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Pinholes and fingernailing


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Hi all, back in these days to work with paraffin. My customer wants 15 smooth and plain pillars....

Ok, I did the first 5 and poured at about 175F...

I use paraffin and vybar.

All the pillars had lots of pinholes, even if I tapped the molds for at least 5 minutes each. Then I had fingernailing. Not big white spots but small white bubbles on surface.

I read something here, and it seems the problem is a bit out of control.

Weather conditions could be affecting the problem? We have 78-80F and humidity is at 54%. I can't control the environment where I pour.

But why is this happening? I have slabs of paraffin and they seem to have tiny bubbles inside, so I thought I could:

cook the wax before adding additives;

adding a bit more vybar.

Any suggestions?

I'm so depressed!!!!

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You didn't mention whether or not you warm your molds. I've found if I pour 175 degree wax into a 70 degree mold, the surface is lousy. I don't know what fingernailing is, but I used to get lots of holes and white crusty patches. Try taking a heat gun to the mold before pouring. I get my molds hot enough I don't want to touch them. I have the heat gun in one hand, and the pour pot in the other. I'm warming one mold as I'm pouring the one next to it.

Fredron

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Sabrina don't know what wax you are using but I use 4625. I was have snowflaking/mottle spots on my pillars. Cierra told me to add 1 tsp vybar 103 and 3 TB stearic to 1 lb of wax. Pour between 165-170. I do not warm my molds. This took care of every problem I was having. Before the snowflaking/mottle spots I had fingernailing some also. If you pour down the wick pin and slow it helps with the little bubbles, air spots. hth

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thanks girls.

I slightlly heated the molds putting them near the pot I had on the stove, and I cleaned them carefully before.

I never had the need to warm them til the point I can't touch them, but I will try and see.

Grama, I don't use wick pins because I wick my molds prior to pour, I try to be careful but will be more if needed.

What leaves me a bit wondering is the bubbles I can see in the slabs.

I use an italian paraffin so I don't mention it because it would be useless for you, it's a 140 MP paraffin.

Thanks for the suggestions!

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awwwww nothing is useless to us .. we can always help somewhere down the line .. we can even research the wax you have .. tell us what kind it is .. i have friends in italy who are candle makers .. i can pass these questions along .

fingernailing marks are them lines you see ona finished product that typically make it a rustic look .. alot like it ..

some things i have done to stop it are:

use silicone molds

pour a strait pour.. dont stop anywhere ..

try to use a true one pour wax that doesnt require a repour and dotn put it in the frige let it cool

try your hardest to work in your enviroment ... cool the house or heat the house or area better.

hope this helps somewhere with ya

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Well there's a thought that a little more vybar is needed to get rid of that fingernailing. You might try adding a little more. I know when I was trying to make a plain pink candle that I ended up putting in about another 1/4th tsp (don't know what that would be for your measurements) into my mix.

I'll go so far as to say that when it's really humid here, I think the fingernailing shows up more, which would make sense with moisture getting trapped. You can hear a slight hissing sound when one of those fingernails are opened. It was kind of interesting, but now that hair is longer, don't think I'll listen again.

If you're getting pinholes, you know that looking down the side of your molds you'll see the shiny stuff clinging to the sides of the mold. Just hit your mold (if it won't melt) with your heat gun and they'll release. Might also make it a habit to run a chopstick or some stir mechanism around the contour of the mold on the inside. Tapping never worked for me, but the heat gun does.

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Hi Scented,

adding vybar took rid of fingernailing.

Then I used the heat gun as you suggested for air bubbles. But... this is too strange.

I had to heat gun for at least one hour heating three candles. Little shiny bubbles kept on showing, and they will again if I go on. It's too much.

Never saw anything like this, I'm thinking it's the slab of paraffin. May have to check the others I have and see if at least they look different, this is full of bubbles. But why do this bubble keep on show even if you melt, stir, pour... they should break at some point.

I can't believe it, I have 15 pillars to do and only two look fine.

My back will break!!!!!

Well there's a thought that a little more vybar is needed to get rid of that fingernailing. You might try adding a little more. I know when I was trying to make a plain pink candle that I ended up putting in about another 1/4th tsp (don't know what that would be for your measurements) into my mix.

I'll go so far as to say that when it's really humid here, I think the fingernailing shows up more, which would make sense with moisture getting trapped. You can hear a slight hissing sound when one of those fingernails are opened. It was kind of interesting, but now that hair is longer, don't think I'll listen again.

If you're getting pinholes, you know that looking down the side of your molds you'll see the shiny stuff clinging to the sides of the mold. Just hit your mold (if it won't melt) with your heat gun and they'll release. Might also make it a habit to run a chopstick or some stir mechanism around the contour of the mold on the inside. Tapping never worked for me, but the heat gun does.

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If that's the case, air is getting in somehow. Look for leaks and around the wick hole. It can't be water, because water sinks and wouldn't be on the side.

This is strange. You aren't spraying the mold before you pour are you? That's the only thing I can think of that it could be. You shouldn't have to use the heat gun that long. Like 30 seconds should be fine.

Hi Scented,

adding vybar took rid of fingernailing.

Then I used the heat gun as you suggested for air bubbles. But... this is too strange.

I had to heat gun for at least one hour heating three candles. Little shiny bubbles kept on showing, and they will again if I go on. It's too much.

Never saw anything like this, I'm thinking it's the slab of paraffin. May have to check the others I have and see if at least they look different, this is full of bubbles. But why do this bubble keep on show even if you melt, stir, pour... they should break at some point.

I can't believe it, I have 15 pillars to do and only two look fine.

My back will break!!!!!

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If that's the case, air is getting in somehow. Look for leaks and around the wick hole. It can't be water, because water sinks and wouldn't be on the side.

This is strange. You aren't spraying the mold before you pour are you? That's the only thing I can think of that it could be. You shouldn't have to use the heat gun that long. Like 30 seconds should be fine.

Hi, you may have some point there, with air getting in from the wick hole.

I found a lot of these pinholes on the top of the candles, not on the sides only.

I didn't spray the molds.

But now, how do i prevent air coming in? I use silver tape to close the hole and keep the wick in place, I usually don't use the grey sealer because I find that it leaves the wick tacky.

Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

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Well two ways you can try ... get wick pins (ha), but the seal is great around the wick hole ... or make sure the wick is very taunt. You can use the tape, but maybe you need to press down and around the wick more? Maybe even put the sealant over the tape to cover any possible openings for air to get in.

Question -- you don't dip your raw wick in wax do you? If so, maybe keep it in the wax longer. If not, maybe figure out a way to make it work for you. Just thinking of ways to cut off extra air that might get in.

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Well two ways you can try ... get wick pins (ha), but the seal is great around the wick hole ... or make sure the wick is very taunt. You can use the tape, but maybe you need to press down and around the wick more? Maybe even put the sealant over the tape to cover any possible openings for air to get in.

Question -- you don't dip your raw wick in wax do you? If so, maybe keep it in the wax longer. If not, maybe figure out a way to make it work for you. Just thinking of ways to cut off extra air that might get in.

thanks Scented, I don't want to use wick pins but I know they are great in sealing holes, with the help of a bit of sealer.

Now I'm going to do knots on one end of the wick, then add tape/sealer.

You know, I found a great tape that resists at high temps but it's kind of harder then others so maybe this is why it bends less and fits less on the mold top. Looking at it seems fine, but one never knows.

Thanks for giving me a great clue!!!!

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A little update.

Air bubbles are in the pour pot.

I melt wax in a large pot, then ladle it in a smaller pour pot. There are bubbles in there, I saw them while pouring, those little shiny bastards were flowing with the wax. So I tapped the pour pot instead. Then poured with a chopstick near the spout. I got less bubbles than before. Still some, but easily manageable.

What a pain.

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If they're in your pot and they won't go away ... sounds like you have moisture. I'd check the pot for leaks first then you might try this out: pour out your melted batch into a pan. Water will sink to the bottom. Let it harden up some so that you get the water out. Pat dry, reheat and see what happens.

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The chopsticks will probably help a lot Sabrina. I use wick pins and always try to pour down the pin and that keeps it from splattering like when it hits bottom :)

thanks grama, it seems it helped: I got big air bubbles when pouring but they popped immediately.

I found less litte bubbles in the molds.

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If they're in your pot and they won't go away ... sounds like you have moisture. I'd check the pot for leaks first then you might try this out: pour out your melted batch into a pan. Water will sink to the bottom. Let it harden up some so that you get the water out. Pat dry, reheat and see what happens.

I thought about moisture so I let the wax heat above the water boiling point for few minutes, but notthing happened. No crackling sound or strange bubbles in the bottom of the pot.

I will try as you said, at this point I'm willing to do anything to solve this problem.

Candles are still in molds so i don't know how they are..

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ok, I'm melting a piece of the slab.

Bubble are rising form the wax, but I don't hear the typical sound of water trapped in. Anyway I'll pour in an aluminum pan and see if I can find some moisture. Thanks girl for the support, I'm getting mad. I have 400 lbs of this paraffin sitting in the basement.

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another little update.

there's no water/moisture in the paraffin. The pan was dry after removing the solidified wax and there were no holes left by bubble of water or what.

So it's simply air.

Maybe pouring with the ladle in the pour pot introduces air. I'll try to be careful while I'm doing it.

:lipsrseal only 5 candles to go....

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I guess pour slower and don't know about the ladel. Maybe it does, but bubbles wouldn't keep reappearing if that was the case.

ok, so I guess I'm under some sort of spell..... I keep on having bubbles!!!!

I'm heat gunning for hours.. almost...

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You may be heating too much if that's the case. Actually, should be able to get all to disappear within 10 mins max I would think. For me, that works. Perhaps try a touch more additive. I would hate for any scent to get locked up, but maybe a little bit more of the vybar or a touch of steric might help.

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