caradelrae Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 I read a post once about candle tops getting the brain look and what caused it....Can someone help? I made some melts and this is the first time its happenedCara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Are you using soy wax? Sometimes after a soy candle burns and sets back up, the top will appear bumpy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molly Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Usually that's caused by too much vybar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaVA Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Not sure if you're using soy wax or paraffin, but some of us who use J50 were talking about this the other day. For soy, you're probably talking about frosting and there's plenty of info on here about that. If you're talking about a paraffin wax, I find that mine sets up that way when I cool too quickly or when I use a wide-mouth jar. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerrie Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Yep, vybar will do it every time.And I've said this before, even if you are using a pre-blend and not adding any vybar, it can happen in the manufacturing plant...that's what happened to me. I had the ugliest tarts and votives, and the supplier blamed me for it. After using thier wax for several years I pretty much knew how it acted, and there was no doubt that something was wrong with this batch of wax. It took them a long time before they would fess up to thier error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradelrae Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 Its parrafin. I am making melts out of the 4786. I have used this wax oodles of times and no problem for the melts... No vybar. Maybe it is cooler in here today.....Knock it up to just one of them things.....ThanksCara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Like Molly said, additives like Vybar and Gloss Poly can make wax prone to ripple, but wax with no polymer additive whatsoever can get a honeycomb effect on the surface. I'm not sure if it's all one thing or if two different things are happening.You see the honeycomb particularly when you pour certain kinds of waxes into wider/flatter containers. The pattern is caused by convection cells -- columns of hot wax rising as cooling wax sinks around them. Things like microcrystalline wax that cause the blend to "gel" early in the cooling process freeze the pattern into place, then the downward shrinkage of the hotter wax makes a pattern of little sink holes. It's especially apparent with wider containers and low-shrink blends because the surface of the wax doesn't get stretched so much side to side.That's as best as I can understand it at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradelrae Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 Thanks TOMHThat even makes sense to my non scientific brainCara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 I had alien brains rippled tops when I used too much vybar once. The wax blend already had some, but I just *had* to add more ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugtussle Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 I get these if I pour too hot when it's cool. They cool too fast and get "brains" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donita Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Candle companies change their formulas either by choice or by accident. Recently I have had a problem with CBL 141. Way too much vybar so I had to have it picked up. I can't use it until they solve the problem. Guidelines for making wax formulas are just that....guidelines...not exact. Donita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerrie Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Candle companies change their formulas either by choice or by accident. Recently I have had a problem with CBL 141. Way too much vybar so I had to have it picked up. I can't use it until they solve the problem. Guidelines for making wax formulas are just that....guidelines...not exact. DonitaDonita, mine was cbl 129 I had the problem with. They told me to add mineral oil to the wax to compensate for the high amount of vybar. I don't think so......another expense, another step and more testing. My thought is that it's up to the supplier to be more consistant when manufacturing their wax. JMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donita Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Gerrie....I agree. They don't. That is where the problem lies. The large candle companies order so much that they have it made exactly the way they want it......we are the little guys so we get the left overs. They only have to follow guild lines and they sometimes are to broad for me, but there is nothing we can do about it. Newbies don't understand why we are always telling them to test their candles. I have to. The wax does change and the last batch of bad CBL 141 smelled different to me immediately. I could smell the change.......not a bad smell, but different. I wish I could just be done with formulas, but the only way you can have more control is to blend your own. Donita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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