Sinking lip balm

[Aromasue]

Hi all,

I made a lip balm the other day and someone said stand the container in a little cold water to cool the bottom faster. Did this but they sank in the middle when cooled. Anyone know why.

Sue

 

[Tabitha]

In 10+ years of lip balm making I have never heard of putting your containers in cool water.

Sinking is common though. There are 2 main ways to remedy that. You can pour a little cooler, which is tricky because it can harden before you get the tubes. But what I prefer, is to fill the tubes mostly full & allow it to harden, then go back & top them off.

 

[agriffin]

Yes, and I think cooling them down faster creates more of the dimpling. So putting them in cold water is probably not a good idea. Just let them harden in room temp.

 

[Aromasue]

Thank you both. Wouldn't recommend the water thing either as the water seeps through the twisty thing at the bottom.

Did try the pour a little cool and pour the rest but then got a bit of divide when I twisted them up, attached but you could see the difference.

Will give that a go again on todays batch and let you know.

Sue

 

[carebear]

In 10+ years of lip balm making I have never heard of putting your containers in cool water.

Sinking is common though. There are 2 main ways to remedy that. You can pour a little cooler, which is tricky because it can harden before you get the tubes. But what I prefer, is to fill the tubes mostly full & allow it to harden, then go back & top them off.

Mine is a hard recipe, so if I "top" them, the little bit comes off when people apply the lip balm. LOL.

 

[crafty86]

@ carebear - whats your recipe for a hard one? Mine are so soft they almost melt in your pocket

 

[carebear]

hmmm - well, my recipe seriously is a trade secret. I worked long and hard to develop it - and spent oodles of money.

sorry.

 

[Genny]

@ carebear - whats your recipe for a hard one? Mine are so soft they almost melt in your pocket

If you're looking for a harder recipe, maybe post the one you're using and we can help to see if there's anything you can do to harden it up.

 

[crafty86]

OK. I use coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, and beeswax. I figured doing more beeswax would work...but I dont want the main ingredient to be beeswax any ideas?

 

[Lindy]

Try splitting it up like this:

1/3 Beeswax
1/3 Soft Oils
1/3 Hard oils/butters

Like Carebear mine is a harder lip balm and if I top it up after cool down the top bit comes off. Mine do sink at the center but I really don't worry about it.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I really don't mind seeing that little dimple. :wink:

 

[Earthchild]

I have conquered lip balm dimpling! Pour until your balm just tops the twist-up stick in your tube. Allow it to set just slightly, not all the way. Fill the rest of the way with a pipette. Perfect! If you let it set all the way before topping your top will break off, if you don't let it set enough it will dimple. Just practice and you will get it. While I don't suggest cold water, a tip I picked up from the blog at MMS is to cool your tubes in the refrigerator before filling. This helps your balm set up faster and it will not contribute to dimpling - cooling speed isn't the issue, gravity is. The cold tube trick does work well, but I always forget to chill the tubes ahead of time!

 

[Tabitha]

You can roll it up a 1/4 turn & scrape it w/ a knife too.

 

[saltydog]

Wow, I know this thread is old, but it was EXACTLY what I was looking for.
Seek, and you shall find..thanks, yet again, SMF

 

[Sunny]

I kinda like the dimple myself, does not bother me at all!

The same thing happens to me that carebear described if I top it off. First time using it and a glob comes off on your lip!

 

[saltydog]

I kinda like the dimple myself, does not bother me at all!

The same thing happens to me that carebear described if I top it off. First time using it and a glob comes off on your lip!

tasha, i don't mind the dimple either, I was more concerned with a chunk of lip balm coming off if i did the top-off technique that I had read about.
After reading these posts, I think I'll just pour the whole thing at once and scrape the top clean.

 

[carebear]

I now use a filling tray with a lip - overpour and scrape off. It's a pain, but it works for the most part. My formula is quite brittle so I actually need to remove the excess and the tubes before they are completely hard.

I personally prefer the rounded tip, even with the dimple, because it goes on smoothly. But it doesn't look as professional as a scraped top - IMO.

 

[saltydog]

I now use a filling tray with a lip - overpour and scrape off. It's a pain, but it works for the most part. My formula is quite brittle so I actually need to remove the excess and the tubes before they are completely hard.

I personally prefer the rounded tip, even with the dimple, because it goes on smoothly. But it doesn't look as professional as a scraped top - IMO.

I've looked at these- they look like they make a messy job much easier, although I prefer the rounded top, too.
I gave my daughter a lip balm that I've been tweaking (she's a lipbalm fanatic) and she gave it her seal of approval, so I just may have to invest!

 

[carebear]

I have the oval one here http://www.sks-bottle.com/Lip_Balm/Lip_ ... ners5.html
Note the lip that goes around the edge of the tray. It's important.

I wish I could find a half sized one with a lip. In oval. Is that asking too much???

 

[Sunny]

I like the rounded top as well but I'm thinking - it must be a heck of a lot easier to pour lip balms than the method I'm using now. Using a pipette to fill each one individually. Takes forEVER and the base starts cooling too quickly.