doing testing but no hot throw

[LauraInNY]

Hi guys,

I am doing some testing for jar candles that I made about 2 weeks ago. They are 8 oz jelly jars w/J50 wax and JS pumpkin pie spice FO. When making these candles I had great scent. However, now when I am testing them I have no hot throw and very little cold throw. I heated wax to 170, added FO. Had trouble with it binding so heated to about 180 - 185 and the FO mixed in. I added color, stirred and cooled to 160 and poured into heated jars. (The process of increasing heat until starting to cool took about 5 minutes.) I used 44z, 51z, CD-6 & CD-8 wicks. Put in oven that was turned off but still warm (170 degrees) and let cool slowly.

I am also testing another scent candle that I poured the same day and get great cold and hot throw. I can smell other scents and even when the kids walk in they say they can't smell those particular candles. I have tried in different sized rooms including a small bathroom and no scent whatsoever.

I want to try again with this scent (cuz I love it), but not sure which variables to change first. Any help is appreciated. :undecided TIA

[Holly]

Hi Laura,

I am trying to find the right Pumpkin Spice fragrance oil too and I am finding that a lot of them do not throw real strong. I tested JS-Pumpkin Pie Spice at 9% in Calsoy CB-3 and the hot throw was poor. However, I did not test this scent in my paraffin but figured it would be poor in there too, but I could be wrong. I have heard some being sucessful with that scent but everyone has a different nose and what may be a strong scent throw to one may not be to another. I have also tested two pumpkin fragrances from Southern Scentsations which are supposed to be really good but they were not strong enough either. They have some really great scents though. The two from SS were better than the JS one. I have tried Peaks too and I am sad to say it did not throw well for me either. I had the test sample for a few months but I don't think it was too old.

I just got done pouring The Scented Bean's Spiced Pumpkin, and Bubbles' N Lights' Pumpkin Spice (type) and Spicy Pumpkin Chutney. They smell wonderful and I hope they will throw well. They seemed much stronger out of the bottle.

It may just be that JS's Pump....spice will not throw well in your wax. What percent oil did you use? If you used under 9%, maybe you can try at least 9 if the J-50 can hold it. It may not -- not sure.

If you can't get it to throw, keep trying some others. I will try to remember to let you know if these three new ones I just poured throws or not in my soy. HTH

~Holly

[LauraInNY]

Hi Holly,

thanks for responding. I used 1.5 oz of FO to 1 lb 4 oz of wax. I think that comes out to about 7%. I could try using more FO. I should be able to get at least 9% out of the J50 wax.

Any ideas about temp. I am using the double boiler method and I wonder if I heat to 180, mix in FO, remove from heat and as it is cooling add the color (I use liquid dye) so I can pour sooner. Can I pour hotter, does it make a difference? Should I not put jars in a warm oven?

I'm really bumming cuz this is one of my fave scents (as a consumer).

[Lolas Lights]

I got a pumpkin spice from Aztec and it is really strong, I poured and tested after about 3-4 days and it had a good hot throw. But I don't like a lot of their FOs. The pumpkin spice is the only one that smells right on the money, thier other ones don't. So after buying from Peaks, I'm hooked and only buy from them.

[Trish]

I've been on a mission to find "the perfect pumpkin spice". Well, perfect to me anyway and I have at least 15 samples. I do have the JS one but it's not poured yet. I think I'll get that one poured right away and test because I have heard lots of people loving that one!

You might want to try warm pumpkin crunch from Tristate. Kimberly uses this in J50/zinc wicks and she sells a ton of it! I had pretty good luck with the pumpkin spice from the candlemakers store in J50 too.

[Freezin]

I really like the Sweet Pumpkin Spice from Peaks. This is not my favorite scent in general, but it is a great Fall smell. This one has had an awesome hot throw in both J223 and 1945 for containers and OK6228 and IGI 4794 in tarts and votives.

[Holly]

Hi Laura,

You are welcome. :smiley2: I should try to test burn that JS Pumpkin again and see if maybe it was my nose last time. Like Trish said above, lots of people rave about the JS Pumpkin. I could not believe it when it did not give me good throw. A lot of the ravers used it in soy and said it works wonderful in soy and Calsoy CB-3 is a good scent throwing soy. Who knows, maybe it needed to cure longer or something (if there is really something to that with soy). I could have had just a really bad case of candlenose or maybe my nose does not smell pumpkin all that well. I have heard though that pumpkin is not always the strongest scent and many have trouble getting a great throw. I did not bother testing it in my paraffin because I wanted to find one that throws well in my soy.

If you added the FO at 170 and it did not bind well, maybe try 175 next time and if that does not work I guess you will have to put it in at 180. I am not sure how hot you can pour the J-50 to get good results for how the wax looks in the jar. Trish may know this. You really should not have to change your pour temparature in regards to adding the FO at a higher temp, etc. If you are getting good looking candles poured at 160, keep pouring them at that temp.

I hope that helped some. Good luck! :smiley2:

~Holly

[ohkellygirl]

Hi Laura

I use J50 and Pumpkin Pie Spice from Rustic Escentuals and this is a very popular seller for me! I have a customer who buys it year round from me.

I pour a little differently than you do, but here is what I do...

Heat wax to 200

Measure wax into pouring pitcher on scale

Add Color and UV, stir until incorporated

Add FO at 165-170

let it sit for a few minutes

Stir for at least 3 minutes as it comes back up to pouring temp in double broiler

pour @ 165 into unheated jars

I then let them cure with the lids off for a couple of days. I test burn my new ones after at least 48 hrs.

HTH,

Diane

[LauraInNY]

Diane - Thank you so much for such detailed instructions.

I have spent this past week trying so many different combinations of what to heat my wax to and what to add scent at my mind is whirling. I have tried using both Astorlite J50 and Just Scent 123 waxes. (Reason for the JS123 is that I emailed Becky with questions about what I might try to get this scent to work and she called me the next day and sent me another pound of FO and a slab of this wax at no charge to try - WHAT GREAT SERVICE!!!) I thought I would share my results.

1. Heated to 200, added color, UV and FO at 200 stirred for about 2 minutes and poured at 160.
   
2. Heated to 200, added color, UV, cooled to 165 and added FO stirred for about 2 minutes and poured at 155.
   
3. Heated to 200, added color, UV, cooled to 145 and added FO stirred for about 2 minutes and poured.
   
4. Heated to 170, added color, UV and FO stirred for 2 minutes, cooled to 160 and poured. (With JS 123, color did not mix and settled at the bottom. I may reheat this and repour or I may just toss.)

I did this for both waxes and it seems no matter what temp I add the FO at, as long as I have heated the wax to 200 I get a hot throw using the pumpkin spice and the cinnamon roll fragrance. Both scents are heavier as have lots of cinnamon and had to wick up. I now have many jars of this scent to test. So far I have great hot throw in all but #4. I will test till they get to the bottom.

I was at Candles and Supplies in PA on Thursday and Crystal was very helpful. She also said that J50 needs to be heated to 200.

This has been a great learning experience. I was determined to conquer this fragrance. Thanks so much to all who offered their help. Hopefully if any other newbies see this it will help them too.

[jillgunter]

I always heat my wax to 180 before I put FO in. I keep it on heat while it mixes in. Some FO wont bind with wax if wax isnt hot enough. Are u using any additives?

[topofmurrayhill]

Laura that's great work you did. It's also really interesting that you can add the FO at any temp as long as you initially heat the wax to 200. I wonder why. Did you find this to be true of both waxes or just the J-50?

[Scentedmoon]

Peak's Sweet Pumpkin Spice has a very nice hot throw & cold throw in IGI 6006 and IGI 1274.