anabanana's candles Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 My candles were perfect until 3 days ago. I usually melt to 160 add fo at 125 temper for 15 minutes and raise to 150 and pour. They were perfect. Then all of a sudden they started to look really grainy and not just on top. I tried everything. Heat to 170 add fo and pour at 150, 140, 130 120 and slushy. Nothing works. They are all grainy. I was using 464 and then switched to 402. They both make grainy candles now. NOTHING WORKS. My room hasn't changed. I never heated my jars before and I even tried that NOTHING. HELP ME I AM FRUSTRATED TO NO END Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernGal Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Can you post a pic? Soy candles do look very different than most store candles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 How do I do that. I have a pic that I took ,but can't figure out how to post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 "]All of my other were smooth and creamy. WHat is going on. It is so slushy setting up no matter what temp I pour at. I am fully incorporating the wax at all pour temps also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernGal Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Is it only happening with that f/o or that color? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 nope, all of them including lemon pound cake whick I use all the time and pours beautifully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernGal Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 What I'm understanding you to say is, you have been making candles with the same wax, same f/o's and same color and none of them in the past looked like this, right? Do you have a new box of wax you are using? Sometimes soy wax can vary from different batches. Did you get your wax from a supplier or from ebay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 I get it from a supplier and the first half of the box was fine. This is what I am getting now. I get my FO from the same place all the time. Never llike this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernGal Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I'm sorry, I wish I could be more help. I've seen a few of my candles do this but it usually happened while it was still cooling. But once it completely set up it went away. Hopefully I asked enough (?'s) that someone else can be more help. :embarasse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homecomfort Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Sorry I don't have any experience with these waxes specifically but I have had a similar experience with EL container wax (which is a straight soy wax).For me, it only happened when I didn't have enough (or any) BW or paraffin added in. So in other words if I used the wax "straight" with little to no additives besides fo and uv, mine looked exactly like yours. It would even stay grainy like that when it was fully cooled and the tops would get flaky kind of because of all the granules beneath the top surface. Talk about UGLY!I just kept adding BW or paraffin in small increments until I got the creamy look I was going for. I think the lowest percentage of BW I could get away with was about 5% and paraffin was about 15-20%.Since you've been using this wax w/o issue and have not changed anything I'm not sure why this is suddenly happening to you but you could try adding BW or paraffin and it should be rid of the grain. You will need to retest your wicks though...There may be other modifiers or additives out there too. I just tried what I had on hand and am letting you know what worked for me.Good luck to you! I hope you find a solution that you like quick - I know how frustrating it gets sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I don't know what is causing your problem. Here is what I would do if this happened to me: I would pour 3 test candles. First one, no FO, no dye. Second, FO, no dye. Third Dye, no FO. Use the exact same FO and amount as was in this candle and the exact same dye and amount. Pour them all from the same batch and then see what happens. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 just so everyone knows, this candle is completlety set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 Okay, I took your advice, poured 3 tester, one just wax, one just color and one just scent. I poured all at 115. They still look the same. How is that possible. Did I get a bad batch of wax or something. I am going crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernGal Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 How hot do you get your wax when you melt it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 I talked to Jason at GB and he said to heat my wax to 140, ni higher, remove from heat add my stuff and pour. He also suggested to my room is too humid and to move my pour area to my kitchen and so far so good. I hope this keeps working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernGal Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I know alot of folks will most likely disagree with me :embarasse but I have always had really good luck with heating my wax to 200* and adding my f/o at 175* to 180*. I just have it in my head that the oil will not fully incorporate with the wax at low temps. You may want to try testing against the 2 temperatures. hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breanna Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I know alot of folks will most likely disagree with me :embarasse but I have always had really good luck with heating my wax to 200* and adding my f/o at 175* to 180*. I just have it in my head that the oil will not fully incorporate with the wax at low temps. You may want to try testing against the 2 temperatures. hthI agree with Southern gal on this too,, the only thing Im confused about is that the pic was showing it to be a set-up candle. Now my 464 and 444 looks like that while they are setting up. but once they are set-up they look great,,,hmmmm,,,, Keep us posted on how it turns out for ya,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hometowncandles Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I have been pouring some tester candles with the GW464 in the past few days, and I had that happen with one of my scents. But it was just slight, not nearly as much as you had. I was using midnight pomegranate with a very deep purple dye. So it may just be a combination of the f/o and the dye or something. I'm in the process of changing my wax so I poured 20 testers and that's one scent is the only one I had problems with. Outside a small amount of frosting (I can live with that) here and there that's really the only problem I have had so far with the GW464. I really love that I get smooth tops, that's something I hardly ever got with my previous wax. But I normally heat mine to about 170, add my dye chips and mix them well, and add my f/o. Cold throw is great and I'm just waiting on my wicks so I can see how these baby's burn and check out what kind of hot throw I'm going to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 I poured 2 6oz tester with 464 heat to 140 pour immediatley. the one in the kitchen turned out great and I thought ok, there is my issue. So i tried the 402 with 1oz downy scent and a little blue dye and here is goes again. Jason at GB can't figure it out either. The grainy ones seem to be setting up very hard as well. So you all say, heat to 180 ass FO and dye and pour at what temp. I have tried hot and cold and everywhere in between. I think that my candles are upset with me that I tried to mix them with paraffin because ever since then they have been behaving badly. I am being literal. I bought paraffin to help with scent throw even though I didn't need it and ever since that last 50/50 candle my 100% soy won't set up right anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 How does everyone feel about blending 402 with j50. I am at my wits end and I am going to try this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabanana's candles Posted July 24, 2007 Author Share Posted July 24, 2007 As much as I hate using it, the paraffin made my candles pretty again. I poured 11oz soy, 2oz paraffin and 1oz scent. They are set up really nice and FAST. I just wish that I could figure out what was making my candles so FUNKY. It is still going to really bother me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Brands Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Ana, I thought we had this figured out??? What happened??? Call me again.jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racolvin Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Anna:I've had this happen to me several times when using the GW464. The common culprit seems to be the heat and humidity of the work space during the cooling process. My shop is blistering hot and humid during the summer and this happens every time if I leave them to cool in the shop. If I take them inside the house right after pouring, they cool normally - which is to say beautifully Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in KY Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 This happens to me when my pouring room is too hot and the candles cool to slow. Also might want to heat just a little hotter. I have noticed sometimes my wax will start to get slushy and beady at the same time. Sometimes it's a smooth slushy and those look so much better. Nothing but remelting and cooling again works with the beady slush. I never want to use other waxes either but sometimes it's that or throw it away. Right now my tarts are looking dry after a few days. Does this every year at this time. And my wax is from the same batch I've had since Feb. Always looking for that magic stuff to fix soy. Maybe the name of it is paraffin.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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