Alka Seltzer

[SatinDucky]

This was a totally new experience for me. It was a small 1lb batch of 4786 using Amish Harvest.

When I poured the FO into the pot, it immediately bubbled up like I had dropped an alka seltzer tablet in there. I could see the pool of FO in the bottom before I mixed it in, though it didn't look like the bubbles were coming from the FO pool. As I kept stirring, the bubbles dispersed and stopped forming completely when it was mixed in good.

I decided to finish anyway since it was mixed. Now that it's set up, there are what look like a single ring of tiny FO pockets in an arching pattern around the middle of the container. Like maybe mechanical pencil lead size. None on bottom or top.

It's the oddest thing. The only cause I can come up with is maybe the FO is too old. It's Peaks, maybe 14months old, but stored in cool/dark place. It smelled like it always did. Yes, I've used from this bottle before.

Any ideas? :undecided

[geekrunner]

First off, I'm no chemist, but I play one at home in my Mad Scientist Lab

Did you use a bottle with a Yorker tip or some type of dispensing lid? Or did you pour straight from a bottle? I found once that when I use a Yorker tip on my bottles, and don't trim the tip a little, and then forcefully squeeze out the needed FO, the very thin stream of FO will cause alot of bubbling of the wax rising to the surface of the wax. If I trim the tip down to a thicker steam, it doesn't do that. There's another comparison I could make that comes to mind, but it would be in bad taste and only the guys would understand

Another thing could be, is there may be an ingredient in the FO that may be separating out, and it may be causing a chemical reaction that releases some gas causing the bubbling, maybe CO2? Maybe I'm talking outside of my pay grade, maybe Top could answer that one.

geek

[SatinDucky]

Nope, no squirting. I weigh the FO in a small shot glass before pouring it in. It was definitely a chemical reaction of some sort though :undecided

[topofmurrayhill]

Be careful of the wax temp when you add the FO. To high and you get a lot of dissolved gas in the wax, with much badness revealed when the candle sets up. Additionally I'd say it's good practice to remove the wax from the heat source before adding fragrance. A similar thing can also happen if the container is too hot.

Could also be something about the old FO that makes it happen worse.

[SatinDucky]

Hmm... wonder what temp the wax was when I mixed it...lol. It was a container blend I was playing with and I usually do pillars so it may very well have been too hot. I'll have to check on that