Dana Mae Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 After a few months hiatus, I tried to start making a few candles again (rank beginner here).When I got ready to pour, I was *way* short on wax. Where did I make my mistake? My notes aren't helping! I can't see it. I'm sure it will be obvious to someone (putting on dunce hat and heading to corner).12 oz container.weights are in oz.Empty container weight: 15.45Weight filled with water: 26.05Amount total needed (wax +fo): 10.6Using fo of 6%:wax: 9.95fo: .65equals 10.6(numbers are rounded oz)so, I wanted to pour 2 candles. Multiplied by 2 to get oz of wax to melt and fo to add. Rounded wax up to 20 to make life easier, and my fo ended up 1.4.When I went to pour, I had enough for 1 full candle and about 1/3 of another candle Now I know my numbers aren't precise, exact, but why did I not have enough scented wax to fill both?SO CONFUSED,Dana:embarasse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky_CO Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 It sounds right so I would look for other causes did you tare your scale after you set your pouring pot on it before you added the wax. If your scale is run on batteries you might check those low batteries can mess up your measurements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Did you tare the scale to cancel out the weight of the pot before you weighed your wax? Maybe the weight of the pour pot got factored in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Mae Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 Thanks......at least the math was right! I did tare......but good idea on checking the batteries.I'll give it another go tomorrow!Thanks so much for your input!dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAW Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Are you using parrafin or soy...Parrafin will give you 20 OZ soy will give you 18oz....did I miss something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vio Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 But that doesn't matter because we need weight to make up a candle recipe. Stella calm down! The only thing with volume would be if you wanted to melt a pound of wax in a 16 fluid oz measuring cup. It would overflow but that has nothing to do with what you need to make a candle. It's weight weight weight....not fluid ounces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 But that doesn't matter because we need weight to make up a candle recipe. Stella calm down! :lipsrseal Sing it, Vio!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Mae Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 um yes....I measure by WEIGHT GO VIO!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vio Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Weight weight weight weight weight *getdown* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinDucky Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Just out of curiosity... did you weigh the finished full candle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Weight weight weight weight weightThat's what my fanny keeps whispering to me when I reach for candy...:undecided Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vio Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 OMG Stella stop my stomach!!! Dana, what scale do you have by any chance? Is it the 7000? The one with the lift up shield? I noticed with mine, if I leave that shield half way up to work the button, it doesn't measure accurately. Every time I use it, I take it off. I've noticed this quite a few times now. Try sliding it off and weighing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquiO Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Empty container weight: 15.45Weight filled with water: 26.05Amount total needed (wax +fo): 10.6:embarassewater and wax don't weigh the same. The volume may be the same but not the weight. Best thing to do is weigh an empty jar (have it wicked or not, the weight of the wick is slight) then pour one candle. Once the candle cools weigh the finished container and subtract the empty. Now you know how much wax you need for one jar. You can now multiply that by how many jars you want to pour at once. As for the FO just add the percentage you need to properly scent the wax you are using without over saturating. The FO weight isn't going to increase the volume all that much. There is no need to pull your hair out trying to get the FO and wax to "balance out" to be the exact weight that needs to go in the container. IMHOI did this for my containers and I was able to weigh out the exact amounts I needed without excess or coming up short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I just always plan to have a little overpour for any unhappy tops or booboos, and tarts. If I overestimate or don't want to make little tarts, I just pour the wax into those little bathroom cups, pop 'em out when they are cool and into a ziplock bag to fish out & remelt when I wanna make stripey candles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredron Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 You should weigh the finished candle you poured. That will tell you if you are pouring the weight you intended. You could be overpouring. I have found calculations are pretty much useless unless you weigh the candle as you pour. My jars are 16oz (fluid) jars, but hold 10.5oz in weight. So after a few tries, I finally made my own weight chart. Problem solved.Fredron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I have found calculations are pretty much useless unless you weigh the candle as you pour. Because there is no "fill line" on any of my containers, I put my container on the scale, tare, pour in exactly the amount of wax that I want contained in the candle, put aside to cool and reach for the next one...etc. etc. To figure this initially, I pour my containers to different levels and then go with the net weight of the one that looks the best as my net weight for that particular container. Then when I pour, I can weigh exactly how much is going in there so that it is filled to the same amount each time.Now, pillars and molded candles are different. I have a table that tells me how much wax (in weighed ounces) each of my molds holds... Each time I purchase a mold, I make a candle in it, then I weigh the finished candle and mark the amount in my notes so I will know how to plan my batches in the future... It's no problem to estimate to get the initial figures, but once you've got 'em, it's just basic math... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Mae Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Ah, awesome about the weight of water being different than the wax. Where did I get the idea of putting water in it? All makes sense to me, I'm not sure were I got the idea to do it that way!THANKS ALL~dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 You are not the first to be confused by fluid ounces and weighed ounces. Wax is a little lighter than water (it floats). Most people are accustomed to kitchen measures which are based on volume and not on weight. What's important is that now you'll be able to estimate more accurately and not run short. :highfive: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntoniasCreations Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Ah, awesome about the weight of water being different than the wax. Where did I get the idea of putting water in it? All makes sense to me, I'm not sure were I got the idea to do it that way!THANKS ALL~danaNow you have me thinking. The way I do my candles is I put the jar on the scale, then tare, then fill with water and put back on scale to get the weight. This is what I read, on this website http://www.nuscentscandle.com/faqs.htm , to do. Now I am wondering if this has really that big of a difference. I have never had the problem that you do. But I dont really calculate the same way you do it, I do 9 oz wax (that was the total weight on the water) plus .45 oz fo w/ 1 tsp coconut oil. And with this I have a little bit of wax left over, not really much at all, never short on wax. I will have to see what the weight of wax is on the next candle I pour to see if I am coming up with a different weight than the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinDucky Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Ah, awesome about the weight of water being different than the wax. Where did I get the idea of putting water in it? All makes sense to me, I'm not sure were I got the idea to do it that way!THANKS ALL~danaI'm pretty sure you saw it done here. BUT, that's only half of it. You multiply the water amount by .86 or something to get wax weight. DON'T quote me, because I don't remember the exact number. I never used that method. I like mixing in equal amounts and using leftovers for other stuff. Trying to measure 6 oz of wax and .4 oz or whatever of FO is just nuts to me. My scale just isn't that accurate and it's too much trouble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Trying to measure 6 oz of wax and .4 oz or whatever of FO is just nuts to me. My scale just isn't that accurate and it's too much trouble Something that helped me was when I decided that I wasn't going to make less than a pound of anything. Even if I have an order for only one candle whose net weight is less than a pound, I am making the batch with one pound of wax. I simply pour other projects to take up the excess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Mae Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Dana, what scale do you have by any chance? Is it the 7000? The one with the lift up shield? I noticed with mine, if I leave that shield half way up to work the button, it doesn't measure accurately. Every time I use it, I take it off. I've noticed this quite a few times now. Try sliding it off and weighing.Yes, Vio......that is the scale I have!!! Thanks for the tip! How did you figure that one out! dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane42 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Something that helped me was when I decided that I wasn't going to make less than a pound of anything. Even if I have an order for only one candle whose net weight is less than a pound, I am making the batch with one pound of wax. I simply pour other projects to take up the excess. We also do all our batches by even amounts - less figuring! For our jars, we make a batch of six at a time. If we don't, then we are also messing around with matching color, etc. Two and a half pounds per six jars....easy!We also have the formula figured for testers when we want to do one at a time. For those, the color does not need to match!The only time we have run into trouble is if we are short on stock - jars, wax, scent, whatever - and we aren't able to do the "six" method. Luckily, that doesn't happen often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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