What type of soy do you all use?

[NoOneSpecial]

And what do you like best/least about it?

I use EL M blend for containers and their votive blend for votives and tarts. I like the M blend because it has a wonderful burn and scent throw with my fragrances and I love the finished appearance of the candle. I don't like all the wet spots, but hey I think that is an issue with most waxes if not all.

I like the votive wax because of the scent throw, but I don't like the cracking for votives and the frosting issues it seems to have.

Next!

[malaki]

i like c-3 now that i have all the kinks worked out , i think this is a hard wax to get down but once you got it, it is a great wax.

[JKCBrown]

I tried C-3 too Malaki when I first started, and your so very right!!! It's a hard wax to work the kinks out of.. although I really liked how it seemed to look smooth in my container candles..

Now, I'm using Celestial Soy from TN Candle Supply. It's easy to work with, I get perfect tops, have wonderful scent throw, and since I'm in VA, when I ship it UPS I get it the day after.

The only thing I have issue's with is frosting, but I had that when I used C-3 too.. Soy wax seems to be prone to frosting with certain colors.. my oranges and red's do it a lot.

~Kristen~

[kittykat]

EL container blend (not the millenium) and EL votive blend. I've never had any cracking issues with this votive wax.

I like it because it is a pure soy and it gives very consistant results.

[hometowncandles]

I use ky's KYSoy125 It's soy with a tad bit of cottonseed oil. It works really well for me. I get a really great throw and most of the times smooth tops(except when I am overanxious and pour too hot). Plus it's within driving distance so no S&H whooohooo :highfive: Can;t imagine the s&h on 50 lb boxes of wax.

[Stella1952]

NatureWax C-3 gives us fantastic, consistent performance overall. Proper wicking and high quality FOs make a huge difference also. Wihth the good, consistent results we have obtained using this wax, we don't even consider trying anything else... if a product is giving one excellent results, unless one is just into experimenting, why would one consider anything else?

This is a question that has been asked/answered many times before. Searching the forum might give you more responses.

[NoOneSpecial]

Thank you all for sharing!

This is a question that has been asked/answered many times before. Searching the forum might give you more responses.

Yes, I have done a search, however people do experiment and change waxes so I wanted to ask again.

[Juggy]

I have been using ezsoy and am now trying a combo of j223/415 - like it so far.

[jakalex]

I use Ecosoya CB135 and have great results. Wet spots are a pain but not too bad. Really no way to avoid them totally. My tops are smooth and creamy. I have never tried any other soy wax.

[Nodtveidt]

BG 415. Excellent scent and dye retention (works great with pigments especially) but tends to frost horribly when used by itself. I add a little Vybar 103 to smooth it out and eliminate the frosting by 70-95%, depending on the application.

[blacktortoise]

I use ezsoy. I mostly make ice cream candles and it works well. I like that I can get it from BCn which is somewhat close to me.

[tamsoycandles]

I am using/testing GB 444, mainly because I can get it locally and save on shipping.

I am using EcoSoya PB for soy pillars.

[MissyK]

I use C-3 also and love it. I use it for tarts also and it works great. I use ECO wicks and get a great throw. I try to stick with suppliers who test in soy and it works great for me! I do find the longer the cure time the better the throw.

[msmeredith]

I use Soy wax from Craftlobby but it does not state what type of wax it is other than 117 or 125. But its a very hard soy wax. Patty said its similiar to 416. Its ok, it looks funky after you burn it though. Also, I like Ezsoy from BCN.

[airforcewife]

i reall like the ecosoy it is easy to work with and I haven't had to many problems with it frosting or having wet spots.

[willow candle]

NatureWax C-3 gives us fantastic, consistent performance overall. Proper wicking and high quality FOs make a huge difference also. Wihth the good, consistent results we have obtained using this wax, we don't even consider trying anything else... if a product is giving one excellent results, unless one is just into experimenting, why would one consider anything else?

This is a question that has been asked/answered many times before. Searching the forum might give you more responses.

STELLA,

DO YOU HAVE A HELPFUL HINT ON ELIMINATING BUBBLES IN THIS WAX? When I burn the wax bubbles are popping up everywhere and they stay on the top, moving over to the side of the jar... I like the wax but not the bubbles... Do you add anything ?? I tried 1 TBS of BW per pound and that did not help? Thanks

[Stella1952]

Willow, the short answer is that we, too, see some bubbles in our C-3 to some extent at some point during the life of the candle. We are endeavoring to discover something that consistantly reduces the bubbling to zip, but so far haven't found any one thing that we can point to and say, "Do this and your bubble trouble is history."

Some random observations: It seems like there is more bubble formation toward the end of the jar, although we have no hard data on that... It also seems like there are more bubbles when the wick isn't quite right... Jars & tins seem to develop bubbles at about the same rate... **candles which frost a lot around the edges after burning seem more likely to have an objectionable quantity of bubbles...

The things we currently do for bubble reduction are:

• tap the jar on the table carefully right after the pour to release air bubbles, then a couple of times as it cools (before it skins over or gets tooo slushy), especially if we see any developing;

• pouring slooow right down the wick

• ultra clean air-dried jars (we wash 'em in Parson's Sudsy ammonia & HOT water, then put in the oven upside down to dry)

• we don't touch inside the jar once they are clean and dried & we store them upside down until moments before wicking & pouring

• warm the jars until they are ALMOST too hot to handle

• slow, protected cooling after the pour

Here's how we figure it... if there is no tunneling, nothing for air bubbles to adhere to on the jar surface and as few air bubbles as possible introduced during the actual pouring process, the bubble formation is knocked down to a dull roar. Although it doesn't look like someone "hocked a big one" in the candles, the measures we take above do not eliminate bubbles totally!

*scurries off to look in test jars for bubbles*

Yep - about half (burned down between quarter & halfway) have 0-5 bubbles, most of the rest have a thin line maybe 1/4-1/2 inch long at the edge of the jar, (15-20 small bubbles) and a few, burned all the way down to the wick tab, which look mildly rabid.

Some FOs and dyes *seem* to froth more, although we haven't been able to conclusively say "this FO from So & So or that color dye from Thus & Such causes C-3 to froth like it has rabies."** The reason we can't totally pinpoint it is that there are still too many variables in how we pour, such as, did we stir the holy livin' heck out of it right before pouring for some reason? Was it a remelt from the previous day? Did we remember to do our version of tempering (something we have found that really helps a lot of ills, but we haven't "dialed in" the exact process yet)? We also have not kept close enough records of each candle poured from a single pot of wax (we usually load up the Presto, add the minimum doses of USA and UVS, melt, temper, then color and scent in a pouring container), ie. do the FIRST candles from a pour develop more bubbles than ones from the LAST ones? Is it better to carefully ladle the wax into the pouring containers and jars so as not to incorporate any fine air bubbles into the melted wax? I am not sure whether the air bubbles are happening because of air gathered into the wax during the pouring process or whether it is a surface tension problem... I do have a couple more wild ideas to try to see if they help... will let y'all know if they work. Have not tried vybar, palm wax, or paraffin in case you wanna try those... (*crosses beeswax off the to-do list*)

Testing is ongoing...

If someone told us that doin' the funky chicken over the cooling candles will make them mo' better, hey, we'd try it!

Well, IF the curtains were pulled... and the spouses weren't around to see...

[willow candle]

Stella,

THANK YOU SO MUCH.. I really appreciate all your time into that response. I am going to print it out. You have a wealth of information. Have a great day

[Stella1952]

Willow, I'm happy if it helps, but unfortunately none of what I wrote is conclusive... wish that it were! But maybe if we all share our ideas on puzzling issues like this, we'll find some more solid remedies amongst all our findings. Like many folks here, I am pretty wet-behind-the-ears at the fine art of chandlery, but always glad to share what has worked for us.