My continuing learning experience. feather palm

[snewbie]

Well, Ive finally been able to reproduce Topofmurrayhills results with feather palm pillars. Both my 3"x3" feather white, jasmine pillars burned well. CSN12 worked a little better than the 14 which came kinda close to a blowout.

I have discovered that it is the REACH dyes from just by nature that caused my problems. I believe the reason is the amount of dye needed is 8-15 drops per pound. All my candles with the reach dyes leave way too much shell, but the white one burned as expected. Burn time was 41 hrs with probably 1 more burn for the CSN 12. Leftover weight was 4.7oz for the 12 and 4.4 oz for the 14. I can live with that. I tried wicking up, but that leads to close to a blow-out. Im not gonna chase my tail with these dyes anymore.

While I am still looking for a better wick that doesnt curl so much, I am also looking for a better dye. So far, Cadlewic looks ok. Their liquid dyes are recommended 4-5 drops per pound, half the minimum for the reach dyes. I absolutley cant stand any kind of gross chemical smell, and I strongly perfer a more "natural" "healthy" product(which candlewic claims, and therefore so can I).

Do any of you know of a better dye for palm? Less drops per pound while not having a gross smell?

[Debbie73]

I like Alabaster's and Peak's, but Alabaster's has a larger selection of liquid dyes. I also use Peak's and Candle Science's dye chips. The chips are nice and there is a wide range of colors, but some times I have a hard time re-creating the color with the chips. I do not always use a whole chip.

[snewbie]

Thanks, i'll check those. I would just use the chips too, but I dont have an accurate enough scale to reproduce my results when Im only doing 2lb batches at a time.

edit: It looks like I could just use a couple reddi-glo chips for 2lb batches. I'll have to look into those.

Edited June 23, 2010 by snewbie

[mparadise]

Have you tried BC or C&S dyes? I use them in my palm and typically only need 1-3 drops per lb most of the time & 4-5 for my deeper Christmas colors. It could be just me but that is all it takes to get the colors I am looking for usually. I just add a couple at a time and mix well then check to make sure it is what I am looking for (few drops on a white paper plate and blow to cool/solidify), if not I add another drop or two and repeat. That way I am not putting in more than I actually need and possibly clogging the wick with extra color.

[snewbie]

BC= Bitter creek?

C&S=?

Candlewic evo, Northstar Premium liquid are looking best so far.

Thanks

[mparadise]

Yes, BC= BIttercreek

C&S = Candles & Supplies. I like their dyes but HATE the bottles they are in.

You may want to play with the ones you have as well and try the paper plate trick before investing in new ones. You might be surprised how little it actually takes to color this wax.

[Meridith]

Try Candle Science. We have a few of their dyes we use in palm and like them.

[Candybee]

Lonstar has some good liquid dyes in a dropper dispenser bottles and I usually only need 1-2 drops per lb fo wax.

I have been switching over to using mostly the Reddiglo dye chips from CS. I really like the brilliant colors in palm wax and they are easy to use and no smell like some liquid dyes. I also found that some liquid dyes can change the candle scent over time and the dye chips don't.

Some of the color from the chips is so brilliant that I use a half chip or quarter chip per lb. That saves me money.

[Stella1952]

I have used JBN's ECO & REACH dyes on all my palm pillars - feathering, tortoise & starburst. I do not find them to be problematic. CandleWic supplies ECO dyes as well. I may not be using the same wicks or FOs that you are using. I do not find it necessary to use "8-15 drops per pound" to get vibrant colors with either the ECO or the REACH dyes. The max I have used has been more toward the minimum you stated, yet I have not had any burn issues. There is no "gross smell" with either the ECO or the REACH dyes.

[snewbie]

I think it is the fact that you only use 8 drops max of the reach dyes that allows you to have success with the palm waxes. I was using 12-15 drops because I was just never satisfied with some of the colors. I think green violet and red are just hard to get with palm wax and reach dyes. I know I can use way less blue, maybe as few as 4drops/lb.

I am going to throw my 12-15drop/lb reach candles back into the melter and add an equal amount of wax with no color to cut the dye in half. Im also gonna try the northstar premium liquid dyes when they come.

I think a lot of the recommendations for things out there are for parrafin which I dont use and has caused me some trouble from missunderstanding.

Oh well, nearly 7 months in, and Ive learned a ton.

I can see why so many of you laugh at people that think they are gonna make a marketable product their 1st year in candles. I dont see it happenning, but I never really did anyways. Every single thing we add to our products makes a difference, and that's not even counting the business side.

Thanks.

Edited July 1, 2010 by snewbie