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Frustrated with C3 soy wax...need help


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I'm new to making candles and I'm getting so much conflicting information from websites that I'm getting really confused.

I'm using Cargill C3 soy wax but getting very little scent throw; both cold and hot. I heat to 180, add my dye and FO immediately and then pour at 140. Someone had told me that it might be the quality of the FO that I'm using and then I was asking a online customer service representative and she tells me that its the C3 wax that I'm using and I should try another and she suggested Ez Soy-125.

Any suggestions on what I might be doing correctly or incorrectly? :cry2:

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i usually do well with most fragrances at 7%. If you are not getting a good throw with at least 7%, you need to switch fragrance suppliers.

The ones I use most are Peaks located in CO and Candlewic located in PA.

to calculate FO percentage, multiply 16oz (1lb) of wax by 7% which gives you 1.12oz of FO.

You need to make sure you have an accurate electronic scale to weigh your wax and FO properly.

For me, its easier if I just start with only 14oz of wax and add 1oz of FO to it (which is about 7%). Keeps things easier rather than having to weigh smaller amounts of FO.

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I have only been weighing 1oz of FO per pound of wax. Do you think that extra .12 oz will improve my scent throw?

Someone else had told me about using Peaks FO as well. I'm beginning to think that maybe its the quality of FO that I may have purchased. Since I live in PA I will defintely check out Candlewic since it will be closer for me for shipping. You have used Candlewic as well?

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Carrie and Cindy,

Thank you very much for your help. I'm going to go back to the drawing board this weekend and try increasing my FO to 7-8% and allowing them to cure for 3 weeks this time. If that doesn't work then I'm going to try a new vendor for my FO. Actually, I think that I may just go ahead and order some FO from them anyway.

Thanks again for all your help!

Cheryl

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Im very new to this but I could not get any throw, hot or cold from c3, no matter what I did. I even had on that had been sitting on a shelf curing since November, and nothing. I changed fo's, curing time, pouring temp, wicks etc. I finally gave up. Now I'm testing ez soy or gb415, they are comprable waxes, and I am having much better results. Took some figuring and a lot of questions but I think I finally got it. Good luck, dont give up.

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We use C3, heat to 165°, pour at 140°-150° and the scent throw is usually great, unless the particular FO doesn't cut the mustard. We allow our candles to cure at least 48 hours before testing. There is no way we would wait a week or two or a month for a fragrance to "cure" to test for hot throw - if it isn't cured enough in 48 hours with a great cold and hot throw at 1 oz. per pound, fergeddaboudit - we move on to a different supplier or fragrance. Now we HAVE found that some great fragrances just keep getting better after a week or two, but if they don't work out in the first 48 hours, we move on. It's a big world of wonderful fragrances out there that do not require curing for weeks on end to throw well.

We have sampled fragrances from different sources and can attest that all FOs from all suppliers are NOT created equal! We use scents from JBN, Peak's, Wellington and Cajun. Are trying a new supplier next week - hope to be able to add them to our "favorites" list. We were very disappointed with fragrances from a couple of other major suppliers. Sometimes it is not ALL the supplier's scent products - may be just that one fragrance. It truly pays to sample frequently from different sources! We compare scents with which we are familiar with the same scent from different suppliers (for example, patchouli is a common scent that can be difficult to get "just right") and frequently find there can be a lotta difference. Sometimes, we'll like one supplier's version better than the others, so we then use that one as our standard by which we test new suppliers of the same fragrance. Some scents we have tried leave us cold no matter which of our suppliers make it...

HTH :D

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I use C3 also with great success. I heat to about 170 degrees but I let it cool to about 150 then pour in FO and stir stir stir. I then let it cool to about 140 and pour. I use FO's from all over and most of them work well especially those that are tested in soy like from KY, FOH and JBN. Peaks oils are great. I love CCocoon and Greenleaf. I don't know where you get your oils from but some just don't work in C-3. I do find the longer the cure time the better the throw. Now, Snowtop's oils will blow you out of the house after 48 hours. Give their oils a try. You definitely won't be disappointed.

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  • 11 months later...

You test like I do Stella....I usually wait 48 hours...But I myself couldn't wait a week, weeks, or a month....That would drive me batty..I used to do exactly like you do; melt at 165, add uv,dye, and fragrance and then pour 140-150...My c-3 was just driving me nuts as I had major major cracks, sink holes, craters, frosting and wet spots you can believe. I was capping my c-3 candles not only once, but 2 or even maybe 3 times! And the hair dryer? Forget that cause I just got too frustrated doing that and wasn't going to spend all my time using a friggin hair dryer anymore! lol Till one day someone gave me advice on another way which I changed to and is now just about the perfect c-3 candle for me...Melt at 185,add uv,dye and fragrance and pour right at 170....and it works awesome...But......a major play that is for me, being that I live in the mountains, temperature in my house had to be warm (nice and comfortable)..If I can walk around in a tee shirt and be very comfortable (lol) my house temperate was correct....A little weird, but it was a fact for me....The only thing that I can't get down pact and it really isn't a biggy so I just have learned to deal with it, is that after my candles have set, the wax shrinks just a teeney bit from the wick..No one would probably notice it, but I do and I do cap off once....But thats soy, right?

Trappeur

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It is strange how people can have completely different experiences with the same wax!

Of all the soy waxes I tried, C3 was by far the best throw. I have never had a problem with the scent throw and I only use 1 oz pp. I use FO's from candlescience, lonestar and brighter scents. I have candles I made two months ago and they still have an awesome throw.

I only ever heat up to 170 and normally pour around 150. I add the FO right before I pour. I use Eco and CDN wicks.

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i usually do well with most fragrances at 7%. If you are not getting a good throw with at least 7%, you need to switch fragrance suppliers.

The ones I use most are Peaks located in CO and Candlewic located in PA.

to calculate FO percentage, multiply 16oz (1lb) of wax by 7% which gives you 1.12oz of FO.

You need to make sure you have an accurate electronic scale to weigh your wax and FO properly.

For me, its easier if I just start with only 14oz of wax and add 1oz of FO to it (which is about 7%). Keeps things easier rather than having to weigh smaller amounts of FO.

Thats a neat way you do it Carrie.....add 1 oz oil to 14oz of wax....I'm going to try that out....I like that!

Trappeur

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I use C3 also with great success. I heat to about 170 degrees but I let it cool to about 150 then pour in FO and stir stir stir. I then let it cool to about 140 and pour. I use FO's from all over and most of them work well especially those that are tested in soy like from KY, FOH and JBN. Peaks oils are great. I love CCocoon and Greenleaf. I don't know where you get your oils from but some just don't work in C-3. I do find the longer the cure time the better the throw. Now, Snowtop's oils will blow you out of the house after 48 hours. Give their oils a try. You definitely won't be disappointed.

Hi Missy!

I can't find snowtop....can you give me their website address please? Thanks!

Trappeur

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Hi Maria!

If you don't mind me asking, which company do you order from and what scents....so I don't make the mistake and order the same thing! lol

Thankyou!!

Trappeur

since her post was over a year ago, I am not sure if she will respond to your question. You can purchase snowtop fragranceoils at Indiana Candle Supply. They have a separate section for snowtop scents. They are mostly bakery type fragrances.

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major cracks, sink holes, craters, frosting and wet spots

These are often more related to cold containers and uneven, too-rapid cooling, certain FOs and dyes and storage temps than anything else.

Shoot - people up north (of Baton Rouge) walk around when it's 50° outside in shorts and tees and they think it's WARM!! :shocked2: Just because you may not feel physically uncomfortable doesn't mean that a soy candle may not be cooling too quickly or unevenly. Drafts to one person are simply fresh air to another... In our experience, NatureWax C3 seems to cool best when cooled slowly with good air circulation all around the container and enclosed so that the candle (particularly the top) cannot lose heat too quickly. If you have a smooth, satiny top with no legendary "C3 crack" in a circle between the wick and container, no sinkholes, etc. - you have a good pour. The tiny crack where the wax meets the wick and adhered is not a terrible flaw. A tiny problem such as that can be smoothed away with your thumb after letting the candle harden for a few days. A small, shallow wick dimple isn't an unforgivable flaw... although slow even cooling can all but eliminate it.

I soooo agree about heat guns - they have made more problems for me than they have ever solved.

You used the term "cap off" - I am assuming you mean a second pour? This should not be necessary with C3. WHEN it's poured at the right temps and cooled slowly and evenly, no second pour is needed.

As far as the scent throw, I gotta agree with George, et al - C3 has good hot throw properties. These can be augmented a little by using USA, but it stands quite well on its own. If you are having hot throw problems, look to your FO or wicking as the culprit. If frosting is a bog problem and hot throw, I would lean even more toward the FO as the primary suspect. ;)

Good luck! It sounds like you are havin' fun and making progress in the direction you wanna go. :D

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We use C-3 and heat to approx. 180 pour around 170. Let cure for 2-3 days then test. If it doen't have a great hot throw, on to the next. Like Stella said some get better with age!! It's weird, some candles come out great with some frag. oils some get sink holes with other oils. That's the nature of soy, veggie waxes. They have a mind of their own.:grin2:

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I heat up to 185, then cool down to 125 then I add the FO, stir & pour, great throw, I have also tried cooling down to slushy stage but prefer to pour mine at 120 - 125.

One issue may be the FO scent itself, not all FO scents work well in soy. Candle science has good info on how good each scent works with soy. I but my scents through Wellington Frangrance, I use the premium grade, I have also used candlescience.com FO.

I also agree with the cure time, I like mine after a few weeks. Hard to do when you first start but I notice a big difference in my candles that cure longer.

Hope this helps.

Chantelle

Aroma Du Jour'

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