jennie12 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 At what point do you poke them? How many do you make and how big do you make them? How do you fill them in? Does it always require a 2nd pour or can the top just be heated after the candle cools and then the melted wax will fill them in? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in KY Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I almost always poke, one hole next to wick, with the end of a dowel, then fill with wax. If I pour at the slush stage I don't poke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I pour my parasoy hot, so I poke all my containers in case of air pockets. I use a chop stick and usually do 3 holes around the wick, then heat gun the top, no second pour is needed, as the heat gun fills in the voids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzie Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 What is the reason behind poking holes and is there any particular place they should be poked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacktieaffair Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Crazzie, from what I understand, air pockets that you can't see from the top of the candle, can develop near the wick and other places sometimes, in the container. Poking relief holes, busts these air pockets up, and allows you to either fill them in with a second pour, or using a heat gun, melting some of the wax to where it fills them in. Air pockets around a wick, when the flame gets to them, can cause hot wax to kind of explode/pop out of the container and possibly cause damage to someone, or some thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennie12 Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 Thanks Chris and Sharon for the replies. air pockets that you can't see from the top of the candle, can develop near the wick and other places sometimes, in the container. Poking relief holes, busts these air pockets upThis is also my understanding. I'm experimenting with doing relief holes in an attempt to prevent the air pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SliverOfWax Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Crazzie, from what I understand, air pockets that you can't see from the top of the candle, can develop near the wick and other places sometimes, in the container. Poking relief holes, busts these air pockets up, and allows you to either fill them in with a second pour, or using a heat gun, melting some of the wax to where it fills them in. Air pockets around a wick, when the flame gets to them, can cause hot wax to kind of explode/pop out of the container and possibly cause damage to someone, or some thing.I've never heard that before. Interesting. Do you make candles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I agree with Sliver, I've never heard or experienced that ever and I've experienced many air pockets in my testing. What it will do is when your wick hits one it will burn down very quickly into the pocket and tunnel, making it look like a very underwicked candle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennie12 Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 What it will do is when your wick hits one it will burn down very quickly into the pocket and tunnel, making it look like a very underwicked candle.this is usually what I see as the effects of the air pocket. Sometimes the wick will even get drowned out completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tam1116 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I have this problem with C-3. What are some other ways to get the air pockets out??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacktieaffair Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 To answer the question no I do not make candles and I tried to make it clear that what I was offering as an opinion, was what I had heard and understood from more than one or two candle makers from a different candle board that I am a member of and have been reading the posts on making candles for the past few years. From what I was told, and how it was explained to me, it was no different in that "explosion" type, than it would be in a pillar when an air pocket explodes and creates a "blow out" on the side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SliverOfWax Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 It's probably always best to give answers based on experience and first-hand knowledge. JMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzie Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Air pockets around a wick, when the flame gets to them, can cause hot wax to kind of explode/pop out of the container and possibly cause damage to someone, or some thing.Now Im scared to test my candle - it can explode! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spark-me-up Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 crazzie, just use your common sense & make sure you keep your eye on your candle at all times. You (we) should ALWAYS have a contingency plan, for if things go awry, so think about what you would do in an emergency, keep it in the back of your mind. I doubt very much it would come to that, but best to be safe than sorry... we ARE dealing with fire here.If you really are worried... don't light the candle. Melt it down & make another. Poke relief holes into it, as described, & try again that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb426 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Your candle is not going to explode. Wax is not going to pop out of the container. If it hits an air pocket, the flame might flare a little, it will seriously tunnel and then go out. BTA - if you heard this from experienced candle makers, they were full air pockets themselves, in my opinion. Either that or they worded it poorly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacktieaffair Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) If my trying to offer an answer to someone who'd written a post to the public, asking EVERYONE'S opinion offended anyone due to my not being in the BUSINESS of making candles for a living, I appologize. I do however make candles, but I do not sell them due to the fact I figure it will take me years of testing before and if I ever feel safe selling them.As for your candle exploding, I have never said the whole damn thing would. But the two incidences that I mention, can and have happened for many candlers and while I might not be a candle seller, this does not mean I have not run across this problem by talking to others and also by my own testing. Every single day on this board, and others, we run across threads from people who have had something happen in their products, that no one else that answers, had seen happen before, so if that's the case, why are some of you being so freaking snippy at me by mentioning something YOU hadn't seen happen before??? I would suggest that those that want to be snide at me and more or less in their own veiled way telling me to " sit down and shut up" if I haven't actually DONE this...or had it happen in my own product, that they don't mention things they've heard other people say or do , or experiences that that other person had, unless it was absolutely 100% first hand experience.I was only trying to help. Edited March 25, 2012 by blacktieaffair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb426 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I wasn't trying to be snippy. I apologize if I came across that way. In my post I said I thought the candle makers that told you that were wrong, not that you did anything wrong. I was only trying to reassure the OP that her candles weren't going to explode because she said she was afraid to burn them. I, too, was only trying to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacktieaffair Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (edited) For those who are members of the BCN Board, here's the stories from candle makers who have been in the business a short time, and for many many years and whom are the GO TO person/tester and help agent of one of the largest candle bnb companies in business. Now, I figure if SHE is saying this, there just MIGHT be some truth to it. But I guess since it wasn't ME that it happened to,... for some... I shouldn't mention it... wow.. that's freaking priceless.http://boards.bittercreek.com/post/Air-pockets-and-blowouts-5464821?highlight=pocket ( this explains my reference to a pillar having a blowout from an air pocket)http://davidseger.tumblr.com/post/5260620/so-our-bathroom-candle-exploded-and-leaked-wax ( here is a Video of a candle that blew out from the wick to the exterior ..looks like from an air pocket to me)http://boards.bittercreek.com/post/Why-is-this-happening-3710976?highlight=pocket ( this explains my reference to using a heat gun on sink holes and air pockets that are close to the wick and surface) it even has pictures so for those that don't think I know a thing about candles, can at least see that I could follow along with all the purdy pictures instead of having to figure out all those BIG WORDS !Now, while I could not find a picture to PROVE my comment on air pockets causing CONTAINER wax to pop up and possibly out of the container onto a person or piece of furniture.. I would hope that can be reasonably accepted that if that exact same thing (air pocket) can cause such a blowout on a pillar wax, that is harder therefore harder to "penetrate" , that it just MIGHT be possible that an air pocket in a container could cause the wax to "explode" out of the container as in pop gurgle swelled whatEVER you want to call it . Again , I didn't say the whole damn thing would explode into a fire ball . Edited March 25, 2012 by blacktieaffair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb426 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Look, I didn't mean anything against you, honest, so stop taking it that way. I have no doubt that you are very intelligent. But I am allowed to have an opinion too and the OP is asking about container candles, not pillars. I just don't see how wax can explode out of a container candle when it hits an air pocket. Pillars, yes. Container candles, no. In a pillar, the wax is free to flow once the side is compromised. But in a container, the wax is going to stay inside the container and drown the wick. She should not be afraid to burn her container candle because she thinks it might explode. (And anybody who burns a pillar on the edge of a sink without any type of container under it to catch wax deserves to have their sink clogged. That is also my opinion.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerWicks Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 deb426 You were very gracious in your answers to BTA. I don't think she's responding to your comments. That's only my opinion. She has shown she can hold her own in any conversation. This is the 1st time I've seen her respond with anger. I have also seen posts that IMO were meant to provoke her & she has responded only with politeness up until now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennie12 Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 I have this problem with C-3. What are some other ways to get the air pockets out??? Tam - I am a novice, but I'm really thinking that relief holes are the way to go. Other things I have read are things like pouring at a cooler temp, pouring slowly, cooling on a rack and/or covering the tops while they're cooling, and thumping containers on the table during cooling. In order to get good glass adhesion with c-3 I have to pour hot. I've had mixed results with cooling in a covered box. For now, at least for me, relief holes seem to be the most viable solution. It would be more of a pain if it truly required a second pour, but from what others are saying and my own limited experience, the heat gun works fine to melt wax on top to fill them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 deb426 You were very gracious in your answers to BTA. I don't think she's responding to your comments. That's only my opinion. She has shown she can hold her own in any conversation. This is the 1st time I've seen her respond with anger. I have also seen posts that IMO were meant to provoke her & she has responded only with politeness up until now.this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sporadic Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Poking relief holes in container candles is essential. You don't want tunnels caused from the shrinking of cooling wax - it will ruin the candle burning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Exploded is the wrong terminology. In reference to those posts from Bitter Creek's board. The first 2 are pillars and both were caused by the wicks being too large more than likely, not an air pocket. I make pillars, have had many air pockets or overwicked and none have ever exploded. The sides will melt through and the wax will leak out, creating a mess if it isn't in a proper pillar holder. The second one looks like it had more than one wick and definately was overwicked, which caused his/her problem, not an air pocket. The 3rd is definately what an air pocket will do, exactly what I said, wick burns down into the pocket, tunneling the wax and more than likely will put itself out. The hardness of the wax has nothing to do with what happens with an air pocket, overwicking or anything else. If you don't make candles,you are still allowed to post, but make sure you back up your post with what you are basing your post from. In this case, using the word 'explode' with no facts referenced to back it up or first hand experience isn't a good thing IMHO. When you post misinformation, no one is jumping on you, we are just stating the facts from actual experience and knowledge not "just might be possible". If that upsets you blacktie, I'm sorry, get out the big girl panties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannie Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I thought poking holes were only for pillar candles, are we suppose to do it for containers too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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