Weighing wax, does it really matter??

[hollies]

Greetings, all!

I've been told to weigh out my pound before I melt it and then I've been told I need to melt the wax then pour a pound. One vendor says it doesn't matter, one vendor says it makes all the difference in the world with fragrance. What does everyone do???? Does it really matter either way?

Thanks in advance!! I'm new to this and need some help!

[Candybee]

Hmmm.. I do both. I weigh out how much to melt per pound. Thats because I melt several pounds and make a custom blend. Then when its melted I weigh it again because this time I am weighing more by the oz to calculate my FO load.

[Stella1952]

Are you SERIOUS? A pound is a pound. I'd sure recommend reading and reading and reading here a bunch!

[MissMary]

I agree about reading more.

Ask yourself this - does a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks weigh more?

About the ONLY thing I can think of - which I'm almost sure is not the case, but a pro could step in.. if you weight it then melt it down, maybe a few thousands of an ounce evaporate?

[racolvin]

I can't for the life of me figure why you would weigh it before you melt it. I use a presto pot to keep a quantity of raw melted wax on hand while I'm working and I just scoop more into it as I draw some off via the spigot. That said, I most certainly DO weigh it as I draw it off into my pour/mixing pot, since that's where I'll add my FO, color, UV, etc.

[CareBear]

I weigh before i melt because I'm working in small quantities in a double boiler. I weigh out what I need, melt it, add the FO - all in the same pot... I don't keep a big amount melted and I only work with one color/fragrance at a time. Course I'm still learning so tell me if I'm doing something wrong here.

[Jane42]

Well, we use the Presto pot also, and normally we do each scent at one time, which means weighing the wax BEFORE we put it in the pot, then adding UV, color, FO, then pouring - so that would be the reason we weigh BEFORE we melt.

Occasionally, if we are testing, we melt wax, then weigh into the pour pot and add the rest.

Does it make a difference??

[Vicky_CO]

As long as you are weighing your wax on a scale it does not matter.

[racolvin]

Well, we use the Presto pot also, and normally we do each scent at one time, which means weighing the wax BEFORE we put it in the pot, then adding UV, color, FO, then pouring - so that would be the reason we weigh BEFORE we melt.

Occasionally, if we are testing, we melt wax, then weigh into the pour pot and add the rest.

Does it make a difference??

I don't think it makes a difference whether you weight it before or after, depending on your process, I just can't see why the OP would want to weight it twice I'm not saying I'm right, just that I don't see it

[Scented]

I weigh it and I melt it.

[racolvin]

I weigh before i melt because I'm working in small quantities in a double boiler. I weigh out what I need, melt it, add the FO - all in the same pot... I don't keep a big amount melted and I only work with one color/fragrance at a time. Course I'm still learning so tell me if I'm doing something wrong here.

In that process, that makes perfect sense. The OP was being told to weight it yet again and that's the part I'm not getting. Doing it twice shouldn't be necessary unless there's something going on I'm missing.

[Vicky_CO]

Weighing twice does make sense if you are creating your own blend. Like me I weight out 100 lb one wax then add 25 lb of another wax, weigh each of my additives out and put all in the melter together then I pour off a what ever ouces I need to add my FO too. So I have to weigh it twice.

[Guest Candelishis]

I don't use a blend, I just use straight 464 so I don't measure before I melt. I have marked on my pour pots where 1lb, 2lbs, 3lbs is on the pot, so I pour it from the presto to the pour pot, then weigh it just to be sure I eyeballed it correctly.

[Stella1952]

Let's suppose I make a 5# batch of wax. I use certain additives which are added to the wax, so weighing is important. I may then subdivide that 5 pounds into 5 pourpots with different FOs and dyes. I therefore have to weigh out the pound (or however much is required) I remove from the pot because I then have to mix in dye and FO.

If one is making one batch and taking it as far as it'll go with one color and one FO, then you'd only have to weigh it going in. If one is trying to make a lot of containers all the same net weight, weigh the container, tare, then fill each container right on the scale (protect scale with saran wrap).

But any which way ya square it, you need a scale to weigh not only the wax, but the ingredients that go into the wax and the amount of wax contained in the candle when finished (net weight).

[Guest Candelishis]

Let's suppose I make a 5# batch of wax. I use certain additives which are added to the wax, so weighing is important. I may then subdivide that 5 pounds into 5 pourpots with different FOs and dyes. I therefore have to weigh out the pound (or however much is required) I remove from the pot because I then have to mix in dye and FO.

If one is making one batch and taking it as far as it'll go with one color and one FO, then you'd only have to weigh it going in. If one is trying to make a lot of containers all the same net weight, weigh the container, tare, then fill each container right on the scale (protect scale with saran wrap).

But any which way ya square it, you need a scale to weigh not only the wax, but the ingredients that go into the wax and the amount of wax contained in the candle when finished (net weight).

Damn, Stella, you're good. I read stuff that you type and think "yup...that's a pretty good explanation". You must have that gift of whatever is in your head comes out of your mouth and makes sense to other people I am bad at explaining stuff to people...it makes sense in my head but not to others...LOL

[Stella1952]

Don't blink... it's only a flash of clarity!:laugh2:

[Candlelovr]

Every set of candle making instructions I have ever read say "melt 1 lb of wax" or whatever, so I have always weighed and then melted.

[racolvin]

I'm probably just a freak When I started candlemaking in '02, I went straight for the Presto Pot w/spigot. I stick as much raw wax in as it will hold, then draw off into a pour pot that I weighed n' tared first. I never used the double boiler method so I never had to deal with that side of things. I may try the custom blend thing in the future tho, so I'll have to figure some new processes for myself.

[Rebecca]

I weight it before..but I don't blend my own.

[ILikeWaxMelts]

Ask yourself this - does a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks weigh more?

I've aways been taught that...

"A Pint's A Pound, The World Around!"

[Lantern Light Mama]

There shouldn't be any reason to weigh it after you melt it. The actual weight shouldn't change, whether it is melted or not. What changes is the volume. So all you need to know is how much wax (by weight) each of your candle molds or containers holds when cured, and melt that much wax (weigh before you melt) and you will have exactly enough to fill all the containers/molds. You may have a teeny bit of overage after you put in the additives, depending on how many you are adding, to fill a couple of tealights or tarts, but it isn't going to be enough to make a difference. So long as you are consistent in whatever method you are using so that your numbers/results with testing and creating are always the same.

[Stella1952]

There shouldn't be any reason to weigh it after you melt it.

Unless you are subdividing it into different pour pots...

[Guest Candelishis]

I'm probably just a freak When I started candlemaking in '02, I went straight for the Presto Pot w/spigot. I stick as much raw wax in as it will hold, then draw off into a pour pot that I weighed n' tared first. I never used the double boiler method so I never had to deal with that side of things. I may try the custom blend thing in the future tho, so I'll have to figure some new processes for myself.

You're not a freak...that's what I did too! I get my 464 in a big box, and I scoop it out with a tupperware bowl and dump as much into the presto as I can. Usually when I'm done for the day I turn my presto off and put more wax in it, so that way next time I go to it, it's full to the top and the heat from the night before usually melts the new wax down as the presto cools off.

[Lantern Light Mama]

OK Stella...you got me on this one! I only do small batches at a time in my Presto, so I measure before and create one batch. Either way, it is a pound before you melt it and after. The weight never changes, just the volume. Hope that makes sense.

[Stella1952]

Either way, it is a pound before you melt it and after. The weight never changes, just the volume. Hope that makes sense.

Absolutely right, LLM, I couldn't agree more! Many folks don't cook much these days, so they have never been exposed to the differences in measuring volume and weight.

The difference in weight and volume (fluid measure) confuses MANY folks and can't be emphasized enough!

Most folks speak in "shorthand" and don't say "1 cup equals eight FLUID ounces" - they just say 8 ounces. But a cupful of milk does not WEIGH the same as a cupful of flour, even though both are the same volume!

Sometimes I wonder how many candlemaking problems occur because folks are not measuring accurately...