GL Soy and 70/30 Tests

[Henryk]

The below are some photos of GL's soy and 70/30. I will update these when possible.

The containers go in order from left to right. First two are GL soy and the second set is 70/30.

Specs for both waxes:

12 oz. wax (6 oz. per each container).

1 gram Candle Cocoon Dye Flakes

~9% Shaw Mudge Red Tea FO

Containers were wicked in order: LX18, LX20, LX26, LX28.

GL Soy: Heated to 180F, color and dye added, poured at 140F (I poured the wax at 10 degrees cooler than recommended to see what kind of adhesion I would get since the wax, theoretically, should shrink less). I also did NOT appear to get any air pockets in the wax. (After the photo was taken I poked 4 holes around the wick and did not feel anything, but naturally will do the recommended 170F re-pour prior to burning). These were poured 36 hours ago. No wet spots at all. Nice apperarence. Both candles had a slight hairline crack about 1/2 from end of container. (Heat gun for a very few seconds would have hid this). Cold throw is excellent. Very true to the scent.

GL 70/30: Heated to 185F, color and dye added, poured at 170F. Obvious air pockets in both candles. Something I did not expect from reading others reports. (I expected this in the soy, not the 70/30). I will need to poke and do a re-pour on both candles of this set. Candles poured 12 hours ago. Again, no wet spots at all. Creamier appearance than the GL soy, but you would have to have the two types of wax side by side to make a distinction. Both are VERY good looking waxes. No hairline cracks. Again, cold throw is excellent and very true to the scent.

Maybe others have not found this - but I find cold throw stronger in the GL Soy than in the 70/30. (However it could be FO specific, plus the soy candles had 12 more hours to cure).

Both types of waxes took this dye exactly the same.

Zero frosting on either type of wax. (Though I was concerned because the leftover GL Soy wax in my pour pot frosted like crazy for some reason).

[Henryk]

GL Soy (First 2) and 70/30 (Second 2)

[Henryk]

GL Soy (First 2) and 70/30 (Second 2) Alternate View

[Henryk]

GL Soy

[tonyalkay]

I can't wait for your update on burning them. Thanks for sharing

[Henryk]

And finally, close up of GL 70/30.

[Henryk]

Brenda, et al., if you have ideas on how to eliminate the sink holes I got in the 70/30 I'd be most appreciate. Thanks.

[Kaybee23]

Hi Henry, it is great to see your testing results for these waxes. I have poured only 1 candle from the GL soy and really liked it. I too thought the throw was better than the one I did in the 70/30. I don't remember having the sink holes that you got in the 70/30 though. I will be following this thread very closely, thank you for sharing your findings.

p.s. GL is open today, and they also have a message board, you could always get ahold of her one of those ways.

[Henryk]

Thanks Kerry,

I wasn't sure to post over there or here. I did find a post (after I did these) to try pouring the 70/30 10 degrees cooler (after I did this set). I went off the instruction sheet included with the wax. I'm going to try pouring cooler plus one other trick after this set. We'll see how it goes.

I've been burning all 4 for about 2 hours now. The GL soy wicks are dancing. I've seen this all the soys I've tried actually. Its probably going to get worse as it gets into the containers. The 70/30 flames are perfectly stable. Very nice. Melt pools on all of them are just where I expected them to be after two hours so the wick sizes may have been spot on or very close at least. We'll have to see what happens further into the jars. I'll post some more pics after another burn.

I've tried a couple other par/soy blends and you do have to be very careful about the wicking in regards to soot. One thing that is disheartening to hear is http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22446&page=5#42 . I'll just have to see how it goes. So far though, both waxes produce a nicely finished candle (I'm sure the sinkholes can be dealt with somehow), just have to test more on burning quality.

[bella soy]

I am currently testing the 70/30 as well and I get alot of soot with the Eco 8's in my 8 oz square mason jar. At first i just thought that it was from the draft in the house but after reading your post im not so sure. i also had dancing flames. i had wet spots as well after about 24hr cure time they showed up. The wax took the color great and the tops were as smooth as can be. i only tested two FO's so far. I cant get a cold throw at all. The only time I can smell the candle unlite is when my nose is right on top of the jar. the hot throw is ok, Im not sure if my expectations are too high for this wax or for any of my candles in general, but i couldnt smell the candle when lite more than 4 feet away. Ill be watching this post as well. keep us informed on your progress, If you find the solution to any of your issues please share!

I ordered 5 more lbs. of this stuff on wednesday so hopefully by friday of next week ill have test results for everyone. Wish me luck and good luck to you as well

[Henryk]

This has to be quick, but I wanted to post a last pic for today. This is after around almost 4 hours. I know that seems a lot, but I don't like my wicks to be torches and throw soot. Nor do I expect to get a perfect melt pool on the first burn. That's just how I wick things. Just wanted people to know.

I am not getting any soot on any of the jars so far.

In the soys (the 3rd and 4th), I am getting more mushrooming than on the 70/30s (1st and 2nd). The soys are doing what soy normally does, burning down then out. The blend is doing more a blend does, burning out then down. As usual with a blend (that I have seen), the melt pool gets pretty deep, but is not 100% liquid. On the soys I like the way the LX 26 is burning better than the 28. A bit of a surprise given the high melt point of the wax. Flames are not dancing at all in the 70/30.

Bella - if I'm picturing your jar it maybe because of the neck? I've never used them, but I assume people wick up on the square masons to get the wax out of the corners? I usually use straight sided jars, boring, but seems to work better. I can't stand dancing flames so I usually do everything I can to minimize it. As far as for throw its so subjective - I usually go for more realistic scents (a forest instead of a pine cleaner as an example). I know I can get buy cheap, sharp, in-your-face FOs that are strong as hell, but I simply can't stand that type of thing. JMO.

Hot throw is pretty decent for a light FO like this Red Tea. Though I do have 4 burning at once I have a window wide open in the same room and the scent is still going into the hallway.

Should be able to get a clearer picture of things after the 2nd burn.

EDIT: Important - I inadvertantly switched the sets when I moved them to where I was going to burn them. The FIRST two are the 70/30 (LX 18 and 20) and the second set are the GL Soys (LX 26 and 28).

[CountryGal]

I read that the eco 6 was the way to go with the 70/30 in an 8 oz jar....maybe try that?

[Mei-Mei]

Thanks for doing this testing; it's very interesting. I haven't had any sinkhole problems with the 70/30 and I wonder if it's the batch you got. You wouldn't happen to know if it's batch 3 or 4 that you are testing?

[greenleaf]

I posted this in another GL testing thread so this will be the 2nd time you've seen it - sorry, just want to make sure the people that need help see it. Thanks for understanding

If the ECO's aren't working for you and the container you are using - I would try an LX or an HTP. Our users are finding that this works for them most times if they move to a different series wick. The ECO-4 has been the wick of choice for the 8 oz jj - but other shape jars may require a different series.

Wet spots and cracks by the wick are shrinkage related as most of you know. I would pour a little cooler (too cool gets jump lines) into a warm (not hot) jar and then cover it with something to slow down the cooling process. If you are in a part of the country where it is still fairly cool outside then this is a definite recommendation. With our wax, it tends to be temperature related and how fast or slow they cool down.

HTH

[Mei-Mei]

I posted this in another GL testing thread so this will be the 2nd time you've seen it - sorry, just want to make sure the people that need help see it. Thanks for understanding

If the ECO's aren't working for you and the container you are using - I would try an LX or an HTP. Our users are finding that this works for them most times if they move to a different series wick. The ECO-4 has been the wick of choice for the 8 oz jj - but other shape jars may require a different series.

Wet spots and cracks by the wick are shrinkage related as most of you know. I would pour a little cooler (too cool gets jump lines) into a warm (not hot) jar and then cover it with something to slow down the cooling process. If you are in a part of the country where it is still fairly cool outside then this is a definite recommendation. With our wax, it tends to be temperature related and how fast or slow they cool down.

HTH

Ditto on the LX and HTP wicks. They work very nicely in this wax; I've tested them both extensively. I lean toward the LXs because I don't like the way the HTPs bend to one side, but it's really a matter of personal preference.

[Kaybee23]

I would also like to add, those squaty 8 oz square masons are boogers to wick. Almost every parasoy blend I tried in those, sooted. After testing a number of jars myself, including those, i am convinced that it is the shape of the jar and the little "chimney" it has on the top, that is causing the soot. If you were to go to a wider mouth jar, with less of a chimney, the soot issue may go away. Just a thought.

[Lightning Bug]

Hi Henry. Sorry, way off the subject...if you don't mind saying, what kind of jars/glasses are you using? They seem sort of like a metro jar but look like they have another little bump around the bottom. I had planned on using the metros because they are straight up and down, but some responses said the glass was too thin. I am following the GL results very closely and was really impressed with this wax on the sample. Waiting this time, as I have about 250 lbs. of impressive wax in the basement. Am I seeing the straight soy burning faster than the blend? I really like the idea of the wicks not jumping around. We will watch your and all the other posts with great interest. Beth

[mizbizzyb]

I did not care how my HTP's burned in this wax...But I am switching to Premier with the testing of my current scents and it seems to be doing great thus far. Only scent I am having problems with is the Japanese Plum. I am going to pour it and let it sit for 2 weeks to see if there is a difference. But everything else seems to be going very well. I just got another 10lb slab to continue testing.

[Henryk]

I agree with Kerry. My theory is, if the jar has a somewhat of a pronounced neck, its going to cause stronger air currents. The wick "dances" and soot is produced on every "wave". You can watch this happen if you overwick and don't keep trimmed to 1/4". That is why, even though I like many jars I see I just don't use them because I like really steady flames (still elusive though as they burn down into the jar). Squat, wide jars are the best, but unfortunately then you have deal with the diameter or else 2x wick. Thats why I'm thinking of just giving up and using a para blend in glass jars (if I get zero or near-zero sooting).

Beth, the jars are just 7.5 (some places say 8) ounce "status" (aka metro) jars. Though they have a rim at the bottom, the extra bump on the bottom is just the tops of the jars, inverted, that they are sitting on. They are Libby - nice and thick glass. I have been refilling these same dozen tester jars for well over a year now with now problem (not that I recommend refilling if you are selling - I'm too paranoid for that - but for my own use I don't care).

I have some interesting things to post, but will wait until I can take another pic or two, but yes, I am seeing the GL soy burn a bit faster than the 70/30.

[geekrunner]

henryk is the first preson to give me advice on soy, way back when I had Astorlite S1. Thanks henry for all that great advice.

On the 70/30, I poured exactly per Brenda's directions into 16 oz Melting pot jar, and had no air pockets, only the familiar parasoy dip in the middle. I however poured without any wicking, so that might have made a difference.

geek

[Henryk]

Had to post to say you are very welcome! Everyone's posts here are all very helpful to me also. (Didn't forget about this thread - just been getting home too late to get pics - my little digicam's flash burns everything out without any daylight).

[Henryk]

Well, here's how things are going after a good number of burns of 3 to 5 hours. Remember I'm going on ONE set of candles with one FO and one dye color. Things could and probably will change with different variables.

Wetspots. NONE of the candles, after all this time, have wet spots! Very happy about that. I had expected some, but did not have any. The GL All Soy does exhibit a "wet ring" as I call it - where the melt pool was - that part, after solidifying, pulls away from the glass. It also frosts. The rest of the candle is as good as when I first poured it however. The 70/30 does not have a wet ring after burning. For the 70/30 pics are a little deceiving. There IS a melt pool that is almost as deep as the GL Soy, but it leaves just enough film on the glass so that you can't tell its there unless you look closely. (To really tell you kinda have to "be there").

Throw. Very nice cold and hot throw. Both waxes have a cold throw that I think would sell the candle to those folks who go on scent alone. With the 4 of these burning, the throw is extremely strong - even with an open window.

Post burn set up. The 70/30 sets up perfectly as I expected. The GL Soy, after the first burn, did have some bumps around the wick, just like regular soy, but successive burns did not - they set up up nearly flat. Again, no frost on ANY of the candle sides, except the GL Soys did have a ring of frost from where the melt pool set up.

Flames. Discouraging, but to be expected. Dancing flames the more it went down into the container just like every wax I've ever tried in containers. The 70/30 was better in the beginning, but both waxes pretty much evened out in this category deeper into the jars. My experience is nearly universally with LX wicks so other wicks may behave differently in this regard. (I should say that the wicks are NOT waving really bad and puffing soot - thats not what I mean by dancing. What I mean is that the flames are just not perfectly still like those you would see on a perfectly wicked taper).

Mushrooming: Since I loaded these up with FO, I expected more mushrooming than usual. Results were not that bad at all. The 70/30's shrooms were smaller than the soys. To be expected.

Soot. No soot at all on any of the containers EXCEPT for one. Surprisingly it was the LX 26 in the GL Soy. I was a bit off center on this particular wick and on a power burn of about 6 hours one day, I noticed about a 1" patch of soot on the side the wick was on. I expected SOME soot on the 70/30 but did not get any at all. No soot on the on the other parts of the GL candle, and none at all on the other GL candle.

Wicking. The 28 on the GL Soy was too big. The 26 was very good. I'm undecided about the wicks on the 70/30 but am thinking the 20 would be good. The 70/30 wax on the sides follows down the flame, but does not completely clear the sides on each burn (so you get that clearly differentiated liquid level) like the GL Soy containers do - however, I would NOT wick up to get it to do that because the glass would get too hot - it would be way over-wicked. The 70/30 wax burns very differently than the GL Soy.

Very happy with both of the waxes. The GL Soy definitely is soy, meaning it takes a larger wick, sets up a little rougher* than the 70/30, and frosts a bit on the melt pool line. Other than that - if you want to test a good soy - and want to say "100% Soy" definitely try this wax. I may stick with the 70/30 for containers because you can wick it cooler, pour it hotter, and it doesn't have the frost line after setup, but if I want to use soy - this GL Soy is probably what I would use. I wish the melt point was a little lower - but I have an idea that because of the melt point, I just maybe able to use this wax for both containers AND votives if it separates enough from the molds - I'm actually testing this now.

* When I say "rougher" I mean just a tad that the 70/30. This GL Soy sets up the absolute SMOOTHEST I have EVER seen a soy set up. Its amazing thats its all soy. It is as smooth as the CBA in that respect IMO.

Reminder: The first two are the 70/30 (LX 18 and 20) and the second set are the GL Soys (LX 26 and 28).

I will take a final shot of the containers after they cool to show how the wax sets up after burning.

[realmarcha]

Helloooooo Henry! I see you are back to testing again. I have been testing a parasoy wax also; not the 70/30, but one that is doing real well. I have found NO SOOT whatsoever when using the zinc wick line. It was my last choice for wicks, but after trying HTPs, CDs, and Premiers, which gave me sooting issues, I decided to try the zinc wicks, and they work great in the parasoy blends. I am also testing in the Libbey status jar, but in the 12 oz. size.

Hope all is well with you! Are you keeping up with "24"? This Monday is the Season Finale ...then withdrawal for me! Well got to go! Just wanted to pop in to say HI, and add my 2 cents. Thanks again for your expert testing results!

[Chickie1st]

Thank you Henry ! Awesome Job of testing, I love to follow your results and pics along the way. *getdown*

[Henryk]

Thank you all. I have posted with this thread the last pic of the series. I wanted to show how the surfaces set up and also any shroomage. The GL soy, like all soys, will mushroom a bit more than paraffin (thats what I have found anyway with all the soys I've tried), so it goes to reason that the 70/30 will have smaller shrooms than the all soy. Thats a definite plus in my book. The GL Soy has an extremely smooth top except for a little dip around the wick. The 70/30 does also. Unfortunately I realized that I wicked them slightly off center in my haste (worse thing for candle making - being in a rush), so the one side is always catching up to the rest - but it does all the time though. The smaller wick - the 18, does better than the larger - the 20, at least with this FO.

I've since poured four 4 ounce tins. Two with FO, two without - one being a set of 70/30 and the other GL Soy. They are all burning VERY nice. These are really nice waxes, but I think I may stick with the 70/30 for now because I can wick cooler (I'm really thinking about just using tins for most day-to-day candles I do for myself), the shroomage is less, AND you don't have seem to have to worry about hidden holes if you get the pour temp right. (IMO, if you use the GL Soy, poke holes and heat gun them - even if you don't think you have to - just in case).

Hi Marsha - I never thought zincs would work with parasoy blends. I've always been concerned about the mushrooming with them but I will definitely try a set and see how it goes. (BTW, holding off on the BW from Candlewic until I hear from you - stuff is good right?) Yes, I'm time-shifting the finale so I can chase-play it in the last hour through the commercials. I can imagine whats going on at your place - all you guys screaming at the TV.