Salve hard on the top and less solid in the botton

[Iru]

Hello!
I wanna to ask if someone knows why my salve is getting hard just on the top.
I am doing diferent ratios of wax and oils, from 1:5 to 1:8
I also leave to wax melt really well, I had tried to warm the jars or stirring before putting it on the jars I try with diferent wax but it happens always the same.
Get hard on the top.
Do anyone have and idea why? And what can I do?

Thanks so much

 

[DeeAnna]

I have never had this problem. I have made lip balm and salves for years now.

If I made a salve with 1 part wax to 5-8 parts oil, the salve would always be very soft, possibly even runny. So you need to give more detailed information.

Please provide your recipe -- what specific waxes and oils are you using? What are the other ingredients, if any, including fragrance or essential oils? Do not mix percentages and weights -- either give all weights or all percentages.

 

[Megan]

Are you using any water-based ingredients? Aloe? Hydrosols? Water-based extracts? This would be my first guess.

 

[Iru]

Thanks for your time and answers. I am not using water based ingredients. In my last try I was using Almond and olive oil an 83 percent Bee wax 11 percent Karite butter 6 percent. I did try with diferents bee wax brands.

 

[DeeAnna]

The recipe in your last post should make a very soft salve. A quick google search says "karite butter" is what I call "shea butter". Is that correct? I don't use shea in my salves, but I do use beeswax.

You didn't say how large the batch of salve is. You also don't say how you actually make the salve. So I'm having to guess a bit and hope this advice makes sense --

If you're making a larger batch of salve -- say 100 milliliters or more -- the melted ingredients will cool slowly if you leave the salve in one container. The beeswax and karite butter solidify first, float to the top, and form a hard layer leaving the liquid oils on the bottom.

You need to change how the beeswax and karite butter are cooling and crystallizing. Either stir the salve while it is cooling or immediately pour it into smaller containers where it can cool quickly.

When I make a larger batch of salve, I stir the cooling salve slowly and continuously, scraping the sides of the container often, until the temperature of the salve drops below about 140 F / 60 C. At that point the beeswax will have fully crystallized. The salve will look opaque and thick. The stirring keeps the beeswax crystals very small and well mixed throughout the liquid oils.

Since you're also using karite butter, you may need to stir until the salve cools below the crystallization temperature of the karite. If you stir to 140F/60C but your salve feels grainy after it is fully cool, that is a sign you might need to stir to a cooler temperature.

If I am pouring the melted salve into small containers, stirring while cooling isn't necessary. I pour it immediately while it is still liquid into lip balm tubes or small containers. Small amounts of salve will cool fast enough so the beeswax (and karite butter) do not have time to solidify and float to the top.

Perhaps give that a try?

 

[Iru]

Sorry for the little information I give I am not English speaker and is a bit difficult to me find the right words to describe. So yes karite butter is Shea butter, and at the moment I don't have these grainy texture that you mention. And how I do is, I put all the ingredients in a doble boiler until they melt .
I was doing 500 ml of the mix once the beeswax was melted I normally wait 5 minutes more in the fire and then I put then in a small container of 50 ml .and is there, in the small containers where get more solid on the top.
I am trying this ratio of a small portion of wax because the one before, 1.5 , 1.6, they result quite hard on the top that I have to press , and I could fell some kind of layers when I put my finger inside of the salve
So I wanted to try with less was and ofcourse is not that hard on the tip but still you can feel the difference. So I am gonna try to stirring even when I do put them in small containers, maybe I can stir and let it cold a bit in the big container, and then put them in the smaller container.
I am gonna try that .
Thanks So much, that gives me some direction!!

 

[DeeAnna]

I hope it works!

I would stir all of the salve until it cools. Then put the salve in smaller containers.

Please let us know how your salve turns out!!!