How to Pour the Perfect Candle with NatureWax®
There are many advantages to using vegetable wax in the place of paraffin, and here’s where you’ll find tips, tricks, and a little science to help you consistently pour better vegetable wax candles and get the most out of your NatureWax.
Getting consistently great results from your wax
Here’s an overview of some vegetable wax best practices and rules of thumb to help you get the results you want from your candles with NatureWax in just five minutes.
Got a specific question?
Here’s some insight into how to identify an issue and adjust your process to eliminate it.
When you’re working with vegetable wax, it’s always important to be consistent, consistent, consistent. The more you can keep variables like room temperature and humidity consistent, the easier it is to get reliable results—as well as isolating an issue and solving for it.
Whenever you try to resolve an issue, it’s important to only change one variable, such as wick gauge, fragrance load, or cooling curve, at a time. If you’re already consistent with the things you can control like your process and temperatures, it just makes it easier to figure out which variables need to be adjusted. And always remember you might need to test, test, and test again to find the right mix of fragrance and wick size for your candle.
My candle is cracking
Cracking, when literal cracks appear in the top or sides of the wax, often happens when the pouring or cooling temperatures drop too quickly.
You can avoid cracking by keeping an eye on the following:
PREHEATING THE CONTAINER
You’ll want to make sure the container you’re pouring into is at least at room temperature.
POURING TEMPERATURE
If your pouring temperature is too high, it could lead to cracking. Make sure you stick to the manufacturer’s recommended pouring temps, and keep an eye on ambient temperature and humidity, which can affect how the wax behaves.
COOLING TEMPERATURE
Cooling too quickly can lead to cracking. To avoid cooling too quickly, pay attention to ambient room temperature over the entire curing time, being mindful of how seasonal temperatures outside can affect the indoor environment.
My candle is pulling away
Pull away, when the candle literally pulls away from the container during cooling, often happens when the pouring or cooling temperatures drop too quickly—or when vegetable wax is blended with paraffin wax.
You can avoid pull away by keeping an eye on the following:
PREHEATING THE CONTAINER
You’ll want to make sure the container you’re pouring into is at least at room temperature.
POURING TEMPERATURE
If your pouring temperature is too high, it could lead to pull away. Make sure you stick to the manufacturer’s recommended pouring temperatures, and keep an eye on ambient temperature and humidity, which can affect how the wax behaves.
COOLING TEMPERATURE
Cooling too quickly can lead to pull away. To avoid cooling too quickly, pay attention to ambient room temperature over the entire curing time, being mindful of seasonal temperatures outside.
My candle has fat bloom, frosting, or filming
Fat bloom, frosting or filming are all names for similar types of issues: a white or crystal-like coating or “cottage cheese” texture appears on the wax surface. This often happens when the pouring or cooling temperatures drop too quickly, or the fragrance is overloaded.
You can avoid fat bloom, frosting or filming by keeping an eye on the following:
PREHEATING THE CONTAINER
You’ll want to make sure the container you’re pouring into is at least at room temperature.
FRAGRANCE LOAD
Each Cargill Wax has a recommended fragrance load, or how much fragrance oil you should add to the melted wax, and it’s always best to follow. But if you’re still running into fat bloom, frosting or filming, it could be additives or solvents in the fragrance oil that is causing an issue. Start by lowering the fragrance load and test, a little each time until you find the correct load for your application.
POURING TEMPERATURE
If your pouring temperature is too high, it could lead to fat bloom, frosting or filming. Make sure you stick to the manufacturer’s recommended pouring attempts, and keep an eye on ambient temperature and humidity, which can affect how the wax behaves.
COOLING TEMPERATURE
Cooling too quickly can lead to fat bloom, frosting or filming. To avoid cooling too quickly, pay attention to ambient room temperature over the entire curing time, being mindful of seasonal temperatures outside.
My wick is tunneling
Tunneling, when the flame doesn’t melt the candle across the diameter of the candle, usually stems from underwicking—which could be affected by fragrance load.
You can avoid tunneling by keeping an eye on the following:
PROPER WICKING
A properly wicked candle will steadily burn with a 1” tall flame with a melt pool that is a half-inch deep and runs all the way to the container. If your candle is underwicked—if the wick gauge is too small—the melt pool won’t reach the container and you’ll see tunneling. Try a larger wick gauge.
FRAGRANCE LOAD
Each Cargill NatureWax has a recommended fragrance load, or how much fragrance oil you should add to the melted wax, and it’s always best to follow. But if you’re running into tunneling, it could be additives or solvents in the fragrance oil that is causing an issue. Start by lowering the fragrance load and test, a little each time until you find the correct load for your application and melt pool that reaches completely across the diameter of the candle.
You could also keep your fragrance load consistent and try a larger wick gauge.
My wick mushrooms when it burns
When excess carbon builds up on the end of the wick, it becomes a problem commonly called mushrooming.
You can avoid mushrooming by keeping an eye on the following:
PROPER WICKING
A properly wicked candle will steadily burn with a 1” tall flame. If your candle is overwicked—if the wick gauge is too thick—you’ll see mushrooming. Try a smaller wick gauge.
It starts with the wax
Starting with the right wax is one of the best ways to ensure consistently successful candles. If you’re new to the NatureWax line of waxes, check out the recommended use tables for your region to help you find the one that’s right for your application.
If you have additional questions, or are looking to find the perfect wax for you, you’ll be able to find a distributor who can help here.