Acrylic containers?

[candlenewbie1]

Nothing I've read or searched for on this forum suggests that you can use acrylic or other types of plastics for candle containers. I've come across some really beautiful heavy acrylic jars and will test them for myself, but has anyone done this? I've read where some have experienced shattering glass and I don't think this would be a possibility with acrylic, but I don't know how it will hold up to the heat. Alternately, one could make a wickless candle and simply heat it on a mug warmer, yes, no, maybe ???? I'm all about beautiful containers as much as I'm about a candle that performs properly and is good value for the consumer's money.

[candlenewbie1]

wow, no input at all on this, huh???

[topofmurrayhill]

OK I'll take a stab at it.

1 - I doubt someone would want a plastic container candle, but you say there are some beautiful containers and I can't say there aren't.

2 - Hold a cigarette lighter (or even a match) to a piece of acrylic and see what happens. No, you can't use it for candles.

3 - If anything was suitable it would probably be polycarbonate and I suspect it would be be expensive. I also doubt you could find something made of polycarbonate that would be suitable for a container candle. At the moment it is only used for tealights as far as I have seen.

4 - Aren't you a long way from having to worry about the consumer's money?

HTH

[scents for me]

You can use polycarbonate containers, NG sells them.

[candlenewbie1]

"4 - Aren't you a long way from having to worry about the consumer's money?"

I guess I was looking at this from a more personal point of view, I'm a consumer too. But yes, you're correct of course. I am a long ways away from worrying about someone else's money.

[jvfern]

I made some tealights with the clear acrylic cups when I first started out. I guess I didn't mix well, because the last couple tealights came out with obviously a lot more fo then the first ones I poured. Anyhow, I burned the other ones and threw the last couple in a drawer. A couple of weeks later, I look in the drawer and saw that the containers had cracked and split in half! HTH

[soygirl]

I work as an assistant for a department full of scientists and chemical engineers. I asked one of them about the new high temperature plastics - they make bakeware out of them. I asked if you couldn't make a clear high temp plastic, to be used as a candle container. He told me it's not likely, because, although the new high temp plastics are very heat resistant, they are actually flammable. In other words, the container could potentially catch on fire when the wick burned to the bottom. So, I guess they would work well for wickless candles, but not candles with wicks.

I don't know if this is the same with polycarbonate containers, but if it is flammable, it probably needs an extremely hot temperature wick to catch on fire. A tiny tea light wick doesn't burn very hot.

Just thought I would throw that information out there, in case you are thinking of testing acrylic jars. Watch them very carefully when they get to the bottom, and put them in a heat resistant dish, in case it actually melts through at the bottom. Be safe - and let us know what you find out:)