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How far do you fill jars?


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Today is the day! I'm goung to be pouring my very first candle!!!! But, as I was figuring out my workflow, and calculating my measurements, I realized that I don't know how far to fill the jar! Do I stop where it starts to curve in, or do I go ahead and fill into that narrower part of the jar and stop at the neck?

This is the jar I'm using.

CONTAINER-0300800-L.jpg

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Stop before the sides curve in. If you fill it to the neck on this jar it will cool uneven and you will get sink holes.

Thank you! I never knew the reason why some stop where the jar begins to curve over towards the neck. Is that true of all jars, and with both paraffin and soy? Many go ahead and fill into the neck.

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Stop before the sides curve in. If you fill it to the neck on this jar it will cool uneven and you will get sink holes.

I must admit that I did not know this point here....We started using this jar about 2 years ago and do fill just into the neck of the jar and do get an occasional sink hole (heat gun fixes it right up) but now I want to go pour a few dozen candles and test this out =) Thanks for the tip Georgia! Just goes to show you that old dogs can learn new tricks =) After thinking of this, the logic does make sense... Now... To bad I'm out of jars ATM

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Thank you! I never knew the reason why some stop where the jar begins to curve over towards the neck. Is that true of all jars, and with both paraffin and soy? Many go ahead and fill into the neck.

I don't know about all jars, but I would imagine. When I used this jar I was using J50 paraffin and I poured oodles for a fundraiser. They didn't all get sink holes (and the heat gun does fix it) but enough did. I went to straight sided jars and eliminated that problem? :)

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I don't know about all jars, but I would imagine. When I used this jar I was using J50 paraffin and I poured oodles for a fundraiser. They didn't all get sink holes (and the heat gun does fix it) but enough did. I went to straight sided jars and eliminated that problem? :)

Did you cool you candles on heating pads? Would that prevent the sink holes?

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no, I didn't cool on a heating pad. I did snestle them all together so they had the warmth of each other. It didn't matter if they were in the middle of the pack or the outside - it was just their day to get a sink hole.

I couldn't of put that any better with these jars for us too.

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Well, I guess I'll be the odd ball here...I fill to the neck of the jar and like you said Georgia, "we have our good days for no sink hole or slight crack and then we have the days they do get their little imperfections....lol..I always plan for the bad day.....it's just another day in the wonderful world of candlemaking.....As far as where the fill line goes, I just think it looks better a little fuller....

Trappeur

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We fill all of our jars pretty much right up as well. I get so frustrated when I see jars not completely full. I have seen many only filled 2/3 or 3/4. Have never understood why people do that.

Edited by RichardLOZ
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So the jar doesn't get a stiff neck?

It WAS too irresistable...:laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:

The short answer is: the fill line is wherever you think it is.

I fill my containers to the point where I think they look best, weigh, and then always pour that same amount in that container. Some containers actually look far cooler when NOT filled all the way up... kinda like some blouses look better with the first couple of buttons left undone... but hex jars are not among them.

I do "cheat" with hex jars. As Georgia pointed out, if the fill level is up in the stiff (because it wasn't cooled on a heating pad*) neck of the container, sinkholes can occur and sometimes the burn is a little wonky. BUT I do not like having the top part of the shoulder uncovered with wax because I think that looks wrong (that's just me)... SO I swirl the wax around slightly so it sticks to the bottom of the shoulder but really isn't filled all the way into the stiff neck. OCD is a terrible thing.

(* I'm kidding - please don't cool your containers on a heating pad! They don't like hot feet!)

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Why in the world would someone cool candles on a heating pad?

As you know, some chandlers heat their jars on a heating pad set on medium, then pour; and then they want the candles to cool more slowly, so at some point, like when they see the top harden, they turn off the heating pad and the candles finish cooling more slowly as the heating pad cools underneath them.

& here's a page that explains that some let their candles cool under a heat lamp too, or something like that, as well as heating pad and other tips: http://www.candlecauldron.com/Tools.html

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After hearing about not filling up the neck on these jars I couldn't wait to get some more and start pouring =) So did my runs today and got all our supplies and have been pouring since around noon and got around 7 cases poured right now and now a single sink hole! YIPPIE! I know this topic went another direction but thought I would fill everyone in =)

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No I really didn't know that people cool their candles on heating pads - it's counter-intuitive to me. Sorry - maybe this works for pouring a few candles, but when one is making dozens at a time, the heating pad just isn't gonna get it. BTW, most heating pads these days have built-in automatic shut offs, so this would only be good for so long before you have to remember to turn the heating pad back on, etc. For warming a few jars, I can see, but for cooling candles, nah.

People use roaster ovens for similar functions, but with greater control. Heat lamps over tables in extremely cool environments are often employed for larger settings as are cooling racks in an enclosed space to allow circulation all around the candles as is ye olde oven. There's a lot of ways to cool candles without involving more electric equipment. Clustering them together is a time-honored method of slowing down cooling, or placing them farther apart to speed it up...

But, hey, thanks for all the tips.

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No I really didn't know that people cool their candles on heating pads - it's counter-intuitive to me. Sorry - maybe this works for pouring a few candles, but when one is making dozens at a time, the heating pad just isn't gonna get it. BTW, most heating pads these days have built-in automatic shut offs, so this would only be good for so long before you have to remember to turn the heating pad back on, etc. For warming a few jars, I can see, but for cooling candles, nah.

People use roaster ovens for similar functions, but with greater control. Heat lamps over tables in extremely cool environments are often employed for larger settings as are cooling racks in an enclosed space to allow circulation all around the candles as is ye olde oven. There's a lot of ways to cool candles without involving more electric equipment. Clustering them together is a time-honored method of slowing down cooling, or placing them farther apart to speed it up...

But, hey, thanks for all the tips.

I meant the "As you know" part about the fact that chandlers heat jars and pour on heating pads, not that they cooled them on heating pads cuz you had already said you didn't know about that. But, you're right, heating pads wouldn't be practical for pouring lots of candles.

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