Your thoughts on 4625

[Henryk]

Well, I have my views of this after working with it for a weekend, but was curious to see what others think. Would love to hear them if you've used this before.

TIA

[Breanna]

I really like this wax, and I use it a lot. Makes great pillars and votives, also used for hand dipping my tapers. Scent throw is fantastic hot or cold. Has great FO retention, 1 to 1/2 oz to 1LB wax Depending on the heaviness of the FO. (Such as Hot Cocoa is a heavey scent so I use 1/2 oz in my 1LB of wax.) I get a great MP of about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. This is a keeper in my book;)

HTH

[Jcandleattic]

I have tried several pillar waxes, from straight paraffin to many preblends, and this is the wax I keep coming back too. The only thing Ihave a hard time getting this wax to do is rustics, but I can do it. Just takes a bit more effort..

All in all I love this wax and it definately is my main pillar wax.

[SatinDucky]

It's my main pillar wax too. I love it. Ok, I love it when it's not extremely hot and humid

[Meredith_D]

This is a great wax. It produces a very shiny, smooth pillar with great throw. It isn't versatile though, you won't get a rustic or mottled finish, but if you're looking for an easy, plain pillar wax, this is it!

[Sherie]

I have to agree with everyone. I like the Hot/Cold throw of this wax and the smooth, creamy texture it can produce for a plain pillar. I just recently played with it on a marble technique. My opinion is it will be great for the marble technique. I still love my 1343 as it is more versatile.

[Soul Scents]

I use 4625 for my pillars and votives and I have no problem getting the rustic finish...

Kelly

[Jcandleattic]

I'm with you Kelly, I've never had a problem getting a rustic finish with this wax. Just have to work with it a little differently is all.

[Lolas Lights]

thats what I'm using right now, and I get a rustic really well with it, sometimes I get a rustic and wasn't going for it. In my case it depends on what temp I pour. If I pour really hot, get a great shiny smooth pillar or chunky but cooler pouring gets a great rustic look.

[Guest ShellyRobyn]

I use this wax mainly for rustics pouring at around 155.

[Henryk]

Thats my problem, anything I do with this wax looks a bit "rustic".

[Jcandleattic]

Henry, what temp are you pouring at? Maybe pour a little hotter, and you should be able to get a nice smooth clean finish with it.

I also (even though I know this is a preblend wax) add 1/8 teaspoon of vybar per lb. to help alleviate any pock marks pouring at the higher temp might cause, and I've never had a problem..

HTH

[topofmurrayhill]

Thats my problem, anything I do with this wax looks a bit "rustic".

Normal pouring temp for this wax is 175-185. Try no lower than 180 and you should be fine.

[Henryk]

I read the instuctions, so I did pour at 185. Didn't help. I'll try the vybar.

I also don't know why this is sticking so much. Oh well, there are other IGI waxes I have, maybe one will work better for me. I'll probably end up using one of the straight paraffins anyway.

But thanks for your help

[topofmurrayhill]

OK I'm not surprised that you did it right but that is quite puzzling. Really there is something wrong with this picture but I don't have a clue as to what it is. Can you share anything else about what you were doing with the wax?

I'm more of a roll-my-own type also so I don't do the preformulated waxes very much, but I have some 4794 lying around that I use when I need some quick-and-easy votives. I always end up admiring this product when I use it and the 4625 is in the same Parafflex family. I just have an inner conviction that it must of similar quality. Also your experience doesn't seem consistent with that of others.

[Henryk]

Well, the one problem I had that I may have the answer was the small pin holes in the surface. I have read that this could be do to too much mold release on the interior of the mold. I'm not a heavy mold release user so I usually just do a quick split second spray and thats it. I don't wipe. Next time I will.

I made 1/2 dozen votives/pillars and all of them had the same problems. The funny thing is, if the problem was too much mold release, then why the problem with sticking? (Yes, they were cool - they sat through the evening until the next morning).

Another thing I'm thinking about is maybe my darn molds are just cooler than I think they actually are and I should heat gun them prior to filing. (I would love to have one of those infrared thermometers).

[topofmurrayhill]

Well Henry, this is rather speculative and may not be the entire answer, but I once started having a problem with pitting and surface finish and none of the usual explanations seemed relevant. What I ultimately found is that my molds (aluminum) were simply dirtier than they looked. I would recommend the following procedure in the spirit of "it may help and it definitely won't hurt."

1 - Spray the inside of the molds with a fair amount of WD-40 and let them sit for a minute.

2 - Wipe them thoroughly with paper towels, with particular attention to jamming paper towel into the bottom edges and going round and round. When you've removed any visible film of WD-40, let them sit for a few minutes.

3 - Spray them with a fair amount of silicone mold release and then wipe them down again until there is no visible film.

Let me also mention that I've come to quite like the silicone mold release sold by Bitter Creek. It comes in a spray mist bottle instead of an aerosol can. I have found that it happens to be an excellent cleaner that's very effective in removing wax, FO and dye. I don't do steps 1 & 2 every time, but now that I've noticed the cleaning properties I always do step 3 before pouring.

[Alohagirl]

Hi Henry. Mold release sprays do not go on evenly, so if you're not wiping with a paper towel, that would explain both the pitting and the sticking.

I find 4625 to be a great wax and virtually foolproof when these steps are taken:

1) Spray mold release and wipe (wick pin, too)

2) Heat metal molds until verywarm, but not hot

3) Pour at 180 degrees

4) After cooling, if pillar doesn't slide out of mold easily, place in fridge for a few minutes.

Even though it's a pre-blend, 4625 is a bit on the translucent side and sometimes bubbles are visible beneath the surface. I agree with the suggestion of adding a little vybar, no more than 1/4 tsp per pound.

HTH

[tucker]

You girls are breakin my heart. I'm trying to make RUSTICS and am failing miserably. PLEASE, I have a new case of 4625, would someone please walk me thru the steps to get a rustic with this wax. It seems thus far that it is a very closely gaurded secret. If I could make one RUSTIC that turned out half as nice as those that TRISH makes, "I would die a happy man" PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

Cliff

[topofmurrayhill]

You girls are breakin my heart. I'm trying to make RUSTICS and am failing miserably. PLEASE, I have a new case of 4625, would someone please walk me thru the steps to get a rustic with this wax. It seems thus far that it is a very closely gaurded secret. If I could make one RUSTIC that turned out half as nice as those that TRISH makes, "I would die a happy man" PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

Cliff

It would be helpful if you could tell us exactly what trouble you're having. The basic idea is to pour the wax cold, like maybe 150. If you want to start with a simple solid rustic, you can pour some hotter wax into a chilled mold, slosh it around, then fill the mold.

Look here for more discussion, including tips from the resident experts: http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3538

[Henryk]

I don't know. I don't think it was the molds - something else. I just poured 4 votives and two pillars of another wax (6028) in the same molds and the finish was flawless (opaque yes, but perfect). This is a soy/paraffin pillar blend and if the burns are 1/2 as good as the looks, I'll be really happy with this wax for "standard pillars". I just mention this because I didn't clean the molds before this wax and had no trouble with the finish or the release. In fact, I could simply lift votives out by the pins! The pillars slid right out also. I don't think I've ever had any wax that lifted right out of the votive molds before and then simply twist the pins off - pretty slick. With the extra leftovers (I thought I would need a lot for repours), I also did tealights and 3 oz votives in those solo plastic drink cups. If this wax burns good I was going to post some burn test pics... never know where to post them in this case - here, or the natural wax board.

Since I'm leaning towards 1343 or 1218 for use as a paraffin pillar wax, I don't think I'm going to pursue the 4625, but again, do thank everyone for the posts - it helps in general (i.e. cleaning molds and wiping the molds). The 1343 and 1218 are more transparent so one can always add opacity, but not the other way around, so I'm going to put my efforts into those waxes now for that reason.

Thanks again ...