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How to deal with gel candle bubbles

Bubbles

Bubbles in your gel can be very aggravating but they are not really a bad thing. The bad thing is if you have way too many. Bubbles are natural in gel candle making. If you know how to pour you candle correctly you can reduce the amount of bubbles you get in your candle. Pouring is not the only way you get bubbles but it is one of the important reasons. Your wick may have some air trapped in it, which will cause bubbles also and can easily be remedied. I will cover methods on how to prevent and remove bubbles here. Paraffin on the wicks will cause cloudiness in your candle. I will give a solution for both problems.

I remove air and paraffin from my wicks in two different ways. The method I use most is to heat some gel in a pan to 200 degrees and drop the wicks into the hot gel. Bubbles will start to rise from them immediately. I leave them in the gel until most of the bubbles stop coming to the surface.  Then I lift them out of the gel and lay them on a paper towel to cool. They are now ready to set into your container.

Another way to remove air and paraffin from wicks is to lay them out on a paper towel covered cookie sheet. Bake them at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on them though, they could turn brown and that would not make a very nice looking candle.

Make sure your containers are completely dry and DO NOT melt gel in a covered pan. Using a lid will cause steam and will put water into the gel, which causes bubbles.

Stir your fragrance and dye in very slowly. Stirring too fast will cause air to get trapped in your gel.

If using embeds, it’s a good idea to dip them in gel and let them cool. This will seal any holes or air pockets in them.

Pour your gel slowly and don’t hold the pan high over the container. Hold it as close to the container as you can.

Heat your gel to 210 degrees before adding color and fragrance. Additionally pour your gel at 210 to 220 degrees. The thinner the gel the easier it is for the bubbles to rise out of the candle.

Warming your container before you pour can help reduce bubbles too. I heat mine in the microwave for a minute first.

After you pour the gel take a knife and lightly tap the sides of the container. NOT TOO HARD though or you may break it.

I also use a heat gun to remove bubbles close to the surface. If there are too many bubbles just point the heat gun at them on low heat and they will rise out of the gel.

You can also use an oven to remove bubbles. Heat the oven to 220 degrees and place your candle into it. NOTE: If you have embeds in your candle they may sink when using this method. I keep the fishing line in my candles until I am sure there aren’t too many bubbles. That way if I have to heat it again the embeds won’t sink. If using wax embeds, heating the candle again will melt them and mix them up in the gel. DON’T DO IT! 

HOW TO MEASURE YOUR GEL

Fill the container you are using with water up to ¼” from the top. Pour the water into a measuring cup and this will tell you how much liquid gel you need for your container.

I usually weigh the gel and use a pound at a time. This way I can add the precise amount of fragrance and not have to worry about over loading. I can make several small candles with this pound of gel. Over loading your candle with fragrance can be a fire hazard!!!

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Anyone looking for high quality Gel and Soy Candle Supplies, we highly recommend Creativeilluminations!

Mary Ann Wiles

21547 Maries Rd. 420

Vichy, Mo. 65580

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