Soy Wax Candle Forum - Online resource for soy candle makers

Hi,

My Name is Erin. I like your site. Lots of good info. and nicely organized! Iam new at making soy candles and I love it! I have decided to go with Enchanted Lites brand soy wax, and so far has been working out ok. I have been doing some research online for some general info. and I have come across mention of Hot pour or Cold (slushy) pour. What are some advantages or disadvantages for both? In what situation would you pour hot? Does it depend on what type of wax you're using? Container or Pillar wax? With my (limited) experience so far when pouring into glass containers you need to pour slushy or you get really rough tops and a lot of wet spots.

Thanks
Soyenchanted

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wjreece
Guest

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:39 pm Post subject: Hot or Cold Pour

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Hi!

Thanks for your email and your visit!! Regarding your question... i believe a lot of it depends on the wax you are using. It is hard to say definately use a hot pour or definately pour the wax at a slushy state. The wax I use works ok with a hot pour... but sometimes produces a mottled top that can be smoothed later.

Wax, speaking in general terms here, shrinks when it cools. The wax with a higher melting point shrinks more when it cools to room temp (due to the temp variation of melting points). The votive or pillar wax is a perfect example of this. Some waxes do not release well from their molds, so when the wax shrinks, it has a tendency to crack. If this is the case, then pour cool.

I have a hard time waiting (not real patient) for wax to cool to a slushy state. So I ended up finding the wax that works for me.

The wet spots you mention... is it fragrance oil that hasn't integrated with the melted soy wax?

Thanks again,

Will R.

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soyenchanted

Joined: 26 Jun 2005
Posts: 5

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:39 pm Post subject: Rough Tops and "wet" spots

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wjreese,

Thanks for answering my post so quickly! It was really nice to come home from work today and see I had gotten a response! Anyways, I know what you mean about waiting for the wax to cool. I don't like it much neither,but I like the rough top even less! . I know you have mentioned using a blow-dryer or heat gun to fix the tops. I tried my blow-dryer once. I waited til my candle had completely cooled, I had to hold it right on top of the container to get enough heat to start melting the wax and when the wax melted the air from the blow-dryer just kind of splattered the wax all over the container! I probably should be doing it before the wax has completely cooled right? I plan on buying a heat gun soon that will probably work better. Also on the "wet" spots as I have seen it called. It could be the fragrance. I followed the directions I got in my soy candle starter kit. It said to add 1 tsp. of fragrance to each 1/4 cup of wax. add fragrance when wax has cooled to 125*. Stir for 1min. and periodically as wax cools. I have seen on other sites that you really should be weighting fragrance oils on a scale and not measuring. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
SoyEnchanted

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wjreece
Guest

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 3:21 pm Post subject: Hot or Cold Pour

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Hi,

I have always found it harder for the fragrance oil to incorporate completely into the wax at cooler temps... try adding your fragrance at a warmer temp then letting it cool before pouring.

The reason behind letting the wax cool before adding the oil is to prevent some of the fragrance to be released while the wax is hot.

If that doesn't work, you may need to cut back on the fragrance oil a bit. Do you know if the oil has been cut or if it is pure?

Thanks,

Will R.