Adding beeswax to soy

[Lightning Bug]

When you add beeswax to straight soy, does it change the temperature you heat to while melting the wax, do you need to do anything different to make it mix together, and do you still pour at the slushy stage? Thanks! Beth

[mappam]

I have been wondering the same thing(s).

Do you melt the beeswax then add it to the melted soy? And what exactly does the beeswax "do" for the finished candle (help hot throw, overall look etc)?

[Henryk]

BW will melt at ~146F (depending upon its composition). Since you should have your soy up to ~170 or so to add your FO anyway, you should be fine adding it right with the soy. When I used to do that I just threw them both it at once. I would tare a paper plate on the scale, weight the amount of BW I wanted, then added soy to the same plate up to the correct amount, then dump it all in.

Depending upon the amount you add however, if you pour your soy cool, it will change the temp it will start congealing - I think mine used to start around 116F.

(BW will smooth out the tops in soy both before and after burning. Personally I didn't think it did anything for throw but it seemed to burn a bit better. Adding it at 3% shouldn't change your wicking).

[Kaybee23]

I would just like to add to what Henry mentioned. Since everyones variables are different, you may have to play with the beeswax percentage to get what you are looking for. Mine seems to vary by season. In the summer, I do about 4-5%, because my tops look like they need it. But in the winter, the heat seems to dry them out and make the tops crack with that much, so I cut it down to 3% in the winter. I am not sure everyone has this issue, so it is just something to make note of in case it is an issue with you. It does make the candles have pretty smooth tops in between burns and I have noticed that it helps a little with frosting (doesn’t totally eliminate it though).