Over Stirring Soy Wax

[crazzie]

Is there such a thing as over stirring Soy Wax?

I am using KY125 stirred and stirred and stirred til the temp was 110.

I poured at 100, it sure is not smooth.

At what temp do you usually stop stirring the Soy Wax?

[lilcountrymama]

I never heard of over stirring I usually stir right when I add the fo for two mins then stir every few mins while I'm waiting for it to cool and stir once.more before I pour

[EricofAZ]

I'm barely a novice at soy so most of this is from paraffin background. If I had a MP of 125, I don't think I'd expect good results at a 100 degree pour temp. I know the MP goes down when you add FO. According to my calculator, mixing 1 oz/pp of FO with 125 wax ends up being something more like 118 degrees for the MP, but still, pouring at 100 seems low to get any kind of good tops. I remember from soy that I had to bump the pour temp a bit to get better tops (but not too much of course, the higher the temp and the more the shrinkage, well, back to bad tops again).

As for stirring, the FO releases at the top of the melt pool. I suspect that if you kept it hot long enough and stirred enough, some of the FO that would have stayed in the wax gets released making it weaker. I don't know how long that would take, but I pretty much work the wax like lilcountrymama, stir for a couple of minutes to get a good mix, then let it alone while it cools with only an occasional stir during that time.

Edited August 30, 2011 by EricofAZ

[Lorelei]

I pour my GB 415 soy at 107-110, however, as I am generally with a few pour pots going at a time I just eyeball the wax now. I know what it looks like when I need to be pouring it. For me it starts getting less translucent and forms a little film on top. That is about 110, by the time I swirl it around a couple of times to make the heat even in the pot...it's ready.

I only stir 2 min after adding my FO and a couple of times during the cool down but those times are just a short stir to make sure there is no separation of oil/wax. This always seems to work for me.

[001]

I stir for about 30 seconds or so with a fork, then pour all my waxes (parasoy, soy, pillar, jar) at 160 just because it is usually at that temperature by the time I am done stirring. This way I don't have to warm up the jars and I get a perfectly smooth top with the added bonus of no waiting.

[Stella1952]

I stir slowly but pretty continuously as the wax melts. When I transfer the wax to the pour pot, I cut down the temp and stir it occasionally. I stir the wax in the pour pot from the time it gets in there until I am engaged in pouring. I keep it moving pretty much constantly.

[Lorelei]

It is very interesting to know that we have all developed techniques that are unique to us and work...maybe I should stir more to get those arms in shape! hah

[rjdaines]

Stir like Stella does. That said I have a health of problems recently with my GW464, horrendous frosting and variable throw. If the frosting is seasonal, I sure hope is ends soon 'cause it was never like this when I first started this year. The reason I stir constantly is to keep a uniform temp throughout the wax. Since I am have so many problem, maybe I should stir less. I already go to a gym and don't need the extra muscles.

[Stella1952]

problems recently with my GW464, horrendous frosting and variable throw

When problems rear their ugly little heads, I ask myself the following questions:

Besides the temp, is anything else different? FOs, supplier(s), new case of wax, etc.?

Are YOU doing anything different? I ask this because at one point, I had more appearance issues than I was accustomed to and when I broke it down, I found that the problem lay with my procedures - a bunch of little things I was doing differently or rushing through... When I went back to paying closer attention to what I was doing, the problems vanished...

Hope this helps you solve your dilemma...

[rjdaines]

Hi Stella. I have a routine which is fairly consistent but changes happen all the time like different bags of wax (same type and supplier). I haven't check to see if there are lot numbers on the bags. The appearance of summer seems to correlate pretty well with the being of the frosting and I don't have any control over that. Additives like coconut oil have not helped and in fact have hurt in other areas. What I have not tried yet is tempering, guess I should add that to the list.