Soy Wax Candle Forum - Online resource for soy candle makers

Well, perhaps you should try covering the top of the candle because the top cools first making the solidified wax on top sink and this will cause cracking. I hope this helps. I am planning to put up a candle making business and i am researching on candle making tips. I heard of Kringle Candle Company and you might find it informative :)

Sarah,
I too am very new to the candle making world and I must say that this website is THE MOST WONDERFUL tool to have to clear up all your questions and get wonderful ideas. Being my first post on here and only 2 months new to the SOY candle business at anytime I have had a question about ANYTHING all I do is log into my account and go straight to the search. In fact I too, did only my 3rd pour just yesterday and had three problems that I solved just by searching and it only took me 10 minutes MAX to figure out my problem because as I see it is a COMMON result that every newbie has...........lol Including ME!

I also experienced the "Sinking, Bubbles, Bleeding and Cracking." I poured all day and not all of them were bad, but the ones I had the problems with were the ones that I was distracted from when in the process of the pour either by the phone, a neighbor wanting to know what I was doing in the garage and then me hurrying to finish.

Also, I live in the Dallas Texas lake area and yesterday the temperature was colder due to a cold front and I pour in my garage for venting the scents. I feel that the temperature being cooler had a HUGE effect as to how fax the was cooled etc.

Here are a few items that have made my experience a good one due to reading this site before I invested in something I have always wanted to do.

Use a Presto deap frying pot with teflon to melt the wax because it has a thermostat to control the temperature and use a DIGITAL thermometer that you can leave in there for the first amount you melt. it keeps the temperature at the same all the time which helps if you have a distraction and need to leave and come back to it.

Use clear glass pouring items like 32oz measuring cups so you can see the wax. ( I have glass and plastic) they both work well and clean up real easy with DAWN dish soap.

Buy a small butane soldering torch with an adjustable flame. Radio shack has the best one for flame adujustment. This is the best and easiest thing for smoothing your bubbles and cracks out and has no cords etc. It is quick and it wont ignite your wick if you keep it moving in a circle around the wick.

For Cracking or sinking!
Pour at 100 degrees or when the was becomes cloudy or semi thick! (the wax will sometimes be pretty thick and stick to the sides but I have a small watt microwave that I pop the container in for 30 seconds to melt the thick wax and it finishes the pour easily. This should help with the cracking and you can smooth the was with the torch I listed above.

Bubbles!
Slow down when pouring your wax........lol I had many bubbles forming around the wicks only on the ones I know I was in a hurry to pour due to distractions. My husband is going to make me a stand and funnel set up with a tube that I can pour the wax into after I scent it and color it kind of like a assembly thing so I can control the flow of the pour and it will also pour from the bottom up. I will let you know how it comes out, I know it will help my back from leaning over the candle container when I pour...!!!

Bleeding!
From what I read, some scents will bleed due to the type of scent as to how heavy or light. With just 3 pours under my belt and loads of help on this site. I know the three I had problems with bleeding were the scents that had the stronger smells, like pine, cinnamon, cedar etc. as primarily the strongest scent.

Hope I have helped and not sounded wrong. I am a person that will reasearch anything to the ends of the world before investing due to being a single mother all my life. I started this with less than $100 and made it back in less than 2 small pours and have had no problems until yesterday which was my first LARGE one. Good luck and happy candle creating.....

Vickie Clee "aka Blondie"

www.maidenoftheram.com (still under construction)
Cedar Creek Lake Area South East of Dallas Texas