Pillar Soy waxes

[Stella1952]

I am still looking for a god pillar wax for soy. I tried the P1 from Cargill - I was so pleased with the container product, C-3, I ordered some of the P-1. I messed around with it last year but did not arrive at the results I wanted. I continued recently where I had left off and made another pillar with the last of it. Well, all I can say is that it is mean stuff and me & P-1 just don't get along! My problem is the brittleness of the wax. I have followed mfg. recommendations, but that didn't help - the stuff is still brittle, powdery and tends to "bloom" when burned. My last adventure was a tall square pillar. I burned it for 3 hours and extinguished, crossing my fingers. On the next 3 hour burn, it developed cracks which kinda peeled and fell off during the 3rd burn.

Shoulda called it the Suicide Formula - light and watch it kill itself!

So anyway, I am NOT EVER gonna pour any of that stuff again. I hope Cargill comes up with a better formula soon...

We mostly use palm for pillars, but there are some nice coloring effects I would like to try that simply won't work out correctly in palm because of the crystalization. I have been making soy/palm pillars which are fine, but I would like to have a product that works "outta the box," rather than me having to add a little of dis and a little of dat to make it workable.

In the meantime - I know many of you make soy pillars... What kind of wax do y'all like for this application? Why do you like your brand?

[Sally]

I feel your pain!

I tried Ecosoya PB but couldn't get the results I was looking for so I'm now adding a small amount of PW to it which has helped to stabilise the soy beautifully tho it's no longer a 100% veggie wax candle.

I haven't given up tho I'm playing with another combo which is soy only, the candles are looking good but I haven't burnt any yet as they are still curing.

I'll tell you how they turn out when the testing is under way.

Sally.

[Stella1952]

Does anyone else have any recommendations?

[Stella1952]

Thanks for your input, Sally. Still looking for recommendations...

[tamsoycandles]

Give the EcoSoya PB a try. Most of the suppliers are selling 10# samples to test with. I'm fairly satisfied with it, but I've never tried any other pillar wax besides a soy/palm blend.

Do you have pictures of your undesirable result?

Tony

[kandlekrazy]

I had the same problem until I tried mixing just a bit of C-3 into the pillar wax. It softened it up just enough. Not GREAT results yet, still testing on how much to add, but they come out much better than straight P-1 which is the wax from H_ _ _!!

[Stella1952]

KK, that was my last try - I had mixed a small amount of C-3 into it last year when I was experimenting with it and it helped a little, but the wax was still too brittle. So this time, I mixed 1 part C-3 into 3 parts P-1 (or 25%) - needless to say, it bombed. It was softer from the container blend, but still cracked anyway. Big soft hunks! I don't expect to have perfect results all the time, but I have done what the manufacturer recommended (pouring hotter), I have added container blend twice and used the P-1 to mix into other waxes, where it doesn't gain any good qualities from the other wax and imparts its bad qualities to the good stuff!

Tony, I did not take a photo of the latest failure. I do have a couple of photos of a cracked pillar (I sent that one to the supplier from whom I bought it when I asked them for assistance) and a votive that turned into a coca cola glass... The photos are not very telling - one is the top of a pillar burning with arrows pointing to two cracks developing (which would eventually enlarge and cause the thing to either blow out or have a chunk fall off as in the square pillar of recent mention). The votive was halfway burned inside a larger container and the top "domed" - others simply bloomed and self-destructed, but this one I caught at the "coca cola glass stage" just before it broke apart... The stuff is crap.

I'm not an expert by any stretch, but I just don't want to fool around with a wax that takes THIS much effort to get passable results, so I figured I would ask for opinions on a soy pillar product that's working out well for others.

[Lightning Bug]

Hi. Just curious, did you add stearic to your P1? My directions call for adding 12 oz. P1 to 4 oz. veggie stearic. Mine came out pretty good, no cracking, just not sure about the burning. Leaves the rim and you can't hug, so not sure how it will burn down. Which wick to use, I'm just experimenting. I did one 50% P1 and 50% paraffin pillar wax with some stearic and I really liked it. Just didn't write down the wick...but everything else. Duh. I get pretty good cold throw from the staight soy as you can use about 6% FO. I haven't tried the container addition to this but it worked on the V1 when making votives. I would wonder if it would make the wax to soft and cause blowouts? If enough of us keep trying and sharing, we should be able to get this down. Beth

[Stella1952]

Just curious, did you add stearic to your P1?

Yes. I tried with and without the Universal Soy Additive.

If enough of us keep trying and sharing, we should be able to get this down.

I think Cargill has a much larger, more controlled lab than any of us have. If the results they claim cannot be replicated by buyers by using their instructions (not their suppliers or anyone else), they need to go back to the lab. Other manufacturers who sell a pillar soy wax product that does work better should rake in the ex P-1 customer sales. While I love to experiment, I do NOT like to do so with a ready-made product using the mfg's instructions for the applications the wax was formulated only to have no success. If Cargill cares as much about its customers as it says, they will do a better job BEFORE they start marketing their product. Cargill is a huge company with many, many products. Somehow I don't think they actually care whether their P-1 is worth a rip... Cargill reformulated their container wax - from C-1 to C-3 (which is a good, solid product). Same thing needs to happen to the P-1.

Until they do, besides the brands already mentioned, is ANYONE out there using a pillar soy wax they can recommend other than P-1 or a paraffin blend?