Advice from candle makers

[tombear]

Ive failed to find the info on the internet and Prices never replied so I'll have a go here.

I recently viited the small but otherwise excellent Pioneers museum in Rochdale

http://www.rochdalepioneersmuseum.coop/

and ended up volunteering to make some "authentic" 1840s candles to go in their display of the first load of good that was handcarted over from Manchester for the first days trade.

Strictley speaking since they would have been the cheapst sort available they would have been tallow No. 12s (12 to a pound) moulded jobs with plaited cotton wicks. But to last in a open display I will have to compromise and use Stearin wax to make them harder and less inclined to go off. My question is can I use a mix of tallow and srearin (and if so what percentages ) or would that go off as quickly or will it have to be pure Stearin? I've stocks of all the required materials , flat braided cotton wick, mutton tallow and Stearin and am practicing by making some sweet smelling beeswax candles with the self consuming cotton wicks with the eldest son to get my hand back in but if anyone can adviise I will bash on with the Coops batch.

ATB

Tom

 

[Tengu]

Ok, Im no expert at any of this but I have tallow candles for flux...stored in my horse and they have neither melted or gone smelly.

(my house is unheated though.)

I assume this is going to be normal room temp all year round and no direct sun???

 

[mountainm]

...stored in my horse and they have neither melted or gone smelly.

When I store things in my horse they tend to go smelly...

 

[Harvestman]

I prefer a heated horse myself...

I know nothing about candles though.

 

[tombear]

Unfortunately it's centraly heated, the room they will be in is the old shop front with huge windows and the place gets coach loads of, well I'd call them pilgrims so you may get 30 or so iin there at a time. I discovered from my visit the Coop is far bigger over seas than here and they get folk from as far afield as Mexico and especially Japan. They come to the UK just to go to 31 Toad Lane and tour the graves of the original 14 founders to offer their thanks! In Kobe they have built a double sized replica of the shop at their Coops training centre.

I've not had any problems with my tallow candles going off so far, even the ones that have been left in candle sticks for the best part of two years although they do get a bit slimey in the summer on particularly hot days. But for this batch I need to make them more robust.

Ive also been pottering round the net trying to find how they would have been packaged back in the day. For the cheap ones it could have been recycled newspaper?

atb

Tom

 

[Tengu]

Thanks Tom, you have now told me more about the Japanese than I think I really need to know...

...And of course they will notice if you use anything that doesnt look like tallow (as paraffin wax does not)....

 

[tombear]

Hi folks!
I finally dug out that the "best" ratio for the stearin to the tallow was 1 part to 9 so I then bashed on and aided by the cold weather (I could hang the moulds out of the window where they hardened and shrank much quicker than in the freezer) I churned out about 6 a day. So I have 2 dozen for the Coop museum and used the remaining mix to make 7 and 3/4 size 10s (10 to the pound). To be honest since these are for display I over egged the pudding and made it nearer 1 to 8.

As intended the candles are noticably harder than the pure tallow ones and less greasy to the touch. Ive not noticed a improvemnet with the quality of the light but I did do a couple with wicks treated in a salt and boric acid solution so will report back if thats made any differance. I'll drop them off when I have sorted a suitably period wrapper for them. Fancy candles were already being boxed by this period but I suspect that the cheap and nasty tallow jobs were at best wrapped in paper, possibly even recycled newspaper. Certainly if you wanted to carry them any distance you wouldnt want them exposed. I am toying with printing off a couple of pages from the Manchester Mercury (available on line) of a suitable date but havent so far as I can not confirm newspaper was used or sourced the correct paper. in the 1840s they were using suprisingly good quality paper made from rags as the cheap and nasty stuff wasn't being made until 30 odd years later. OK this is all a bit AR but it is for a Museum display.

From a using standpoint, although I'll have to confirm after I leave one standing out over the summer, 10% stearin (stearic acid) does make tallow candles a lot better with regards to hardness, the main down side of using tallow so long as you have cleaned it well and they aint old enough to start ponging. I've a bunged up nose so can't say if the smell has been improved any.

After all that I am down to my last 2 or three pounds of mutton tallow. Guess its time to suck up to the butcher again!

ATB

Tom

 

[British Red]

Tom - you really are in my hall of fame - superb stuff as always sir

 

[tombear]

Want to try a couple Red? I'd be interested in seeing what others reckon to the Mk II Tallow candles. The straight tallow ones do not like any draughts as the guttering makes them melt too fast, all very Unseen University looking but not much good as a useful light source.

With some bought in Stearin and home made wicks and free fat they are very cost effective, if they work right.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

By the by, while we are having this cold weather ( it helps the candles release from the moulds) I've been churning out beeswax candles with boric treated plaited cotton wicks.

i'm paying 35p a metre for the untreated wick at the local craft shop, anyone recommend me a source they use themselves that's more economical?

cheers!

Tom

 

[British Red]

Want to try a couple Red? I'd be interested in seeing what others reckon to the Mk II Tallow candles. The straight tallow ones do not like any draughts as the guttering makes them melt too fast, all very Unseen University looking but not much good as a useful light source.

With some bought in Stearin and home made wicks and free fat they are very cost effective, if they work right.

ATB

Tom

Love to at some point Tom - we'll work out a trade! Hopefully within a year or two I'll be well stocked for beeswax. I plan on cycling most of it through the hives for a while though - it uses five pounds of honey to make a pound of beeswax!

 

[tombear]

Cool, when they have got through a huge order for Colonial Williamsburg my mates the tin smiths are making me a six tube mould so i'll be able to make 8 every couple of hours so if when you have a surplus of wax you get some to me I'll turn em into candles, keep whatever cut you think is appropriate and send the finished candles back to you. Mind you because of the reenactment market in the US you can get off the shelf moulds quite cheaply, getting them sent over may be more difficult . The whole process is remarkably satisfying.

atb

Tom

 

[British Red]

Sounds fascinating! I have made candles from paraffin wax and bought beeswax...so I reckon a six tube mould would work. I want to make wax furniture polish and many other things as well....still - I have built two more hives so if I can breed some nucleii this year, we should be able to increase our wax yield in a year or two

 

[tombear]

I tried one of the beeswax candles with the plaited cottonwicks treated in a strong boric acid and salt solution (2 to 1) and unless I was off my head (which is always a possibil;ity with the chemicals I keep in the Shed) it definately seamed brighter.

ATB

Tom

 

[British Red]

Is that a saturated solution Tom? Like making slow match?

 

[tombear]

Different stuff but yes as strong as the water will take when hot. A doritos dip jar (which is handily about the same as the old "one cup" measurement took two level table spoons of Boric acid and one of table salt and the lot disolved except for the tinniest amount that swirled round the bottom. Herself got me a bag of the Boric off eBay which should last me a age. I believe garden centres sell it.

I wonder if a old camera light meter would be any use in making comparisons of brightness? As you can guess I know nothing about how they work but it would be good to have a less subjective measurement.

ATB

Tom