?How many have experienced bad wax batches

[Brooke]

Hi,

In my research to compare waxes available out there.

I have noticed some of you went through a awful time in Dec.- Feb.

with bad batches of wax.

Was this the first time something like this has ever happened (just a fluke)?

For those of you that have been making candles for years, have you seen this before?

Does is only affect soy products?

Wondering how you handled such a ordeal:confused: Did you ever get reimbursed for the bad wax?

In Learning Mode LOL:D

Brooke

[islandgirl]

I have!!! I had called my supplier before I ordered a skid to make sure there were NO poblems or other complaints regarding their soy. They told me that they had NO OTHER complaints. ( Which I have found out differntly now) So I ordered a pallet. Needless to say all my candles were drowning out. I had customers returning candles and had to pull candles from my stores!! I had to rewick my whole line!! It was a nightmare!!

I was not reimbursed and I feel the company acted as if I was the only one with this problem.. I was really disappointed with the company and the way the handled this problem. It was just swept under the table and ignored. I had a lot of private emails from people that said they called and had the same issues I did with their soy. So I know it was not just me..

What I have learned is that every box with a different date should be tested when it comes to soy. They could be from different crops. HTH

[Jeana]

Can you tell us who the company was, I don't want that to happen. So your saying each time you get a batch of soy run a test on it?

I hate to sound stupid but how much is a skid of wax? (pounds?)

[RobinInOR]

I have too. Used Cleanwax (a natural non soy vegetable blend) for 2 years and then their production went strange - they had a series of bad batches - dark flecks, and strong crayon smell. Finally had to give up and change waxes, and retest everything.

I've heard of formulas changing on both sides - J50 and J223 have gone through changes, some original 100% soys all of a sudden became blends (back a couple of years), companies are sold to someone else. Every time you get a new batch of wax it's a very good idea to do a few tests to make sure it's acting the same.

(And as an aside, sometimes wicks can change on you too - example being a change in the way HTP wicks were made, last year or the year before, can't remember)

[Jeana]

great! as if this all this testing wasn't hard enough. We have to worry about manufacturers changes what they give us:(

[islandgirl]

That is true especially when you are using 100% soy. I spoke to GF and they even told me that the 100% is not made for candles, but for food, and that each batch and crop is different. So we should test each new batch. Some suppliers will tell you this up front, some suppliers will not. Some suppliers won't even carry the 100% soy because of this problem.

I wish my supplier would have let people know that the nature soy is unpredictible in candle making and just check each new batch.

Like I said, they told me that no one else had any complaints and they have tested it and it was fine!! (NOT) If I knew this upfront, then I would have understood why my candles were drowning out .Instead I thought I was going crazy!!

Could not figure out the problem untill I started reading about bad batches of soy on this board.

Look at each new batch you get, some has more oil to it, some is whiter, some soy looks more yellow.

I love the 100% soy, I think the cold and hot throw is fantastic!! So it is worth all the testing and headaches for now. Untill I find a comparble soy wax.

I am currently tring out the C-3, with is an all natural soy wax with additives.

Cargill is going to let me know what % is additives. I hoping this is a more stable wax, that I do not have to rewick my candles every time I get new wax. There is also the CBA, which I may try next... HTH

There is never a dull moment when it comes to candlemaking!!!!

[jacobSue]

My understanding is that Soy wax isn't made for food. It is food. It is 100% soy form soy beans. It is by no means a wax. It is food that can be used as wax. This is why there is variation in each batch. You can add something to it and it might still be all natural, but it is not all soy.

[topofmurrayhill]

It is by no means a wax.

I think all you have to do to settle that one is look up the definition of wax. You'll find that it's not defined so precisely, but the definition certainly fits. Not only that, but everyone involved in inventing, manufacturing and selling it calls it wax.

Paraffin is perfectly edible too. If you are pointing out that soy wax is actually digestible, maybe you are right but I don't know. It seems to me we are more concerned with what happens when you burn it rather than eat it.

[Sharon in KY]

by the skid too. I get GF135 from Golden Foods. And love it when it's good. This is the second year in a row that I have gotten a bad batch in April. And last years Aug. batch was great, it's Aug and I need wax. I'm trying other brands but haven't got all the testing done. Has any one got a batch from Aug yet? Been trying to add things to this wax just so it will burn good with out going up on the wick. I't been hard and when you are working, making candles/tarts at the same time, I start to get dizzy from it all. Got a sample of the EL Milliam?, a box of Soya 135 and the EL 135?. At least that what I think I have plus adding some of KY's Perfect in the soy to make it burn easier. And when this is gone I'll have to do it all again???? What a joke.. JMHO

[mommy2xp]

I was told that adding equal parts of Aztec LP 402, low melt point soywax would help burn problems. At the time I used soy with cottonseed.

I did not try that fix to see if it worked. I switched waxes. I can't afford a wicking, testing, change with every batch.

However, it wouldn't hurt to keep that on hand if you get a "bad" batch.

[jacobSue]

Under that definition I could call vics vapor rub a wax. It is all how you look at it.

[topofmurrayhill]

Under that definition I could call vics vapor rub a wax. It is all how you look at it.

You'd be pretty close on that one. The consistency of Vicks Vapor Rub comes to a great extent from petrolatum, which is derived from petroleum bright stock and can be further refined to remove the oil content, leaving us with microcrystalline wax. Both petrolatum and microcrystalline are common candlemaking ingredients.

Anyway I think this is the way I'd sum up my thoughts on the matter:

1 - I'm not buying your argument that soy wax is food RATHER than wax. Whatever else it is, it is definitely candle wax unless you want to play semantic games for marketing purposes.

2 - I'm willing to buy your argument that it is food, but I think you'd have to look into the digestibility as well as food-grade certification of any particular product in order to make that claim with confidence, as well as point out that the final product is not edible even though it has a digestible ingredient in it.

3 - Since the point here is candlemaking, to say that a large proportion of the material is a food ingredient is purely a marketing angle. It is also a tangential and potentially misleading one, since there is an obvious intent to imply that the product is thus better or healthier to use, which may not be the case.

[Meridith]

If you really want to get down to it, just about anything is edible but that doesn't make it food. Shoot you could break a huge boulder up into small pieces and eat it, but why would you? Boogers are edible too, and while I'd rather eat a booger than do certain things, you don't see me snacking on 'em. Some common sense must prevail. Maybe soy is edible or can be considered food, but I'll never make that claim since you never know the crazy things people will do or eat. I've heard of old folks eating cat food cuz they can't afford to grocery shop. I can just see some little old lady, hungry and broke and deciding to eat your candle just becuase you told her it was food or was edible. I call it a soy WAX candle and leave it at that. My candles are good enough that I don't need to make crazy statements to up the "sellability" (I know that's not a word but it is now LOL) of my candles. I think they sell themselves and yours should too.

[Brooke]

WOW

Never thought we compare candles with boogers.

LOL

LOL

LOL

you are killing me here:cheesy2:

A marry heart doeth good like medicine. yal its a over dose here

Many thanks to all for their input :smiley2:

[jacobSue]

Your all right. Soy isn't food. It is never used in cooking. I don't know what this stuff is that I have been using all these years. I know soy wax is different then soy. I see now that when someone makes soy flakes for food that they must change the molecular structure to create something new. Has anyone ever used pure soy wax and cooked with it? I would bet there are many people out there who have. I see if you are a cook it is called vegi. oil and if you are a a chandler it is called wax. Really it is all how you look at it. I am retiring from this thread. See all of you on the next one.:smiley2: