Jump to content

Feather Palm tarts rock!


sjconner

Recommended Posts

I have been testing feather palm tarts. So far I have found only a couple scents that didn't rock in it. I have been pulling my hair out trying to test different waxes for tarts. *shudder*

I finally quit testing them in my house. My parents have almost finished building a house behind ours. I have been testing them in their house. For some reason, I cant' smell the tarts in my house (literally the same warmer, tart batch, etc) but I can in their house. Go figure. :confused: After I started being able to smell them in their house, I was finally confident enough to give some out to friends to test. They all like everything I have handed out! :grin2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
I have been testing them in their house. For some reason, I cant' smell the tarts in my house (literally the same warmer, tart batch, etc) but I can in their house. Go figure

Do you make them in your house? If so, you may be suffering from the dreaded "candle nose." Ceiling fans, electrostic filters, air current patterns, etc. all can impact how scent is distributed (or not) in a room. HTH

Glad you are having fun. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Palm throws like crazy with just about any FO or EO. The problem I find is wicking so that the wax burns cool enough to not blow the daylights out of the glass container. I don't like hot containers. Palm pillars work out fine for me. I have not tried palm tarts but it makes a lot of sense to me and when I get my man cave back, I'll give it whirl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always been worried about the melt point of palm wax as a tart. I wonder if most electric melter will full melt and throw a palm wax tart or how long does it take to fully melt a tart? Do you only use the recommended 5% fragrance oil? You've got me curious now! You mention you use the feathering votive/pillar. Have you ever tried the crystallizing votive/pillar or the crystallizing container? They carry all three at Candlewic and wonder if there is a difference between feather and crystal other than appearance. Also notice the pillar varieties need to be heated to 210 to add FO. True?

Edited by AlwaysWondering
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The MP of palm wax (around 145°F, depending on the blend) doesn't bother me, but its hardness does. If too much palm wax is used and heated from below, the top will remain HARD while the part next to the burner becomes liquid which can cause a bigtime spurt of hot wax when the pressure from below suddenly cracks the top. If people use palm wax for tarts, they should be melted in a wide, shallow melter and not use more than an ounce or so of wax at a time. Palm wax has a MP depth of only 1/2" at most, with a hard bottom, so keep this in mind.

I've made palm wax tarts for years and they will handle in excess of 1 oz. PP of FO, especially if adding 1 Tbsp. palm stearic acid, but you really do not need to add more unless you are using a weak FO. Palm wax is poured at a high temp (185°-200°F) for maximum crystallization but it does not HAVE to be poured that hot - it just won't crystallize. Obviously, container palm wax is not suitable (Glass Glow) because it is formulated to stick to the container, but any of the pillar waxes are great. You do not need to add FO at 210°F.

If you are wondering about the differences among all the palm waxes, why not order samples of each and discover for yourself? There is also a lot of information already in the threads about these waxes.

Edited by Stella1952
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been using BCN's feather palm. I add 1 oz per pound at about 200*. I have been pouring in clamshells at about 157*. All of the clamshells have good feathering on all sides (although not as good a pattern as a couple pillars I poured at 200*). The length of time these last vary by scent and by warmer type. Hotter warmers burn off the scent quicker than cooler ones.

Susan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, everyone. Inspired by this thread, I just poured some feather palm tarts this evening. I pored into muffin tins and silicon square molds. I have never worked with palm wax before, so I am not sure they look right. They are all crystal looking on top with some hollow cracks. I am not liking the look. Is this typical of feathered palm wax? Do your tarts have a crystally top? I will post a picture if I can figure out how.

Oh - I did melted wax to 200-210 and added fragrance. I poured at various temps ranging from 150-200 degrees.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crystals are the pride and joy of Palm wax. The cracking is possibly because it is cooling too fast. Also, possibly from manipulating the wax when you take it out of the mold? It is a bit brittle. Slow down the cooling after you pour and don't refrigerate. The palm should hold without cracking and should also grow larger crystals. Also, I think your temp is too high in the pot. I don't take Palm up near that high.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are all crystal looking on top with some hollow cracks.

Palm wax contracts heavily during cooling because of the crystal formation. This creates "air trapping". The cracks and holes you see on top are small air traps. The best way to prevent the formation of these is to stir the surface of the tarts several times as they cool. If the tarts look rough on top, heat gun them briefly to smooth the top.

For best results and max crystals, pour between 190°F- 200°F Allow to cool very slowly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...