Wax filtering problem

[kbee]

I am having trouble filtering my cappings. I melted them with some water in a double boiler and tried to filter the mix through fabric(an old Tee shirt)and it worked fairly well but there was still some flecks of debris in the wax. I had read here that paper towels or coffee filters could be used for cleaner wax. When I tried both each time the wax just sat on top of the filter material and hardened. A little wax/water mix came through but not very much. How do you guys get clean wax?

[JohnBeeMan]

i went to fabric store and got some merterial used for making curtain sheers. I got the finest weave that they had. I warpped a peice around the wax just before putting it into the solar melter and this worked great.

I have seen others talk about using panty hose but I was afraid the wife would object.

I would be wary of old tee shirts or other cottens as it may let cotton fibers into the wax.

[kbee]

John, Thanks. Did the material you used keep all the junk out of the wax? I'm tryig to get the cleanest wax I can to make candles.

[JohnBeeMan]

After the wax setup over the small water bath in bottom of the pan, there was no noticeable dirt on the bottom of the wax cake. All other times I have render wax this was the dirtiest spot.

[D. Murrell]

Hi Guys,

Go to a commercial kitchen supply store and get some grease(cooking oil filters). They're about $10 for 50 of them.

They're stout and remove moisture and all debris. Your beeswax will be clean enough for candles that don't pop, smoke or become hard to light.

Regards
Dennis

[Ravenseye]

I use a sheet of the "Rag in a Box" product by Scott. I place this across the pan in my solar wax melter and hold it on with an elastic. If the wax has moisture in it, especially too much honey, the wax floats on top and won't pass through. The wax should be fairly clean and dry. I rinse it out and let it dry before I melt and filter. The "Rag in a Box" paper is thicker and flatter than regular paper towels and I think it does a much better job filtering. I always have a box or two in the garage or the barn so it's like having filters on hand all the time.

[kbee]

Dennis, Are the grease filters much different than coffee filters? I've tried them and still had problems with getting the wax to go through before it cools. Ravenseye, Maybe in a solar melter the temp stays high enough long enough for the wax to get through the filter material. So far it has been alot of work to get a relatively small amount of clean wax.

[mike haney]

the trick is in a solar heater the temp. dosen't drop as it is filtering, when you take the pot off the stove the temp drops immediatly

[D. Murrell]

Hi KBee,

Yes, the filters are completely different. I've tested a few coffee filters as well as paper towels which were designed for water. And I quickly rejected both. Flow through was very poor. They plugged up quickly. Or failed to filter out most of the pollen.

Try a grease filter and you will be amazed at the difference, both in the process and in the finished product.

I make large diameter container candles. These use a heavy wick which burns for a long time. Even a slight amount of impurities in the beeswax will accumulate in the wick and cause popping, smoking and eventually the wick becomes very hard to light.

I tried all kinds of filter material, multiple filtering, water baths, solar melters, etc. without a good fix until trying the grease filter. It eliminated all the problems and the hassle.

And it's designed for safely filtering hot, deep fat fryer oil which is alot like melted beeswax.

Regards
Dennis

[kbee]

Dennis, Do you let the melted wax drip through the grease filter or do you have some sort of forced system ie. a pump? If it's a drip system how do you keep the wax liquid as it goes through the filter? My wax starts through but cools and hardens before it all gets through the filter.

[honeyman46408]

"Try a grease filter and you will be amazed at the difference, both in the process and in the finished product"

Thanks Dennis
I just tried them last week and they are the best I have found , about 8 bux for 50 and for another 8 or 9 I got the rack that holds the filter so for around $20 you have a nice way to clean the wax!

[deb_bee]

Where did you find the grease filters? I tried looking in a local kitchen store without any success... I would like to try these, too.

Thanks,
Debbie

[JohnK and Sheri]

I use the grease filters also, they work great.
I get them at a local restaurant supply outfit, they can be purchased online also.

Kbee, are you trying to put the water and the wax together through the filter?
Try letting the wax set up over the water then take it off the water. Most of the impurities fall off into the water, you can then scrape any debris off the bottom of the cake. Then melt just the wax and filter it. If your wax isn't going through the filter it is not hot enough. Use a thermometer and heat the wax to 150 - 170 degrees.
Sheri

[kbee]

Sheri, Yes I have been pouring the wax/water mix through the filter material. I haven't measured the temp but I use an old crock pot with a dial that goes to 300 degrees. I haven't set it that high but the water in the pot boils well. In the pot I have a smaller pan with the wax/water mix. The mix temp must be at least 150. I will try the grease filters. Thanks to all. Ken

[honeyman46408]

Where did you find the grease filters? I tried looking in a local kitchen store without any success... I would like to try these, too.

Thanks,
Debbie


I got mine @ "Gordons Food Service"

http://www.gfsmarketplace.com/

[kc in wv]

In my experience the trick with any filter is to have the filter hot also. Otherwise making contact with the filter causes cooling and clogging.

[berkshire bee]

You can also try filtering cloth from Betterbee. I've used it and it works great.They sell 68 mesh for $4.95/1sq yd and 100 mesh for candles @ $5.95 /sq yd The 100 gives you very clean wax,the cloth is re-usable and one square yard goes a long way. I'm sure a local fabric store may have a similar item

[honeyman46408]

I got mine @ "Gordons Food Service"

http://www.gfsmarketplace.com/

OK folks I got a PM from sone one that could not find the filters so I looked a little farther and found the web site of the Co that sells them (or makes them ? )

http://www.continentalcommercialproducts.com/prodfam.php?ID=1

[ScadsOBees]

Anytime you are filtering wax, you need to run through a lot of it at a time or at least find some way to keep it warm. If you just try pouring it through, it will harden quickly. For some reason when I pour through water and wax togather, it doesn't work for me. I think because they don't mix, globules of the water will hang out in the filter and the wax can't get through.

I find that a lot of the "stuff" in the wax can be carmelized honey, and can be solved with some extra water in the mix.

Rick

[beemandan]

I cycle my cappings wax through my solar melter twice. The first time without any filtering. I then pour off the honey beneath the wax cake....I save it and feed it back to the bees during winter. After pouring off the honey I scrape most of the crud off the bottom of the wax. I put the cake in an old 'clean' cotton sock and put that into the melter. Its a bit tedious but works and is a good way to use my old worn out cotton socks. The filtered wax looks great.

[Ben Brewcat]

Or for the second running, keep the filter in a warm oven. It'll keep the wax from cooling and plugging it up.

[kbee]

Ben, That might work but the only oven I have access to is in the kitchen. I have been banished from the kitchen when doing anything with wax. She has a point, I still can't get all the wax drips out of the hardwood floors. In my defense they need to be refinished anyway. Ken

[berkshire bee]

My wife gave me a couple of those wooden hoops made for embroidery. I made a double filter using a couple of 9" buckets from the local supermarket bakery free for the asking. Here are some photos. The nice part is you go from dirty wax to ready to use in one melting. The filters are made from the filter cloth available at betterbee 68 and 100 mesh, no need to heat them, and after they cool the dirty stuff just peels off so they can be used over and over. The hoop diameters were 9" for the upper coarse and 8" for the lower fine filter

cut the top 4 inches off one bucket. drill holes and run 2 cross wires 2" down and in just far enough to hold the smaller hoop
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x222/berkshirebee/beeswax/IM000663.jpg

small fine filter sets on the wires
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x222/berkshirebee/beeswax/IM000664.jpg

coarse filter sets on top
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x222/berkshirebee/beeswax/IM000666.jpg

[berkshire bee]

The filter holder sets perfectly on a clean empty bucket. Melt the wax in the presto pot, open the valve and the first filter catches the big stuff and the small one cleans it up nicely.

Here's the finished 6 plus pound block of wax ready to use later. If you want to use it right away, just filter it into your pouring pot
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x222/berkshirebee/beeswax/IM000667.jpg

Here are some blocks of wax moled for sale
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x222/berkshirebee/beeswax/IM000669.jpg

[Jeffrey Todd]

Hi Berkshire bee,

That is a nice set-up you have. I love the fact that it is one-step and that the filters are re-usable. And your wax looks great.

Jeffrey

[Jim Fischer]

Wow, that's a nice set-up Berkshire.

But one need not construct such an impressive tool
for a small amount of wax.

A two-stage filter for small-scale wax processing can be
fabricated out of the recycling bin with little expense, effort,
or delay. Here's what I did in 5 minutes with "stuff that was
lying around" for a friend who is a first-season beekeeper
with only a little wax to work.

The idea is that the first stage traps the bulk of the slumgum
that will clog the fine filter.

First, toss the cappings into a large pan, dishpan, whatever,
and wash the heck out of it with warm water, to get all
the remaining honey out. While the water is running into
the pan and overflowing into the sink, rummage around
for the following:

Filter: Metal window screen, a pair of tights, panty hose, or stockings,
a soda can, and a plastic 1.75 liter liquor bottle. (2-liter soda bottles might
be useful here, but they have curved bottoms, while the liquor bottle
has a nice flat bottom

Double Boiler: A big can, a bigger pot, and a woodworker's clamp.
(The clamp keeps the can from tipping over in the boiling water.)

As shown in this photo,
http://bee-quick.com/tricks/waxworks.jpg (http://bee-quick.com/tricks/waxworks.jpg)
assemble your double-boiler, cut the top off the soda can, cut the top
off the plastic bottle to make a "funnel", and wash everything to
remove any residues of soda, booze, and/or soup.

Put some water in the double boiler, and heat to a boil. Toss some
SHREDDED wax in the can, wait for it to melt, add some more until
you get enough to make a nice "hockey puck" in the soda can.
(Shredded wax melts quicker, so tear or cut into small chunks, about
what you'd do when chopping an onion.)

Assemble the filter while waiting for the wax to melt, the soda
can goes into the body of the plastic bottle, the funnel tip goes
into the can (make sure that the tip of the funnel is IN the can,
so the can won't move from under the funnel when you pour wax),
put some stocking over the funnel, and lay a cut hunk of the
window screen over the stocking in the funnel.

When the wax is liquid, pour contents of can into filter,
and use a plastic spoon or wooden chopstick to stir the
lump of slumgum gently to get out any wax trapped in
the slumgum.

If the screen gets "full" of slumgum, dump it into a trash
bag, or replace the entire hunk of screen with more.

Set the soda can aside for cooling, when about half full,
repeat the process with more wax and another soda can.

When cool, cut the soda can away from the wax, but
do this over the sink, as there can be some liquid
water below the wax in the can.

In short order, you have decent wax that can be used.
Some residues may be found at the bottom of the wax
"hockey pucks", just scrape it off.

The "hockey pucks" should be shredded with a cheese shredder
when being remelted for making into whatever one is making.
(Large hunks of wax take forever to melt.)

In the photo, from left to right in the back, we have the ad-hoc
double-boiler, a chopped soda can, the funnel, and the bottle base.
Some used window screen with nasty-looking slumgum is in front
of the bottle base, and nice clean "hockey pucks" of wax are in
the foreground. Not bad for less than an hour's work total, given
that we used whatever happened to be lying around.

The best part is that all the "messy" components are disposable,
so there's no waxy build-up to clean up, and no bulky stuff to store. :)

[Jim Fischer]

Addendum to the above - While it may be temping to drink the last
of the whiskey in the bottle to obtain an empty bottle, recall that
you will be handling wax in proximity to a heat source, and do not
want to add alcohol to the mix. :)

In fact, makes sure a fire extinguisher of the CO2 foam type
is around. Water won't do much to put out a wax fire.

[berkshire bee]

Darn Jim, I don't drink liquor or wear panty hose:) so I had to use what I had around which were the buckets and old wooden hoops. I do use window screen in my solar wax melter to get the big stuff out, and of course the idea for the pot came from someone here on beesource. What a great place and bunch of people. I hope everyone makes at least some kind of donation to the site.