Frosting in dark colors for Starburst palm?

[KMommy]

I have been trying to make dark colors for pillars such as a brown, burgundy dark blue but I am getting a lot of white areas on the pillar. They do not come off when polishing. Infact polishing them makes it worse. It almost looks like frosting in soy. Some of the white areas are very shiny and others are dull but they both take away from the over all dark color of the pillar. I have tried pouring at different temps. but that hasn't helped. I pour into hot molds and allow to cool slowly in a warm area. I've tried cooling them in a slightly warm mold instead of hot and that hasn't help either. I am not using any additives and I have tried both liquid and dye chips. The problem mainly occurs with darker colors. If the frosting is there in the lighter colors it isn't as obvious. Anyone else had this problem with dark colors in starbust palm?

[Crowded House]

It's not supposed to do that?

I thought it looked cool.

[Jami]

Is there a way for you to post a picture of what it is you are asking about?

I have poured dark and light with palm. The darker colors show the crystalization alot more to me and I prefer the darker shades. Is it possible the white areas you are seeing are just larger areas of crystalization? Since the pattern from the palm is white, that is the first thing that came to my mind.

[KMommy]

Sorry, I don't have a working digital camera right now. It could be the crystalization but it really looks too white IMO to be attractive. Most people think it looks dusty or that it looks like it has some sort of powder on it. If I add more color and try to make it darker it increases the white areas.

I have located a photo on a site that has palm pillar that looks like the problem I am having. I am not sure if it would be ok to post that here. It really looks like frosting that occurs in soy.

[Stella1952]

What you are seeing is the crystallization of the wax. If you polish the white areas, they become worse because you are crushing the already tiny crystals into powder. Think about it. A solid dark color crystallizes. The thinner areas appear lighter because the light is refracting and reflecting from them differently! If you want a dark, solid color, pour cool and there will be no crystals. The smaller the groups of crystals (to a point) the lighter they will appear. Grow some rock sugar crystals to demonstrate this to yourself, then add some food coloring to the water.

What I am hearing is that you are getting a small, more regular overall crystal pattern. Try this and let me know what happens: If you are making pillars, put the candle back into the mold and set it in the oven in a pan (just in case...). Turn the oven onto "warm" - not over 205°! Allow the candle to become liquid again, then turn the oven off. Let the candle completely cool in the oven slowly. The crystal pattern should become much more pronounced with less of the lighter, small crystal areas.

If your candle is in a container (why would you be polishing it?), do the same thing but be SURE to put that container into a pan that will hold the contents of the candle should the glass crack.

Whenever we have a candle whose crystal pattern doesn't suit us, back in the oven it goes. The results have always been better than what we put in there!

Here's an example:

The little votive on the right is actually a very dark brown, but the crystal pattern is fine and pretty ho-hum regular. The little votive on the left was too, UNTIL, I put it back in the oven.

Pouring HOT does get the best, most showy crystal patterns, but the candle has to cool SLOWLY for the crystals to form that way. The crystals are forming on the inside surface of the mold. Smaller candles are more prone to cooling too quickly than are larger ones (the volume of wax in the larger ones helps to keep the mold warmer than the little guys). HTH

[KMommy]

Thank you Stella! Your explaination makes sense and sounds. I will try your suggestions and report back.