Making Tarts - any advice?

[scentsational_aromas]

Hi everyone...

i've been making tarts for a couple of years and I was wondering if you could give me any advice for making them better? I make them as a hobby for now.

I use straight paraffin 1/2 to 1lb at a time - 128mp and I melt it to 190 and let it cool to 185 and add a little vybar (1/2 tsp per pound usually). Then I add coloring and 1oz of fragrance oil per pound. Then I pour. I let them cool a little and then I repour. I let them cool completely and then I unmold them and put them in a polypro container to cure.

They do come out strong (maybe 1.5-2 tealight's worth before they lose their scent), but I was wondering if there was any way for me to maximize my scent throw - hot and cold? Is there anything I need to be doing differently? I want to make the best tarts I can

Thank you for your advice and information!

Andrea

[RichardLOZ]

Hi Andrea

We make tarts as well as containers and pillars. We use palm and soy rather than parrafin and find that we are usually getting 12 - 15 hours from a 1 oz tart. Having said that some fragrances will throw less and some more, some will give 8 hours and some 12+. I think a lot depends on the scent being used. We have just last night poured 3 fragrances, Francinsense & Myrrh, Vanilla Pear and Blueberry muffin and all I can smell this morning on waking up is the blueberry, which is really strong. We have found that the berry fragrances seem to throw strong and long, but that is just our observations and as I siad we are using palm, but I still think so much of it comes down to the strength and quality of the FO's you are using.

HTH

Richard

[Judette]

I make lots of tarts. I add 2 ounce of container wax - any that I have extra of - to 1 lb parafin. I personally would eliminate the vybar. It could be locking the scent. Or reduce it a little. HTH

[MLJ]

I agree with both Richard and Judette ...I use soy or palm wax, and no need for additives. They have a wonderful hot and cold throw and last at least 12-15 hour burning.

[scentsational_aromas]

Thanks so much I'll try eliminating the vybar. Can I add it in after the oil if I see that it's not mixing in very well?

Maybe I'll buy some container wax to go with my other wax. Any recommendations? I still have 10 pounds of the GenWax 128.

Do you typically add in more than 1oz of oil per pound of wax?

[Judette]

If you heat the wax hot enough, you should be able to incorporate the oil into the wax without the vybar. Some heavy oils mix harder - eg, vanillas. Sometimes I heat the harder oils first then add to wax. I mostly use 4794 (preblend) with whatever container wax I have. Container waxes tend to hold a higher scent load than pillar/votive waxes and since I am not putting a wick in the wax I sometimes use 1.5 z per pound of melt wax. Don't put too much in or it will just leak out of the wax and if you are using aluminum tart molds, they won't come out worth a darn. Ask me how I know? Also the FO will eat the coating on the mold.