My silly mistakes so far. Long post

[deena]

Ok so by posting this I hold myself up to ridicule but who else except a fellow candle maker would understand.

I have been making candles for a short time and have always wondered why my cold throw is excellent but on burning hot throw not so good. Had thought it was since I have a open plan house and large area making the smell disapate. My friends who have tested for me, have given all positive praise, but myself was not so impressed, I was hoping to achieve huge hot throw as well. I have no idea why suddenly out of the blue today I realised I have only been using 1% fragrance oil, not the 10% I thought I was using. Now maths was never my strong point, but how "blonde" can you get. Have to laugh at myself though.

Had not made any candles for awhile, the other night got really enthused and made 18 candles and four clam shells, was feeling very pleased with myself and the house was smelling divine with the 6 new fragrances I was using. Silly me knocked the wick holder in to the hot wax in one of the candles. Picture me trying to get it out of the hot wax, could grip it, then loose it, spent so much time trying to get it out, the stickum came unstuck and then I have the wick floating around too in the damn hot wax. What to do...........Quickly wicked up another jar, trying to hold a hot candle glass is difficult with your big pot holder so then thought best way to decant the wax would be to pour back in to my jug. Well must have been flustered, dropped half the wax in to the sink, so have to put the candle down, to quickly put the plug in the sink so no more wax then had already gone the plug hole would. Then of course, cause half the damn wax is eithier down the plug hole or in the sink I no longer have enough wax for the large candle jar it was orginally in. So wick up a smaller jar and get the clam shells out.

Any wonder that was an end to the candle making that night. Oh my goodness then the nightmare to clean it up!!!!

Just when I thought I had it right have to start again with 10% Oh well, have to laugh, and we do learn by our mistakes.

Happy candle making.

[Judy, USMC]

WELCOME TO THE CLUB!!!

It does seem like absolutely everything goes haywire at one time ... and you handled it well. Thanks for sharing.

[deena]

Your welcome, thanks for listening.

[ChrisR]

God I HATE those days, cause it seems the more I try to do, the more things go haywire!! What I usually do is walk away swearing to myself, pour a cold beer to calm down and try again in about an hour. DH knows not to say a word till I'm calmer!!

[Candybee]

I'm just glad you didn't drop any wax on yourself! Reminds me of the time I dropped a whole pour pot full of cinnamon scented and colored wax on my kitchen floor. That was not fun!!:laugh2:

Regarding your fragrance load. You should check the fragrance load recommended for the wax you are using. Not all waxes will hold the same amount of FO and very few hold 10%. Most common is 6% or approximately 1 oz per lb. There are some super waxes that hold up to 9-10% or 1 1/2 oz per lb. So check with the manufacturer or at least the supplier to get that info unless you know that your wax holds 10%. Then you can ask here for help doing the math.

I actually made a chart for myself so when I pour a 12 oz jar I know exactly how much wax, FO, or additives I need. I also use an accurate scale that weighs to the 10th of an ounce and weigh my wax and FO to add to my pouring pot for mixing.

[Anita1]

Hi,

What do you mean by: Not all waxes will hold the same amount of FO and very few hold 10%.

What if you use to much fragrance?

What will happen? I use mostly 10ml per 100grams is that the same?

[Judy, USMC]

I use mostly 10ml per 100grams is that the same?

Usually everything is measured according to scale weight. So I would measure the oil on the scale. For a true 10% fragrance load it would be 10gm oil and 90gm wax.

[Anita1]

Hi,

Oh never thought of it that way I thought it was always 10% from the amount of wax.

But wenn I add more what will happen. Does it effects the burn quality?

Thanks

Anita

[Judy, USMC]

Don't want to hijack the thread ... I'm pm'ing you Anita!

[Abbiepql]

If you use too much FO and the wax can not bind it - it will seep out - usually sitting on the top of the wax in droplets - or I have seen it sink to the bottom around the wick assembly too, in a puddle - not good!

[deena]

I use GW 464, my supplier states you can have 8 to 10% fragrance oil.

I really have been getting it wrong, Judy your example had made my brain go ding, gees two days in a row! I used to measure my FO, then realised I should be weighing it. I forgot a percentage = 100%, so for those of you who can calculate thier maths equations.... How much percentage have I been using? If I worked with 1kg of wax I was adding 10 grams of FO. So in reality how much FO % have I been using?

Thanks in advance for you answer. If I am not to tired tonight intend pouring more candles. Might actually get it right.

No wonder you experienced ladies and gents say it is test test when you first start out, so dashed frustrating, but like all addictions so worth it.

[deena]

Anita it goes to show, that was two of us getting the equation wrong on the FO, I too had thought of it in the same way in calculating the %. I am glad I posted this thread have learned something new...again.

[Judy, USMC]

Deena - I'm a USA gal and used to working in pounds & ounces. Here's my best try.

1 kg = 1000 gm wax + 10 gm FO = 1,010 total weight

Then you take the amount of FO and divide by the total weight:10 divided by 1,010 = .0099 round up to the nearest tenth = .01 and that equals 1%.

HTH

[deena]

Thanks Judy, so my orginal thoughts of 1% were right.

It is showing my age to state I orginally learned the pounds and ounces formulas before Australia changed to metric!

[Judy, USMC]

Then you take the amount of FO and divide by the total weight:10 divided by 1,010 = .0099 round up to the nearest tenth = .01 and that equals 1%.

HTH

OOps - just re-read the post and caught my own error. It shoud read round to the closest hundreth. The first place after the decimal is the place for the tenths. Sorry!

Edited August 24, 2010 by Judy, USMC

[deena]

Lol, knew what you meant, not that I picked up on it anyway.

[WillowBoo]

Wow....I just weigh in increments of 10 ozs. on my scale and if I want to use 8% FO it would be 0.8 on my scale, or 8/10's of an oz.

1.0 on my scale would be 10%.

Am I loony????

[WillowBoo]

10 ozs. of wax - I should add that....

[Judy, USMC]

Wow....I just weigh in increments of 10 ozs. on my scale and if I want to use 8% FO it would be 0.8 on my scale, or 8/10's of an oz.

1.0 on my scale would be 10%.

Am I loony????

You have to wind your mind around this ...

If you want 10oz of scented wax (wax & FO) you would multiply 10 x .08 and that would equal .8 oz. But then to ensure you have a total of 10 oz of scented wax you need to subtract the .8 oz of FO from the total weight of the scented wax. That means you would need 9.2 oz of wax and 0.8 oz FO.

Another way to figure it for a 10 oz total weight of scented wax @ 8% ...

10 oz X .92 (to equal 92% wax) = 9.2 oz wax

10 oz X .08 (to equal 8% FO) = 0.8 FO

9.2 + 0.8 = 10 oz scented wax

Hope I didn't make it sound more complicated than what it is!

[chuck_35550]

I pour 15 oz of wax and 1 oz of fo that have been tared and weighted on my scale. This gives me 16 oz of fragranced wax at a rate of 6.6% per pound. Lighter fo may require a higher percentage but maybe its not about burning your nose hairs. Maybe its about what was the original intent of the oil? A complex fragrance oil is subtle and the different notes appear during the burn. A less complex oil may simply give you the strong notes that would otherwise hide softer notes in a different blend. Some of my customers love the soft and complex fragrance and others want their nose hairs burned off. You just learn what wax and fo combinations will achieve those desired effects. HTH

Steve

[deena]

Yes you are right it is what the individual likes and how each FO performs.

I made a coffee FO at 10% last night, well I am not sure that it smells any better then the 1% blend I had made previously. Of course I am yet to test burn it.

I have been getting good feedback from my 1% FO candles. I personally like the hit you in the face strong fragrance which is why I want to do 10%. All in the test test though, sigh..............

[Judy, USMC]

Increasing the amount of FO you use does not necessarily increase the hot throw. In some cases I've found that increasing the load of a citrus will result in a fuel smell. Overload can cause other aromas to distort also.

[deena]

Ok, so now I am confused again, lol recurrent emotion when you delve more in to candlemaking. Ok I hear what you are saying Judy, so is it just a case of testing to see how an individual FO performs with its hot throw at different % of FO?

[Judy, USMC]

I think it's more of deciding how much time and money you are willing to invest. I'd recommend making a maximum of 2 test batches: one @ 6% and another @ 9%.

Once I decided on the best wax/wick combo and started producing candles for sale it was never worth testing different loads with different wax/wick combos. If the FO didn't throw in my combination I just move on to a different oil.

[deena]

Thanks Judy, excellent recommendation that I will follow. I have been trying multiple different FO and colours, have already eliminated FO that I would not wish to use again.