votive HELP!

[VivienneCrow]

I posted this on the General Discussions board but was suggested to post it here. I'm having porblems with my votives accumulating sink holes around the wick after the first and second pour. I've also has some serious frosting happening with this new votice. Its the first time I've used candle fragrance and colour.

Wax: 200g Uni-Soy (purchased from candlemaking.com.au)

FO: 4g Opium Type

Colour: 3g Navy Blue dye block

Pour Temp: 80 celsius

2nd Pour Temp: 85 celsius

I hope that's enough info if pics are needed let me know as I've taken some.

Edited September 27, 2011 by VivienneCrow

[NaturallyTru]

With the sinkholes, the outside of your wax is cooling quicker than the inside. make sure you keep them insulated from drafts and air conditioning. It is common to get a little sinkhole and cracking on top of soy votives. Use a heatgun to gently go over the top. It should reset with a smooth top. Frosting is another very common soy issue. I just learned to live with it and call it "rustic look". My customers did not care; they were only concerned about the hot throw.

hth,

Trudi

[VivienneCrow]

Fter reading through the forum I've realized the temperature is ythe culperate for my sink holes. If anyone has any suggestions on how to insulate while cooling I'm all ears. After browsing through some candles at my local Dusk store I've realized even the best places have frosting and I'm now starting to loosen up on that aspect. I just never had frosting with my non dyed candles. Oh well I guess I'll just live with it lol

[NaturallyTru]

You could heat up the molds first in the oven.

You could put them in a box and cover after pouring.

I haven't used either method...I just let it be.

[Stella1952]

For frosting, try adding USA, 1 Tbsp PP. Also, do some research in the veggie wax forum on "tempering." Try pouring hotter (165°F) or cooler (slushy). You can also try heating the wax, turning off and stirring until the wax clouds. Allow it to reharden, then reheat & pour. Pay attention to which FOs frost worst than others. Some dyes and dye types frost worse than others also.

Because votives cool soo quickly, slowing down the cooling helps, Cool on a rack under an oversized cardboard box to contain the heat slightly and keep the cooling even. Good luck!

[VivienneCrow]

Thanks for the help ladies, I've done my second attempt with the suggestions and now I'm just waiting for them to set before removing them from the molds.

Stella what is USA btw? I'm still getting used to the names of stuff lol

[Stella1952]

According to the website where you bought your wax, it says that:

for a pillar candle add 20% aura or beeswax

(votive & pillar wax have almost identical properties).

It says to check out their instructions for pouring at

http://www.candlemaking.com.au/epages/candlemaking.sf/en_AU/?ObjectPath=/Shops/candlemaking/Categories/projects/UNISOY_WAX

I didn't read anything about it not being a one-pour wax, so you are doing something wrong, either with the additives they recommend (did you add any?) or your problem lies with how you are cooling the wax. Have you consulted with your supplier for tips?

P.S. USA is Universal Soy Additive (distilled monoglycerides)

Edited September 29, 2011 by Stella1952

[VivienneCrow]

I just realized its probably the fact I forgot to add the beeswax which I added to my non coloured votives. I only had a small amount of Uni-Soy wax left and decided to use it to practice my coloured and scented votives on...but I had no beeswax left. I can't believe I never thought of that before now! lol

this is what the candles look like for the second attempt. still frosted but i'm not upset about them, they look good.

[Tribalvixen]

Im sorry I dont use that wax I use Ecosoya PB so cant help you there but I did notice that you used only 4g of FO for 200g wax. I dont think you will get much HT from that. By my calc you would need at least 12g of FO.

[VivienneCrow]

opps that was a mistake, I used 180g of wax ... I wanted to use 200g but I didn't have enough left lol a friend of mine worked out the math for how much FO and all that. I'm terrible at math so he did it for me since he's a genius at it.

[jonsie]

Hi Vivienne, I am no help with votives since I don't have any experience with them. I also don't know much about Uni-Soy. Having run a search on Uni-Soy on the forum, it doesn't look like there is a lot of experience with it here, so you might be a bit of a pioneer

I don't know if you have considered the wax Tribalvixen mentioned (Ecosoya Pillar Blend), but there is lots and lots more information about it available here at craftserver. It is only slightly more expensive than the Uni-Soy, but in my opinion, might be worth giving a try considering all the experience people have with it on the forum.

Best of luck to you!

Edited September 29, 2011 by jonsie