Candelure Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hello forum,So here I am, learning how to make carved candles. I live in Toronto and it seems to be a quite challenge to find a supplier for all my needs. Thanks to John from Candlefun who ignited my passion to candlemaking.As for now, I have some questions and I would be extremely happy and much appreciated if you could help me.1. Glaze. I bought one from Canwax (http://www.canwax.com/Candle-Gloss_p_1345.html) and still can get it work. It was too thick and it stayed on the candles as drops and bubbles not filling small slits in a candle. I diluted it with clean water, now it is of good density (looks liquid enough) but it flows down so quickly and unevenly. Is it just a matter of a right consistence (how much water to add)? Or maybe this glaze doesn't work well when the candle is dipped into it?2. White dye/whitener. The white titanium dioxide dye from Candlefun (in form of pieces) worked well in terms of colour. Then I tried some whitener flakes (don't know if it was titanium dioxide or not) and here is a problem. The white colour is good, but the wax with these flakes foams up into a kind of scum, foam so when the candle is poured in it, there are dozens of small bubbles all over the candle. So I'm trying to find the original titanium dioxide in Ontario. All I see is powder or flakes whiteners. Is it a common name or should I be looking for a special titanium dioxide?3. I heat my wax to 170-180°F and sometimes it lays on the candle unevenly with stains and bumps. Is it a temperature factor? I would very appreciate any advice. Sorry for my English, I'm from Ukraine originally and just recently moved to Canada.I might have bought all supplies from Candlefun but delivery costs+Canadian taxes are ruthless. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricofAZ Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I haven't done any carved candles for a while, but I have experienced some of what you are noticing.1. The glaze you bought is probably fine, so I guess it just got diluted too much. Keep it pretty thick. It is water base and of course the candle is oil base so they don't mix at all. The glaze needs to be thick to stick. The glaze is pretty much nothing more than floor wax. Unfortunately, most floor wax these days is very thin and diluted. If you can find a thick, concentrated floor wax (acrylic) then you should be able to use that.2. The titanium dioxide as far as I know comes in one form which is powder. Yeah, some companies mix it into blocks, but you can buy just the powder and it works fine. I'd stay with that. Sounds like the other whitener you got is not compatible. 3. I don't heat up that high. 150 is fine. Depends on the wax you are using. Keep your cooling / water tank clean. The air bubbles that form are not a problem, they go away, but the wax that drips into the water tank can be a problem so clean that out from time to time. Go slower. Let the wax from the dip run off a bit before cooling in the water and then let the water run off before going back to the wax dip. Sounds like you might be going too fast.Some of the uneven color may be from not stirring the color vats and it may also be from using dyes instead of pigments. Pigments are better for dip and cut.There is a company in Washington State that has some good waxes for dipping (IGI 1343) and maybe the shipping is not so bad? http://www.letitshineusa.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candelure Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 EricofAZ,Thank you for your reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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