Questions about votives

[Gretchen]

Hi all! I've never done votives; nota one. I've read through a couple of post, recent ones about the eco vb wax, which was what i was going to use(?) I use the CB Advanced so it seemed fitting I would use their VB. What I've read is about cracking, not getting a clean burn, poor scent throw, etc. Doesn't sound god! I have a customer, really good account, that is requesting chocolate scented votive for the first Friday in October! Do I really have enough time to pull this off? Wax and wick testing all over again! Yikes! Are these little buggers worth it? Really?

Gretchen

[Indescent]

Is this the EcoSoya blend? I use the VB for my votives and get great burns and throws with an RRD 34.

[Kaybee23]

I think you have plenty of time. I don’t think votives are as complicated to make and test burn as containers. What I did, was take the wicks I normally use and made a few of the votives (about 3 or 4) in the scent I was trying to wick, and then pop a different wick (ones that I thought would be close) in each one of them, and popped them into snug votive holders and lit them. That way I could tell which one would give me the best burn.

edited to add: I sell a lot of votives, so to me they are definitely worth it.

[kitkat]

I have been playing with the votives with a soypara blend.. i just cannot get over how simple these are to make..and how well they put out a hot throw...

easy and fast to make if you have enough votive cups and wick pins... I have been playing with just one cup and one wick pin.. and have made about 8 different ones now.. still it is new to me .. but it sure is working out great...

Cathy

[mrs_scurry]

How many votives does a pound of wax make? That is going to be my next project and I want to make sure that I have enough votive molds. Thanks!

Veronica

[Kaybee23]

If it is a standard size votive, it is 2 oz, so 16 oz. should make 8.

[Henryk]

The best looking (and easiest) votives I've made so far are from 6028 (its a blend). They look great and its the only wax so far that I could literaly lift out of the votive molds. (posted a pic just now at http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3858).

I also made them from 1343 paraffin - both with and without vybar. Vybar makes the wax opaque, pure white, but if you don't use it, when you light the wick, the whole votive just glows - really great looking.

I used to use BW for votives, but the glass holders would get too hot. I'm still testing wicks in the 6028, but in the straight paraffin I really like the LX8 - the 10 and the 12 work also, but I like a low, steady, flame. For the KY soy pillar blend I used an LX 12 usually.

Like was said - you have PLENTY of time. Just follow the directions at http://www.candletech.com/votives/ . They are much easier (and faster) to test than containers. Just make a few and wick them each differently going up a size.

HTH

[topofmurrayhill]

I used to use BW for votives, but the glass holders would get too hot.

Why is that?

[mystical_angel1219]

The best wax I have used so far for votives is the KY Pillar/Votive Blend.

It holds scent well, has a nice shiny texture like paraffin and I find easy to work with. You will have to do a repour, but the finished product is worth it.

I haven't tried the one that Henryk spoke of as of yet.

I would highly recommend that you read the instructions to the left on making votives and investing in wick pins. There is no forgiveness with an off center wick in a votive, period. If your selling they must be perfect, IMO.

[Henryk]

Why is that?

Because you need to use at least two wick sizes from soy (and three sizes up from paraffin) because of how viscous BW is (assuming you are using a series that has a good spread - like LX or CD) - and the glass is pretty close to the flame if you use tight-fitting holders. Since votive holders are reused again and again I'm a bit concerned about the heat stress even with glass made for the purpose (like votive holders). Therefore I personally chose to use less viscous waxes in votives so I can use smaller wicks, and compared to BW, even soy is less viscous. (Its sort of on the same theory why you don't really see pure BW used for container candles much, just basically hard to do properly IMO - if you find them, most will tunnel, at least the ones that I've bought commercially have).