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Gel Candle Safety...
Before
you begin making Gel Candles, you should have a good understanding of
the safety factors involved. This is by no means a complete safety guide,
but it will give you some guidelines (as set forth by Penreco) of the
safety of gel candles and fragrances.
Fragrance
Flashpoint
Each
and every fragrance has a flashpoint (FP). The FP is the point of temperature
in which the fragrance will flash. A flash is just as it sounds . .
. it's a quick flash flame which extinguishes almost immediately. If
you are using fragrance in gel, you will need to take some precautions.
Gel burns
hotter than wax, and therefore, is easily heated to a temperature which
many fragrances may flash. In other words, the gel can easily reach
the fragrance FP. For fragrances used in gel candles the FP should
be 170* and higher.
If you
have some favorite fragrances you currently use, but do not know the
FP, contact the supplier where you purchased the fragrance and ask for
the flashpoint. They should have the FP and have no problem giving you
the information. If they do not know, ask them to contact the manufacturer
and find out. Do not use a fragrance without knowing the FP.
Polarity
Basically,
gel is non-polar and therefore mixes and binds best with non-polar fragrance.
In the past we have tested each of the fragrances we sell and established
a polar or non-polar classification for them. However, we have discovered
inconsistencies with the mineral oil test, and will no longer be testing
fragrances for polarity.
We have
performed the mineral oil test on our fragrance enough to conclude that
the test definitely yields conflicting results with different grades
of mineral oil. We have used mineral oils used for making gel for the
testing, and find separation of fragrance and oil in one oil and not
the other. We have experienced non-polar fragrance separating from some
mineral oil, and we have experienced some polar fragrance binding with
some mineral oil. We have also experienced some polar fragrance maintaining
a clear color and some non-polar fragrance causing cloudiness in some
oil. Therefore, we conclude that it is best for you to conduct
the polarity test using your mineral oil and then test burn a candle
from each batch to determine safety.
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