AudraT Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 I gave this soy candle to a friend quite a while ago, at least two years, and she recently decided to start burning it. See video. The clear liquid in the video is not hot wax. The wax is completely cool and this liquid is left over. Anybody know what this is? I assume that since the candle is so old that this is either the soy wax breaking down, the FO separating from the wax, or a combination of both. This candle has only been burned down about 1/3 of the way and the liquid looks to be about a tablespoon's worth. I tasted it (I know. Shame on me but the manufacturer said the wax is food grade) and it had no flavor except a numbing taste, if that makes sense. The candle was still very fragrant in both HT and CT. The manufacturer didn't have any explanations but said it probably has something to do with the age of the candle. This is a popular candle. Many people have burned this candle, relatively soon after purchase, and never had an issue. This candle is made with American Soy Organic's Freedom Soy Wax. 10% FO load. 8 oz candle. I measured out by volume what .8 oz of FO is and it is 1.5 tablespoons, so I don't think this liquid is FO. Plus, I've had a drop of this FO splash into my mouth before and it tasted strongly like it smelled. 20240711_123833.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudraT Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 Oh, and yes I already know you shouldn't taste test strange liquids. I just did it on the fly and was like afterwards "hm. Probably shouldn't do that."😅 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenderSF Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 That's so bizarre! And fascinating! Are you any closer to figuring out what it is? My first thought was the same as yours, that it must be fragrance oil, which would still be bizarre in that quantity, but it sounds like you ruled that out. Did your friend say when it happened? Did it start after the burn, or during it? Does it feel more like a water or more like an oil? Does it evaporate if you pour some out onto a separate surface? Has it reabsorbed into the wax? FWIW, I know you said it's a really old candle, but I've got a ton of homemade candles up to 6 years old (and several commercial candles well over 10 years old) and I've never seen anything like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisS Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 I'd guess it was FO as well. I only had that happen YEARS ago when I was testing an Accublend apricot wax. The changed formula, didn't tell anyone, and the FO would randomly leech out and reabsorb. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudraT Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 On 7/22/2024 at 1:08 PM, BenderSF said: That's so bizarre! And fascinating! Are you any closer to figuring out what it is? My first thought was the same as yours, that it must be fragrance oil, which would still be bizarre in that quantity, but it sounds like you ruled that out. Did your friend say when it happened? Did it start after the burn, or during it? Does it feel more like a water or more like an oil? Does it evaporate if you pour some out onto a separate surface? Has it reabsorbed into the wax? FWIW, I know you said it's a really old candle, but I've got a ton of homemade candles up to 6 years old (and several commercial candles well over 10 years old) and I've never seen anything like that. I never asked if it started after the burn or during. I assumed during the burn. It feels more like a water. I just told my friend to toss out the liquid and keep burning so I can't comment on evaporation or absorption. I am going to see my friend again soon so I'll ask her more questions. She did keep her candle in the window for the past two years, that's why the wax is so yellow, but I can't image this being the cause. I remember when I was first shopping around for this wax I saw one negative review on Amazon where the person had posted a video. She had the liquid wax in her melting pot, dipped her fingers into it, and rubbed the wax onto the table. The wax did not harden. It stayed liquid. The wax couldn't have been very hot either as she was able to dipped her fingers into it. Anyways, this was just one negative review amongst hundreds of good reviews, plus I've used this wax a ton since then and never had this problem that this lady had in the video. Don't know if any of this is related. This is all very odd indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudraT Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 On 7/25/2024 at 4:22 AM, KrisS said: I'd guess it was FO as well. I only had that happen YEARS ago when I was testing an Accublend apricot wax. The changed formula, didn't tell anyone, and the FO would randomly leech out and reabsorb. There was definitely some FO in this liquid as it had that numbing affect. When that splash of concentrated FO got into my mouth it was numbing as well, but the numbing effect was much stronger than in this random liquid in the candle. Also, there was no flavor. The concentrated FO tasted really strong of cinnamon, clove, etc (Amish Harvest). Given the taste test results, and the amount of liquid vs the still good HT of the candle, I was guessing this was more than just FO. I don't know though. I have one or two candles that are a year old. Maybe I will set one aside for another year and then burn it to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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