Relief hole how-to with oven cooling?

[naomiheck]

I am finding that even when I cool my 8 oz jelly jars in a preheated oven, I still get sink holes. On the other hand, my 8 oz square masons come out perfectly.

I want to get away from zapping with a heat gun because by the time I get enough of the top melted, liquid wax is splashing out onto me.

If I do relief holes, should I take them out of the oven after an hour or two, poke holes, then do a second pour right then? Is it OK that opening the oven at this time will cool the oven down significantly? Or do I not need to cool them in the oven if I'm doing relief holes? I just want to make sure I understand the poking-repour concept correctly.

Naomi

[topofmurrayhill]

This is parasoy wax, right? Forgive me if I'm misremembering that.

The idea of relief holes doesn't apply to most container candles. That's for waxes that shrink and stretch a lot, and might develop air cavities deep beneath the surface. With your kind of wax, you should not really have to do anything to the candles while they cooling.

If you're getting sinkholes right at the surface, all you really need is the second pour when the candle cools off. If you're getting hidden cavities just below the surface, just poke with a stick to expose them before the second pour, to make sure they get filled in.

You could also consider a nice trick to avoid the second pour and save some hassle. Just put the candles on a sturdy baking sheet and put them in a preheated 300 degree oven for up to 10 minutes and it'll flatten out all the tops.

If you like the oven technique, it might be best to pick up some raw spooled wicking and tabs from Candlewic rather than using the pre-made assemblies, because the wax coating is gonna melt off the wick anyway.

Edited January 19, 2010 by topofmurrayhill

[naomiheck]

Thanks for the suggestions, Top. Yes, it is parasoy. They were wickless for later wick testing. They all had circular cracks, the circle being about an inch in diameter. My guess is the cracks were about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.

I've also had wicked jelly jars do something similar. After hitting with a heat gun to smooth the tops, I get a few little bubbles that form during burning.

If I do the oven technique to smooth out the candles (that would be easiest for me), will the wick burn okay even though the wax coating has melted off?

Naomi

[topofmurrayhill]

If I do the oven technique to smooth out the candles (that would be easiest for me), will the wick burn okay even though the wax coating has melted off?

Yeah, it doesn't really make a difference. The wax coating provides some fuel when you first light the wick, but there's enough just from the candle wax soaking into it.

The wax melting off the wick can leave a pattern on the surface of the candle, but it's mostly a cosmetic issue. Hitting the surface with a heat gun has the same effect and a lot of people do that.