Bayberry Candle Wax Update

I was just ordering a supply of bayberry wax (as we don't have the bushes to harvest from yet!) and came across someone on e-bay selling "PURE" bayberry wax
(see: http://cgi.ebay.com/9-Pound-Slab-PURE-Bayberry-Wax-Candle-Making-Supplies_W0QQitemZ150377142716QQcategoryZ134295QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26ps%3D63).


The ad has wrong information. It says bayberry wax can't burn by itself. Really? I guess all of those colonial people did it wrong, or just imagined the flame that came from the candles they made. Silly colonial and pioneer people!

The e-bay ad also said that since bayberry wax can't burn by itself, he "thinned" it with 30% "green candle wax". First, bayberry wax is naturally a light pine green (the top pic is the pic he had on his ad - obviously not green, even with his addition of "green candle wax" ... ... the second pic with this posting is real bayberry wax with the real natural light pine green color). Second, I've already pointed out that bayberry wax WILL burn by itself. Third, he has the wax listed as "pure" but pure is 100%, and therefore, he lied. Fourth, he said he thinned it with "green candle wax" ... uh, what kind of wax? Paraffin? Soybean? Beeswax? Stearic Acid? Geez. Again, she lied. She. He. Whatever. Mike Fleming is the seller.

Please be careful when buying candle wax. Don't trust sources who obviously don't know what they're talking about, and don't get sucked into lies. When in doubt, ask someone who makes LOTS of candles and has LOTS of experience.

I'll admit, that's not me. It's been years since I've made candles regularly, but I've kept up with info, and do my research.

We're making regular candles this weekend (from a candle-making kit using wax crystals). I'll try to remember to take pix.

Bayberry Candle Wax

Someone asked for info on how to harvest bayberries to make candle wax. (Pic of bayberry bush in Fall to the right.) Some basic info:

The berries of both American bayberry and English bog myrtle, when boiled in water, produce myrtle wax, which is composed of stearic, palmitic, myristic, and oleaic acids. This is used in making bayberry-scented soaps and bayberry candles, which are fragrant, more brittle than bees' wax candles, and are virtually smokeless. Four pounds of berries produce approximately one pound of wax. A briskly stimulating shaving cream was also made from this bayberry wax.


Updated Feb 2011: Understand the above pic is NOT bayberry, it's BARberry so I'm adding the following pic to this posting. Thanks Brighid!

The wax's modern medicinal uses were first discovered and came into use in 1722, and included the making of surgeon's soap plasters. The water that the berries were boiled in during wax extraction, when boiled down to an extract, has been used in the North Country of England and Scotland for centuries as a treatment for dysentery. Narcotic properties are also attributed to bayberry wax. Note: It can also cause miscarriages so be careful and completely research if you decide to take in bayberry.

Here are 2 good links about using bayberry for candles:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Bayberry-is-Natural-Wax&id=2036398

http://www.ehow.com/about_5037971_bayberry-wax-candles.html

http://www.ehow.com/about_5387793_bayberry-shrub.html

When making bayberry candles, be sure to keep the candle small, like the size of a tea-light or votive. OR dip a cotton wick in to make tapers. Making jar candles is really not a good idea, unless you have a LOT of practice! Bayberry wax can be a bit more brittle, and burns differently than most candles people are used to. Get samples of pre-made bayberry candles to get the gist.

Once we get our homestead found and bought, and us moved, we'll be planting lots of bayberry bushes. Can't wait!

Vinegar Vs Laundry Soap

I'd been thinking about alternates to laundry soap, and had started experimenting with making my own from usual products and things I can grow.

Not long ago, I decided to look into my car's trunk. It had been a while - still packed from the last time I'd moved. Big mistake. I should have emptied it a long while ago. I have a very old car, 1984, and at some point over the last year or so, the sealing around the trunk had loosened, or perhaps disintegrated. The year or so of rains and heavy snow had leaked into the trunk and ruined much of what was there. Some things had to be tossed, and some tools still have to be cleaned. I had a large bag of my clothing in it, now moldy, so decided to figure out if they were salvagable.

I did that today.

The moldy clothes went into the washer. All except for 1 that is hand clean only; that's for tomorrow. I filled the washer with cool water, and added vinegar (antiseptic, antibacterial). About a cup of vinegar. I did two cycles of it, then an extra rinse with just water.

The clothes are now hanging on our two bathroom's curtain rods, drying on hangers. They don't smell like vinegar (or soap!), but look and feel clean.

I'm learning how to make vinegar, plus I'm storing lots until I've gotten the hang of the process. Vinegar has lots of uses, both with cooking and cleaning. This is a definite skill I gotta have.

Learning How to Make Candles

When I was a kid, my mom and us girls would make candles during Christmas breaks. We'd melt the wax, add scent and color, pour into tomato paste cans, anxiously wait to unmold and trim wicks. I loved doing this project, and can't understand why I haven't gotten back to it.

I bought a kit to re-learn how last Winter. I did take it out of the box, but never did anything with it. A few months ago, I bought more supplies, including a big block of wax, some scents and colors. With our moving upheaval, I never got around to it.

This Winter, as we search for our permanent mini-farm/homestead, I WILL make candles. I'll start out with that big ole block of wax, but when we get settled on our mini-farm and get things going, I'll be harvesting bayberries and beeswax for wax, fiber from our angora bunny or from cotton plants for wicks, and natural scents and colors.

Any tips for making functional (not necessarily decorative) candles from home-grown and home-harvested products would be very much appreciated!

Dried Banana Slices Vs Bunny

I bought some dried banana slices recently to see if our Angora bunny would eat them if we were stuck indoors for a lengthy period of time (think blizzard or flu outbreak) and if we weren't able to get fresh raw veggies and fruit.

I'd been giving our bunny 1 or 2 dried slices a day. This morning, I gave her a handful. Do NOT ever do that! I'm gonna repeat that... DO NOT give a bunny more than 1 or 2 dried banana slices. Why?

Because it made her very VERY hyper! Before long, she was running circles around in her cage and panting heavily. I gave her a big bowl of water, talked calmly to her, let her out to thump and run around our home, and gave her space and time. And hay. Lots of hay.

It took about an hour (maybe a little more) before she stopped panting heavily and running around. She's calm now, but I can tell she remembers how she was feeling because of the bananas. Unfortunately, she would still eat some if I gave them to her.

We're holding back carrots, her usual evening treat, and just giving her spinach in addition to her pellets and hay. We'll return to fresh apple and banana slices tomorrow morning. I don't ever want to go through that again.

Lesson learned.