Finally taking the leap to Candles (I'm a Soaper) basic questions??

[caterpillar]

OK, I finally poured my first candles (after a year of reading about them). I am currently testing a few container waxes. The first I tried is At Wix End 50/50 blend. Nice easy melt, one pour, nice scent throw but it is expensive at 15.99 per slab or $64 case. The next was J223. Very soft. Two pour job(very deep 'sink hole'). I then added 3% beeswax, 1/4 t vygar (sp?) and a wax adhesive (to eliminate the 'wet spots'). I had to wick up because of the beeswax. Still has 'sink hole'. So far, the 50/50 blend has a better cold throw. I have not lit the J223 yet to test the hot throw because I just poured it tonight. I have just a few basic questions:

1- How soon can I put the lid on the candle (do I have to let it 'cure' for a few days first)?

2- The first candles (50/50 blend) I melted to 175, cooled to 150, added scent and color, then poured. The next was J223 I melted to 175, couldn't find my wick clips so I ended up pouring at 110, this is the batch that had the deepest sink holes. Does it have to do with what temperature I poured or the wax?

3- Why must I raise the temp to 175 when my wax is liquid at 140?

4- How long after the pour do I wait before I can light the candle (to test the wick)?

I am having a lot of fun making these candles (they are just for me). I have not made a bar of soap since I bought this wax!!

Thank you for directing me in my quest to make a safe, wonderfully scented, beautiful container candle!

Peg

[Jcandleattic]

I can answer 1,3 & 4 lol

1) You want to put the lid on when the candle is completely cool. Before that and you could get condensation from it being too warm when the lid was put on.

2) I don't use 223, so I don't know why the sink holes, sorry...

3) You want to raise the temp for scenting purposes. If you put the scent in at too low of a temp, it won't incorporate with the wax well, and you could end up with scent pockets.. (since you soap, you know what that's like!! lol)

4) If you are JUST testing for wicks, you can light it up as soon as the candle is completely cool... If you are testing for scent, and this answer is debateable and everybody does it differently, but when testing for scent I usually wait at least 2 days. most of the time 3.. I never wait longer than 3 days. I figure if it isn't gonna throw in the time I make it and ship it to a customer, I don't want that scent..

HTH a little..

For more specifics, just keep reading, researching and testing..

[annareeb]

your poured the J223 way too cold...

I never add anything to this wax.. and it works great, provided I pour right temp.. and I rarely have wet spots if my jars are hot..

[pjm]

Where did you purchase this wax. I am experimenting with container candles and am having a lot of wet spots. I have been using single pour container wax that I purchased from www.candlesandsupplies.com .

[Fern]

Regarding J223: This wax is a pre-blended wax which doesn't need any additives. Adding the vybar may bind up your scent...meaning no scent throw, since there may already be vybar in it. Beeswax probably wasn't necessary since this wax burns very nicely without adding anything to it but FO and dye. Sink holes (which are actually air pockets) can appear, but not always, when you pour into deep containers. You can poke relief holes prior to it setting up completely if you want, then do a repour, or you can fix an existing air pocket by simply opening up the hole with a skewer or some other object and heat the top until the hole fills in with the melted wax. It will fill in very nicely and level out perfectly...you'll never even know you had an air pocket. As far as wet spots are concerned, I don't believe there is a single container wax out on the market that doesn't get wet spots. No one but the chandlers themselves hate this and there really isn't much you can do about it anyway...so don't kill yourself trying to get rid of them. They may go away for a time by hitting the outside of your container with the heat gun...but they always come back due to temperature changes.