Hi,
I have various bits and pieces of wax that I have been testing out. If I wanted to melt these down and remould into a single block, are there any maximum temperatures, times etc I need to be aware of?I had been trying in a bain marie (or however you write it) - like you do for melting chocolate and it seems ok, but I am not sure if high temperatures affects the ingredients / performance in any way.
Any thoughts?
Cheers
JC
I’d use pots you don’t plan to use for cooking anymore, or large tin cans. Whichever you choose, use a “double boiler” set up: place the vessel with the wax in it into a vessel with water in it and then boil the water to melt the wax. You’ll be far less likely to start a stove fire or get spattered with scalding hot wax than you would if you put the wax container directly on the flame.
That’s how we used to melt canning paraffin for a “base coat” back in the early '60s.
Cheers - this is exactly how I did it. Just wondered if I need to worry about it getting too hot in the process or heating or cooling too quickly ?
Ahhh: never heard of a “bain marie” before, but I guess that’s what it is…
As far as “too hot” or “cooling too fast”…y’got me there. When we did it, it was just Paraffin. Nowadays, God knows what’s in the stuff: some kind of chemical for scent? Beeswax or it’s equivalent to soften it up? Pharomones? Only Mr. Zog knows for sure.
Cheers - yeah who knows ! maybe I should start my own with the basics only !
I tried it and it seems ok, but now is a bit softer that it was before …
If you save you old wax you can re-melt it and most of the dirty sandy stuff will fall to the bottom during the drying process. Its a great trick, for people who have ding repair shops, and clean the wax off a bunch of boards. Wax works well too, but it doesn’t have much color nor scent after the process. The double boiler and a plastic container for the wax is all you need.