Ian H Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hi all, this is my first post here. Please help if you can.I received my goods from the suppliers Yesterday and immediately set into making my first candles. I decided to keep it simple and just use the supplied moulds to make some variously coloured pillar versions. Apart from more shrinkage than I anticipated I was quite pleased with my first efforts.This done I decided that I would try a container type candle. I found a suitable tin and did it. This morning I looked at it and there was a bead of liquid on the top, I left the lid on overnight. Upon tipping it up there was a significant volume of this liquid pouring out. There was also some liquid in the base of the plastic drinking cup mould I tried. The pillars were dry with no sign of moisture.I used paraffin wax beads with 10% stearin added plus solid dye and fragrance.Where have I got it wrong or is this usual.Regards all. BTW great site.Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerina Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I don't make candles, (only wickless and tarts) but I think it's pretty safe to say that it could very likely be an excess of Fragrance oil. If you think you used the correct amount, then perhaps you did not stir it well enough. Some tend to sit on the bottom even after a good stir. I've made a batch or two of melts that were fine until I get to the bottom of the pot. The first set poured in the first few molds were fine. But the last few had seepage. And I knew they would cuz I could see it in the bottom of my melt pot -but only as I began to dump off the last bit, lol. I get to be the first to say that which always bugged me when I was brand spanking new, lol.. but truly the search function is a great tool! For this and almost all future questions, it will all be at your fingertips and you won't have to wait for responses if you figure out the right word combinations on the search tab. Also, posting what you are using in regards to your question is a heap of help to those experts who have worked with just about every wax and every fragrance, dye, wick, etc. Each brand/style seems to have it's own quirks and set of 'rules' and expectations. So it will be helpful to them to know right off the bat. Welcome to the board and good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian H Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Thanks for the quick reply blazerina. The fragrance addition was all I could think of but I did give it a good stir, also the volume of run off greatly exceeded the amount of fragrance I added. The one I am using says that 15ml will cover 5 kilos of wax............So I added a small amount with an eye dropper.Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Well hard to say as you don't mention how much FO you used per pound and my question is you were making a container candle in a plastic cup?One thing you can see an oil slick on the bottom of melted wax if your FO isn't incorporated. Try looking for that. It's harder to see the darker the colors. You might try checking your temperatures at which you added your FO as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janette Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hi Ian,Did you put the lid on your container candle while the wax was still hot/warm? If so, perhaps you have condensation. As for the plastic cup, I'm not sure what you are saying. Had you used this for a pillar?Janette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian H Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 I have to confess Scented I didn't measure the amount of fragrance that I used, just a small dribble of it. As I stated in the first post this FO uses 15ml (3 teaspoons ) for 5 kilos of wax (over 11 pounds weight).I used a metal tin for the container. The plastic cup was just a trial and to use the last of that sessions wax.I added the FO at 180 f just prior to pouring.Janette, I did leave the lid on overnight, but it's hard to think where all the moisture came from, there was a good teaspoon full. The tin BTW is 2" deep and 1.5" square.As a matter of interest these 2 items where the only ones in the sesion that I didn't water cool.Thanks for your replies, I'm most grateful.Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 OK ... all the same scent right? We're not talking multiple candles? All colored or not? If you would try this ... or would be up to doing it ... remelt it all, get back to the temperature of like 180ish and then look to see what's in the bottom of the pot. Tilt the pot around to see if anything moves ... Could be you had some water in your wax as well ... this will all show up on the bottom of the pot ... along with any FO that did not mix in well. Well it will show up as long as your wax (if colored) isn't too dark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian H Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 I've now lit the can and it is a deep purple shade. It's burning OK. I know it's a bit early but I need to get a feel of the wicks I'm using. Don't fully understand this maturing concept to be truthful........Must ask for guidance if I can't hit it on a search.I had another candling session today and finished the remainder of the 2kg that I ordered. Made some progress and the latest batch are more arty rather than plain dyed.Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Well here's what I can tell you about the maturation process ... a candle needs at least 24 hours for the goodies put in the wax to say incorporate ... the longer the candle sits (for some) the better the mingling of scent and wax tends to get. There is a point though where the scent will fade. I think it took about 5 years on a candle I had for the FO to fade, but I wasn't using a quality FO on it either, so that isn't a fair test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillgunter Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 You should also measure your FO with a scale, not by the teaspoon. They all weight different based on which FO it is. Some are heavier than others. How long did you stir? I usually stir mine for a good 2 to 3 minutes. Also your wax needs to be a high temp when you add the FO to incorporate it. Most add it around 180. Good luck:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian H Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share Posted January 11, 2007 Thanks for that Jill, the temp. was 180 but I only stirred it for about half a minute.:undecided. I did it off the heat so I didn't want the wax to cool to any degree.As I was incorporating the FO into about 1/2 pound of wax it would have been impossible to weigh it without scientific scales.............less than 1 tenth a teaspoon according to the label.Bare in mind I'm from the UK and the scene here is not as precise as it appears Stateside, not as many numbers for everything. I purchased it from candlemakers.co.uk and the bottle is labelled scent for candles.Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillgunter Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Hmm that is gonna be hard, maybe someone on here from UK can give you some suggestions:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinDucky Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 That's got to be some seriously strong fragrance oil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian H Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 I agree the dosage does suggest a very high strength product, certainly compared with some of the dosage rates that I have seen posted. But as I am a complete novice I have no guidlines to follow. In the bottle it certainly isn't overpoweringly strong.Smell is very subjective. Personally I like a strong scent from candles.The next order I place will be with a different supplier so that I can get a comparison.Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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