Stearic acid/stearine and fragrance

[sugarysweet95]

:undecided Hi, I'm trying out several different suppliers of straight paraffin wax (thats all they have over here in the UK!) and have been keeping the amount of scent/wax/dye/mould and wick type the same. I thought i'd venture out and try the same candles (cylindrical pillars) with stearin so used 1 level tablespoon of stearin per 100g (an amount i got from an otherwise very helpful candlemaking book).

Anyway when i tried the candles (with the different waxes) without stearin, the fragrance mixed in well and made a nice candle. The candles i tried with stearin (they were unblended waxes b4 u ask!) the fragrance didnt mix very well at all and leaked out of the candle when it came out of the mould. I was adding the same fragrance at about 80c and pouring straight after (well i stirred the fragrance in b4 pouring).

Anyway i'm a bit confused, as i remember reading on these boards that stearin helps the candle to hold more fragrance, so not sure why the scent leaked out w stearin but not when there was no stearin. Have i not used enough? Not poured high enough temp wise or something else? I don't really wanna waste loads more wax etc trying to test it all out, so can anyone help me? Thanks

[Georgia]

I'm kind of puzzled by this also. Make sure I have my conversions right...100g = about 1/4 pound, so you are using 4T per pound? I'm pretty sure the most I have used is 3T per pound, but it does help the wax hold more FO. Your 80c is about 176f...nothing unusual about that. That seems about a mid range, I pour around 155 for rustic and 180-185 for mottled. Are you melting the steric separately and then adding the wax (or adding the steric to the wax)? Steric has a much higher melt point so it won't blend in with your wax at 80c.

[topofmurrayhill]

If you'd like to make smooth solid-colored candles, Vybar is more effective in holding the fragrance oil.

Did any of your candles mottle?

[sugarysweet95]

Oh, i always thought vybar was the stearine substitute for rubber moulds, will give it a try. Oh and forgot about the melting stearin bit first, maybe it's that simple. I'll have another go and see what happens this time, will try a small cylinder pillar! Thanks for the help and fingers crossed this works!!!

:smiley2:

[sugarysweet95]

Oh and was wandering, what actually is mottling? Is it just when u get marks on the candle? If so what sort of marks are they? I'm still new to a lot of these candle terms! LOL!

[topofmurrayhill]

Mottling is the clouds or snowflakes effect you get when you add a liquid like fragrance oil to plain paraffin (or paraffin with a little stearic). Done intentionally, it can be a very nice aesthetic effect. With no additives and no liquid, you will often still see a little of it show up. Historically that's a defect known as snow-spots. Wax additives get rid of it.

Regarding the Vybar, practically every candle additive is a "stearic substitute" in the sense that they all harden, clarify (no mottling) and opacify the wax. However, they also have their unique properties. Vybar is exceptionally good at binding fragrance oil when used in only small amounts. Just a teaspoon or even half that much will do you, depending on the amount of scent you're using and how compatible it is with the wax.

Don't worry too much about melting the stearic. It melts easily at 150 F. Some say to heat up to 190 to incorporate it, but I use this additive all the time and as far as I can tell everything is fine as long as you see it melt.