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Plastic moulds
Candle craft center plastic candle moulds are made of crystal-clear polycarbonate. They are heat-proof
up to about 130 degrees. They are suitable
for all types of wax. The size of the wick depends on the mixture
of the wax and on the diameter. See here.
Plastic moulds can be filled with most of the solid candle waxes. The pouring temperature is very important. If it is too
high the wax will cling to the wall, especially in the corners. It can only be removed with hot soap water or an organic resolvent. Please test the resolvent firstly on the
outside of the mould in order to know if it gnaws at the surface. The lower lead through of the wick can be closed easily with a knot at the lower end of the wick. Knot the wick
at the lower end, pull the wick up so that it’s taut and affix the wick to the wick needle (knot or wrap it).
Please note that a rate of stearin of more than 20% can cause cracks in the surface of plastic moulds!!! When stearin
cools it has a distinct crystal structure which brings sometimes an extreme high expansion pressure. Metal moulds can rather bear up against this pressure. Most of the time it is
quite difficult to remove pure stearin candles from a hard mould! Silicone rubber is more suitable.
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Moulds with two shells
These moulds are more likely for advanced learners. Important! First of all the annexed impermeability must be inserted at full length! If you have
already used the mould you would have had to free it with hot water from the remaining wax. For putting together the two halves of the mould you need quite a lot force. But then
the mould will be impervious! The pouring temperature should be about 80 – 90 degrees – the hotter the wax is the easier it runs through!
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Cleaning candle moulds
All candle craft center moulds can be cleaned in boiling soap water.
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Plastic moulds and scent wax
Some fragrance oils contain components which are insoluble in wax. These components only operate as a carrier substance for the scent while they keep
being undissolved. The best is to keep the mixture of wax and scent oil in the pouring tank for several minutes. If insoluble components exist they will now be at the bottom of
the tank. You can avoid that these components find their way into your candle when you decant it carefully.
When insoluble components get into the candle it might cause:
Bad burning down
Shabby surface
Destroying of the surface of the plastic mould.
Thereby the moulds can become unusable!
Some scent oils are destroying the surface of plastic moulds. One of those is cinnamon oil, by the way a natural essential
oil.
Please first make a test with new scents at the outer side of the moulds.
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Little bubbles at the rim of a candle
These bubbles occur when rising air bubbles in the liquid wax accumulate at the cold
outside of the mould. When the wax cools it tightens and the bubbles become bigger. The releasing agent Cancol reduce the bubbling. You can also remove the bubbles by stirring it
strongly. Another possibility is to wipe the surface
from the inside just after the pouring with a hot paint brush (heating brush).
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Removal of candles from plastic moulds
If it’s easy or more or less difficult to remove candles from moulds depends mostly on the mixture of the wax, the pouring temperature, the shape of
the mould and the material of which the mould is made. To remove solidified stearin from a tubular mould is difficult sometimes. You can remove almost all kinds of wax easily from
silicone rubber moulds. Furthermore you can inject metal or plastic moulds with the releasing agent Cancol Art. 7880 (dilution 1:10 to 1:20). After it has been dried an effective
separation layer will form.
Candles made of pure paraffin or of paraffin with a stearin rate of maximum 20% are generally easily
removed from the mould after they have
cooled completely (!). If you have problems with it nevertheless
just put it into the freezer for a short time. Higher stearin rates can destroy the moulds! Pure
beeswax
is often sticky.
The releasing agent “Cancol” improves the surface and facilitates the removal of the candle from the mould.
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Removal of candles from glass moulds
Glass moulds for pole candles sometimes are a little intractable. To remove the candle it must be completely cooled and
the wax has to shrink a little bit. It often helps to put the filled mould (with an already solidified candle) into a freezer for one hour. If you choose a wax that doesn’t
shrink much and it was just not possible to remove you’ll have to use high temperatures. You can, for instance, rise the temperature of the mould above the melting point
with a hair-dryer. Another possibility is to souse it with boiling water.
Pouring stearin candles
Stearin corrodes base metal. It also gnaws at the surface of moulds made of steel, aluminium and zinc. But this does not mean that the moulds dissolve
after 3 or 4 candles…
It is often difficult to remove pure stearin candles from the mould. You can help yourself either with a hot water bath or you can put the mould into
boiling water for a short moment. The best is to take silicone moulds.
Please note that a rate of stearin of more than 20% can cause cracks in the surface of plastic moulds!!
When stearin cools it has a distinct crystal
structure which brings sometimes an extreme high expansion pressure. Metal moulds can rather bear up against this pressure. Most of the time it is quite difficult to remove pure
stearin candles from a hard mould! Silicone rubber is more suitable.
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Candles get a whitish surface, just like crystal deposits, when they are being removed
Especially when you work with metal or plastic moulds you should have an eye on the temperature of the
wax.
If it’s hot the mould will heat until it reaches a temperature above the melting point of the wax. As a consequence the wax and the (unpolished) metal bond
together. The mixture of the wax doesn’t matter in this case. Possible solution: adhesion-preventing film (Cancol). Besides you can also heat the mould before removing the candle. For the work with professional candle-making machines the pouring and removal temperatures are very important.
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Candles shrink at the point where the wax has been filled in
This is the normal heat expansion.
If the point where the wax has been filled in the mould cooled directly after pouring it, the wax wouldn’t have the chance to shrink.
Thus it would shrink elsewhere. Sometimes it makes sense to pierce the point where the wax has been filled in as soon as it has solidified in order to avoid that it shrinks
somewhere where it’s not supposed to do so.
Due to the shrinkage a hole will form which you can either refill or melt off, but only after it has cooled completely.
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Candles produce soot
The reason why candles produce soot is generally that the wick is too thick or that some coke tips on the top
of the wick. Please keep wicks short and
clean. Dirty wax can also produce soot.
The burning down of the following candles generally doesn’t bring any trouble:
Candle diameter <60mm
Pure paraffin candles
Mixed candles of paraffin and 10 to 30% stearin
Pure, clean beeswax
Always assumed that you use the right type of wick!
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Candles can’t be lighted properly!
Raw, unwaxed wicks do not work well because the soakage is too small. Please dip raw wicks in wax first. wax, at least the part of the wick which
pokes out of the candle. As soon as the flame reaches almost the candle wax, the wax melts and will finally be absorbed by the wick. Another common reason for bad-burning
candles is unclean wax. Re-melted candle stubs have actually never been clean. A thicker wick might help but tends to produce soot.
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