Wax melts problems

[ScentiliciouS]

Can anyone help me, my wax melts have all started to go very bizzare.

They seem to be crumbling and not drying properly when in silicon mould. Using soy max with 10% fragrance which worked fine before

See pictures.

I have tried changing temp but no difference

 

[amd]

Does this happen with every fragrance or just one particular? If one particular, then perhaps check the usage rate suggested for wax - they can vary quite a bit. This one may not be suitable for 10%.
I'm not a wax expert by any means... but when I was playing with a couple different wax types, I noticed a similar look to some of mine, but they were not crumbling.

 

[Skylantern]

Quick questions:
Is this a soy wax bought from a candle supplier that includes additives?
What was the temperature of the room when they were cooling?
When they melt, do they continue to curdle along the melt pool (curdle is not an official term, just what it always looks like to me) This is often caused by using a soy wax that is not made specifically for candles and there is a great thread on here where someone demonstrated a burn using tea lights that I'm not able to find again that shows this really clearly.
Lastly, all my soy tarts developed bloom and were extremely crumbly when popping out of the clamshells. This, at least in my experience, seems to be the nature of pure soy waxes. What I do now is mix 70/30 para/soy and have no longer have problems with bloom or crumbling and it has made for a much easier time.

edit: Found it help. why is this happening?

 

[Quanta]

Can anyone help me, my wax melts have all started to go very bizzare.

They seem to be crumbling and not drying properly when in silicon mould. Using soy max with 10% fragrance which worked fine before

See pictures.

I have tried changing temp but no difference

I recommend you not try to use pure soy for melts. Paraffin has superior throw, and much easier release and clean up, especially if you use a blend that is specifically for tarts/melts.

The advantages of soy wax pretty much only apply to candles that have wicks and will be burned. The things that make parrafin not so great for burned candles also make it great for melts.

So either go with Skylantern's recommendation of mostly paraffin, or use an all-paraffin wax melt blend.

Quick questions:
Is this a soy wax bought from a candle supplier that includes additives?
What was the temperature of the room when they were cooling?
When they melt, do they continue to curdle along the melt pool (curdle is not an official term, just what it always looks like to me) This is often caused by using a soy wax that is not made specifically for candles and there is a great thread on here where someone demonstrated a burn using tea lights that I'm not able to find again that shows this really clearly.
Lastly, all my soy tarts developed bloom and were extremely crumbly when popping out of the clamshells. This, at least in my experience, seems to be the nature of pure soy waxes. What I do now is mix 70/30 para/soy and have no longer have problems with bloom or crumbling and it has made for a much easier time.

edit: Found it help. why is this happening?

After that test burn, when the two candles on the right were completely cooled, they looked like whipped cream that had been whipped too much. Very fluffy, billowy clouds of matte white wax. I'm going to melt both and put all the wax in one container with a larger wick, and burn it again to see what happens when the melt pool is able to reach the edges.

 

[msunnerstood]

I use Soy wax and I add 5% beeswax and have no issue with throw.

I too wonder if its the fo or if possible, the wax was over heated.

 

[Skylantern]

I recommend you not try to use pure soy for melts. Paraffin has superior throw, and much easier release and clean up, especially if you use a blend that is specifically for tarts/melts.

I feel like paraffin gets a bad wrap when compared to soy because of the label appeal that soy has but when I go to a box store and look at the majority of wax melts on the shelves they're all mostly paraffin.

Popular tarts
Woodwick - para/soy blend
Yankee Candle - 100% paraffin
Scentsy - 100% paraffin

The advantages of soy wax pretty much only apply to candles that have wicks and will be burned. The things that make parrafin not so great for burned candles also make it great for melts.

This really is the best explanation on why paraffin should be given a second glance. Yes, it does produce soot when burning but because it's being warmed and not burning off it really does perform exceptionally well in wax melts with both throw and easy release. I personally do a para/soy blend because I love the creamy texture I get, the bold and pastel colors I can achieve, and the excellent hot and cold throw. I've been mixing my own by hand and using vybar but I experimented with Pillar of Bliss which I think has a 60/40 Soy/Para and i've had good test runs so you can still do a mostly soy blend but you'll need to test them out to get the qualities you're looking for.

I don't want to link to another forum but there is one online that has a thriving candle community and if you do a search through their wickless section the majority of the posts are people dealing with crumbly soy wax. It's such a common problem.

 

[lsg]

I use a combination of soy wax, palm wax and beeswax.

 

[Skylantern]

I use a combination of soy wax, palm wax and beeswax.

I'd love to hear more about this. I've haven't worked with palm or beeswax yet.

 

[Quanta]

Beeswax tends to be sticky and has terrible scent throw, so if you use it for label appeal you'll need to keep the percentage pretty low. As an experiment, I once made a wax melt that was all beeswax without additives of any kind, not even fragrance. I had to freeze my wax warmer to pop it out, and even then I had a lot of wax still sticking. I think I heated it back up to wipe all the wax out. It was a mess and I never used beeswax again in a wax melt.

I've never worked with palm wax either, but I've seen candles made with it and you can get some really pretty pillar candles with it due to the way it crystallizes if it cools very slowly. You can probably get that same effect with wax melts.

 

[lsg]

As well as I can remember I used about 60% soy wax, 20% beeswax and 20% palm wax.