Soy Wax Beginner (Help?)

[laurenscandlebakery]

Hello!

I made candles for the first time yesterday, and I had a few issues I was hoping you all could give me some advice on. To start off with, I was using soy container wax. The first issue I had was getting the wick to stay attached to the container. I used glue dots (as suggested by many) and it worked initially but after I poured the wax in, it'd unstick and float. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Secondly, my candles looked great (color and consistency wise) but today I noticed that there is some discoloration and texture forming on the bottom of the container. (I attached a photo) Did I pour too hot? As time goes on, will this spread or should it just stay on the bottom?

Also, any general candle making advice would be awesome.

Thanks!

[LadyJo]

Hi and welcome ! You're gonna have to give the experts around here (i'm not one of them LOL) quite a bit more information before they can help you.

what kind of soy wax ? what percentage of FO ? what kind of wick ? what temp did you heat the wax to ? what temp did you add FO ? what temp did you pour ?

[laurenscandlebakery]

Wax: NATUREWAX C-3 Soy Container Wax

Wick: 2.5" Eco-4

The other information, I'm not 100% sure on. Since it was my first time and I wasn't really sure what I was doing, I was just kind of guessing how much fragrance oil and wax I should use. I just made wax for that one candle and I measured by using the container itself. I used two containers worth of wax chips (container is 5.25 oz) and used approximately 1/3 oz of fragrance oil. I'm not sure if my thermometer was getting an accurate read because the liquid wax was so shallow so it was kind of touching the pouring pot metal as well. I heated the wax to 150 degrees, took the wax off the heat, added fragrance oil and then poured. I don't know the specific degrees at which fragrance was added or at which the wax was poured.

[Beth]

Basically... start over, lol.

Weigh your ingredients.

Make notes of every single detail in your process/every temp of each step

Note the diameter of your container.

General rule is 1 oz of FO per pound of wax.

If I remember correctly, C3 needs to be heater higher than you did.

The best thing is to do a search of this forum (vegetable forum) for "NatureWax C3".

[periwinkle]

Hello! I'm relatively new too .

For C-3 you should be heating to about 185*, then add color and FO (C-3 holds 1oz of FO per lb of wax.) I pour C-3 at about 165*.

I've had problems with the glue dots too. They come loose a lot. You can use a high heat glue gun instead. For testing purposes, I think it's a good choice, because if you need to melt down your candle to try again, you can pry the wick and glue out, and then reuse your jar. For the purpose of selling, some use the glue gun method, but some feel it's not secure enough, so they use a high temp silicone substance.

The discoloration on the bottom looks like frosting to me. Frosting occurs when the wax cools too quickly. Try putting a box over the candle while it's cooling. (If I've gotten any of this info wrong, I'm sure the true experts will let us know )

The biggest piece of advice I can give you, from one newb to another, is read, read, read! This site is full of tons of information.

[rjdaines]

Looks like a good case of frosting to me.

[mzphee]

Hello im new also and the best advice given to me was read,read,read and when your done read again. This site has soooooooooo much information at times it can be tiresome. everything you need is right here in the post, take advantage of the archives it has alot of information. another piece of advice is dont take things personal, the experts know what they are talking about and they have a true PASSION FOR OUR CRAFT!!!so when advice is given its to help us...well I guess thats it remember read read read and then read again ..I read from sun up to sun down..when I cant sleep Im up reading..HTH have fun I truely am

[Stella1952]

Hello!

I made candles for the first time yesterday, and I had a few issues

The first issue is that you made a soy candle and burned it that far down within 24 hours of making it. Candles should sit for at least 48 hours before any testing begins. For best HT potential, allow the candle to cure for 5 fays before testing. This allows the FO to develop in the wax. Some FOs take longer, some are ready to go at 48 hours, so this is a good average cure time.

The first issue I had was getting the wick to stay attached to the container. I used glue dots (as suggested by many) and it worked initially but after I poured the wax in, it'd unstick and float.

Glue dots are completely inadequate. For purposes of testing, use high temp hot glue. For gifting or selling, I use Permatex High Temp Silicon Rubber Gasket Maker (red).

I noticed that there is some discoloration and texture forming on the bottom of the container. (I attached a photo) Did I pour too hot? As time goes on, will this spread or should it just stay on the bottom?

Your soy candle wax is exhibiting frosting, a change in the crystal structure of the wax. There is a lot of discussion in the veggie wax forum about its causes and how to mitigate this issue - too much to go into here.

NatureWax C3 works well when heated to 185°F, add 1 oz. FO PP & dye (preheat both together to help dissolve the dye and to bring the temperature of the FO closer to that of the wax - about 120°F is fine), stir constantly down to 165°F and pour. I weigh my FO into a pour pot and add the dye. When those have warmed, I add the melted wax to the warmed pour pot at 185°F.

Also, any general candle making advice would be awesome.

My best advice is to read, read, read. The vegetable wax discussion forum has a ton of information about working with NatureWax C3. I think a CD 10 would work better in that size container than the wick you are using.

Good luck & I hope you're having fun with your new addiction. :-)

[karie]

This is a link that is in the newbie area. I think you'll find it helpful: http://www.candletech.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Discussions;action=display;num=1112822236

Also just keep experimenting. You're going to waste a bit of wax before you get your method right. Candle making isn't like baking where you follow a recipe and voila. It's more like the art of cooking.

[Stella1952]

First, welcome to your new addiction. We are all enablers and we don't have meetings because we don't want to kick the habit. :-) Having said that, I'm gonna run down some quick ideas about your issues...

I made candles for the first time yesterday, and I had a few issues

THAT is your first issue - it's best to wait at least 48 hours after pouring to burn your candle. For best results with HT, cure your candle for at least 2 -7 days to allow the fragrance to develop in the wax. I wait 5 days as a nice, round average. Some FOs will take longer to cure (2 weeks or more); others will be ready as soon as the wax gets cool, so coming up in the middle is a good general practice. A longer cure never hurts anything but one that is too short may not give more complex or light FOs a chance to develop fully.

You did not mention how you burned/tested your candle. To test, you should burn for 1 hour per inch of inside container diameter. It almost appears you burned your candle in one or two sessions. You did not mention the dimensions of your container (inside diameter & height). Trim the wick to 1/4" before each test session. Weigh the candle on your scale (you DO have a scale, right? If not, you need one.) before each burn. Keep good notes & write this information down. Keep track of the time you began the test and the time it ended so you can compute the RoC (rate of consumption) per hour (in ounces or grams). Note the height of the flame, the condition of the wick, any sooting, smoking, flame dancing or flickering, etc. When the test period ends, extinguish the candle by dipping into the melt pool and straightening. This extinguishes the wick immediately with no smoking and reprimes the wick for the next burn. Allow the candle to cool COMPLETELY several hours) before continuing the test. The candle should be burned in this manner until 1/2" of wax remains or the wick self-extinguishes (when the liquid wax exposes the top of the wick tab).

Wax: NATUREWAX C-3 Soy Container Wax

Wick: 2.5" Eco-4

Is the container 2.5" or was that how long the wick was (which doesn't matter)?

I use NatureWax C3 and I prefer CD or CDN wicks. I don't know what the inside diameter of your container is, or I'd give you an idea of what size wick might work best in it...

I used two containers worth of wax chips (container is 5.25 oz)

Day-um!!! That sure seems like a lot. Where did you get it? I don't know what kind of dye you used, but it sure sounds like you put a heckuva lot in there! I prefer liquid dyes. A few drops will color an entire pound of wax. Dye promotes frosting, so use only what you need to get the desired color.

approximately 1/3 oz of fragrance oil.

Normally, I use 1 oz. PP (weighed, not measured). Where did you get your FO?

I'm not sure if my thermometer was getting an accurate read because the liquid wax was so shallow so it was kind of touching the pouring pot metal as well.

You must be able to get an accurate temperature reading because temperature is so critical in making nice soy candles. I have several. I keep one in the melting pot at all times; one in the pour pot, etc. Take good, complete notes when you are pouring candles. Write down the temps - don't even think you will remember later...

I heated the wax to 150 degrees, took the wax off the heat, added fragrance oil and then poured. I don't know the specific degrees at which fragrance was added or at which the wax was poured.

That is critical information. Comments on pouring C3 are below...

The first issue I had was getting the wick to stay attached to the container. I used glue dots (as suggested by many) and it worked initially but after I poured the wax in, it'd unstick and float.

Glue dots are inadequate. I use high temperature hot glue for testing and Permatex High Temp Silicon Rubber Gasket Sealer (red) for candles made to give away or sell.

my candles looked great (color and consistency wise) but today I noticed that there is some discoloration and texture forming on the bottom of the container.

That is frosting. It's like "bloom" on chocolate bars. It happens because the veggie oil used to make the wax is polymorphic - it can change its crystal structure (thus, texture & appearance) due to temperature and other factors. There is a lot of discussion about it - causes, how to prevent, etc. - in the veggie wax forum. C3 is more resistant to it than most soy waxes.

Did I pour too hot?

No. Heat the wax to 185°F; heat the FO & dye in the pour pot to ~120°F. Add the wax to the warmed FO/dye and stir constantly until the temperature reaches 165°F. Pour into prewarmed, prewashed container and allow to cool on a rack away from drafts. TO prevent the candle from cooling too rapidly or unevenly, place a large container (box, big pitcher, etc.) loosely over the candle to help it cool more evenly. Whatever you place over the candle should be a good bit larger so as not to concentrate the heat so much as to force the candle to cool too slowly. Uneven cooling causes sinkholes & promotes frosting.

As time goes on, will this spread or should it just stay on the bottom?

Yes - it will spread. Yours isn't just on the bottom - it's all over the candle. The appearance of your candle is NOT characteristic of NatureWax C3. This is because of how you poured the candle, how you cooled it, possibly the kind & amount of dye used and how it was burned.

My best suggestion is to read, read, read in the veggie wax forum. There's a ton of information about using NatureWax C3 as well as discussion of frosting, wicking, etc. Make best friends with the search tool so that when you have a question, you can look up the previous discussions on the matter. Often, the questions you have have been asked/answered many times before.

Hope you're having fun & good luck! :-)

[laurenscandlebakery]

There is so much to respond to...I don't know where to begin! lol But overall, thanks so much for your opinions and suggestions

For those who said that my first problem was lighting the candle before it had time to cure: I still have not lit the candles yet. I'm not sure what made you think I did? But I do know the importance of curing, so I'm very impatiently waiting to test them! Just curious, what made a few of you think I had already burned the candle?

My fragrance oils are from LoneStar Candle Supply.

When I said two container's worth of wax chips, I meant that I took the container I was going to pour the wax into and filled it up with wax chips twice over. I wasn't talking about using two full bags of wax chips haha. That amount seemed to work nicely. It filled the container and there was just a little bit extra leftover. The only reason I wouldn't continue that method is because with such a small amount of wax, it is hard to measure exactly how much fragrance oil I will need.

I do know the 1 oz FO to 1 pd of wax rule, and I was ATTEMPTING to do that lol. But when I was pouring the fragrance oil into my tablespoon measuring cup (I do know you guys would suggest a scale, but I don't have one yet), the FO wasn't pouring in a direct stream. Some of it was running down the bottle as I was pouring and was getting into the wax (I was pouring it into the measuring cup over my wax). I need to invest in a medicine dropper.

From what I'm reading, I believe my issues were caused from not letting the wax get hot enough and then not pouring it at the appropriate temperature. I will keep all of this in mind for next time! Thanks

Edited December 22, 2011 by laurenscandlebakery

[Beth]

After you get your wax melted, you put the pour pot on your scale, hit "tare" which zeros it out, then you add the FO directly into the pour pot. That cuts out the middle man and you don't waste FO.

And definitely get a scale. Everything in candlemaking is weighed. You can get little kitchen scales at most stores. '

Be sure to wash your jars first & let them air dry completely.

Reds & browns will have more frost usually than lighter colors.

Write down everything you do for each candle so that you can make changes or adjust what doesn't work.

[tlc]

For those who said that my first problem was lighting the candle before it had time to cure: I still have not lit the candles yet. I'm not sure what made you think I did?

I think someone jumped the gun there (with their reply/answer to your post). I didn't read (in your posts) that you had already burned/lit your creation. :smiley2:

Like Beth said, just start over and make notes as you go along. If you saw the notes that I make you would scream and run for cover. Heck, sometimes they make me scream and run for cover.

Perhaps Santa might bring you a scale for Christmas. santa wink

FWIW, I never had good luck with glue dots. They ended up p!$$ing me off (almost) every time.

Oh, and welcome to the board.

Edited December 22, 2011 by tlc

[rjdaines]

For personal testing I use Tacky Wax from Michael's to secure the tab. It does let go near the end of the candle but I'm ok with that. For people that test for me I use the glue gun and when I get the glass back I can remove the tab. For gifts or sales, I use Permatex.

[Stella1952]

I still have not lit the candles yet. I'm not sure what made you think I did? But I do know the importance of curing, so I'm very impatiently waiting to test them! Just curious, what made a few of you think I had already burned the candle?

I think someone jumped the gun there (with their reply/answer to your post).

*holds hand up in air*

That was me, Lauren (and sorry for the double post - the database here was burping last night and it LOOKED like the first one had been lost...). I *thought* I was looking into a burned out candle, but since you asked, I looked again more closely and NOW I see you are showing the BOTTOM of the container outside and not the INSIDE... Sorry about that... My Seeing Eye Dog was asleep...

*Dang, Stella - get a little closer to the monitor, willya?*

I am delighted that I was NOT seeing what I THOUGHT I was seeing... again, my apologies for the confusion!!