SunshineSundries Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 OK ladies & gents, I'm ready to start my actual testing of my natural blend pillars (I'm starting with a blend of V1 soy, beeswax, & palm stearic). I am going to be using my CD wicks (because that's what I use in everything else and I want to see if those work before I venture out with more wicks). My question though is do I want to plan for a wick that is the diameter of the candle (about 3") or do I want to plan for a wick that gives me a 2.5-3" melt pool? How should these burn? Shouldn't they *slightly* tunnel to give me a wall to hold the wax in?? It's been so long since I've burned a pillar candle (I haven't burned one since I started playing with soy 4 years ago!), that I've kind of forgotten how a good candle should burn! All I remember from my PL days is that you should "hug" your candle but with the natural wax ones you shouldn't because you will just break your wall... don't know how much truth is in that but once I figure out a wick, I'll find out I guess... TIA for your suggestions!Life & Light!Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunshineSundries Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 Helllo??? :wave: Anybody have any advice - even a link to do my own research on? I've checked out several but most of them are for para and don't tell ya much on wicking nor how they *should* burn... I've never done a pillar in soy or para or earwax - so I'm totally at a loss... help please?? Life & Light!Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waxing moon Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I am also playing with soy pillars..I am using ecosoya pillar blend though. I have tried lx, cotton and some premier have gotton o.k. results. The biggest problem I keep getting is the walls get sooo soft a hole starts and then leaks..grr... It doesnt seem to matter how big or wide the shell is. On a 3x6 pillar using a LX22 there isnt any shell and it melts almost to the edge. I watched it and blew it out once it looked like it was threatening to spill over. So far the second and third burns are going well. I was testing a different wick one that left a shell. I was thinking a soy pillar with a shell would produce a better candle BUT. the shell does eventually get really soft especially after power burns..once it gets a hole, it blows out the side which is not so good. Goood luck !!Waxingmoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunshineSundries Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 Are you doing 100% soy or are you adding other waxes/additives to it (well becides FO & color!). I've read somewhere (don't ask me where - I just read it and put it in my notebook) that adding beeswax at 5-15% can help decrease the "tumbleing wall effect" from happening. I figured I'm going to add 2oz of beeswax and 2oz of palm stearic to a pound of soy and go from there. I've watched my votives burn in their containers and I know that just my "pillar" blend isn't enough to do what I need to have a happy candle. Thanks for giving your input though - atleast I've got an idea of what to wick with. I was totally clueless!! lol I'm going to start with a CD 12 and go from there - according to the chart I use a LX22 is for about 4" and since you are having issues with the wall crumblin', I'm going to go slightly smaller (3"-3.5") - cool thing is I've got wickpins for my molds so if it doesn't work, I can remove the wick, remelt and try again! Life & Light!Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Straight soy is by nature container wax. I made a pillar of 70% paraffin/30% soy. Added stearic and wicked normally. 30 ply flat blew out the side. I'm testing 24 ply and the wall is too thick. 27 ply is up next. If I up the soy, I will add some beeswax.Never tried earwax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henryk Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I've done soy pillars a while back but don't do them now. (I didn't reply because you are using your own blend and I used a supplier wax).Does the "V" in V1 mean its a votive blend? If so, then its still really a container blend, just a higher meltpoint one.Since CDs bend and give an uneven melt pool I wouldn't use them for a soy pillar - JMO.Here is a test I did - maybe you can find something useful in it?http://www.candletech.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=veggiewax;action=display;num=1110651533HTHOh - I mention maybe doing a BW/Pillar Soy blend - a 50/50 blend was terrible but it could have been the soy I was using. I heard of very good results mixing paraffin and soy pillar though - have never tried it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunshineSundries Posted July 26, 2006 Author Share Posted July 26, 2006 Thanks to you all for coming out and giving advise. I know our blends aren't the same but just to have a starting point to base off of helps a lot.Henry - the wax I am using is a "Votive/Pillar blend" or so it says on the lable. I'm adding other waxes to it so we'll see how it goes. Thanks for the heads up on the CD series of wicks. I guess I never noticed a uneven melt pool on my containers or my votives. I'm going to try one out just for S&Gs and see what happens. I read over the link you sent (and had a giggle over the word "appendages" - don't know why, just did!) and I'm going to put in an order for a braided sampler pack from somewhere. Is this the same stuff used for tapers or am I on the wrong track? Thanks for the link and great information! Like I said before, I just needed an idea of where to start and what I should expect for a burn. Life & Light!Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henryk Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Well, you have your square braids and your flat braids. Square braids were designed for BW candles but you can use them in other candles too. Flat braids you can use in pillar candles, and in tapers they mostly use the flats. I think I read though that that is for "looks" as much as anything (but I could be wrong) - but you can certainly use the small square braids in tapers as well.The squares go from 6/0 to 1/0 (smaller to bigger) and then go to numbers without the "/0" from #1 to #10 (the last is the biggest). I've not used more than the #4 myself. The /0 means a regular braid and the ones with the # are just woven looser so they can handle bigger size diameters.The flats are go from small to large, 15, 18, 21, 24, 30, 36, 42, 45, 60.The flats bend more, while the squares are more straight while they burn - at least in the waxes I have used them with. I assume though that can change depending upon the wax. For instance, LXs will bend at the tip in soy, but will burn straight as a board in palm wax (which is a good thing for palm pillars IMO).HTH(EDIT - there is a #12 too apparently - which must be huge. Here is a great site for wicks with much info: http://www.wicksunlimited.com/candle_wicks.php ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunshineSundries Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 I've got some small square wicking that I purchased for BW candlemakeing around here somewhere... I *really* need to clean out my workrooms!! I may have to order some LX wicks to go with the palm wax I want to order and play with. Thanks for the heads up on that one!Anyway - thanks for your help Henry. I'm definately going to do more reading on that link and make some candles. Life & Light!Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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