kandlekrazy Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Does anyone know what the melt point is for USA? The only info I seem to be able to find is that it's higher than soy wax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macaroni&cheese Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I am wondering about that, and also UV inhibitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Sorry, I don't have an answer to the questions and have never looked for this information because I add these products at the same time as I add the unmelted wax to the melt pot and have NEVER had any kind of problem with either product. Sometimes, I throw them in first (on the bottom), but most times I put in the wax, then add the USA and UVS right on top. As the wax melts, I stir and the additives simply disappear into the melted wax. What few instructions I have read on suppliers' sites about using these two additives (USA & UV Stabilizer) say to add it with the unmelted wax.Unless someone knows the answer to this, perhaps a call or email to a supplier would net answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted October 11, 2007 Author Share Posted October 11, 2007 Tried the email routine, no answers...hmmm...just one of those mysteries I guess. I'm trying to teach someone to make candles and she asked me and of course "I dunno?" but I'll see if I can find out! I don't really care as long as it melts, but she apparently does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Maybe Top'll know - he knows a whole LOTTA stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Maybe Top'll know - he knows a whole LOTTA stuff...I <3 Top and his wealth of knowledge. You too Stella!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Acronyms don't have melt points.Maybe a better question is, what is USA? Universal Soy Additive is a name some suppliers invented to obfuscate what they were selling and we dutifully cooperated and turned it into an acronym -- as if now we know what we're buying. It's more useful to me personally and maybe others to work with identified materials. There's information available not only about their properties but often about using them in candle blends, not to mention being able to match things up with an MSDS.USA can be different things -- it IS different things. I know sometimes it's Panalite, which is an ADM trade name for some unidentified type of monoglyceride food additive. Dimodan is another trade name I've run into as being useful in vegetable oil candles. Or maybe sometimes we're getting some type of sorbitan, which at least would be a specific molecule to hang your hat on.I for one am a little frustrated that suppliers want to sell us chemicals that they've made up their own names for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I for one am a little frustrated that suppliers want to sell us chemicals that they've made up their own names for.Me 2!!!All I have been able to glean is that it contains an emulsifier and stearic acid... but there is also other stuff. When I mention it I usually add that I get it from JBN because it's different stuff from different suppliers...What about the UV Stabilizer, Top? Any ideas there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 Ok, here's my 2 cents worth...take it for what it is.If you like the way the product works in your candles...use it...if you don't like it...don't use it. I personally don't use any additives except UV and then only in the candles that I sell wholesale. I choose to make them without additives, some choose to use additives. Let's face it nothing is "all natural" so do what works for ya. If you're trying to be honest about ingredients...you can only forward the info that is given to you or try to find information from suppliers. Take a look at some of your food products on the shelf and you'll probably see some of these same "chemicals" in them. My final thought is the same one I had at 8:00 this morning...where's my martini? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 You were the one who asked the question and that's why there's no answer. You could ask your supplier for the melt point but who knows if they'll give you accurate information. JBN told Stella there's stearic acid in their USA when that's almost certainly not true. It may be the fatty acid component of a molecule but that is completely different from free stearic acid.My concern isn't about being honest with the ingredients, as I consider the presence of an emulsifier or surfactant immaterial to the end user of a candle, but when I'm formulating wax blends it's very helpful to have a source of identified materials. I could want something that's normally only available in large quantities or that specialty chemical retailers charge a fortune for in small quantities. Meanwhile the candle supplier could be a convenient source at a good price except they won't tell me what they have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 My concern isn't about being honest with the ingredients, as I consider the presence of an emulsifier or surfactant immaterial to the end user of a candleIt probably isn't important to most end users, but the frustration it causes candlemakers IS important. Plus, I feel real stupid when a customer does ask for a list of ingredients and I cannot tell them! I don't necessarily want to put ALL the ingredients on a label (would take too much space!), but I DO want to have that information for my own purposes in making candles plus to provide to customers who ASK for some reason of their own. This stuff just shouldn't be such a deep, dark secret! Makes me think about why we have lead in lipstick... is it because people cannot get their suppliers to "give it up"? Is there stuff like that in candles that we don't know about that could be a problem? I have given up and am listing the ingredients in the following manner on my candles in the order of the amount used in the candle (example): NatureWax C3, fragrance oil, USA additive, UV Stabilizer, dye. If a customer asks, all I can do is tell them I use Liquid Dyes from JBN or Fragrance Oil from whomever I got the particular one in that candle, and let the interested customer contact those suppliers if they have more questions. If "customers" are simply trying to get my formula for wax, I don't care! ANYONE can buy the same stuff I use and make candles with it (and they still won't be exactly the same) so that's a non-issue for me.Makes me feel pretty foolish, but I can't fight City Hall and suppliers seem resistant to the idea of coming clean about what's in the stuff they sell, particularly their branded items... It shouldn't be this danged difficult...My final thought is the same one I had at 8:00 this morning...where's my martini?Could I have a refill, please, KK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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