EUROPEAN Candlemakers - EU Palm wax test

[Stella1952]

That's why I thought it was just an additive

Well, actually, it IS an additive that the manufacturer adds to make the different formulas (pillar, clear, non crystallizing, container, granite, spider, etc.). I don't know what is used, but something is added to the palm wax to give it different properties when poured and burned.

[NattyCat]

I would show you the candle I poured using the Granite wax.

But it won't come out of the mould.

I've banged, frozen, refrigerated, yanked, swore, cursed and cried - but it won't budge.

[cybersix]

I would show you the candle I poured using the Granite wax.

But it won't come out of the mould.

I've banged, frozen, refrigerated, yanked, swore, cursed and cried - but it won't budge.

I often have this problem with one kind of this wax. Sorry, I don't have any suggestions for you. My BF usually blows like a mad into the wick hole until it comes out. Some says adding a 4-5% stearine helps release from mold. You may want to remelt it in a pot and add some stearine.

Inez told us that every type of these palm waxes came out of the mold easily, so I don't know what the problem could be. My granite pillar had no problem at all!!

[Stella1952]

Don't mess up your mold! If it is stuck, warm your oven to no more than 200°F and put the candle in there sitting in an old pie pan. Turn the oven off. Do relief holes, etc. as usual. When it is completely cool, remove it from the oven and see if it'll be more cooperative. HTH

[NattyCat]

I ended up using a knife to gouge a great big hole down the middle and then put my fingers in to pull it out - but as soon as I started to pull the whole candle just disintigrated into a pile of dust. this is one BRITTLE wax!

I scooped it all up, remelted and repoured into a freshly cleaned mould that I coated in silicone spray. Let's see how this turns out.

I have never seen anything like this wax - when it was a pile of dust on my kitchen counter, it looked like shards of fibreglass!

[cybersix]

I ended up using a knife to gouge a great big hole down the middle and then put my fingers in to pull it out - but as soon as I started to pull the whole candle just disintigrated into a pile of dust. this is one BRITTLE wax!

I scooped it all up, remelted and repoured into a freshly cleaned mould that I coated in silicone spray. Let's see how this turns out.

I have never seen anything like this wax - when it was a pile of dust on my kitchen counter, it looked like shards of fibreglass!

yes it's very brittle, it's not "plastic" as paraffin.

Sometimes it's tricky, but I love it, such unique effects!

[ubure]

Natty,

I just checked my info concerning the wax - it should release very easily (just as Sabrina and me experienced) - did you pour it a bit cooler than as you would when pouring a pillar (at around 80 ° C instead of around 95° C)?

It is declard as 100% Palm Stearin and it conforms to RAL standards (German Institute for quality control and identification marking - if this is the correct translation) so it is certainly no crap wax. I'm so sorry you are having a bad time using it!

If it doesn't release from the container I don't think it's bad because I don't like it if the finished candles just falls out of the jar:angry2: ...so this wouldn't bother me, but that's just me.

[aprillee]

That is one pretty candle. That will be my next project.

[NattyCat]

Natty,

I just checked my info concerning the wax - it should release very easily (just as Sabrina and me experienced) - did you pour it a bit cooler than as you would when pouring a pillar (at around 80 ° C instead of around 95° C)?

It is declard as 100% Palm Stearin and it conforms to RAL standards (German Institute for quality control and identification marking - if this is the correct translation) so it is certainly no crap wax. I'm so sorry you are having a bad time using it!

If it doesn't release from the container I don't think it's bad because I don't like it if the finished candles just falls out of the jar:angry2: ...so this wouldn't bother me, but that's just me.

Hi Inez

I followed the instructions on the bag - you had written to pour at 95 so that's what I did. I re-melted it and poured for a second time into a clean mould that was coated in silicone - but I STILL could not get it out the mould and just had to scoop it out with a knife.

I have just re-melted it for a 3rd time and added a teaspoon of stearin. It has 2 drops of liquid dye and a small splash of FO so I will see tomorrow what happens to it - I poured this third one cooler than the first two so we'll see what happens!

Nat

[gaynor72]

Hi

Firstly, Thank you Inez for sending me the samples, very much appreciated.

I have only tested the Granite so far, I too had the same problem as Natty (would not come out of the mould ........ tried everything! :undecided - oh well one damaged mould! :smiley2:

Anyways I then tried again (not one to give up:D)

I added 4 tsp of Stearic and 4 tsp of the palm fat ........ aaannd ...... it came out great ...... Love it!! - still need to figure out which type of wick to use .... will post a pic once I have charged up the battery on my camera!

Gaynor

[gaynor72]

Okay, hope this pic turns out, never posted a pic before,

Not a great photo (sorry) looking at the other patterns for this wax I'm thinking the additives have changed the pattern some what but I still like it I poured at 182, maybe a little hotter would have given a better pattern - I don't know.

Gaynor

[cybersix]

gaynor, heat is palm wax's best friend, don't be afraid. pour at 200F (about 95 C).

the pattern can change from temps and scents.

But it's good!

[ubure]

Hi Gaynor,

thanks for the feedback!

It is really strange, my pillars just kind of fell out after a bit of shaking the mould. I'm using aluminium moulds. Sabrina is right - you have to pour at these high temps, they are making the structures.

Wish you luck!

[Sally]

Gaynor I like the look of your palm as much as the others Sabrina & Inez have shown us.

I'm reading everything I can about these waxes & can't wait to try some for myself.

Sally.

[NattyCat]

my 3rd attempt came right out of the mould - i used 1tsp of palm stearin.

However, the only part that was crystalized was the base - the rest of the candle, ie the top and side were just blotchy with round splats.

I think I give up.

[Stella1952]

NattyCat, if you are getting uneven crystallization it is because the candle is cooling at different rates. Pour very hot, as suggested, and allow the candle to cool with good circulation all the way around very slowly. I cool my pillars in the oven. Palm wax is very temperamental about needing a hot pour and very even, SLOW cooling... Some people luck right on to this, while others, because of environmental conditions, struggle.

Do you have a photo? It's easier to help if we can see...

Don't give up - you'll tame the wild palm yet!!

Gaynor, thanks for sharing your results! Those additives are how the different crystalline patterns are formulated by the manufacturers - a little of dis and less of dat will create different patterns, so, I hope you will continue to experiment and share your results! I would love to understand more about how the different patterns are controlled and achieved.

[gaynor72]

Thank you all for the advice

On my first test I poured at 95 C and added 2 tsp of stearic, but the wax would not come out of the mould, (also heated the aluminium mould), banged it slapped it, put it in the freezer, it just wouldn't give.

I think 2nd attempt with the 4 tsp of stearic and maybe only 2 tsp of the palm fat I would have had better results (and pouring hotter than I did), though I think the result I got (although not great on the photo) looks quite nice DH even liked it! :smiley2: I'm going to remelt and try a higher meltpoint

which wick would you recommend with this palm wax? any starting points would be appreciated

This is fun

Gaynor

[cybersix]

Thank you all for the advice

On my first test I poured at 95 C and added 2 tsp of stearic, but the wax would not come out of the mould, (also heated the aluminium mould), banged it slapped it, put it in the freezer, it just wouldn't give.

I think 2nd attempt with the 4 tsp of stearic and maybe only 2 tsp of the palm fat I would have had better results (and pouring hotter than I did), though I think the result I got (although not great on the photo) looks quite nice DH even liked it! :smiley2: I'm going to remelt and try a higher meltpoint

which wick would you recommend with this palm wax? any starting points would be appreciated

This is fun

Gaynor

I never add anything to palm wax, except for a bit of stearic if it helps in mold release. These waxes don't need anything in theory, besides UV inibhitor as any other wax.

I usually wick with a fb 36 ply. Many uses RRD wicks, or some other wicks designed for vegetable waxes.

Palm waxes requires wicking up because they are harder than paraffin.

HTH

[gaynor72]

I never add anything to palm wax, except for a bit of stearic if it helps in mold release. These waxes don't need anything in theory, besides UV inibhitor as any other wax.

I usually wick with a fb 36 ply. Many uses RRD wicks, or some other wicks designed for vegetable waxes.

Palm waxes requires wicking up because they are harder than paraffin.

HTH

Thanks Sabrina

I know I have RRD Wicks, think I have the 36 Ply, I also have the eco wicks. Yep i'm thinking maybe 3 to 4 tsp of stearic would have done the trick without the palm fat.

Decided i'm not going to melt yet, i'll test some wicks and update later on today with some photo's

Thanks

Gaynor

[Stella1952]

I have never added much of anything to palm wax besides UV Stabilizer... I have added palm stearic, but found that the pillars didn't seem to need it to release well from the molds. Now that's with the wax I am using here - the stuff y'all are using over there may be formulated differently.

I like CDN (Stabilo KST) wicks for both soy and palm wax. They are treated with stuff that helps them to resist the acids in veggie waxes... I dunno if that is mostly a sales gimmick or not, but CDNs have always worked out very well for me. For a 3" pillar, I would start with a 14, but I deliberately wick to allow the wax to form a 3/8" shell as it burns so that after it's done, I can use a tealight inside the shell to continue enjoying the candle.

[NattyCat]

OK I melted it down one more time and it's finally come out right.

Inez. Can you send me a larger amount of this stuff so I can do some serious testing with all my moulds and jars? say 10kgs?

Nat

[ubure]

Natty,

I'm waiting for some more of this wax to arrive - I don't know how much they will send me but I will tell you asap and how much I can send you.

The amount you got was tiny, I know, but I had to divide my 2 kilos I received for testing between 5 people.

As there are quite a few requests for this granite I guess I will order about some hundred kilos. maybe I will get some frost and feather as well, maybe others. Then of course I can send you as much as you want.

As for the wicks: LX are good for these waxes, but I like CD better!

[cybersix]

Inez, be sure to let me know when you'll order the waxes, because I'd like to buy almost every type. Still don't know about peacock if it's a crakcing wax as the spider. I'll test the feather because feather and granite looks similar to me, then I'll join your order.

Thanks!

[NattyCat]

cool. do you know what sort of price this will be?

I'd like 5 or 10kgs of the granite, and also another 5kgs for Sally please - after the year she's had I'd like to give her a little "something" to cheer her up. I'm not that good with words, so I'll let the wax do the talking :embarasse

[ubure]

Good morning everybody,

Natty, you're sweet!

The samples I get are for freeso you get them for free as well. With the ordered wax I suppose price will be about € 2,- / kg, but I can't tell for sure. They tell me as soon as they know.

Anyway, you can be sure you don't pay more than I do - I guess we all need good prices so I'd feel not too good if I earned money with the stuff.

Have a great day!