Questions about some of Swan's waxes

[Jeana]

Since Swan's is now in CA I'm wondering what a few of their waxes are like. I would like to save on shipping.

Has anyone used Calsoy PB3, Accu-soy 10, and Accu-soy 24? If so what do you think of them?

[FarmerJill]

Jeana, I've been using Accu-soy 10 for a little over a year now and really like it. I'll qualify my opinion by admitting this is one of the first soy waxes I ever used so I can't really make comparisons to other soys.

When poured at the right temp, the AC-10 has delivered on the promises on Swans' website - very smooth tops, one pour, good throw and adhesion. Most times little or no frosting. Red/pink is most likely to have frost and is worse when I get in a hurry, don't pay attention to room temperature, as is likely especially when pouring testers.

There are a few FOs I absolutely cannot wick in this stuff. On the other hand, lots of times I end up wicking down from the recommendations other folks here say about their soy wax. Go figure!

Bottom line - I like it so much that I never bothered to pull out any of the other soy samples I have on the shelf. Try it - it'd be nice to have other people on this board to talk with about it.

[kandlekrazy]

I'm headed to Swan's this week and I plan to pick up a couple of different 10# (or 11#) bags or slabs to see how they are. After testing, I'll post. I think I've tried almost every soy in the past 5 years and keep going back to C3. I know others have tried it in the past few months.

[Carriegsxr6]

The Swans location in Elmonte CA, is located at the ACCU manufactoring plant. Therefore they are not carring any of the Calwax's, not you can not pick up any CB3. Only from the Washington Swans.

[Lightning Bug]

I have tried a lot of their waxes. I plan of going with the Accu soy 10 after getting all my spare boxes of wax gone. Admittedly there are going to be some FOs that just don't cut it in that wax...same for all soys. But it pours hot, colors nice, minimal frost, minimal wet spots, and a 4" double wicked apoth with MC's Raspberry Guava throws better than any soy I have used so far except maybe 415 which frosted and after 200 lbs of hard to burn wax, I won't go back to it. I like it better than CB3 (frosted really bad for me) and CB30 (para/soy blend) which is ok. I tried the organic veggie wax and have only poured one candle, so can't give much of an opinon yet...seems nice. I use the 160 melt point paraffin for hurricanes and have some of the 140 for pillars. Haven't tried anyone else's paraffin, so can't compare them. Beth

[tlc]

Ok, here is my 2 cents.

When I first started using Accu-Soy 10 I liked it. I had used CBA and I liked the fact that I could pour hotter. The HT was better too in that I didn't have to wait for it. After using about 100 lbs of this wax I found that it has a darkerside that I didn't like. It cracks. Hairline cracks on the inside of the container that look like spider webs for lack of a better word. I think I have some pics posted if you were to type in a search you might find them if you are interested. I tried pouring at different temps and could not get rid of them. I also talked to the factory about it but wasn't able to solve the issue. Seemed like as the candle aged they got worse or maybe I just zoned in on them. Just like with any other wax, it's all in what you are willing to put up with.

[kandlekrazy]

tlc, thanks for the info. We're you adding anything to the wax other than fo? (color, usa??)

[tlc]

tlc, thanks for the info. We're you adding anything to the wax other than fo? (color, usa??)

Yep I did. I used liquid dye and dye chips. I also tried marbling but didn't have alot of luck with that but that probably just me. I also did some w/o color and some w/o fo with the same results. Jars didn't seem to make any difference either.

:smiley2:

[heidijo]

I just purchased Accusoy 24 and tried pillars. What a disaster, but then I'm a newbie to pillars. Cracked from top to bottom, but then I had same experience with Naturewax P1. Thought it was just me but I searched and found that cracks may be a problem with soy pillars. Didn't find any tips, but if anyone has any I'd love to know. Some would crack after I burned the candle and it cooled. May stick to votives..........

[nobcanldle]

Just went out to Swans today. They were very helpful.. I hope the Accu-soy 10 is as good as ecosoya pure. I just can't keep paying those shipping costs. Any hints about the accu 10 wax? I am switching over and have to make this wax work. Thanks!!

[tlc]

I didn't like the way that the container candle looked after burning either. It's hard to explain but I will try. They would have a white chaulky line around the candle in the upper portion of the container after cooling. I thought it took away from the overall appearance of the container.

[nobcanldle]

I just made my first candles with the accu soy 10 wax. I compared them to my ecosoya pure and they all have a weird smell. In fact the wax in the box smells weird, not bad, but just like an old oil. i wonder if I got a bad batch. The wax is really greasy and clumpy in the box too, which I am not use to. I really want to make this wax work since I can't keep paying the crazy shipping and wax costs to get ecosoya to California. Has anyone else noticed an odd smell??

[Stella1952]

Soy-based wax DOES have an odor of its own... If it smells "off" or bad, the oils in the wax have gone rancid.

For the whitish ring problem, you could try adding USA to the wax - it contains veggie-based ingredients which help smooth the tops and the general texture of the wax. Some manufacturers recommend adding palm stearic to help with cracking issues. HTH

[tlc]

nobcanldle, that wax should have come in slabs. How much did you buy? When I got mine the box had been drop which broke some of the slabs up and I ended up with a few chunks. The wax is a little oily if I remember correctly but wasn't too bad. It did smell different than the CBA that I was used to but wasn't bad, just different. If you think that it's bad I would call the folks that you bought it from and ask them. I found the wax very easy to cut once I was told how. :rolleyes2

Will you post pics of your first pour?

[FarmerJill]

nobcanldle, that wax should have come in slabs.

Nobcanldle may have gotten the pastille version. I assumed the pastille would be easier to work with because it would be scoopable. Instead it clumps together. It's still fairly easy to handle, although I may end up wishing I got the slabs since they were relatively easy to slice through. Never had a problem with odor, though.

And, FWIW, I've never had a cracking problem like has been discussed here.

[nobcanldle]

I do have the pastille version. This is the fourth soy wax I have worked with and non of the others have had this issue. In fact some of the wax was greenish black almost like a mold. I will call swans. I'm close by and can just get some more. I'm glad to hear this is not a usual issue with their wax. Thanks everybody!!

[kandlekrazy]

I think I'm glad I never made it up there this week to pick up wax!

[Stella1952]

In fact some of the wax was greenish black almost like a mold.

Ummm, that begins to sound like some mondo nasty Crisco I threw out about a year ago... The color had changed and the SMELL - OMG I had no idea that shortening could smell so funky and downright nasty! Soy wax has an odor but it isn't unpleasant - I think you may be describing the term "rancid"...:undecided

[heidijo]

Mold, yuck!!!

[nobcanldle]

I contacted swans and they were great. I got a new box of accu 10 and it is terrific. This wax makes very pretty candles. Scent throw was good on three day cure. They said to make sure to pour hot, 170, or the candles might crack. The wax is made to be poured at these high temps. I got the coconut wax and have been playing with it. I will post results later. To all those in Socal. Give these guys a try. They match prices from pretty much anywhere.

[Jeana]

I thought I would update anyone interested in hearing some of my results with the accu-10 and accu-24 testing.

Accu-10 isn't a bad wax. It didn't frost for me, and it has a good throw, even without cure time. I haven't had any cracking problems with this wax. I heat my containers before pouring so I think this may take care of the cracking issue. Swan's also told me to not cool the candles next to each other. Maybe this helps too.

Depending on the container, I like hemps and RRDs, and Fil-tec wicks.

What I don't like about this wax is that I can't get a full melt pool the first burn. I don't like waiting for the burns to catch up to make a full melt pool.

I have done 2 pillars with accu-24. My first was great, with no problems. It was easy to wick and it burned great with an incredible h/c throw. This wax unmolds easily too. Pillars are nice and shiny.

My second was a different story. It has huge cracks that completely make the candle fall apart. I've remelted it three times now to try to eliminate the cracking. Each time I get the Grand Canyon effect. I wonder if it is the FO that determines whether it will crack or not. I really liked this wax, so I'm bummed that it cracks. It seems to be the only flaw.

[tootie04]

Thanks for the update....now I have another wax to test....:undecided I WILL find what I am looking for....sooner or later.

tootie

[Stella1952]

It has huge cracks that completely make the candle fall apart

Soy pillars can be a bear. I dunno if it'll help, but some things that have worked for other brands of wax are: adding stearic acid, adding a small amount of container wax, pouring into a prewarmed mold then cooling sloooowly under a heavy cardboard box, styrofoam cooler or a prewarmed oven (turned off when the candle goes in. Hope you find something that will help you eliminate the cracking.

[heidijo]

I've been testing the Accsoy 24 for votives the past several weeks. So far, working out very well. Only observation is that as you would expect with a pillar wax, I have experienced FO sweating with some fragrances that I didn't have with my previous wax mix of V-1 & C-3.