My first GG Palm candle :) Need advice though please :)

[brudil18]

Hello all,

I'm new here, but I just made my first Palm container yesterday and it didn't turn out as expected. Wax was melted at 210 and I added scent and color and poured at 175. Cooled on a cookie rack. It only crystilized in one small portion of the candle. The rest of the candle looks smooth.

Any ideas why this happened? Hopefully you can see the pics.

http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/39214/2002330112005643726_rs.jpg

http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/42195/2002335538864928399_rs.jpg

[jakalex]

Did you heat the jar? From the looks of the pic it does not look like you did. I also think maybe you poured a little too cool.

I heat my wax to 200 add Fo & dye and pour around 185 into a heated jar.

[anabanana's candles]

I put my jars in my oven on warm. Heat wax to 220 add FO and color and pour at 200. They crystalize perfect every time. Yours look like they hit a cold jar and cooled on the outside immediatley.

[littlebrownbug]

We pre-heat our jars to about 140-150 degrees in the oven and then melt our wax to between 195 - 200 add fo and color stir well and pour between 185 - 195 degrees. We do that with both the gg and the frosted palm wax and that usually works out very well. The few times we didn't pre-heat jars we did not get a complete crystalization and ended up with some "wet spots" and that is ok with us even though we want to eliminate that part of it..... it still burns and smells good.

Mike

[brudil18]

Thanks for the advice. This may seem like a silly question. I melted the wax in my Presto pot and its hard to get an good temp reading from my thermometer since it was sitting so close to the bottom of the pot. I have a candle thermometer that I bought at a craft store and it just seem to work well with what I have set up. Any advice?

Also, I use a pyrex cup as my pour pot and the wax started to cool rapidly in that when I went to add my scent and color. Should I heat that as well? Also what temp should I put the oven on to warm the jars?

Thanks again for the helpful advice. Can't wait for candle number two.

[KCScentsations]

First I would like to say it's your first candle so you will have some problems. As much as we want our first candle to come out right, it's always going to be something wrong with it. It could be how it looks, the scent throw, wetspots and/or more.:rolleyes2 But keep your head up because with time and testing, you will do great. Now, from looking at your pictures it seems like your wax was poured to cool. What wax are you using? I don't use a pyrex cup so I don't know if that has anything to do with it but I feel like if it's cold it will speed up the cooling of the wax. I like to still use my pouring pots because they stay pretty warm even off the stove and the wax can take it's time cooling down. I make sure to wash ALL my jars with hot soapy water and put my jars in the over on warm after I've had the oven on for awhile on 300. Try washing and warming your jars the next time I think this will really help you out. Also make sure your candle thermometer is right. You want to make sure you're getting a accurate reading. I hope my post don't sound too crazy. lol THT

Keshia

[idacandlelady]

Thanks for the advice. This may seem like a silly question. I melted the wax in my Presto pot and its hard to get an good temp reading from my thermometer since it was sitting so close to the bottom of the pot. I have a candle thermometer that I bought at a craft store and it just seem to work well with what I have set up. Any advice?

Also, I use a pyrex cup as my pour pot and the wax started to cool rapidly in that when I went to add my scent and color. Should I heat that as well? Also what temp should I put the oven on to warm the jars?

Thanks again for the helpful advice. Can't wait for candle number two.

I always heat my pyrex cups!

[Stella1952]

poured at 175

As others mentioned, there's your culprit. Palm likes it HOT! And it likes to cool very sloooowly.

During the winter, it's hard to keep the temp from plummeting as soon as the wax leaves the melting pot, especially if you live in a drafty old house like mine. I discovered an old round electric frying pan in the back of my pantry which I now keep at a simmer with water in it. I set my pour pots (2# aluminum) in this to prewarm and to keep them warm while I am pouring (particularly when using more than one color). An electric griddle, etc. would be just as servicable. When I transfer the wax from the melting pot, it's at least 200° - 205° even better. By the time I add my dye and FO, the temp drops significantly (I keep a thermometer clipped onto the pour pot to monitor). If it drops TOO much (below 190°), I put it in the simmering skillet to heat the wax back up slightly. In the wintertime, my palm wax candles go directly into a prewarmed oven (on cookie racks inside aluminum pans) to cool. In the summer, I can get away with using a box or styrofoam cooler to slow down the cooling. I always cool palm wax candles on wire cookie racks covered in some manner so that the top and bottom cool at about the same rate.

Don't fret - If you haven't trimmed the wick already, you can put that candle right into your prewarmed oven (200°), let it liquify, then turn the oven off and it'll look a LOT better when it cools.

Good luck and hope you had fun!