Weird thing

[RonCearley]

So I've been pouring some Cargill votive wax. The votives come out of the molds really easy, and they look great. However, then have a strong tendency to crack or break. Ok, no biggy; handle with care.

Now the weird thing; so yesterday I poured about eight. Smart guy, me. I poured these into cute little glass jars. They are votive jars, but the ones that are bigger at the top than the bottom. Anyway, last night I took them out of the containers and sat them on the counter. About five minutes later I came back, picked one up to set it back in the container, just to see how well it would fit. Arrrggghhh. . . the stupid thing had shrunk. Yep the bottom of the candle would not touch the bottom of the glass by about 1/4 inch. I had already wicked one earlier, so I went back up front to check it out. Sure enough, the stupid thing was not burning to the edges, but tunneling down. Ok, so maybe it needs a bigger wick. I thought I picked too large a wick in the first place, but the bottom also had shrunk up.
So how weird to shrink at the bottom.

I'd been pouring votives in the metal cups and have not had similar problems. Thats' a heck of a lot of wax to shrink up. No, it did not have sinkholes at the top. It's single pour. LOL. Course there's no way to pour the bottom.

Any ideas, what I did wrong now?

 

[Tabitha]

I am not a candle maker, but I have been told if the wax goes from hot to cool too quick that will happen & I do know that ii true w/ other hot to cold products like lip balm & lotion bars. If you pour lip balm to hot it will cave down in the middle.

I know of 2 ways to help w/ that, keeping in mind I am not a candle maker).

1) Let the wax cool a bit more before you pour it , to what temp I do not know.

2) Have your jars setting on a heating pad when you pour & for a while afterwords, how long, again, I don't know.

Not much help I know. I did make a couple hundred candles about 5 years back & was given that advise by a candle maker.

 

[CPSoaper]

Just because a wax claims to be a single pour does not mean that it really is. I don't use this type of wax, but from now on, I would poke relief holes and do a second pour anyway. Since you are using the flower pot votive holder, you will need to find a wick that will burn hot enough to give you a full mp at the widest part of the votive but one that will not burn too hot once it burns down to the narrowest part of the votive. These types of containers are a bummer to wick.

Also, check with the manufacturer of the wax for pouring temps. you might not be pouring at the correct temp.

Also, when you say the crack after being unmolded, are you sticking the molds in the freezer before unmolding? If so, it sounds like you are leaving them in there way too long. This can cause your votives to crack.

 

[Tabitha]

I guess I read that totally wromg. I thought you DID have sink holes. My bad.