Help bleeding/sweating

[candlemandave]

Hello,

I am currently testing new wax. its the golden brands 444. I first bought vege wax about a two years ago and it bled so much scent and I kept addding parrafin, adding parrafin to the point it was pointless so I stuck with parrafin. So I bought some ADM 135 soywax, blended it with beeswax and palm stearic and it can hold enough scent to sink a battle ship but it sucks to work with because it looks like the elephant man candle when it hardens a lot of the times.

I liked the golden brands wax. i made a few candles with it and the look was cool. it was rated at 10% fragrance hold and I put 11.5% to test it and it held, burned ok, found my wick height. I was testing the UV inhibitor and noticed the candles that were sitting in the sun were bleeding (unlit.)

So I took all the others I"d made to see what was up with them and they all bled while in the sun for a little time. Here's the mystery.

The first soy wax that bled, obviously bled scent. These candles were unexposed to the sun and there was a pool that persisted for a long time. With this latest batch though, once cooled down, the candle goes back to a more normal state with only a few drip marks showing sorta like fossil tracks.

I"ve read on a thread that some company stated that the wax will sweat due to the makeup of the wax. That's bizare and makes me question what I actually have as far as chemistry goes. If I test burn a candle inside and all is well, what happens if it has been exposed to heat which changes the whole chemistry. Am I more suceptible to fire from scent flash? Will it look goofy after 4 hours of heat/sun exposure but not 2 hours? It is a testing nightmare.

Anyway, I am looking to find answers from general experience, AND I would really like to find someone else that may be working with this identical wax and share notes and experiences. Also, aside from stepping down the fragrance load (which didn't work) and adding paraffin(which is a last resort), I would like to know of any solutions other people may have come up with to combat this problem.

Thanks,

Dave

[topofmurrayhill]

Personally I think you're on the wrong track using such high fragrance loads, but anyway I'll try to answer a few questions.

The wax sweats in response to heat because the crystals or solid portions of the wax expand and squeeze out the liquids. Generally this is combatted with additives that bind oil and/or make the crystals smaller so they hold on to the fragrance better.

If you want to keep it all-veggie, the only thing I can think of is a monoglyceride additive such as Panalite. This and similar materials are commonly sold by soy wax suppliers under the name Universal Soy Additive or something like that. 444 already contains this additive but you could add more.

I haven't tried to do exactly what you're doing so I can't predict how well the USA will work. I suspect you're liable to have other issues. But that's what I would try first.

[tamsoycandles]

I liked the golden brands wax. i made a few candles with it and the look was cool. it was rated at 10% fragrance hold and I put 11.5% to test it and it held, burned ok, found my wick height. I was testing the UV inhibitor and noticed the candles that were sitting in the sun were bleeding (unlit.)

So I took all the others I"d made to see what was up with them and they all bled while in the sun for a little time. Here's the mystery.

I typically stop at 7.5%. If the candle won't throw at that level, then I don't use that FO. FO is expensive!

I don't know if the UV inhibitor has any affect on FO load capacity.

Tony

[Stella1952]

Top has given excellent explanation and advice here.

noticed the candles that were sitting in the sun were bleeding (unlit.)

Candles should not sit in direct sunlight, period, regardless of the type of wax used! Storing candles at higher than normal temps will frequently produce sweating - how could it not, especially with such a high fragrance load?!

My best suggestion is to take a step back and use less FO (mfg. stating the wax will hold 10% doesn't mean you must use that much or more!) and test under controlled circumstances - ie. out of drafts and direct sunlight in a room where the temperature is around 70° (give or take a few degrees either way). If you are not getting good throw from using less FO, try from a different supplier. Having to use so much is a waste of money, IMHO. There are other brands of soy wax which perform very well that do not require the addition of paraffin... why not use them?