Introduction and polysorbate question

[gerbert]

Greetings,

I'm new to this forum and to soy candlemaking in general. I can already tell that this place is an invaluable resource. My question is for anybody who uses essential oils in their soy candles. I understand that essential oils tend to sink to the bottom of soy container candles and that is a common reason for poor scent throw. I have read elsewhere to add polysorbate 80 to the soy to make the essential oils bond to the wax better. Has anybody here tried this? How much polysorbate 80 should I add? Also, I've read that people have good results mixing FOs and EOs together. It seems like the FO may help the EO bond to the soy in the same way the polysorbate 80 is purported to. And lastly, I was wondering if there are any other useful additives for soy container candles that I may be overlooking? I just ordered the soy container starter kit from Bittercreek and I have a whole bunch of EOs and FOs on the way. I will be experimenting like crazy as I want the highest quality candles possible.

Thanks,

Gerbert

[topofmurrayhill]

I can't tell you whether the polysorbate 80 works for that purpose, but it's an interesting concept to use an emulsifier/surfactant to improve EO performance in soy wax. You might just have to experiment to see if it works. Thing is, I think there would typically already be a (vegetable-derived) emulsifier in these blends serving as a crystal modifier to help them set up smooth. Otherwise they would look like a frosted moonscape. Some people also add additional vegetable emulsifier in the form of "universal soy additive" that's available from some suppliers. That's another thing you could experiment with.

[ChrisR]

Hmmmmmm I've used EO's in 100% soy, soy/paraffin blends and straight paraffin for 6 years now and never had it settle on the bottom!! There are several EO's I can use straight with no scent throw problems. But, there are more that just basically are too light to throw properly, fade away to nothing in a short period of time, or like most of the citrus EO's give off a terrible fuel smell when burning. I do use a lot of EO's to 'kick up' the throw on my FO's for unique blends my customers love!!

[gerbert]

Thank you both very much for your responses. I'm glad to hear that EOs hold up. I can't wait for my shipment to come in.

[topofmurrayhill]

Thank you both very much for your responses. I'm glad to hear that EOs hold up. I can't wait for my shipment to come in.

If you haven't tried using EOs yet, you might want to do some searches on CT. There have been numerous discussions. There are challenges and even potential risks. The people who use EOs to good effect have typically put a lot of effort into figuring out how best to do it.