No, I am not going to speak about cold or snow, but about a natural phenomenon happening on all our candles when we pour them. Frosting is the name given to those crystal-looking formations that appears on the outside of candles. But what is it exactly?
When I decided to start making my own candles, it was sure for me that I would use Soy Wax as a natural, vegetable wax environment friendly and a sustainable product. I knew all the perks of the soy wax but I didn't know everything...yet!
After ordering my first batch of wax, receiving my first mould, here comes the time to make my first candle. I first started with our Stella, first melting, first pour, first candle. It was awesome and I was super happy to un-mould my first candle.
Shape was awesome, wax solidified, the wick was perfectly going through the candle, I was beyond happy! Then I decided to make another candle but this time coloured.
So here I go, melting wax, adding pigments to the wax, pouring it and waiting for the wax to cool down...
I un-mould it and I see something that would best be described as a "rash" on the body of my beautiful Stella! I didn't understand how this happened, how there was these patches of wax with a different coloration than the rest of the candle.
I poured more candles that day and they all had the same thing that i called "defect" at that time. I decided to look it up and realised, after going through the internet that what was happening was wax frosting or just frosting.
Why does Soy Wax frosts?
All natural/vegetable wax will frost. It is impossible to obtain a 100% pure soy wax candle without frosting.
This happens because the natural wax is not inert, the wax is an "active" ingredient - this means that like oil, the wax is being affected by temperature and outside conditions when melting and solidifying
While wax and oil differ a bit on their composition, they both are natural ingredients not born of the petroleum refining. Soy Wax will frost while solidifying because it wants to come back to its original shape and state. The wax will either look shiny or grainy (frosted). This is due to polymorphism, meaning that when solidifying, the soy wax can solidify in small or larger crystals. Small crystals will give that shiny look while larger crystals will give that grainy patches that I used to call "rash patches" (which for me was super accurate considering I was creating body shaped candles).
Soy wax continues to harden throughout a long period of time (I would even say indefinitely but I don't keep my candles away from melting for long enough to see any noticeable changes) so crystal structures will keep appearing.
It is almost impossible to avoid frosting with most soy wax, especially when adding coloration and/or scent (essential oils, fragrances...). The cooling time and cooling conditions can also impact it but it is impossible to obtain a candle frost-free when using 100% pure soy wax.
My candles frost... what can I do?
I tried to fight it at first, I even considered mixing in some paraffin wax to reduce wax frosting, but after discussing with my husband, he made me realise that having frost on my candles gives me my own particularity and comforted me in accepting frost as the natural certification of my 100% pure soy wax candles.
As soon as I started to accept that frost is a part of each and every of my candles i realised that :
- Each and every candle is and will be 100% unique!
- It gives the candles a kind of vintage/statue like look
- It is the natural certification that I use only 100% pure soy wax
So, I will NEVER use paraffin, any petroleum based wax or any additives to reduce frosting on my candles. This is also a part of my article about "How to differentiate soy wax candles to paraffin wax candles?".
The naturally uncoloured candles will have a beige look without much frosting due to being its natural colour and frosting being not visible at all but whenever you choose a coloured candle, please expect some frosting and love it as much as I do : your candle is unique.
Also, the frosting is only cosmetic, it will never impact the candle melting process or releasing the fragrances/scents of the candles.