Splitting votives

[georgiaII]

I'm using KY votive/pillar blend, 10% FO and just a little steric and I'm heating to about 215 and pouring at 160. The votives are splitting in half horizontallyand vertically. What am I doing wrong? I put them in the refrigerator for a little while before trying to take them out of the molds and they came out with no problem. Thanks for any advice.

[SEP]

If you are using the natural votive/pillar from Ky, you shouldn't need to use stearic acid. It is probably what is causing the cracking. They are sometimes stubborn to remove from the cups and the pins, but you seem to have that licked. Give them a try with no stearic. HTH

[SoyKandles]

I agree - no need for stearic with KY votive/pillar wax. The only time I've had one split is if I left it in the freezer too long. (I use the freezer instead of the refrigerator.) HTH

Susan

[Jeana]

Why are you adding the stearic?

Maybe you could try not heating the wax so hot too. Some veg waxes get a little dried out if they are heated too hot or too long.

And how long are you giving them to set up? Sometimes I get impatient and try taking them out too soon and they crack.

HTH:)

[georgiaII]

Thanks all. I'm trying again leaving off the steric. I thought steric was supposed to be added to harden the wax - not even sure where that came from. If that doesn't work, I'll try heating to a lower temperature. Their web site only gives a pour temperature between 160 and 200 and doesn't mention how hot to heat it so I thought it probably needed to be heated higher than 200. It does take a lot of patience to let them set up. Thanks again.

[Kaybee23]

This wax is already a good votive/pillar wax without stearic. I love it for making votives. If you are having problems with them sticking after they are cool, stick them in the freezer for about 3-4 minutes, and most of the time they will pop right out.

[Henryk]

Stearic does firm up wax - but you don't need it for this wax. Like everyone else said - don't use it and also don't heat it up so high. If you pour it cooler it will shrink less so may help you - but that means it may be slightly harder to get out of the molds. Just put them in the fridge for 20 minutes or so. I remember I didn't have problems with them releasing from the votive molds, but did have issues with the bottoms of the wickpins - make sure you spray that part at least.

[Meridith]

KY's votive wax is really nice. It is so smooth and creamy and has a great throw. If you use your molds a few times, they will get seasoned and your votives won't stick so bad. It can drive you nuts when those little buggers get stuck.