chuck_35550

Vanilla is probably the culprit. I have several fos that look clear when liquid but turn ivory or caramel colored when set. I'm ok with that but there is nothing wrong with your wax. I have a creme brulee that turns ivory and a muscadine that turns caramel with a slight reddish tint. Very heavy vanilla bases. HTH Steve

I have that problem with an oil from AH/RE. I stick blended the wax for 2 minutes and poured at 190 degrees and it still collected on the bottom but not as bad as when hand stirred. It clogs the wick and I have tried to blend it with Muscadine (It's Muscadine Vineyard) and it still collects on the bottom. I use it in melts but would like to chunk it out the window.

I buy the 12 oz jars from SKS Bottle and Packaging (find in resource on fragrance page) and get free shipping if over $250.00 order. You can get gold, silver or black lids and the cost averages about 70 cents apiece. The 9 oz jars hold about 7 oz and the 12 oz jars hold 10 oz and are very easy to wick. They can look either rustic or upscale and there are different kinds of lids available for these jars. I find the lug type lids work best for customers, in that they fuss about pulling fitments out and screw ons take too much time. I think these jars use to come from Mexico but now they are mostly Chinese glass. HTH Steve

You can never go wrong with a BBW dupe. So many customers use their products its really easy but not totally fool proof. Vanilla Bean Noel has gone belly up in these parts, as well as warm vanilla sugar. People are on a diet this time of the year and they dont want a fragrance that makes them hungry. Chocolate is a poor seller in this area but you really just have to look at your areas' demographics and snoop a little bit. I wish we could get some of those great BBW fragrances like the Dulce line. HTH Steve

I make smelly jelly and give it to friends or in my own home. Basic rule #1: NEVER throw anything away! You can also buy that cheap potpouri at the dollar store and spritz the fo on it or even mix the fos. If its just plain nasty, keep doing what your doing. Steve

I really appreciate your generosity . Can't wait to apply this method in my next soaping session. This board (thank you Peaks) is an important wealth of archived knowledge, a healthy discussion for technique and a friendly guidance for those initates beginning the arduous trial and error journey into the world of hand crafting. No one should expect exact details of hard earned formulations or for short cuts past experience but basic information that saves anyone from unnecessary expense, frustration and often cause for quitting. Thanks to moderators and all the contributors who keep me coming back. Steve

I've seen this before and have never given it a try. I think it would be awesome if you're willing to share. It seems like my soaping techniques were better or something is amiss. I get great results with my formula for making cupcakes but the swirling is hit or miss and it always makes me feel dense. Thanks. Steve

You might be tempted to test it if the freshly poured candle has a pretty strong cold throw but I would wait until you have at least 4 days to a week on the cure. There won't be a question on your mind if you test and the results aren't great. IMHO Steve

I liked lx wicks when I used J-50 or j-223 in a jelly jar (width pretty much the same for all) and depending on the fo most of time it was a 14 or a 16 but with a cd you could start with a 10. Sooting will be your greatest enemy with a one pour paraffin and zinc, lx or cd will smoke you out if you don't get the combination down with the fo load and wick. Buy sample packs and pour your tester without a wick (I know, I know) and take any small metal rod and make a hole in the middle and insert a wick. Burn and take notes on how it goes for a couple of hours. If you can't get full melt pool, too much soot, too hot, ect ; pull the wick out and let cool and insert another wick. Now understand this will be with each fo that you want to use but once you get that down then you are set for the time being. Be sure that the jar is truly up and down straight and not flared. Make sure the jar has been designed for burning candles. Take notes of how hot the jar gets with a power burn (8 hours or longer) and work for a combination that burns efficiently, good cold and hot throw and meets your standards of what a candle ought to look like and behave. HTH Steve

I used to watch my temp for a 2 degree increase as a sign to begin seperating for swirling but this went into high gear saponification and it worried me that the milk might burn. There's something wrong in my process but I can't put a finger on it. It just bugs me to have the soap dictate me instead of the other way around. Thanks again. Steve

Thanks for the advice everybody. I was using a formula from "Scientific Soapmaking: The Chemistry of the Cold Process" called a "Duckbar" which uses the holy trinity of oils: olive (pomace), palm and coconut. It does use castor but the formula is very balanced; maybe the pomace hurried things up. The bars are very nice and look ok for a hurry up swirl in the pot but I had everything ready for a mantra swirl. The fo was Sweetpea and Rhubarb and I used powdered gm in a base of heavy cream which was added at the end with the fo. Talk about acceleration!

What's the secret to a slow moving recipe for adequate swirling time? Lately, it seems like all my formulas move really fast and there isn't time to do fancy swirling. The milk formulas are the worst but it seems like my stick blender is too powerful? Does that make sense? I use silk in my lye solution and soap at 80 degrees with a 2:1 water ratio but a couple of turns with the sb and wham I got soap! Quiet Girl's formula is the slowest moving one I use but there are a couple of others that I really like the properties they give the soap. I really need to come to Athens and sit at the feet of the soap queen (you know who you are and I'm not crazy). Steve

You just want to melt any crystals that have formed in the fo. I usually keep my pyrex shot glass on a warmer on low and check to make sure there are no solids in the solution. Sometimes the fo will have instructions to that effect. I've gotten some fos that have a separation type appearance in the bottle and they just don't work efficiently. Hope that helps you. Steve

Ok, I'll admit this one but only this one. A customer requested a fragrance that I had very little of in stock but I had a bunch of old candles in that fragrance. I scooped out the wax and melted it down and added more fo to freshen things up, as it were and sold them to the customer. The candles didn't throw and I lost a customer, live and learn. It seems that once the wax has been tempered and poured you have changed the make-up. I can't prove that but I have never tried to re-purpose wax again. Steve

That kind of flicker drives me up the wall and I call it sputtering. The one burning in my office moves but it does not flicker or sputter. Put the candle in a small room and cut off the ventilation. You should have a heavily fragranced room and the flame should be pretty stable but still moving. If you have that wild flicker thing going on, I would consider the wick/fo combination as the suspect. IMHO Steve

Jar configuration is really important. The honey jar depends on circulation or draft for efficient performance. The top half of the jar sucks in oxygen and it circulates easily but half-way through; the jar configuration causes the heat of the flame to push out the air and prevents a draft or circulaton of air. Further down the jar the flame does not interfere with the circulation because it is a lot like the beginning of the burn. Straight sided jars do not interfere with adequate circulation and create a nice large melt pool that releases your fragrance into the room. You probably need to look at a zinc or cd wick. The zinc burns cooler and the candle lasts longer but the cd burns hotter and the fragrance oil is vaporized and fragrances the room. Try upping your fo percentage and change out your wicks. Get rid of the honey jars if you want to keep all your hair. HTH Steve

Sounds like a candy thermometer to me. Get rid of it and buy a digital thermometer (I use an oven thermometer with a long silver cord and a probe on the end). I wouldn't advise using a rectal thermometer, jk. Steve

Welcome to the board Dave. I don't use 100% soy for that very reason. I use a parasoy and have been with this wax for a long time. There are some good threads to read for more information but I think you'll find that most of us embrace wet spots and frosting as the nature of the beast. You might want to consider different pour temps and making a box to slowly cool the candles (I use a large cardboard box that is level and then cover with a heavy blanket or quilt) to see if that makes a difference in appearance. I'm sure you researched this wax but you may want to do more research or maybe someone will come in and give you some information. I would try posting this in the all vegetable forum for more response. HTH Steve

Its really pretty easy to use a full goat milk solution. I use a stainless steel bowl set into a larger bowl of ice. I use an oven thermometer (silver cord with probe on end) and pour in my cold milk. Begin sprinkling the lye into your gm and watch the temp, making sure it never gets above 100 degrees. You'll find that you have to back off several times until your have fully incorporated your lye. The mixture will be a light lemon color and will smell awful (think amonia). I begin mixing my oils and goat milk at about 85 degrees and watch my temp. The sugars in the milk will cause saponification to speed up, as well as, some fos will cause acceleration but most of the time you have plenty of time to swirl; just don't overdo the stick blender. If your solution goes bright orange, well you've burnt it but you can still get soap. The other way is to make a slurry with powdered gm and incorporate at the end. I buy goatmilk in the carton at Walmart but you can use concentrated as well. Remember higher fat content and make sure to stir to make sure all the lie dissolves. See? Easy peasey. HTH Steve

Warm your fo.

I heat to 200 in my turkey fryer and pour at 185 to 190 degrees and never have problems. Pour it into warmed containers (I have my toaster oven on 200 degrees) and slowly cool in a covered box overnight. I use 6 to 7% fo load and cd or cdn wicks and usually get a great ct/ht the next day or in several days. No need to cure. I've been with this wax for a long time and it is consistantly good with very few issues. HTH Steve

I've tried every combination of chocolate under the sun and it just won't sell in my neck of the woods. Perfumery florals are fairly risky as well (allergic reaction to too strong floral) but patch (Scented?) combinations, lavender combinations and some bakery seem to do better. I try to find clean botanical fragrances or dupes of BBW for Valentines Day. Soap and candle combinations are helpful IMHO. HTH Steve

I use Clarus 3022 (70% soy-30% paraffin) with cd wicks and 6-7 % fo load. The wax is measured into my pour pot and placed on an electic double burner on my bench and my temperature probe (oven thermometer with long silver cord) goes into the pour pot to monitor the temp. I take a container out of my toaster oven on the bench and wick it (I use 3m double sided squares cut into small squares to anchor the wick) and secure the wick with a wooden craft stick and clamp (cut the craft stick in half and drill a hole in the middle and use one of those black paper clamps) and place on the scale and tare out. After agitating for 2 minutes I pour the 185 degree mixture into the warmed jar and never overpour beyond the safe fill line. Then the jar goes into a large box and is cooled slowly over night. Wax and fragrance oil do not mix (you can see the oil in the wax) but rather you create a suspension. If you are using a heavy weight fo at large percentages, there is a good chance a lot of it winds up on the bottom. Start at 6% with heavy hitters like: cherry bomb, mulberry, peppermint, or a strong floral. Quality oils are worth the expense, you get what you pay for and candle making is no different. Pure soy is a difficult medium and it has never been good for me. I have been with my wax for a long time and no other has ever come close to my favorite, except for 85% 6006 and 15% 415. Pour that up at about 180 degrees into a clean cold container and let cool uncovered, using a cd wick with an fo load of 6-7% and you can light that sucker up the next day and get ct/ht with a good fo. The same for my 3022. HTH Steve

The parasoy I use contains coconut oil according to a reliable source. I used to put coconut oil in my V wax to make the votives shiny but it didn't improve the ct/ht IMHO. You might try a little petrolatum if you're having adhesion problems. I used to get awful wet spots with the old J waxes (especially 223). There are just too many variables as it is without adding a few more. HTH Steve

God Bless you! I used mine today and couldn't smell Christmas Past or Gingerbread; took it off and wow were the fragrances strong! It was a bit of a learning curve putting it together and getting the straps right and I thought maybe this was not going to work but I forgot it was on after about ten minutes and had to remind myself to take it off and not walk around wearing it like a zombie, lol. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Well worth $40.00 from Amazon. Steve