daniedb Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Get the facts out of the way:I use 100% EZ Soy, no additives, just color and FO. I heat to approx. 180-185 to mix in the color, then add scent at 175. Pour at about 100, or when verrrrry slushy. I've been making candles since we lived in AZ, and here in TX now, so I've poured until 0 humidity to about 90% humidity, now, so I've had some wide experience as for weather.So I just poured about 5 pounds of candles, colored a darkish blue. They're looking fine so far. Anyway, here's the interesting thing: they're looking fine, slightly frosted, but minimally, now that I've worked it out with the humidity and we've come to sort of a truce.After I poured the main candles, I had about 6 oz left over, and I needed to pour a test candle to test a new wick. So, I added another 10 oz of flakes, straight from the box, and zapped it in the micro for about 1.5 minutes. It was fairly melted, the flakes were a little resistant, b/c I didn't get it super hot, probably only up to about 130-140. I stirred it very well for a few minutes, and all the flakes melted into the older, darker stuff and came out a lighter blue. So, here's the thing: the result of this mixture was this incredibly creamy, beautiful, perfect and smooth wax with absolutely NO frosting and seriously, it looked like silk. I mean, I've never seen a more perfect candle anywhere. HOW can I make this happen on a consistent basis? I'm thinking that the lower melt temp had something to do with it, but then if I try to incorporate FO and dye at 130-140, we all know what happens. So then I was thinking, well, maybe I could do like a 4 oz of wax with 1 oz of FO and the appropriate dye for a pound of wax, and then let it cool to the slushy stage, then try to replicate what I did by adding plain wax flakes and mix the heck out of it, but then, wouldn't the added wax not be scented, because the FO wouldn't bind very well to the new stuff at a lower temp and then it would end up burning weird, or not smelling strong?I KNOW you people have some ideas for me. I'm absolutely in awe of this perfect, beautiful candle, it looks good enough to eat, seriously. It's the best candle I've ever made, and I have no idea how to do it again! Update:I just tried the method where I melt about .25 pound to 185, add dye, add FO at 175, then let cool. Then I barely melted .75 pounds of flakes, mixed it until it was really creamy, then added the warmer .25 to the cooler plain creamy mixture. Mixed great, poured AWESOME, but have to wait to burn to see the results of it.Okay, the candles are diff colors, so it's hard to tell, but here's the two side by side:See the frosting speckled throughout the darker one?tops:This is the new experiment, so it's a darker blue, but it's the creamy wax, a new batch so don't get it confused with the darker candle above. And the wax itself before pour, look how CREAMY!Whoa! How'd that get there?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorrie Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Post a picture I would love to see the difference btw the candles you poured the first time and this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Very Interesting! That sure would save some time on cooling as well. Let us know how it turns out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairieannie Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Whoa! How'd that get there?!LMAO...my favorite part! Dang he's handsome! I mean the kind of cute you see in magazines and on tv...Henry I presume! Uhh...can't help ya with the soy question hehehe, but had to comment on the boy...seriously...beyond normal cute.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky_CO Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 That sound like a good experiment but if you are in to making production for shows or orders it would be way to time consuming as you are having to stand there and stir till creamy. If you only need to make 4 or 5 candles where time was not a concern that would be great. My other main concern would be the amount of air you are incorporating in to the candle by stirring it so much so close to pouring. I think over time that will present it own set of problems.Just some things to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniedb Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 Thank you so much prairieanne! Of course, I'm biased, but he really is just the most beautiful boy on the planet. And the smartest, and the sweetest, and the best behaved......Vicky - after you posted, I went to look, and you were right, HUGE air bubbles. Everywhere. Annoying. I hate that it was so beautiful, but didn't work out so well in the end. I love the beautiful smooth tops, but the frosting this morning, when I woke up?! Fuggedaboudit. It's everywhere. It's like it snowed inside my containers.So, there you are if you read this far...something boring for the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDweller Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 What you did is called "seeding" or tempering of-sorts. Read up on the manufacturing of chocolate and what they do to combat all the issues we try to overcome. Ever seen the white, powdery film that forms on old or cheap chocolate? It is called "bloom"...happens because of the exact same reason it happens to us. Ever seen chocolate "sweat"? Same reason! Temp extremes will cause a good tempered chocolate to "frost" just like what happens with soy candles. Seen a Beanpod candle? NO frosting...unless they have been improperly stored or exposed to temp extremes. Their "tempacure" pouring method is that... they temper the wax before they pour it. They just so happen to have the money to have custom built machinery that does it for them, thoughI figured all this out long ago, but honestly, who the hell has time to put it into action? I'm not trying to take a month to make a batch of perfect soy candles lol I have "seeding" test samples out in the shop right now, months later that are still beautiful and frost free. That is adding cooler wax to the hot wax. Tempering is taking the entire batch...bringing it up to temp, then lowering. Just before pouring, take temp up a bit again.Do you remember the movie "Chocolate"? Remember when she poured out the chocolate onto the marble counter and kept smearing and folding it? She was tempering it... chocolate cools faster on marble. The chocolate is then scraped back up, reheated and then poured. Fine chocolate is tempered in this way. Read up on tempering and seeding chocolate. You will find many answers. You hit the nail on the head, so to speak :highfive: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniedb Posted September 21, 2005 Author Share Posted September 21, 2005 PrairieDweller -I actually know exactly what you're talking about - in my "former life" I used to be a chef. Great info, I never put it together before, that's really helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in KY Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 I wasn't a chef and have no ideal what she said. Let's talk wax and see if I have it sume what right. First melt wax to 180? then add FO and color stir well. Now add plain wax flakes, the correct amount as per FO, and stir till melted. Then did she say you heat up again then pour. Please correct me to the right way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniedb Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 Here's what I did - I heated approx 1/2 lb of flakes to 180, added dye and FO.In a separate pot, I put another 1/2 of flakes, and heated for approx 30-45 secs in the microwave. Some flakes were melted, some weren't. I stirred the heck out of it, and came out with a creamy, frosting look.I let the dyed and fragranced wax cool to about 110-120, then added the two waxes together. Viola! However, I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of the air bubble problem, they're terrible.I'm back to pouring slushy, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geekrunner Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 I'm back to pouring slushy, LOL! That's me too! I've been in my Mad Scientist lab trying different wax mixes, pour temps, covering with boxes, cooling in preheated ovens, and nothing worth switching to YET! But I'm getting close.Until then, pour slushy. geek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADSoy Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 I have a sneaky suspicion - I think the microwave might have something to do with the smoothness. When I first started pouring candles I couldn't get a smooth top or a candle without sink holes and didn't have many jars to experiment with so I'd melt them down in the microwave so I could re-use the jars. One time I decided to see how a fully nuked candle would set up. It was perfect. This was either 444 or 449 wax - can't remember --- dyed very, very red with 10% FO. Didn't keep notes about the burn if I even burned it as I knew it was too time consuming to incorporate into production. Anyway, I'm wondering if there is something to the microwave - guess I need to test it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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