In hindsight, I poured the wax too warm. And, judging from the chemical smell coming from the brown colored part, I used too much color as well. Whoops.
The candles are cost about around $2.63 each to make (not counting labor or overhead). That's the price of a latte and is worth trying to save.
The price break down for the $2.63 is below:
12 oz. wax $.83
container $.50
wick $.09
fragrance 1 oz. per pound $1.19
color (10 drops per pound) $.02
The theory is that that by heating the wax up, in the container, the slow and gentle cool down would keep the cracking to a minimum and save the candle. The photo below is the candle in a gentle warm water bath.
I'm not sure what happened. The melting down went easily and smooth. I let the candles harden up, in the water bath, so that they cooled slowly. I believed that this slow harden would keep the cracking to a minimum.
This slow cool down did keep the cracking to a minimum. However, what came in its place was worse than the cracking. Notice the strange pitted look?
Undaunted, I tried again. Maybe it it was just excess air that had somehow gotten trapped under the wick? Alas, the second try turned out worse than the first. The pitting is the size of a mini crater and the uneven texture brings to mind the pockmarked faces of '40s movie villains.
I still have cracked candles but the good news is that the cracked candles burn just as nicely as the "fixed" candles! Here's the test burn; other than minor wick centering problems, both candles are burning cleanly and easily.
The moral of the story is sometimes well enough should be left alone; and, that ugly burns just the same as pretty.
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