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crazyk

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Hi all,

I was originally having real problems with voids appearing in my soy candles and I would have to repour and melt them a little.

I have since found that that's because I was pouring too hot.

I am now using Ecosoay CB advanced soy.

I melt to about 140 - 160F
Then add my F/O & Colour
Let it cool to 120F and pour.
Containers are not heated or anything.

After the candles have cooled I find that the was pulls away from the container and leaves awful looking candles.
See my pic below.



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Does anyone know what I can do to stop this from happening?

Ive tried pouring at 100F or when it starts to go slushy and that didnt quite help.

Thanks
 
the pulling away from the side is called wet spots, and it's the bane of chandlers' existence. you can try things like heating your jar before pouring, cooling more slowly, etc. but a change in temps will bring them back. sadly, they are a fact of life in most cases.

fortunately, chandlers care about it a WHOLE lot more than consumers.
 
Thanks Carebear,


I've been experimenting this morning with the following so I'll wait to see how it turns out with time.

Using a small blow torch I heat up the glass and make all the surround molten again then I put it in the fridge just until it looks like the was has solidified then I take it out.

Seems to have worked for now but like I said, time will tell.

I hate it so much...oh and that pic was of one of my worst ones.
 
Wet spot on conatiner candles

Hi~

All soy wax is not created equal. Some brands of container wax adhere better than others.

I agree always heart your jars and cool them slowing.

I use Enchanted Lites wax.

I let the wax cool to 105 degrees before I pour.

One approach would be to call them desert picture candles, colors created to reflect colors of desert flowers. There is always a bright side.

One other thought, if you are using a paraffin based dye chip in soy, depending on what other additives or lack there of in the soy could be contributing to the cause also.

Check out:
http://candlecocoon.com/viewitem.asp?ID=1990&CAT=5

Hope this helps
 
crazyk said:
Thanks Carebear,


I've been experimenting this morning with the following so I'll wait to see how it turns out with time.

Using a small blow torch I heat up the glass and make all the surround molten again then I put it in the fridge just until it looks like the was has solidified then I take it out.

Seems to have worked for now but like I said, time will tell.

I hate it so much...oh and that pic was of one of my worst ones.

Ohohohmygosh!!! No, please don't EVER use a blowtorch to heat a glass container!!!! It can shatter and cause you more problems than anything!!! I don't know what you could use to heat a candle after its been poured, but the uneven heating of a peace of glassware like that can be VERY dangerous. Maybe you could try to use the oven for this? I don't know if its safer though. Oh that just gives me the shivers.
 
and even if your risk pays off, any temp shifts as the candles sit (in storage, in a store, in a car, in consumers' homes) can simply undo your hard work anyway.

try a heat gun maybe, but even that is risky.
 
The thought of a blow torch scares me, I don't even do creme brule at home. ;-)

I would suggest, if you use a heat gun be sure it has variable temperature settings and start at the low end of the temperature setting.

A friend of mine sets her jars on a cookie sheet, the jars are wicked, and held with wick pins and sets the in the slow oven for a bit before she pours and sets them back in the oven and turns it off to let them cool. (My old back would not take that much bending).

Please safety first, my dream room would be temperature and humidity controlled year round constant. My husband usually quotes an old song about then that says, "you can't always get what you want". Oh but I can see it, LOL
 
Hi Crazyk,

I also use ecosoya cb advanced. What has greatly reduced those wet spots for me is pouring at 155 to 160 degrees into unheated containers, then putting a box that is slightly larger than the container (not too big) upside down over it so it slows down cooling. I leave it alone overnight. Give that a try and let us know if you see a difference. :)

Naomi
 
Sorry for not responding for so long but for some reason I didn't get any email to my thread responses.

Thanks for all the warnings guys and yes I do take safety seriously.

I have since changed from Ecosoya CB advanced to CB135 and had huge improvements.

I now pour when it gets all slushy but found that you need to allow a bit more wax because when it cools to that level you get some sticking to the sides of the container.

My small bulbs work fantastic using this method and as the candles get larger I tend to get some wet spots NOT the blooming as in my pic above. but I don't worry about the wet spots much any more because they always change depending on the temperature you store them at.

Thanks again all.
 
Ok -- try heating your candle jars in the oven on the lowest temp setting that your oven will go, then pour, I used that wax at first but do not any longer. Wet spots are a given if your pouring hot wax into a cold container, the sink holes your getting try pouring as far away from the wick as you can -- that will help but pour slow and so many people said pouring cold worked for them but I never poured cold when using that wax, I poured at 170 and they turned out perfect... soy candles are a hard thing to master, but you master the wax, because each wax is totally diff!!! Good Luck --
 
Thanks for that, so what you do is heat the jars on a baking tray or something? then pour the wax when it's 170deg F?

I've never tried the method of heating jars but I guess I should, only because it takes a long time for the wax to get slushy.

Oh one other thing, when you heat the jars, are they just warm to touch or hot? can you pick them up?
 
crazyk said:
Thanks for that, so what you do is heat the jars on a baking tray or something? then pour the wax when it's 170deg F?

I've never tried the method of heating jars but I guess I should, only because it takes a long time for the wax to get slushy.

Oh one other thing, when you heat the jars, are they just warm to touch or hot? can you pick them up?

The low setting on my oven is 150 degrees so I set the jars on trays. wicked and I use wick pins. Heat the jars and pour.

Good luck with your endeavor.
 
I saw another chandler say she washes with ammonia and hot water. Then she sprays with a little all purpose cleaner and dries out with a microfiber cloth before she wicks and pours. She says this process cuts her wet spots down. Haven't tried it yet, but plan to give it a shot. What could it hurt?
 
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