White Pillar making - shrinkage problem

[Robyn64]

Hi there,

Ive been a self taught candlemaker from home for 11 yrs , but never wanted to make white pillars until I was employed by a candle company 1 yr ago.

Now we make white pillars, Im definitely no expert in these. But just as I started there , another candlemaker was leaving and gave me advice on making white pillars - do double the amount of stearine.

So I eventually made a formula at work , also through little research , formula being ....

10 kgs Parrafin

20 % stearine

2 % Vybar

They turned out beautifully but we have an awful lot of shrinkage, I didnt end up making most of these, others were trained to pour, have since been told there is approximately between 3 - 4 top ups of these whites due to a lot of shrinkage.

I know stearine bein ga hardener causes shrinkage, but mainly went on another candlemakers advice, 3 -4 top ups as far as Im concerned is too much, i even found doing 4 , there was still tiny cavities in some.

I have suggested cutting back the stearine to 15 % , I also did 2 experimental candles at 15 % and the tops ups was only 2. But I have a feeling overall it could still end up 3 or so.

Does other candlemakers use a different formula ??

I need to try and resolve this large shrinkage problem.

Help would be much appreciated,

Thanks,

Robyn :-)

[topofmurrayhill]

Personally I would not think to use a formula like that. Vybar, like other polymer hardeners, is generally thought of as a stearine replacement. Formulating with 2 additives that serve the same purpose doesn't seem sensible.

Note that 1% is the recommended maximum for Vybar 103 and it does contribute to shrinkage.

I would leave out the stearic altogether because it will contribute to the yellowing of your white candles. It has poor UV stability and it oxidizes over time.

I would make some or all of the following test candles (with no stearine) for comparison and see how you like the results:

1 - 2% polyethylene

2 - 1% EVA

3 - 1% Vybar 103

4 - 2% Vybar 103

[Robyn64]

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated but i do have a couple of questions, now more confused.

According to many of our candlemaking books and also companies that sell vybar 103 recommended usage is 2 %, I have never seen anybody recommend 1 % ?

Vybar is supposed to be a binder of oils & fragrances, helps prevent internal blemishes , which is why we use vybar. Whereas stearine is a hardener and just helps harden the candle and creates beautiful white candles.

I have never heard of a candle replacing stearine for vybar ?

I have tons of candlemaking books also many from USA and stearine is widely used in pillars.

but what you have said in regards to using this much stearine creating eventual yellowish candles, i would agree with that, I have found even their bays of melted wax go off white and in my coloured candle room my wax is still clear, because it doesnt contain double the stearine.

I never did agree with the double amount of stearine, was only told to do this by another candlemaker I took over from, was never one for making plain white pillars.

But I will have a look into what you have suggested and try anything to lower the shrinkage of our whites.

Thank you for your advice, much appreciated,

Robyn :-)

[Robyn64]

Hi again ,

Another thing I forgot to mention, using more than 2 % vybar can cause rippling in wax. To try and fix this formula I did add an extra 1/2 % and it definitely caused rippling, not only that , it is written on a well known candlemaking supplies site that vybar may do this.

One other thing, I dont know what EVA is ?

Isnt polyethelene the same as vybar , a plastic additive ? There is a vybar substitute which is fairy new called Polyboost, I am 90 % sure this is also listed as a polyethelene product.

What is EVA ?

Thanks for your help.

Robyn :-)

[topofmurrayhill]

Hi Robyn,

As regards the Vybar percentage, there's some conflicting information but the manufacturer suggests 1% at http://www.bakerhughes.com/bakerpetrolite/polymers/vybar/candle_industry_featuresbenefits.htm. Using 2% is OK. I'm suggesting making testers at 1% and 2% so you can compare the aesthetic results as well as the shrinkage.

All the polymer hardeners and synthetic waxes are considered stearic replacements and they reduce oil migration as a benefit in addition to their hardening properties. The most unique feature of Vybar is its conveniently low melting point and also that it doesn't much affect the melting point of the base wax. In one example test, 2% Vybar 103 lowers the needle penetration of a 60C fully refined wax from 12 to 9 (a pretty good hardening effect) without changing the MP at all.

All the additives I mentioned previously effectively opacify wax to make the candle white, but again I would suggest a comparison test.

[Robyn64]

Thanks again for your info, am working tomorrow and will definitely give these tests a go.

Thanks very much for your help,

Robyn :-)

[topofmurrayhill]

Hi again ,

Another thing I forgot to mention, using more than 2 % vybar can cause rippling in wax. To try and fix this formula I did add an extra 1/2 % and it definitely caused rippling, not only that , it is written on a well known candlemaking supplies site that vybar may do this.

One other thing, I dont know what EVA is ?

Isnt polyethelene the same as vybar , a plastic additive ? There is a vybar substitute which is fairy new called Polyboost, I am 90 % sure this is also listed as a polyethelene product.

What is EVA ?

Thanks for your help.

Robyn :-)

I've never used nor researched the polyboost, but I've been under the impression it's more like Vybar than like polyethylene. All these things are are along the lines of plastic, but even paraffin is along the lines of plastic. EVA is ethyl vinyl acetate copolymer. Most commonly you find it under the brand name Elvax. You may find polyethylene for candles sold as Poly AC-6, Epolene (or Gloss Poly) C-15, Gloss Crystals or Lustre Crystals.

[Robyn64]

Pollyboost is sold by bakers Petrolite, the company you just gave me the link of, they sent me a 1 kg sample to try. They said it was a substitute for vybar, the vybar we use at work is sent directly from the same company.

it looks the same as vybar, havent tried a lot of it yet, still using vybar 103.

You can request a sample of polyboost from bakers.

thanks for the other info, I have heard of poly gloss and elvax.

Thanks,

Robyn :-)

[Breanna]

OOppsss read the thread wrong,,Sorry,,,