Melting Carnuba

[hoyt66]

Before I read Mike P's tip on using your wrench to "butter" your pad with wax I tried to knock out my Souveran wax and accidently busted it all up. I seen guys use a

candle melter but I don't have one so I tried a microwave. One thing I would do different is to use a "thick" glass measuring cup instead of a glass which got really

hot. I heated it up on high for 3 minutes. I used it on my wifes car and it seemed to be normal in every aspect...consistency,removal and of course the glossy look.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/uploads/34296/melt_1.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/uploads/34296/melt_2.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/uploads/34296/melt_3.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/uploads/34296/melt_4.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/uploads/34296/melt_5.jpg

And when I finished playing with the wax I rescreened the patio door:props:

[Flash Gordon]

That pretty cool

Did you stink up the house?

[hoyt66]

That pretty cool

Did you stink up the house?

Actually no. Hardly no smell. No one would probably ever need to do that but if ya did.....there ya have it.......

[oldmodman]

When I remelt wax I use a double boiler. I don't want the wax to get too hot. Just barely liquid. One time I had seven almost empty cans with just crumbs in them and when I got done I had another half a can.

And I like the smell too.

[umi000]

A point on safety to consider - the solvents in most waxes are flammable, and I would surmise that there is a possibility of flash-igniting some of the evaporated solvent while you are melting the wax in the microwave. The generally recommended method, as oldmodman mentioned, is to use a double-boiler. Alternatively, you can use a similar method to what Dodo Juice recommends for mixing their homebrew kit - wax in a glass jar (such as a Pyrex container) inside a kettle with water.

[opie_7afe]

if your already melting the wax minds well clean out a deodorant bottle and pour wax into that for easy machine application, like griots carnauba stick, did it with some megs cleaner wax.

[Ron Atchison]

Great idea Matt!!

[KneeDragr]

Next time throw some Fk1000p in there to increase durability!

[Flash Gordon]

Wonder if its safe to breath the fumes?

[KneeDragr]

Wonder if its safe to breath the fumes?

Probably not on a routine basis, the solvents are likely carcinogens if inhaled, but I seriously doubt short term exposure will do anything. If you worked in a factory where they were melting the stuff in front of you every day, Id be more concerned.

[HellDemon]

Next time throw some Fk1000p in there to increase durability!

Haha isn't FK1000p a "hi-temp" sealant-wax? I'm assuming the "hi-temp" means it is less likely to begin melting at 100oC (if you use a double boiler)?

I definitely wouldn't suggest throwing that stuff in a microwave though, its odour reeks heavily of solvents, and I'm almost certain that it will, on some level, contaminate your microwave and affect the food that you put in there.

[hoyt66]

A point on safety to consider - the solvents in most waxes are flammable, and I would surmise that there is a possibility of flash-igniting some of the evaporated solvent while you are melting the wax in the microwave. The generally recommended method, as oldmodman mentioned, is to use a double-boiler. Alternatively, you can use a similar method to what Dodo Juice recommends for mixing their homebrew kit - wax in a glass jar (such as a Pyrex container) inside a kettle with water.


Great point. Thanks. Thank God it didn't ignite.

[jdscooby]

Probably not on a routine basis, the solvents are likely carcinogens if inhaled, but I seriously doubt short term exposure will do anything. If you worked in a factory where they were melting the stuff in front of you every day, Id be more concerned.

Only in the state of California :xyxthumbs:

[SkateForGirl]

Does your microwave tell you how long it should be to melt wax on the bottom too? :)

Thanks for sharing this. I may try and melt some and pore into one of my completely used deodorant sticks like Matt said. Thanks for the ideas guys.

[opie_7afe]

do it skate, i sent rzatch and bigpat some m16 poured into old glue stick containers as random free samples. theres a certain way you pour wax into the deodorant containers, if you have the plastic cap thing that goes under the cap to protect the stick itself use that and you can fill it upside down(like they do at the factory) but i just filled it top down, im sure when i run out there will be some extra in the bottom of it, but works so great to apply it to pads if its in a can you cant remove the wax from, or ill pour some into a small say 40ml jar that i can remove the wax out of and use that like mike P shows in some of his videos, then i dont need to worry about a whole tin melting in this SC heat when im on a detail,(but usually i have a cooler with me so not too big of a deal) heck i dont even use the megs cleaner wax ill trade it for some onr v3