Rustic help - too much frost

[FarmerJill]

I need advice form the rustic experts......and you know who you are.

I'm trying to pour two different size pillars with each batch (4" and 6") to make a matched set. But the 6" invariably comes out with much, much more frosting. In fact, too much for my tastes. Obviously, all the ingredients are the same for both - dye, fo, stearic - because they come from the same batch. The only thing I can see as different is that the 6" gets slightly thicker layers so I have to let it cool a tad longer between pours. And because it's larger, the mold heats up a little more throughout the process and takes longer to cool. But since it gets warmer and cools slower, shouldn't that have the opposite effect and decrease the amount of frost?

I'm being patient with them, let them cool at room temp, no fridge and I wait until they slide out easily. But still the 4" ones leave a lot more residue in the mold which I actually prefer. The 6" are very smooth, very white-coated and little residue in the mold. It's Swan's 140 paraffin with 3 T. stearic, poured at 150 degrees and seems to happen with every FO. The only other thing I can think of is to reduce the stearic but that doesn't address the issue of the frost disparity between the two sizes. Help! This doesn't make sense unless it's just the wax gods way of screwing with my head. Here's a picture showing the difference.

And, p.s., they look much nicer in person. :smiley2:

[grama]

Wish I could help but can't, just wanted to say I love both of them myself. If mine turned out that good I would be perfectly happy.

[Pam W]

Those are very pretty rustics. I think the frosting is just right but to get a little less, you can up the pouring temp just a little. Sometimes when I get frosting where I don't want it, I can eliminate some of it with the heatgun = pass the heatgun back & forth across the candle quickly...little at a time or you'll melt the area. You have a lot of jumplines on the taller one and if you give the heatgun a try, you might get exactly what you're looking for. To lessen those jumplines, pour a little quicker. I like jumplines and pour really slow when I want more of them.

[heirloomoriginals]

I have never made rustics before, but I think those look great!

Steph

[Lightning Bug]

Love the little one especially, but they are both beautiful. Just a question, which do you pour first? Maybe the time difference is enough to make the one more frosty by being cooler when you pour? I can just smell them with a rain or ocean FO. Beth

[FarmerJill]

Beth, I've been trying to ensure that they're all poured at the same temp. Doing six pillars to a batch usually means pouring three, adjusting the temperature of the pour pot if necessary, pouring the last three. It just doesn't seem to matter whether I pour the large or small ones first, the large ones are always more frosted. That's what has me puzzled. FO is Rustic Jeans from Wildfire, btw.

Pam, thanks for the suggestion of upping the pour temp, but pouring temperature still doesn't explain the disparity of frost on the two different sizes. Or are you saying I need to pour the 6" faster than the smaller ones? I'll give it a try.

I just want them to match, darn it!

[eugenia]

Makes no sense since they are both 3" diameter. Wish I had more insight!

e

[Scented]

There are days I'd love to have that much frost lol!

My only guess is that because it's bigger it just shows more. Kind of odd for the larger to be more frosty, but do you suppose that if the smaller one hadn't left behind some in the mold (which is what it looks like) that it would be as frosty?

[Pam W]

Ambient (room) temps can make a difference on the mold's temps. The smaller mold will heat up faster while pouring. I get more frosting during the winter months cause the molds are colder and sometimes I warm them just a touch so I don't get too much frosting but in the summer months, I'll cool the molds in the fridge.

And I think I see some mottling underneath the jumplines on the big one which means that it cooled slower than the short one which makes sense cause you have twice the amt of wax. If I want rustic with no mottle, then I set the molds in a waterbath after the last layer has set for a while. The thing with rustics is that you just never know for sure what you'll get but that's why I like making them.

I know they arent what you were hoping for but they do make a nice set - personally I prefer my sets to be alike but different.

[FarmerJill]

Makes no sense since they are both 3" diameter. Wish I had more insight! e

Strangely enough that offers some comfort. LOL!

but do you suppose that if the smaller one hadn't left behind some in the mold (which is what it looks like) that it would be as frosty?

I think so, Scented. But I'm not sure what to do to leave more residue in the bigger ones. Pull them out of the mold sooner? Chill them? That just seems contrary to all the fine instructions on this board.

Pam, you've offered some good ideas to think about. Or maybe the best idea is to just embrace the results I'm getting. It's kind of funny because I prefer a certain look but when I show candles to people, they always seem to like the ones that look "wrong" to me. I guess I have no taste. Thanks all!

[judyvega]

I personally think they look great - but I like frost :rolleyes2 I have no clue what's going on - mine NORMALLY turn out pretty uniform, no matter how many/what sizes I pour. :undecided

[Pam W]

It's not that you have no taste my dear, it's just that you had a vision in your mind's eye and that isn't what you got. But when friends/customers oooh & aaah, then yes, embrace your talent and give yourself a pat on the back:highfive:

Watch inside the mold when you're pouring the layers and you can see the wax doing the little jumps from line to line - when this happens, pour a wee bit quicker.

Look at the two pillars in this link - I intentionally poured really slow and tilted back & forth so that the jumplines would define the angles of the different layers. If I'm understanding right, this is the exact opposite of what you want so pouring that wee bit quicker should give you what you're looking for. These were poured at 160* but in the winter months so the molds were pretty cold and made a lot of frosting.

Will look forward to seeing your next set

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13597&d=1193936489

[FarmerJill]

If I'm understanding right, this is the exact opposite of what you want so pouring that wee bit quicker should give you what you're looking for.

I'll do some playing around with varying both pour temperature and speed. But, Pam, the funny thing is, after all my complaining about how mine look, I think your green ones - yes, with all that frost - are gorgeous! And you're right, any disappointment I have is that they didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned. And yet, when I first started pouring rustics I had NO expectations for the end results and was always thrilled with what came out of the mold.

Again, thanks all for the advice and the compliments.

[Groovy Chic]

Another idea-are you using the same type molds (metal or aluminum) for your candles?

[Breanna]

I just had to post,,,I think they look GREAT!!!!!!:highfive:

[Scented]

I think so, Scented. But I'm not sure what to do to leave more residue in the bigger ones. Pull them out of the mold sooner? Chill them? That just seems contrary to all the fine instructions on this board.

they always seem to like the ones that look "wrong" to me. I guess I have no taste. Thanks all!

Use less stearic then, but yes, chilled molds tend to leave a crust behind ... I'm not saying chilled from start to finish. When I put them in say about halfway cool, or still warm to the touch, but able to handle them comfortably, I get the crust.

I'm not fond of the chill method at all, but you don't know what something will do without doing it. I'd say 30% of the time I did the fridge thing I had a clean mold and that's probably on the high side.

[SatinDucky]

I'm by far no expert on rustics... most of the time I can't hardly get the "frost" on them. Thinking of the differences between the two sizes... while they are both the same diameter, the larger one is going to have more volume and therefore take a bit longer to cool off. Even with the exact same pour temps, the layers aren't likely to be as cool as the smaller ones.

Ok, done thinking outloud

[FarmerJill]

Okay, here's a picture of a new set where I tried a few of Pam's suggestions - poured the larger ones at a slightly higher temp (158) and poured them faster. It made a little bit of difference yet still lots more frost. But I think Scented is right about the larger one looking like it has more because the 6" is...well...larger. That's especially evident here where they both have about the same on the first two or three layers, and then both have frost all the rest of the way down. I'm eally learning to like these, btw, so all is good!

[Scented]

Hope so, because they look great and we, who sometimes struggle to get the frost lol, get envious of those who don't seem to have the trouble lol!

I think those look great. Not sure how much steric you're using, but if you backed down on it a little, you might not get so much frost. Hard to say really.

[Pam W]

Very, very pretty. A few quick passes with the heatgun can lessen the frosting and bring out your dark color a little more but I like 'em like they are.

It's strange what ambient temps can do to the finish on rustics. On my worktable where I set my molds to do tilted layers, I can do 2 or 3 at the very same time and the mold closest to the edge of the table which is right at a doorway, will have more frosting than the others...it must get a little more draft from the fan running in the next room....weird, I know, but it happens every time!!!

[eugenia]

They sure look like a set to me; very pretty!

e