Soy essential oil loading

[topofmurrayhill]

Has anyone tried to push the limit and see how well soy wax takes larger percentages of EO?

Over the last few days I've started developing an aromatherapy candle, which has been my first soy wax experience as well as my first EO experience at the same time. It's been enjoyable and the results are promising.

I used an 8 oz seamless tin, Ecosoya CB-Pure Soy and an EO blend @ 4%, initially wicked with RRD 40. The oil blend smelled awesome and mixed effortlessly into the soy. The wax set up really nicely with a satisfyingly smooth flat surface. I noticed a very thin film in few spots on the molten wax that I could still see slightly when it hardened, but I believe this was actually residue from paraffin candlemaking that came off my pot as I poured the candle.

The wick seemed to be doing beautifully until about 3 hours into the burn, then mushroomed a bit over the next hour, at which point I stopped the test. I don't tolerate mushrooms except for eating the fungal variety and I'm not inclined to wick down because the melt seemed almost ideal with the 40, so tomorrow I'm switching to HTP 104/105 to see if I can get a similar melt pool and more efficient burn.

The hot throw built up slowly, but was better than expected considering what I'd been hearing about EO in candles. I'm emboldened now and think it's worth trying to kick it up a notch and trying EO @ 5% or maybe 6%.

[Fire and Ice]

I've add as much as 7% to C-3 and have done well with it but I using a pint mason jars too. I also use zince wicks. Eucalyptus was one E/O that did well in my soy while I switched to a F/O for the Clove. The Clove always had burning problems.

Have you tried add some reg. F/O to the E/O to kick up the scent? Try it and see if the mushrrom continues to be a problem.

[mappam]

I tried the RRD wicks in the New Advanced EcoSoya and had no problem with the mushroom - but when I used the same wick in reg 100% soy it did mushroom - I have been testing the HTP and it is much better in the Reg soy. A slight curl but no mushrooming.

I read on another post that the cotton core from Peak candles is really good in Soy. I have not tried these so can't say for sure.

The Advanced Soy gave me lots of problems so I stopped testing it and have gone back to the 100% soy. I also find that the 51-31-18 mushrooms in 100% soy.

Good luck.

[topofmurrayhill]

The Advanced Soy gave me lots of problems so I stopped testing it and have gone back to the 100% soy. I also find that the 51-31-18 mushrooms in 100% soy.

Thanks to you and everyone else for the comments.

I considered the Advanced but went with the CB-Pure Soy for this project for various reasons, including the fact that I'm using straight-sided tins and I thought a wax that adheres rather than releases seemed a better choice.

Gotta say this Pure Soy is a pleasure to work with. Over on the paraffin side of the world I've never really been down with the petrolatum-soaked "gunk" people like to use for containers. It's really nice to get the great one-pour performance, adhesion and fragrance loading without the gunk. I suppose when I see my products frosting or something like that I'll be back to reality, but so far it's real nice.

I'm in the process of testing the HTP wick and it looks promising but I suspect I'll be wicking down to a 104. Centered melt pools are good but I have more faith in wicks that curl and personally I'll take that over mushrooms. Just too much of an aesthetic flaw for my taste, and a sign that things aren't burning cleanly even if you don't see obvious soot.

[George]

1.) fire retardant spray

2.) back it up with local fire engine

3.) use Orange EO

4.) Watch the fireball

5.)

[PurpleHippie]

I am a bit surprised to read you are using soy! Good to hear you are pleased with it so far. When I tried this I had frosting issues that I just didn't want to deal with any longer. Plus the constant changes to the wax were just to much for me. In my experience the RRD wicks do mushroom and many times I had black soot as they burned further down. This happened with 5% load and FO tested from several suppliers. Switch to another wick and if properly burned there was no soot. So I determined that it was the RRD causing the problem. However, with wicks as with wax I find it is always a trade off. I have yet to find one that I thought was perfect. Picking between the lesser of the two evils.:smiley2: The HTP was the wick I ended up using. With EO the problem I had was that not all EO's smell good burning. Some IMO have a horrible smell, down right stink when burned. I tested 5-8%. Depending on the EO it can get costly. I know what George is refering to! When I was experimenting with soy and EO I had a request from someone that said she just pours orange EO right into the center of a melt pool as close to the flame as possible. She said it made the best smelling candle. That didn't sit well with me in the first place but I am glad I did some research and learned more about orange EO! Fireball indeed!!!

Which EO's are you testing?

[Jeana]

I'm surprised to hear you are testing soy too.

EOs are so fun to work with. Since you like testing with raw materials you are going to have a lot of fun. So much of your own personality can come out in EO blends.

I do about 5-7% most of the time for containers, about 3% in pillars.

I usually blend a few oils together. Since some of them can be pricey, I try to mix the highest percentage of the cheaper oils. You can also mix some of your EOs with FOs to anchor the scents. That way you can use less EO and still have it smell more natural. Some big hits for me are vanilla/ nutmeg/clove, pepermint/vanilla, and sweet orange/jasmine they all throw great!

I use sweet orange EO in many different blends without ever having any problems. One of my favorites is orange/ginger. Then there is the standard patchouli/orange/lavender. I love the fact that you can get it for about 8$pp.

Even though I use soy for most EOs blends, I think some smell better in paraffin. At least if you find you don't like working with soy, you can still do EO in paraffin.

If the HTPs don't work for you, try CDN or CD. I've had a lot of luck with them lately in mine, never seen a mushroom yet. You do have to deal with the curl though.

[Vicky_CO]

Here are some of the blends that have worked well for me

Patchouli/Lavender

Patchouli/lemongrass

lavender/lemongrass

lavender straight I found if I up it higher than 5% I get a slight fuel smell.

I found lemongrass straight no matter what I did had a fuel smell same with peppermint.

Patchouli straight in soy has a great throw and only gets better over time they both age well together.

I have mixed pepermint a few times with mixed results.

Can you tell I havea patchouli thing going on here? Love EO patchouli but hate the FO patchouli.

[PurpleHippie]

I also got a fuel smell with straight Lavender and mint. I was a bit surprised that I also got a fuel smell with Eucalyptus. Never could get the wicking right with Patchouli.

[Sally]

AHHHHHH my patchouli EO in soy is wonderful.

I love experimenting with blends, get them more wrong than right often but it's all part of the learning process.

Eucalyptus worked well when mixed with lavender & peppermint.

My all time favourite is petitgrain, very uplifting for the spirits.

It's my intention to have a range of E.O aromatherapy candles especially as I live in an area where a great many folk prefer to live a more environmentally friendly life. Having said that, I'm honest with them when asked about soy wax after all it is a very highly processed product for all it being a plant wax.

I'd like to try palm wax & E.O's, has anyone else tried this & if so what were the results?

Sally.

[Burned Out]

I second Jeana's suggestion on the wick. The CD Series has always worked extremely well for me. No mushrooming whatsoever.

I also have to second George's list. That was great, George! You, too?

As George warned, I would also recommend that you be very cautious when using a large percentage of any EO with a low flashpoint. I had the entire top of a soy EO candle ignite when using 6% Sweet Orange Oil (average FP is 120 degrees) and a hotter burning HTP wick.

If you like the aromas of the EOs with low flashpoints, you can also try creating blends using other EOs with higher flashpoints to raise the entire temperature. The proverbial "killing two birds with one stone"...you'll have a blend with more character that's less likely to burn down a customer's home. I find my candles don't ignite at 4%, and I usually add additional EOs with higher flashpoints.

I also let my initial soy wax candle sample that I use for wick testing cure at least 6 weeks before testing the burn, particularly when using an EO blend with an overall low temp FP. I was told by a technician that worked with soy wax formulations that it can take up to 6 weeks for FO or EO to fully migrate throughout the cold wax after the initial blending and pouring.

Imho, nothing smells quite as clear and true as an EO in a candle. Welcome to the wonderful world of candles with essential oils, TOP!

[Burned Out]

Sally,

I tried using EO in container Palm, and although it appeared to blend without bleeding out of the wax, I lost most of the beautiful crystal appearance. The wax ended up with a just a bit of sparkle and none of the more dramatic crystals. They burned very well. The problem was only a cosmetic one.

I only tried two EOs, however - Lemongrass and Lavender. You might get a different result with other EOs.

HTH!

[CareBear]

Top, how are your EO experiments going?

[Sharon in KY]

I think your wicking way too high. For a 6-8 oz tin CD12 or HTP 83 is big enough, maybe even smaller. For no mushroom, I would think a slow burn would be better. Shouldn't it take about 2 1/2 hrs to just reach the sides or is the 8oz tin wider across?

[topofmurrayhill]

I would just like to point out that this thread is over 2 years old. I've run the guantlet and concluded that 100%-veggie soy waxes are crap, lol. Unless of course you live in Iowa or Indiana, where all the BS originates.

[CareBear]

Top - you are over the top!!!

ETA: and yes, I knew it was old - that's why there was hope of progress LOL!