Teach Soap

Lately I have been selling alot of Soy Candles in large 26 oz. jars. I have noticed the wax tends to burn down the middle and leave a large amount of residue left on the sides that never melted. I realize now that I need to go up probably a size in the wicks, but might it be anything other than that? I have been using C-3 nature wax, but I was wondering what your preferred soy wax was and why. The main reason I bought it was that even though I have a new supplier for all my candle stuff now, I originally bought the c-3 from BB (Now i use BB for soapstuffs, and another company for candles) and it seemed to work ok so that's what I bought. I guess I am a little intimidated to buy anything else. There are alot more varieties to choose from and many are cheaper, but I the it is just so over my head i'm afraid if I buy some and it doesn't work out right, I am out that money. http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com/can ... oywax.html These are the ones I can choose from. Anyone used any of these?

I will say I have had alot of problems with trying to get things figured out just right, from discolored wax, to ugly (or cool looking) bubbly stuff on top of the candle-depending on what the candle I guess. But then I saw the video Soapqueen did on the candle tins and that was pretty helpful! So if you happen to read my post, thanks alot!!

What shape are your 26 oz jars? Are they the tapered type? If your not getting a complete burn/good melt pool then you need to either wick up or try a different type of wick. Everyone HATES to switch wicks (and wax for that matter lol). Sometimes you just can't get a "perfect" burn not matter what you do b/c of the shape of the container. You either get a good melt pool but lots of soot or a small melt pool and your wick drowns. It can make a girl (or guy) pull her hair out!

I started out candle making the way most do, with a kit and can't remember what wax it was now but I think it was a soy or palm mix. I then went to CBA and liked it fairly well as the (container) candles always looked pretty on the top. But as everyone knows the scent throw can be tricky. In my quest for a better throw I tried Accu soy 10. I really liked that wax. The throw was very good and poured real nice once you got the hang of it. It isn't quite as pretty as CBA but pretty darn close. All of my customers really noticed the change when I switched. So if I had to pick just one I would pick the Accu soy 10 for looks and throw which are really important for resale IMO. Btw, I used the htp wicks.

ok. that was gonna be my next question. Right now I am using Zinc core wicks, I think because the website said that was the most popular/common .... what are HTC?

HTP= High Temperature Paper. They are a flat braided wick inter-twined with paper which makes the burn a little hotter. They are a self trimming wick though you still have to trim some. They have a curl to them when burning. I couldn't find a good link for them that I could post here.

I tried other wicks (LX and Zinc core) but couldn't get them to burn right. I didn't give them a fair chance though as I always went back to the htp since I had more experience with those.

Has anyone had experience with this wax?
EcoSoya CB Advanced Soy Container Wax
http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com/pro ... r-wax.html
It says it has "extreme resistance to bloom and wet spots" I have had a problem with wet spots. What does it mean by bloom though? I have googled it and couldn't find any pictures -only descriptions. I have some spackly stuff on the tops of some of my candles. I did use liquid color on them, but it happened to some and not others so I wondered if that might be the "bloom" thing it was talking about or no?
Does anyone have a picture of bloom on their candles? When I google imaged it, it only pulled up candles that looked like flowers blooming lol.

Ok, I guess I can use the oil. I was just looking at this wax because it costs the same as the C-3 I am using now, so thought it might be a good option. I have really NO experience with choosing a wax based on scent throw, as I have only worked with 1 wax so far-c 3 naturewax. Anyways, the thing about the wetspots is its fine if it's my fault and I know I can prevent them by heating the glass up-but like I said in my other post, it did not have the wet spots till weeks later. Now they have gotten worse. It is just this one candle, but when I first posted this message it was one medium spot on the bottom of either side, and now it goes almost all the way around either side of the bottom half.

Yep, that is your typical wet spot. As the candle cures the wet spot(s) will show up more. The wax cures and the wax shrinks/contracts/hardens. Humidity plays a roll along with temperature. If you had not had this problem before I would look at my notes to see if I changed anything that I had done. If you heat the glass it will help but not prevent them all. I don't want to miss lead you there. Go look at some of the fancy brand name container candles that are truly soy and you will find them (wet spots). Again, my experience is not based on the particular type of wax you are using (C-3).

As for figuring out what works best in CBA you have to play with it. If you try the wax I should have some notes as to what works well. Another thing about CBA that I just remembered is you need to let it cure for a couple of weeks before you test it for scent throw. If your interested in the wax I would just pick up a couple of pounds and try it. You might love it or you might hate it.

Yeh what I was going to say was that i have this yankee candle and it is even doing weird swirl stuff. Not cool enough to look intended, but not a wet spot either. What causes this? Maybe that's why it ended up in Marshalls (I got it as a gift for Christmas-gotta love moms, giving a candle to someone who can make their own lol) but at least mine are not the only one with problems!

I can't really tell from the glare on the picture but it looks like a wet spot along with some frosting. I have seen many of their candles that have had both and people still buy them. I think most people don't even notice. They are mostly interested in how they smell or how nice the container is. I have been in some of those expensive shops in the malls and looked at the soy candles that are like 40 bucks for a small 4 ounce container candle and they have wet spots. I think a person can get too obsessed with making the perfect one. I know I ripped a few hairs out when I first started lol. I would say the one of yours that you posted here looks every bit as good if not better than the Yank.
That is so funny that your Mom gave you a candle for a present. It probably was a good thing she did though b/c you learned something from it I hope.

Btw, have you tried hitting the wet spot with a heat gun to see what happens? I did that on some of my containers a long time ago and got some of them to look better in my eyes. If your doing production you just don't have the time to heat gun all of your containers either.

I don't have a heat gun, but I will have to get one anyways, So I will try that. Thanks alot for the tip! I didn't know if once they had the wet spots it was too late or what. Seems like they didn't have them to begin with but have shrunk up in this drafty cold house!

Also, on a side note, I am looking at votive wax as well. (I had no idea when I first started this that you couldn't use one type of wax for everything, and attempted to pour several votives with container wax. Yikes!!)
Anyways, since I have yet to buy any of that, I was wondering....
EcoSoya PB Soy Pillar/Votive Wax-What I wondered about this, is it said something like 10 or 12%fragrance loading....does that mean I can do up to that much, or that I need to in order to be able to smell it? J/w.

or is a paraffin better for votives? Looks like I can get IGI 4764 low shrink votive wax or IGI 4794 votive wax.

Have you guys used any of these specifically or is there maybe something better out there?

Forgive me if this question is silly, i am a total noob at this! But thanks alot everyone who has been answering my posts- I really do appreciate it alot!

Has anyone had any experience (good or bad) with this wax? GW464 soy wax?
There is a local distributor to me that sells it but only in like 50lb increments. But I can save on shipping bc i can just go pick it up....hmmm

I have used Ecosoya CB135, Ecosoya CBA, and C3 soy waxes. Personally I prefer the CB135. But it doesn't matter which wax use. Find one you like and work with it until you know everything about that wax before you move on to another.

Its not surprising that you are having issues with the 26 oz jars. Those are tough jars to wick in the first place with parrafin. But with soy you will have even more wicking issues. The zinc is not a good wick for soy alone. Additionally, it is going to be difficult and near impossible to wick a 26 oz jar without double wicking it. I never got the 26 oz wicked properly until I double wicked the jar and blended my wax to make a parasoy blend.

Its also not a good idea to sell candles when you have not got the wicking down. Once you have the candle properly wicked it will be more safe for the general public to use. So until you do I hope you have insurance for selling those candles. Not trying to rain on your parade. Just trying to encourage you to keep at it until you get the right wick with the right wax, jar, etc.

I don't do a straight soy wax anymore so I can't help you with the wicking. I custom blend mine into a parasoy and I do use zincs which work perfectly for my jars and wax blend.

A good place to learn more about wicks and how they work for what type of wax is to go to http://www.wicksunlimited.com

Good luck!

Thanks for the info! I have been using the "candle university" at lonestar candle company, but I will have to check out that site. No, I am not yet selling the candles. I did give some of them as gifts to family for Christmas though. My question is, if it takes so much time to get down whatever wick you like and wax etc how do you keep from losing money while experimenting?