In my post last week I unveiled my most recent soy candle creation, the Silhouette Candle. I had a lot of fun trying to implement my idea when I was first testing this candle back in January. There were many failed attempts and general hair pulling during the testing phase, but I finally came up with a method for creating the candle that could be reproduced on a larger scale. My problem is that I'm always coming up with new ideas for how I can potentially improve something, and this generally leads to more tinkering and testing (and hair pulling).
So let me explain my "problem". Within the Silhouette Candle, you have a wax cutout which is pressed to the side of the jar before the candle is poured. Sounds simple enough right? At the moment, this wax cutout is made of beeswax, which works pretty well for this, because it is a more pliable and sticky wax by nature. However, it still takes quite a bit of manipulation on my part to get the cutout to adhere to the jar properly. If its not firmly positioned to the side of the jar, wax can leak between the cutout and the jar and cover up part of the cutout, or worse the cutout will just fall off once the candle has been poured.
So I've been thinking that there has to be a better way! How can I make my beeswax stickier, and more pliable, yet still firm enough to hold up to my rough handling? I decided that I should see what would happen if I added small amounts of oil to the beeswax to make it more pliable and sticky. I had an oil in mind, although you may have noticed that I'm not saying what it is. A girl has to have some secrets you know! So that's what I did today... I mean, after I poured candles and filled orders first of course. I do so enjoy taking my testing back into the kitchen. I get to use the good ole' double boiler method to melt wax which is fun. Plus, unlike my workshop, the kitchen is heated...
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