I want to try Glass Glow........but.......

[bells4shells]

I think the wax is wonderful! I don't mind second pours though. It seems many people would prefer a one-pour if possible.

I always pour at 200 and I don't get any problems other than your usual air pockets underneath the tops, but having worked with palm only--that's normal.

Can't help in the wick dept since I don't use ECO's.

[ReneeM]

Thanks! I agree, one pour is always best for us, it's easier! lol

If it's a beautiful candle that throws well tho, I won't mind doing a re-pour on it.

[Judy, USMC]

Out of habit I melt, pour in the FO and make sure it's fully incorporated and then add my dye. If the FO is cold you may see it forming a web-type glob in the hot wax - don't worry, it will disolve.

[Stella1952]

Palm wax takes dye very well (better than C3, but that's another story) and generally (except in certain container blends) does not exhibit the array of malformations in crystallization (like frosting, cauliflowering, etc.) that we experience with soy. It's a little harder to dye because of the crystallization - a little test drop doesn't look like the big candle will appear, but you will learn how to compensate. Undyed palm wax is VERY beautiful also - nice, white, showy crystals.

For best crystal formation, the wax has to be poured HOT - 195°-200°. It prefers a warmed container/mold and a sloooooow, even cooling. When it cools too quickly, the crystals will not form as nicely (or at all). When its poured cool, the wax is almost transparent and has lots of minute cracks in it - an interesting effect for layered candles especially. Palm wax has a VERY brief "slushy" stage - once it's that far along in cooling, the wax quickly turns into a lump.

No, Renee, I have never used ECOs. When I find something that works well for me, I tend to stick to it. CDNs have never let me down, so I use them. That's not to say that other wicks won't work just as well - I applied the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" axiom. The reason I chose CDNs was because of the treatment to resist acids, which are prevalent in all veggie waxes. If I were an ECO user and had experienced great results in other veggie waxes with them, I would certainly try them!

Oh, and if your first containers suck and are not crystallized well enough for your taste, don't trim the wicks! You can put the containers into a warm ~200° oven, let them reliquify, then turn the oven off. You still have to make relief holes, but the candles will usually recrystallize much more to your liking.

I've always heard so many bad things about it that we've never attempted it.

Many folks expect everything to just be easy peasy, but there IS an art to candlemaking - with veggie waxes, it isn't rocket science, but it IS oleochemistry. It all depends upon whether an individual wants to learn new stuff, or stay on the production line. Cranking out beautiful palm wax pillars is not difficult at all. Making good looking containers is a little dicier, but still quite "doable" for production purposes. Things become more labor intensive when one wants to create different effects, patterns, colors, etc. To me, it's well worth the effort and my customers do not mind paying for custom candles.

Palm wax is my all-time favorite wax because it is so interesting. Play with it! I think you will like it!

[ReneeM]

I'll let you know how the eco's do in it then! I'm used to them. Zinc wicks and I have a love hate relationship..I love to hate them.

The palm candles that I've seen were all colored and they had very vibrant colors and thats part of what I'm looking forward to.

As for selling them or there being a market for them, I have no idea. Thats a long way, and many testers down the road.

I'll have (hopefully!) beautiful candles to put around the house for a while! LOL

[Circle]

I have just started working with palm and use crystal pillar and container. I find that sometimes I need to heatgun the top of the containers due to small holes, but once zapped and candle is ready, it burns beautiful. Never poked a relief hole. I use RRD wicks and they work well. Pillars, I have never poked holes, only heatgunned the bottoms if I have seen a hole, burning has always been good. I guess I have just been lucky with beginners luck.

[Stella1952]

Never poked a relief hole

Cut one of your pillars in quarters lengthwise to see if there are caverns in there from air trapping. Heatgunning will NOT resolve this problem if you have made no relief holes - it will only cosmetically disguise it.

This is not fiction -

http://www.lipidchem.com/our_products2.html

"Needs constant stirring to remove air trap during crystallization."

- or one of the leading manufacturers of palm wax would not have included this warning in their product remarks. Air trapping is also an issue which should not be taken lightly because when the melt pool burns into a cavern, the contents of the melt pool fill the hole and drain the melt pool, which causes the wick to flare considerably (depending on how completely the melt pool has drained), creating a safety issue as well as promoting smoking and soot formation from the excess amount of wick exposed. This is an issue that some people commonly blame on the wicks or on palm wax itself when the problem is not taking measures to prevent air trapping in the first place. If you are selling your candles or giving them away, you need to pay attention to this issue because it can cause flareups that could create safety issues with your candles.

[ReneeM]

Got this wax in today so we'll be playing with it tomorrow! WOOT! I can't wait!

[R.S.]

I noticed Peaks is carrying it now too

[ReneeM]

We got ours from Peaks. I wicked up on it, thinking it would be harder to get a mp out of (similar to C3 wicking..wick UP!) but the flame thrower effect isn't really working for me.