having luck with my soy candles but......

[flyspeck40]

Way new at this. Started two months ago as a way to keep myself from doing my usual home renovating after i had surgery. it worked, but now I'm determined to make my own stuff and get it right. i'm reading here and I've learned that I should be stirring more? OK cool. My candles are coming out pretty good but I'm thinking i could use less FO and just stir more? Like the banana nut bread, can't smell it when it's burning. and very little scent in the jar so.......

but my question for anyone who will enlighten me is about tarts. When I got the tart wax the lady told me 1oz per lb. . no luck, I'm up to three ounces and I still can't smell them all that well.

And what about this curing time? I was told 24 hours for candles and 48 for tarts.

my husband has $2500 invested in his drum set. I've probably wasted at least a grand already, with not too much to show for it. Soon he's going to tell me to get myself another hobby.

Please help!!! I hate failing at anything. I can rewire the house but I can't make good tarts. :embarasse

[iammommytwo]

Who are you getting your FO's from?? Not all of them work well in soy.

[crafty0317]

True, not all fo work in soy. I think 3oz per lb is way too much. The most I have ever used for tarts is 1oz per lb if it is a strong fragrance and as much as 1.5oz for lighter fragrances.

They also need to cure anywhere between 10-14 days to completely cure and produce a great hot throw. While this is not true for all scents, this is the general rule to go by. HTH...

[Tizimarezie]

Which soy wax are you using? Some require longer cure time than others. Are you using dye? What kind and how much? I've noticed that some dyes, if used heavily, with smother the FO scent or make it smell musty. And, as already asked, where are you getting your FO's?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.aromafieldscandles.com

[flyspeck40]

i'm getting my wax and fragrance from Wellington Fragrance.

i'm going to try stirring it more. i hardly stir at all now. the first time I tried it I let it cool down like I do the candle wax but as I'm sure you know that's not a good idea. LOL. now i just put the dye and the FO in my coffee can and then pour in the hot wax that I have in a slow cooker. stir abit then pour into my tart molds.

[iammommytwo]

with my particular wax (eco soya pb) I heat to 155 and add color and FO, and pour at 140

[flyspeck40]

I use Well Flake Soy 1210 , heat it to 160 to 175, add my color and then wait til it cools to about 120 then I add my FO. Then I ( try to ) wait until it starts to set up before I pour. If I ever get good enough to sell them then I'll worry about how the tops look. Since I won't have enough time to make anymore than a few each week until I retire I'm not going to fret over some ugly tops that go away as soon as I light them.

After reading this forum for hours and hours, I am hoping with some more stirring I can get a better candle along with solve my baby tart problems with using less FO. My husband is frowning over the charge card.

[moonrose64]

Your biggest problem for scent loss is an easy fix.

Your addiing your scent to late.

Add your scent and dye as soon as your wax is melted.

Adding it at the temp you are now is not letting it incorporate enough.

I wouldn't wait that long to pour the tarts either.

If you are pouring into metal tart cups you can pour them right away.

Now if it is something that can melt from high heat, then you can wait until the was temp is down to say maybe 150...HTH

[flyspeck40]

OK. I read on another site when I ordered my first batch of wax that I should add scent at that temp and then wait til about 100 degrees when it set up to pour, and I've been doing it that way.

[Mnhorsemom]

I think candle making sites are a lot like weather sites, if you look at 5 different ones you will get 5 different forcasts/answers! But for what it's worth I also think you are adding your FO at too low of a temp. The wax isn't hot enough for the FO to bind with it so you get no scent throw. I use 100% soy for my containers heat to about 170 add my dye, usually add my fo's at about 160 (I stir until I can no longer see the fo oil swirling around in the wax) then I wait till the wax starts to get slushy to pour into my containers. I have tried pouring hot ( and it would sure make the process faster when I have a bunch to pour) but I don't get nice tops and have experienced other problems as well. I never heard of your FO supplier, I get most of mine from Peaks and I can say that they sell GREAT Fo's. Good Luck!!

[Violetsexoticcandles]

Cure time can be important, especially with lighter scents. I have a candle that my son and I made 1.5 months ago- it's a light scent (awapuhi seaberry). We set it aside w/its lid on and keep smelling it every week, and every week, it's stronger. We're going to burn it in July for my bday.

Other candles will cure for 24 hours and be fine to burn right away, great scent throw.

I agree with the others- you've got to add your FO and color as soon as the wax is melted. I add the color first, stir for a couple minutes, then add the FL and stir for a bit longer. If it's a strong scent, like lemon or blackberry sage, I'm not too worried about stirring too much, just enough to blend. BUt a light scent will require all of the above. Add hot, stir like crazy, cure...

I don't wait to pour til the wax cools to 110- I have C3 and I believe the pour temp recommendation is 165 but I pour immediately, then let them sit overnight, then hit the tops with my heat gun. I LOVE HEAT GUNS! I got mine at Home Depot and it is the greatest thing, next to my pyrex, of course.

[flyspeck40]

OK, gotta get a heat gun. Did the hot pouring and some of my tops sunk bigtime.

When is the soonest I can light one up and see if it throws well or not?

I reused my dud candles and the ones that had WAY too much FO in them, added more wax and stirred etc.

I don't wanna wait. Major impatient and I have to go to work tomorrow so I won't get to play til next weekend.

[Jami]

From Wellington's website:

Heat wax in a double-boiler system to 160 F to 180 F. Add fragrance and dye, stir completely. Preheating glass containers to 100 F to 125 F will provide better adhesion. Reduced pouring temperature is yet another benefit of Well-Flake(between 140 F and 160 F). Allow to cool slowly do not speed up the cooling process with a water bath or refridgeration.

It sounds alot like either the C3 or 444 wax. From the sounds of their directions, you melt, mix and pour without waiting on anything to cool to mix or pour. An additive allows for the hotter pour temps.

There is another one called well pour soy blend that is for tarts and votives. It doesn't have the wax # listed to know which one you are using but the above is based on their soy wax, not the soy blend.

I have personally found when I cover my candles with a box to let slow cooler, I have dramatically more frosting than if I just set them aside to cool at room temp.

You still need to let them cure for a few days because of the soy. I have seen some say they burn after 24 hours or even 48 hours and if they don't throw, they quit using that FO. They aren't allowing for the chemical balance of the soy wax and the chemicals of the FO to incorporate and cure. Some FO's just take longer to cure. If I can't get a good throw at first, I put the lid back on, put it to the back and try it again later. I have come across some that won't throw at all in soy but will throw in my blend I have been testing because of the paraffin. I find food scents don't take as long than fruit scents. Every wax is different. That is just my opinion based on testing many different ways.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[flyspeck40]

I'm using both. Well Flake and the votive tart blend. When I was down at the warehouse the front desk lady told me to add the scent cooler, she also told me I should put 3 to 6 tablespoons of stearic acid per lb in my candle wax, I tried 4.

Stopped doing that as I thought it made my cold throw weaker even at three.

I read that tarts had to cure only 48. I took that as FACT. Also that candles could be tested at 24.

Did not know I had to put a lid on them etc etc.

I'm sure there is alot more that I don't know, even after reading this site all day yesterday.

I guess I'm just going to have to put my toys away til next saturday.

[stacien]

There is no scientific evidence when to add the scent I use the waxes from GB and Jason has told me In the past I could add the scent at 125 degrees. Curing is not fact based either. People have just noticed an improvement when it sits for a while in a air tight container how fresh the smell is. Bananna Nut Bread is not a powerful scent to begin with, it also depends on what supplier you bought it from. Not familiar with that blend of wax it must be a parasoy because you usually don't add stearic to soy.

To be honest with you there is no rule of thumb to soy. That is why it is hard to find very little publiciation about it. It's mostly trial and error. Just go along with the pouring and scent load guidelines but the rest has to be up to you. There are a lot of FO's that sometimes just don't throw. Then you just have to give in and try a different supplier or forget about the scent all together. If your adding 3 ounces per pound then that is just a bumb scent period! Or a bad wax.

[flyspeck40]

Or someone who doesn't know what they are doing. I'm not using 3oz's in my candles. the first ones I did because i wanted a triple scented candle. they do smell awesome. fill the whole room. But they don't burn well at all.

I remelted and added more wax sunday and am waiting for the results.

This time I stirred alot more.

Wellington Fragrance has some really good FO's. The ones I have gotten a great throw with hot & cold ( even screwing things up) are...........

Vanilla, Lavender Rose, Pear Redwood, Magnolia, Ambrosia and Cedarwood Amber.

I'm sure they have others too I just haven't got to them yet.

The tarts that I wasn't getting anything out of I have sitting in thier jar in the closet so I'm not tempted to try them before two weeks.

I did cheat and burn a columbian coffee that I re-did and am getting a roomfull of scent. So you can imagine my glee.

I am thankfull for all your info. But then again kind of bummed that there is no set formula. But I'll get over it and just be challenged for the rest of my life. Not a bad thing.

[2rottndogs]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one using Wellington. None of my Wellington candles are done curing yet, I'd be interested in seeing what ones you have that throw well.

I also use Brambleberry.

Kimberly

[flyspeck40]

Are you using their soy wax also?

[Stella1952]

Flyspeck, thank GAWD I do not live near Wellington or any other good fragrance company... I would be broke! I was not too enthused with their essential oils, but some of their fragrances are absolutely heavenly! Let us know how that lavendar rose turns out...

Ya know, Jami, many of our container candles have come out with perfect tops and little frosting by simply pouring onto containers on the countertop and everyone tippytoeing by to keep them from shaking! During the winter, we found that using the box was important, 'cause we live in a drafty old house. But the batch we just poured had AWFUL tops that looked like one had put the lids on too soon! I think that temperature of the room has a lot to do with it. Around here, it's getting very warm during the day (low - mid-80s) but we haven't turned on the AC yet (TRYING to hold out as long as possible...).

There is no scientific evidence when to add the scent I use the waxes from GB and Jason has told me In the past I could add the scent at 125 degrees. Curing is not fact based either.

I know that "curing" is important for a day or so simply to allow the crystals to stabilize - of that much I am scientifically certain. Many fragrance manufacturers seem to believe that it takes time for fragrances to develop in the wax (or soap or lotion or spray or cream...). I feel certain that there IS scientific evidence at what point things do best, but since I don't have a lab and don't pay the chemists, the big companies that know all the answers and have the data are not gonna share with me! There is actually a great deal of predictable science behind all this stuff - I simply am uneducated. My eyeballs start glazing during "saponification of fats" discussions and stuff like that, but I do remember a little about polymer chains and stuff... Just because I don't have the information does not mean that it doesn't exist! Most of us do not have ANY idea exactly what's IN those fragrance oils - what is the carrier oil? what are the chemicals in it? how do those things get along with the stuff in my brand of soy wax, the wicks I use, my colorants, pouring and storing conditions? It'd be easier if the world of fragrances and special blends were not so guarded about formulas and revealed exactly what was in their products so that we could have reliable data to begin with... Like exactly WHAT is in "universal soy additive" - well, we know it contains stearin of some kind, but what kind and what else and how much? What's in the "sunscreen" stuff (the UV "absorber")? Is the stuff sold by these folks over here the same as the stuff sold by those folks over there? Beats me!

I DO know that every wax has a limit of how much oil it will hold at a certain temperature (and atmospheric pressure) before it cannot hold any more (like the "weeping" oil seen when candles are stored in too warm of conditions - the wax expands and pushes it right on out!). Every FO has parameters for the amount of heat it will tolerate before burning off and not throwing... I need to learn more about humidity and its effect on candlemaking (and candlemaking supplies) 'cause we have an ABUNDANCE of heat and humidity available here most of the year!

Like you said, flyspeck...

kind of bummed that there is no set formula. But I'll get over it and just be challenged for the rest of my life.

Been "challenged" most of my life, guess it's gonna continue... It's an interesting ride, anyway...

[2rottndogs]

Flyspeck,

I'm using c3 from The Jar Company and my fo's are currently from Brambleberry and Wellington... though I have some fo's coming from Bitter Creek? I've been to so many darned sites, I can't remember who I ordered from last week without looking it up!

The only fo I'm not happy with so far is one called Beach Breezes by BB. Throws great cold ... nada when hot. Haven't decided if there needs to be slightly more oil, needs to cure longer, might be better as a tart or if it's just a dud. I'll have to play with that fo at a later date.

Kimberly

[flyspeck40]

The first FO I tried was gardenia from KY. Got that with my first bunch of wax from them. Loved it.

Then I wanted more scents but didn't want to pay the shipping (I'm Cheap to no end) so I went with Wellington. Tried Discount Fragrance but got no hot throw out of the two I ordered so I won't order from them again.

I'm very happy with Wellington but I'm going to try the SOS. No shipping over $100. Cool with me. But first I have to use up what I have here or my husband will throw a fit. I have over 20 bottles of FO here. Most of them not even opened.

Ya, living close has it's drawbacks but I love that I'm not hit with major shipping charges.