Re: lip balm blow-out -- need help please

[Guest guest]

i am by no means a lib balm expert, but i Do make them and routinely

have a sink hole develop in the center. the assumption i have made

is that, during the pouring, tiny little bubbles of trapped air stick

to the twizzle stick in the center, and during the cooling period

they pop, creating the sink hole.

my method of dealing with this has been to stand there and wait for

the time when the sink hole develops and pour in a dab more.

sometimes the stick hardens too much by the time i pour more in, and

if i pour more on top of a too-hardened stick, the pieces separate

during use. i have dealt with this by remelting the balm while it

is still in the tube -- in the microwave for a short blast.

i've never yet had a pocket of air develop along the side of the

tube, and if a sink hole doesn't get created on top during the

cooling process there's no way of knowing a side hole is there unless

you roll the balm and take a look...which i imagine would be quite a

nuisance if you make lots!

you may just want to start routinely remelting your balms after they

have been poured into the tubes so that the air bubbles, if any

exist, will find their way to the surface.

i don't know about you, but i always over fill my tubes. the lip

balm mixture has an amazing degree of surface tension, and you

can " pile " up this completely liquid stuff well over the top of the

tube. the reason why i would suggest over filling is just to

minimize the amount of fussing you have to do with it.

i'm curious about why you would suddenly develop a side air pocket

when you didn't have them previously...different pouring technique,

different lip balm tube manufacturer, who knows.

i can't help you with that other wax you're using, i've only used

beeswax (and paraffin in one experimental batch).

my lip balm recipe is rather spartan, i guess, by many people

standards...having used majestic mountain sage's recipe guidelines as

my springboard. it has worked very well for me without the mushies

or grainies (i DO know what you are talking about, i got both mushy

AND grainy in one batch when i used primarily cocoa butter).

not that i think you personally would want my recipe (sounds as if

you've done a tremendous amount of tweaking on your own), i'll just

post mine in case anybody out there in lurk-land may want to try it.

23% beeswax

23% coconut oil (or any other hard-at-room-temp fat)

15% PK (or any other brittle-at-room-temp fat)

39% jojoba (or any other single or combination of liquid oils)

QS flavoring (whatever amount floats your boat) my personal

favorite is a dab of peppermint EO (food grade, of course), just

enough to warm and tingle the lips. don't put your face over the

warm mixture after you put that EO in...whooooo dawgie!

i just bought a sweetener which i tried only once so far

(unsuccessfully) to incorporate into lib balm. it's water soluble

and the directions SWEAR that it's possible to suspend it with their

heating and cooling and mixing method. i haven't tried again yet

(too many passions, not enough time!) anyway, aside from the fact

that it wasn't sweet, that recipe worked nicely too --

22% beeswax

25-ish% hard fat

16% brittle fat

33% liquid oil

2.5% flavor oil

1.5% sweetener

[Guest guest]

Hi Lynn,

> i have dealt with this by remelting the balm while it

is still in the tube -- in the microwave for a short blast.

I tried that and all the balm melted and came out the bottom of the tubes into

my microwave! Maybe I had the heat too high. )

>you may just want to start routinely remelting your balms after they

have been poured into the tubes so that the air bubbles, if any

exist, will find their way to the surface.

I've decided it is not air, because, when I pour at a lower temp, everything is

fine.

>i don't know about you, but i always over fill my tubes.

I also overfill the tubes. These air pockets aren't just pockets, they pop!

Not like a sink hole, it looks more like a little explosion occured...this is so

funny. Well, I will just pour at the lower temps and I have ordered some

beeswax to get back to my normal formulation with the next batches.

>i'm curious about why you would suddenly develop a side air pocket

when you didn't have them previously...different pouring technique,

different lip balm tube manufacturer, who knows.

Me too...I thought of all that too...just having a time of it with figuring it

out...right now, doing great pouring at between 130 and 150 degreesF!

Thanks for the recipes!!!

Cheryl

---

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).

Version: 6.0.332 / Virus Database: 186 - Release Date: 3/6/02