a city by the sea,
Pouring at the right temperature
Hello,
This week I poured twelve candles from the same batch of wax, at twelve slightly different temperatures. It was rainy, the window was misting up and my kitchen smelled like warm vanilla. I had a thermometer in the pot and a notebook beside it, and I poured one jar every two degrees as the wax cooled.
The first few jars, poured hot, came out with a shiny top but small cracks down the sides where the wax had pulled away from the glass. The last few, poured cool, were thick and slightly lumpy on top. The ones in the middle were the best, smooth all over, with a flat top and no cracks.
I do not think there is one perfect temperature. It changes with the wax, the jar and how cold your room is. What I do think is that you should find your own, once, and write it down. The log is the useful part, not the number.
Try it with three jars this week. Pour one hot, one cool and one in between, and keep the notes on a scrap of paper. Next Friday I will tell you what I learned about wicks from the same dozen.
Warmly,
Carys
P.S. If you want a page for those notes, the Candle Batch Log has one for every pour.
