Gel Candles
Step by step gel candle projects
Gel candles
This step-by-step shows you just how easy it is to make and create your very own gel candles.
Articles on Gel Candles
Bubbles in Gel Candles
It has often been asked by people how one can remove bubbles from a gel wax candle once it has been poured. The first thing to remember is that it is far easier to not get the bubbles in there in the first place. This may be trying to achieve the impossible but there are ways to drastically reduce the amount of bubbles in your candle.There are several things that you do namely, you should always make sure that you prime your wick properly, this is done to not only improve burn quality but also to remove all the air out of the wick. To prime your wick place a small amount of gel in a separate container from the one you use to melt you gel wax for making candles. Let the gel heat up to about 120 deg. c. then place your wick into the hot wax, you will notice that the gel will foam and bubble for about 5 – 10 min. Once the bubbles have stopped you can now remove the wick from the gel. Remember to squeeze off the excess gel by pulling your wick though two plastic chop sticks while hot.
The next very important thing is to keep the gel wax you are using for your candle separate from the wax that you use to prime your wick. So keep a separate little container gel wax used in priming your wick. You just have to watch all the bubbles the wick make and think of all those bubbles going into you candle.
At the end of the day it is difficult to achieve that perfect bubble free gel wax candle, if there are no embellishments involved and or you are using a single color there is a simple trick you can do and that is to place the candle in a oven or on a hot plate at about 55 - 70 deg c for 25 min. This is hot enough to allow the oils in the gel to move and thus the air but not hot enough to melt the wax.
The final think to keep in mind when working with gel wax candles is to ensure that you use either glass or metal at all stages. Using wood or any other such like objects will cause bubbles. Just take a simple skewer stick next time and place it into some hot gel and watch.
Temperatures of importance for gel wax:
Mixing and blending other ingredients into the gel 95-105 deg. c
Pouring the candle gel from one container into another 85-95deg c
Loss of air bubbles 75-85 deg c
Stiffening of the liquid product into a gel structure 60-75 deg c
Oven temperature for the removal of air bubbles from the gel 55-70 deg c
Finding Fragrances for your gel candles
Several things to note about fragrances used in gel candles; firstly you must ensure sure that you use non polar fragrances. Secondly that you must make sure that you do not add too much fragrance as this can lower the overall flashpoint temperature of the gel to the point where it becomes dangerous. Finally you must always make sure that when you add a fragrance that it is thoroughly mixed into the hot gel before you pour. Non-polar fragrances:Almost any fragrance you can imagine can be found, but at the end of the day it is important that you use the correct type for gel candles. Incorrect fragrances will cause your candle to become murky as well as develop “pools / pockets” of fragrance in the candle. These pockets can then flash or flare, thus causing the gel candle to burn out of control. This is a major safety problem. The bottom line is that you have to use non polar fragrance oil for your gel do not be afraid it is very simple to determine if the fragrance that you want to use is acceptable, just follow the steps below that we found on a website of a major manufacture of gel wax and distributor of bulk gel wax in the USA.
“ The following is information posted by Edward from Penreco in answer to the recent questions about polarity testing.
There has been quite a lot of talk recently about the polarity test. Who came up with it? Is it accurate? Why do it? What does it really mean? I will try to keep this short and simple. The test was developed by our labs with input from fragrance houses to design a simple test for the polarity of fragrances with mineral oil, the predominate material in candle gel. Polarity and flash points of the fragrance oils have been identified as the main cause for candle gel fires. We have been able to produce candles that flare in our labs and have conducted reviews of the remains of candles given to us that flared. Polarity and over scenting were the main culprits. The tests of one part fragrance oil/3 parts mineral oil and 3 parts fragrance oil/one part mineral oil is conservative, simple and accurate test for polarity. This is what we wanted, to design something anybody could do. If the fragrance you are testing separates or creates haziness in either of the two blend ratios, then there is a chance that there is some polar structure to it. For safety reasons we wanted a conservative, simple test and that is why it is done with mineral oil, not gel. Fragrances themselves are complex chemicals and there are numerous vehicles that are used as carrier oils. A simple test for a complex chemical needed to be designed and that is what the polarity test is. Obviously Penreco wants to see this market continue to grow, we have committed capital and resources to our gel business for 10 years now. We have been producing and marketing gels for over 9 years. We feel the candle gel market is no fad, and we plan on supplying candle gels for many more years to come. Because of this we are committed to the safety of the consumer. A fail proof polarity test is part of the overall package of safety factors that we feel needs to be passed on to the industry. There are a number of companies that have been started to serve and supply this industry, that is great and we applaud and welcome their efforts. But the safety information that we pass on has been developed over several years and with help from many. If you want to see more on the safety and handling of Penreco candle gels you can visit our web site at www.penreco.com.”
At the end of the day all the fragrances supplied by Crafty Corner have been check to ensure that they are acceptable for use in gel and wax candles.
How much to use?
It is recommended that you use no more than 2-5 % fragrance in a candle. The net result of adding fragrance to the gel candle is that you will end up lowering the flashpoint of the gel (this is the temperature at which the gel will catch alight when you pass a flame over it) if the flash point gets to low then the gel will become a fire hazard as the entire container will ignite when lit rather than the little bit of hot gel that is soaked into the wick
