Pillars - newbie

[makincandles]

Ok so I have now done three pillars - all of which are disasters.

So now I am looking for some tips:

What causes the little bubble marks on the surface of the candle?

Any tips for cleaning molds, pots, boilers etc - at the moment its lots of kitchen towel and heat.

Looked at the tutorial for "pushing" the layers in order to create a wave effect. My first layer was a fudge brown colour - now I wouldnt have said the wax was pliable - kind of hard around the edges and still very gooey in the centre. Once pushed some of the wax turned a kind of yellowy green? Any ideas.

Also I am from the UK. I can find lots of suppliers in the US but hardly any in the UK. Aso this is the only website I have found with online tutorials, How To's etc. If anyone could me out here I would be grateful. My current supplier only has a few scents, and uses solid dyes - which at the moment I aint getting on too well with.

Anyone with advice.

[Meg_10]

Ok so I have now done three pillars - all of which are disasters.

So now I am looking for some tips:

What causes the little bubble marks on the surface of the candle? You may be pouring to cool, I pour at 150-155 temp. also you need to tap the mold after pouring to rid of bubbles and also on layers I take a poker and remove the bubbles.

Any tips for cleaning molds, pots, boilers etc - at the moment its lots of kitchen towel and heat. use paper towels, I use pyrex measuring cups

easier to clean out in my opinion.

Looked at the tutorial for "pushing" the layers in order to create a wave effect. My first layer was a fudge brown colour - now I wouldnt have said the wax was pliable - kind of hard around the edges and still very gooey in the centre. Once pushed some of the wax turned a kind of yellowy green? Any ideas. not sure on this one, I only do Rustic layered pillars. Maybe someone else can chime in.

Also I am from the UK. I can find lots of suppliers in the US but hardly any in the UK. Aso this is the only website I have found with online tutorials, How To's etc. If anyone could me out here I would be grateful. My current supplier only has a few scents, and uses solid dyes - which at the moment I aint getting on too well with. There's lots of great suppliers in US for supplies. I use liquid dyes for my rustic, which is much easier to use than solid dyes. Many fragrance suppliers here also.

Anyone with advice.

I have only done rustics for while, but I'm far from an Expert yet.

But these are good tips I got from one of my best tutor and many posts from others on here.

Practice makes perfect. It'll take time and others will chime in with their best tips and opinions to.

It's addicting and fun.

Meg

[cybersix]

ditto on what meg said.

paper towels and heat are your best friends for cleaning molds and pots. A heat gun would be useful to quickly melt wax residues.

As for supplies, I'm in italy and believe me is worst than being in UK, I buy almost everything in US, but there are UK members here that can be of help.

It takes patience. Most of all is patience, you'll find you'll have to fight with almost everything at the beginning, but you'll find your way through. Have fun!

[Blueroc85]

In addition to Heat and Paper towels I also use Goo Gone to help clean up wax from spills and after I have used my equipment, molds, etc.... It works wonders to get rid of the wax! The pyrex measuring cups are my friends too....glass is easier to clean than the metal pouring pots.

I am not too much help on pillars as I mostly stick to container candles. I do know from the few pillars I have poured that poouring sloooooowly and pouring down the wick helps to reduce air bubbling.

I hope this Helps a little!

[SatinDucky]

To begin with... what kind of wax are you using? Paraffin, soy, whatever... also is it a blend, as in already having additives? What temp are you pouring at? Are you heating the molds?

Bubble marks... what do they look like? Like actual wax bubbles or pit marks? Pouring temp, how much air you stir into the wax, how fast you pour... it can be many things depending on what kind of bubble marks you have.

The only way to really be of much help, we really need more specific info about what you're using and exactly HOW you're making the pillars.

Hmm.. do you have any pics of them to post? That might help too.

[Scented]

Ok so I have now done three pillars - all of which are disasters.

I've read the post already, so I'll start here. Stick with making a basic pillar before moving onto something else (particularly the waves). Once you get the hang of it, then play.

So now I am looking for some tips:

What causes the little bubble marks on the surface of the candle?

Guessing you're using paraffin, but knowing what you're using would help to know more. What Satin said. If you're pouring too fast, you can get the bubbles. Tap your mold, run a wooden skewer along the sides. If you look at the right angles, you'll see the bubbles. They come off as shiny inside. An unclean mold can cause them. Pouring too hot can cause them. Pouring too cold can too. Air from your wick if it isn't primed, but that isn't saying that it always happens. There are plenty here who don't prime their wicks and have no trouble. If you're making rustics and swirling ... you're going to get them. The mold could be cooling too fast and keeping them in place. If you're using an aluminum mold, run your heat gun around the sides and they'll rise too. If you're using a wick pin and hit it, dislodge it somewhat, there's a chance to get extra air in there.

Any tips for cleaning molds, pots, boilers etc - at the moment its lots of kitchen towel and heat.

I wipe out my pots with paper towels. Any residue that I don't get, or a lingering scent, comes out with an unscented wet towel (but make sure you wipe out all liquid! It will induce water into the wax.) I take my molds, since I rotate anywhere from 8-16 at a time and they're aluminum, on a low setting in the oven, upside down in a turkey roaster pan or something similar. Others turn them over in the presto pots. Some just zap with a heat gun and wipe. Some don't do anything.

Looked at the tutorial for "pushing" the layers in order to create a wave effect. My first layer was a fudge brown colour - now I wouldnt have said the wax was pliable - kind of hard around the edges and still very gooey in the centre. Once pushed some of the wax turned a kind of yellowy green? Any ideas.

Being the author of that tutorial ... tell me how many colors were you using and what they were please besides the brown. If your outsides got kind of hard, you probably noticed that pushing wasn't that easy. In addition, you probably have some crevices on the outside surface ... just a guess. Being gooey in the center is normal.

Not sure on what colors you used, but guessing yellow and green? When they mix you'll get yellowy green. Means some color bled into another color or a layer broke and spilled into another one. Again though, this isn't a technique I'd say to start out trying having only done three pillars. Get rid of the bubbles and surface imperfections first and then start playing. I'm not trying to keep you from doing this technique, just it really isn't a beginner pillar technique. I'll still try to help you with it as best as I can though.

Also I am from the UK. I can find lots of suppliers in the US but hardly any in the UK. Aso this is the only website I have found with online tutorials, How To's etc. If anyone could me out here I would be grateful. My current supplier only has a few scents, and uses solid dyes - which at the moment I aint getting on too well with.

Anyone with advice.

There are a few other sites with online tutorials. Search for candle techniques etc. I think even YouTube has a few. There are a lot of groups to join and things to find out there. Not sure what else you're asking for, but we have a few UK members here who might be able to steer you in the direction for supplies.

Solid dyes ... what's going on that you aren't getting on too well with? Reds tend to have some difficulty totally dissolving, tend to leave specks. One thing you could try is to melt your solid dyes separately and then add to wax.