doesn't come through any of the US processors. Stearic, and sometimes we add some votive soy, has to be added for release purposes. If you 2nd pour when the candle has cooled too much - it can cause the palm to expand and not release from the mold. We haven't seen this on the votives but certainly on the pillars. The votives tend to be a shrinkage issue which the stearic will help. This is excellent palm and we moved to it after IGI bought Astorlite and we could no longer get Astorlite's palm wax. We are here to help her, and anyone else that experiences issues with any of our products. We have used this wax inside out and know how it works so feel free to come to us for assistance if needed. Once you get this down, these are beautiful and well worth learning. I know some companies had a large stock of the Astorlite palm but the last time we talked to Astorlite - they had only about 33K lbs of the palm we were using and they said it wouldn't be made anymore (and it did fly out of the molds). It's the reason we went and found this palm. Long story - sorry

Thanks

[Jeana]

Well, it didn't work. I called Greenleaf and Brenda is going to return my call later. I'm going to go sob a little bit before re-melting all this durn wax.

I was wondering if you are using a scale to measure the amount of stearic. I tried to add by the tbsp and it didn't work. Now that I am doing the 5% by weight everything is perfect. I don't use this particular brand of palm but before using stearic mine was impossible to get out of the molds too. Plus how long do you let them cool?

[Mei-Mei]

I was wondering if you are using a scale to measure the amount of stearic. I tried to add by the tbsp and it didn't work. Now that I am doing the 5% by weight everything is perfect. I don't use this particular brand of palm but before using stearic mine was impossible to get out of the molds too. Plus how long do you let them cool?

When I spoke to Brenda she said add two tbsps. Next time I try I'll try use your method and see if it works better. I let them cool all day yesterday, and I checked this morning and they are still stuck tight. I'm so frustrated that I don't really want to mess with it today, but I guess I can't give up.:undecided

[Jeana]

When I spoke to Brenda she said add two tbsps. Next time I try I'll try use your method and see if it works better. I let them cool all day yesterday, and I checked this morning and they are still stuck tight. I'm so frustrated that I don't really want to mess with it today, but I guess I can't give up.:undecided

Don't give up. I really think weighing the stearic will work better for you. I've been trying to get everything right in palm for over a year. I have had to pick it up and put it down to work on other things cuz it is frustrating. But I FINALLY got the wicks right in my 3" palms, and now it feels like all my hard work has paid off. It will be worth it if you keep trying.

[tonyalkay]

I just poured a flowerpot votive using the palm wax and mine worked perfectly. I followed her directions and it released wonderfully. I hope you get it because this does make a beautiful candle. I had the sample of the small crystals which feathers but I want to try the large ones for the granite effect.

[Tea]

Hi Jeana, when you say that you have been trying to get everything right with palm, what exactly is it that you are looking for?

I have been using palm only for a couple of months now, but I really like them. I find that there hot and cold throw is much better than the soy that I was playing with.

Recently I have had a couple of wix curve on me, and I am not really sure what to do? I have them clamped. Should the relief holes be done early on in the cooling process, or about half way through? I have been experiementing with different stages to see if it makes a difference.

What wix are you using. Currently I am trialing NCD's?

Sorry for so many questions, but any imput would be much appreciated.

Tracey

[Mei-Mei]

Well, I tried it for the last time today, and my votives still did not release. I really think that either the stearic has to be packaged wrong or something, because I did everything very carefully. I placed an order for some more stearic because none of this makes sense otherwise. Even my fiance tried (following the same directions) and the same thing happened to him. Obviously something is wrong with either my wax or my stearic.:undecided

[greenleaf]

Well, I tried it for the last time today, and my votives still did not release. I really think that either the stearic has to be packaged wrong or something, because I did everything very carefully. I placed an order for some more stearic because none of this makes sense otherwise. Even my fiance tried (following the same directions) and the same thing happened to him. Obviously something is wrong with either my wax or my stearic.:undecided

I will test them here again just to verify all the ingredients we sent. What FO were you using? If it is not ours, is it a heavy oil or a lighter oil?

Thanks

Brenda

[Mei-Mei]

I will test them here again just to verify all the ingredients we sent. What FO were you using? If it is not ours, is it a heavy oil or a lighter oil?

Thanks

Brenda

I was using your Maduro. I assume that palm stearic is different than just plain stearic? My bag of stearic just had 'stearic' printed on it, rather than 'palm stearic.' Could that be the problem?

[greenleaf]

I believe that there are two different kinds of stearic, however, we only carry one - the palm stearic for our palm wax. Give me just a little bit of time to run some here again to verify whether or not we get the same issue with this scent and I will let you know asap. We have tested our FO's with our waxes but sometimes something changes and we are not aware of it - the beauty of dealing with natural based products We do not test each and every different lot that comes in so let me try.

Thanks

[siberia]

Our palm wax is straight from Malaysia and has no additives since it doesn't come through any of the US processors. Stearic, and sometimes we add some votive soy, has to be added for release purposes. If you 2nd pour when the candle has cooled too much - it can cause the palm to expand and not release from the mold. We haven't seen this on the votives but certainly on the pillars. The votives tend to be a shrinkage issue which the stearic will help. This is excellent palm and we moved to it after IGI bought Astorlite and we could no longer get Astorlite's palm wax. We are here to help her, and anyone else that experiences issues with any of our products. We have used this wax inside out and know how it works so feel free to come to us for assistance if needed. Once you get this down, these are beautiful and well worth learning. I know some companies had a large stock of the Astorlite palm but the last time we talked to Astorlite - they had only about 33K lbs of the palm we were using and they said it wouldn't be made anymore (and it did fly out of the molds). It's the reason we went and found this palm. Long story - sorry

Thanks

I hope you didn't take my post as a slam towards you, your company or your palm wax. Definitely not my intention.

I've heard of people having the same aforementioned problem with Astorlite palm. I don't nor have I ever used their palm wax.

I was simply commenting on my experience with the particular palm wax that I use. I make palm pillars and votives as well as containers. They have always slipped out of the mold with ease. Sometimes a bit too much because I have unmolded candles thinking they were set when in fact the center of the candle was still in a liquid state. lol

Again, I hope you did not take offense to my post. I was just adding my palm wax experience to the mix.

[SheilaW]

I hope you didn't take my post as a slam towards you, your company or your palm wax. Definitely not my intention.

I've heard of people having the same aforementioned problem with Astorlite palm. I don't nor have I ever used their palm wax.

I was simply commenting on my experience with the particular palm wax that I use. I make palm pillars and votives as well as containers. They have always slipped out of the mold with ease. Sometimes a bit too much because I have unmolded candles thinking they were set when in fact the center of the candle was still in a liquid state. lol

Again, I hope you did not take offense to my post. I was just adding my palm wax experience to the mix.

I have heard of several people having issues with palm ( purchased from different suppliers ) releasing from molds. To date, mine also flies out of the molds ( like you said Siberia, sometimes too easy as the candle is flying across the room :tiptoe: ) but candlewic by e-mail told me to add stearic if I did run into that problem of it sticking in the molds. I would think that palm is like soy in that different batches may have slightly different properties/problems depending on the crop conditions etc.