Andrea's Review	Catherine's Review	Chris's Review	Rebecca's Review	Karen's Review

Review by Andrea

Soy Wax, a great addition to your Melt Art stash of supplies!

As we have seen while traveling through the wonderful world of Melt Art this month, there are many types of projects and supplies that can be used for creating some really terrific items. While Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) often comes to mind first when mentioning Melt Art, we must not forget other mediums that offer just as much as UTEE for your melt art projects. Many of the tools like the Melting Pot, Project Pans, Non-Stick Craft Sheet and Kool Toolz are still perfect to use when working with the other mediums. We are going to cover using wax in Melt Art, more specifically Soy Wax.

Dharma Trading Co. is well known for their "Fiber Art supplies & clothing blanks" which we don't see much in scrapbooking. BUT, one of the most interesting products they have, Soy Wax Flakes, is terrific for Melt Art! We received a one pound clear plastic bag full of these white flakes for the review. No information was included with the product, so some investigation on their web site lead to the product facts. This soy wax is meant to be used as an alternative to paraffin wax for batik. In a nutshell, wax is placed on the fabric is the desired pattern. Dye is added then the wax is removed leaving the original fabric color to be visible. Wax is also known as a resist. So, what does this have to do with scrapbooking and melt art?

Many of today's well-known crafters (MaryJo McGraw, Tim Holtz and Suze Weinberg for instance) use wax when paper crafting. Beeswax is often the wax of choice to "glue down" 3-D items, add dimension and texture or even to stamp into it leaving a debossed image. Dharma Trading's soy wax has advantages over the traditional beeswax:

• lower melting point
• stays liquid longer for longer work time
• white color
• little to no smoke or fumes when heating
• little to no smell
• easy clean-up with hot soapy water

I was anxious to try the product, so the Melting Pot came on and the wax went in! I used a Project Pan for the wax and found that it melted in the 140 degree range. It melted to a clear liquid and stayed that way even when the lid was off the pot while working on the projects. There was no odor or fumes which I really appreciated! I was inspired by MaryJo McGraw and her work with wax on the Exploring Art Materials DVD when I originally watched it, but had never had the chance to try the projects using wax. This was it! Now was the time! I was able to work effortlessly with the soy wax to produce a similar result to MaryJo's card project on the DVD. Unfortunately the picture doesn't do the piece justice, but you can get an idea of the dimensional elements by looking at the Scrabble tiles!

Title: Collaged "HI" Card
Products used: Patterned Paper (Hambly Screen Prints)
Soy Wax Flakes (Dharma Trading)
Melting Pot and Project Pan (Ranger)
Ephemera (Suze Weinberg, Instant Art Book)
Embellishments (various)
Design Inspiration (PageSage, MaryJo McGraw - Exploring Art Materials DVD)

My next project was a fun one to play around with some cute molds I found in the clearance section at a local craft store. The guest bathroom at my house needed some sprucing up, so I created a dish of decorator soaps using the soy wax. Small metal flakes were added to the molds before the wax was poured in to add a little extra sparkle. The wax easily poured from the Melting Pot's spout to fill each mold. Again, clean-up was easy. After about 20 minutes, the wax was set. It came out easily from the plastic cavities, perfectly formed into shells! A little application of metallic rub-ons helped the mold detail come out better. What a great addition to the guest bath!

Title: Decorator Soap
Products used: Soy Wax Flakes (Dharma Trading)
Molds (Wilson)
Melting Pot and Project Pan (Ranger)
Metallic Rub-ons (Craf-T)
Metal Flakes (unknown)

There are many additional projects that I have in mind for the soy wax, so check the Dharma Trading Gallery occasionally to see what's popping up in there. If you've ever worked with wax before, I bet you would really enjoy this soy wax. The fact that there is no unpleasant odor is enough to sell me on it! Clean-up is a breeze too. When you're ready to branch out and try something a little different, consider Dharma Trading's Soy Wax. It does add that unique touch to your melt art projects!

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Review by Catherine

Dharma Soy Wax is a product that is totally new to me. I have heard of other types of wax, particularly beeswax, for crafting, but had never heard of using Soy Wax for crafting. So, when I received the Dharma Soy Wax, I decided to use it as I would beeswax, for collage type projects, or altered items. It wasn’t until after I had completed my project that I learned that Dharma Soy Wax is traditionally used for batiking fabric.

There are no instructions on the packaging of the Dharma Soy Wax Flakes. The Soy Wax Flakes come in a very large, clear, plastic baggie, with the words Soy Wax on it. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to use the Soy Wax in the place of beeswax or encaustic wax, but I decided to give it a shot. As I was using the Soy Wax Flakes on my project, I noticed a few things. First, the soy wax goes very far when you are using it for collage projects. I was able to complete two different projects with very little product. Also, that there is absolutely no scent when melting or using the wax. The wax seems to be a little “softer” than beeswax, and takes a lot longer to harden.

I made two projects using the Dharma Soy Wax flakes. The first is found in the Dharma Gallery folder. For my second project, I decided to go a little out of my comfort zone and create an altered miniature dress form. I’ve had this wooden dress form sitting, waiting to be altered for some time, and I have directions for altering a dress form using beeswax. So, I decided to try the soy wax in place of beeswax. I’ve only used beeswax once, so I really can’t compare the two very well, but I believe that the Soy Wax takes longer to harden than the beeswax does, making it a little more difficult to use as an adhesive. However, I love the overall look of the project once it did harden.

 

Create Wax Doll
Products used:
Patterned Paper (Foofala; 7gypsies)
Melting Pot (Ranger)
Wax (Dharma Soy Wax Flakes)
Tools (Ranger - Kool Toolz)
Craft Sheet (Ranger)
Flowers (Doodlebug Designs)

I’ve enjoyed using the Dharma Soy Wax, and I will definitely continue to experiment with it. Now that I know that it can be used as a resist for batiking, I will definitely try it out. If you like experimenting with different mediums and different techniques, I suggest you get some of the Soy Wax Flakes and see what you can do with it!

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Review by Chris

I have used melted wax a few different times in my crafting career. I have made batik fabric using paraffin; I have made candles, also using paraffin; and I have created altered canvases using melted beeswax. When I learned that I would be reviewing soy wax flakes, I was intrigued. I was anxious to see how the soy compared with the paraffin and beeswax.

I received a one pound bag of white Soy Wax flakes from Dharma Trading Company. The wax arrived with no instruction so I turned to the Dharma website for some help. There I found an information page which answered all of my questions. According to Dharma, the Soy wax melts at a lower temperature than paraffin or beeswax, and melts with no fumes. It stays in its liquid state longer, allowing for more working time. It is a renewable resource (as is beeswax) and biodegradable. They even claim you can dispose of it down your plumbing (use the washing machine to remove it from batik fabric) without worry. After reading all this, I was anxious to get started.

I poured a couple scoops in my Ranger Melting Pot with a project pan, and set the temperature to approximately 180 degrees. After several minutes, the wax melted into a clear liquid. The next thing I noticed was that there were no fumes and no odor. This was a pleasant change from my experience with beeswax which has an odor that I do not care for and paraffin which has to get very hot to melt and can produce fumes. The lower melting temperature is also an advantage in the event that wax gets on your fingers. It does not burn as badly as the hotter waxes can.

I was inspired by the Expressions on Canvas section of Tim Holtz’s The Journey Continues DVD to create an altered canvas. I prepared my canvas by inking it with several colors of Ranger Distress Inks. To seal the inks, I painted the entire canvas with the melted soy wax. This wax went on smoothly without clumping. Again I was impressed by the absence of an odor. I also used the wax to adhere my paper elements to the canvas. The extended time that the wax remained liquid was really helpful as I positioned my papers. I love the texture and dimension that the wax gives this project.

After altering the wooden letters using Tim Holtz’s “peeled paint” technique, I brushed them with a thin coat of the melted soy wax to further distress and age them. The wax dulls the finish and gives the letters a nice aged look.

Mom canvas
Products used: Inspired by The Journey Continues with Tim Holtz (PageSage)
Canvas (Canvas Concepts)
Wax (Dharma Trading, Soy Wax Flakes)
Ink (Ranger, Distress Ink)
Patterned paper: (Design Originals, Collage Papers; Li’l Davis, Tickets)
Memory Glass (Ranger)
Embossing Powder (Sugarloaf, Whispers, copper)
Chipboard letters (Li’l Davis)
Film Strip (Tim Holtz)
Paint (Ranger, Adirondack acrylic)
Adhesive (Ranger, Glossy Accents)

Once I had my soy wax melted, I decided to try the batik technique on paper. For this project, I used watercolor paper and distress inks. I applied my wax to my stamps using 3 different methods: dipping the stamp straight into the wax, painting the stamp with wax using a paint brush, and using a synthetic sponge dipped into the wax and then tapping the stamp. The first method placed too much wax on the stamp, as did the second. The sponge worked extremely well, applying enough wax to give me a good image but not too much which would result in a puddle.

Using several stamps, I stamped the white paper with wax. Once the wax was cooled, I inked the paper and wax images with Dried Marigold Distress Ink. Then I stamped wax flowers onto the inked paper, overlapping some of the previous flowers. I then inked the entire paper with a slightly darker ink, Spiced Marmalade. I continued layering wax flowers and inking the paper until my final inking layer, which was black. Then it was time to iron. The soy wax, which did not come off the paper during the inking process, was extremely easy to remove when ironed. I simply placed layers of white tissue paper beneath and on top of the batik paper and used a hot, dry iron. I have ironed paraffin wax from fabric before, and I can tell you that the soy wax is much easier to work with and to remove. The final results with the soy wax are as good if not better than with the paraffin.

Happy Birthday card
Products Used: Watercolor paper
Wax (Dharma Trading, Soy Wax Flakes)
Ink (Ranger, Distress Ink; Printworks, Outliner)
Stamps (Sugarloaf, See D’s, Occasional Twirl; Hero Arts, Fashion Blooms, Pop Blossoms)

The Soy Wax from Dharma Trading is a great innovation in wax. The flake form makes it easy to measure out just the right amount and to add more to the melting pot as necessary. Its lower melting temperature and the fact that it stays in its liquid state longer than other waxes, combined with the fact that there is no odor and it is environmentally friendly, definitely make it my wax of choice for batik and other melted wax projects.

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Review by Rebecca

I am familiar with soy sauce, soy milk and soy beans but I've never heard of soy wax. After a little internet research I found that Soy Wax is used to make soy candles and used to batik but I did not find any information about using soy wax in scrapbook art. I was familiar with using beeswax with altered art projects so I decided to use the soy wax in this manner.

For my review I received a bag of white wax flakes with a sticker that read "Soy-125" on it. From my instructions, I knew that this was Dharma Soy Wax. However, without any instructions for this product I decided to just experiment.

I warmed up my Ranger Melting Pot to about 120 degrees as the instructions for the melting pot stated that wax should be melted between 100 and 140 degrees. The soy wax flakes melted quickly in the melting pot and I was ready to get creative!

For this first project I decorated the cover of a tin with patterned paper, a photo and sequins. I used the soy wax by brushing on a layer, placing my item and then brushing more wax over it. As my project dried I noticed that in some areas where I had a thicker layer of wax it dried white instead of being transparent as it did in areas with a thinner layer of wax. The wax did dry with a smooth finish and it was hard to the touch. Running a fingernail over the finished product did leave a scratch but basic handling did not do any damage.

ABC's of Me Tin
Products used:
Tools (Ranger: Melting Pot, Kool Toolz, Non-Stick Craft Sheet)
Dharma Soy Wax
Tin, Sequins, Label (Poppy Ink Monthly Kit Club)
Die Cut Flower (Spellbinders)
Patterned Paper (American Crafts, Chatterbox)
Metallic Rub-Ons (Craf-T Products)

My second project was a small canvas collage inspired by a demonstration on the T2G DVD, "Melt Art Made Easy with Suze Weinberg". I used the same technique as in the first project of layering wax, paper and finally wax. I tried to make my layers of wax thinner than in the first project. As the canvas dried I did notice that in some areas my paper looked slightly transparant and in others my paper still looked white. I think this was due to the variations in the amount of wax I had intially spread on the canvas. After I was done creating it was easy to clean up all the tools I had used and my work surface.

Collage Canvas
Products used:
Tools (Ranger: Melting Pot, Kool Toolz, Non-Stick Craft Sheet)
Dharma Soy Wax
Inspiration (T2G Melt Art Made Easy with Suze Weinberg)
Paint (Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers)
Ribbon (Tie One On Ribbon Club)
Die Cut Flower (Spellbinders)
Metallic Rub-Ons (Craf-T Products)

I always enjoy trying new products and new techniques and the Dharma Soy Wax was definitely new for me. The product was easy to work with but I do wish there had been directions, tips or a website I could refer to for using the wax with scrapbooking or altered arts. I think I might have to learn a new craft to experience the full benefits of the Dharma Soy Wax.

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Review by Karen

To be totally honest, I know little about wax or how to use it. I have only seen it used in one way—as a glue for items on a canvas, which I wasn’t too fond of. I have, however, used crayons to create “batik” type patterns and resists and they are made from wax, so using wax in this way shouldn’t be such a stretch right?

I’ll answer that question later on, but for now I want to start with some interesting facts I found out about soy wax. The most interesting fact I found dealt with the history of soy wax. This product was discovered by Michael Richards in 1991. WOW soy wax is a fairly new product. It was developed as an alternative to beeswax, a natural wax that is more costly than paraffin. As soy wax is created from a soy bean, it’s a natural product, but it cost much less to produce. Ok not to bore you but I find it cool that this product is so new to the market place and it’s all natural.

I also learned why it is better than beeswax in candle making or crafting applications. The first is that it melts at a much lower temperature, around 110 º F. This also means that clean up is much easier, as it only takes hot water and a little soap to break it down. Another interesting fact is that it takes soy wax longer to cool. This leads to longer burn time in a candle, and lower burning temperatures. I also found out that with a natural wax, like soy wax, there is less CO2 released when heated, which keeps “soot” to a minimum.

But what does this have to do with Scrapbooking with wax? Honestly, not a lot. But it did make me more interested in finding ways to incorporate soy wax into my projects. I started with the project showcased on the Melt Art Made Easy by T2G Productions. I painted a small canvas with acrylic paint and let it dry. While I waited for the wax to melt and the paint to dry I use the Instant Art book by Suze Weinberg to select several images which I wanted to use on my canvas. Once the paint was dry, I used my paint brush to paint on the wax. Honestly, it’s not my favorite creation ever, I just don’t like how the wax looks.

Title: Me canvas
Products used:
Canvas: 6" x 6" (Fredrix Art Canvas)
Paint: green (Making Memories)
Tools: Melting Pot (Ranger)
Collage images: Instant Art by Suze Weinberg (Ranger)
Wax: Soy Wax (Dharma)
Button: flower pin (Heidi Swapp)

To start my play time with the soy wax, I decided to return to my grade school days where we would use crayons to make “resist” print. Since the soy wax melts at such a low temperature I could almost finger paint my patterns. While I liked the idea that I could use the wax as a crayon resist, I wasn’t as happy with the results as I would have liked to have been. So, these attempts didn’t end up being used in a finish project.

Title: Resist example:
Products used:
Paper: Sew Paintable (Fredrix Art Canvas)
Wax: Soy Wax (Dharma)
Paint (Making Memories)
Stamps: flowers and circles (Making Memories)
Tools: Melting Pot (Ranger)

My second thought was batik. Again I headed out to the internet in search of directions or help in confirming that soy wax could be used for a batik type application. My suspicions were confirmed. Those who had tried soy wax with batik applications liked the results. In one account, the artist used a kitchen sponge to “stamp” patterns on her fabric and liked the results. I thought… um… kitchen sponge, eh? That is a lot like a foam stamp. And from there I played with foam stamps. To start I used inexpensive foam stamps or ones that of which I had a duplicate, in case it was a disaster that resulted in nothing but fodder for the trash can. I used a large paint brush and painted on the wax. Since the wax takes a while to dry I was able to get two, maybe three stamped images before I had to “re-ink”. After I stamped the images and they were dry I used Making Memories and 7gypsies paper dye to paint my papers. The papers I used are called “Sew Paintables” by Fredrix Art canvas, but I am sure that any paper would work. Once you have painted the paper and let it dry completely you need to iron off the wax to show the white below it. I think that this is my favorite step in the process because you finally get to see your creation. Here is my finished layout:

Title: Our vacation
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics)
Paper: Sew Paintable (Fredrix Art Canvas)
Stamps: foam (Making Memories) acrylic (Autumn Leaves, Sassafras Lass)
Digital Brush: Rhonna Farrer (www.twopeasinabucket.com)
Stamp ink: Pallet ink (Stewart Superior); dye ink (Stampin' Up!)
Flower sequins: Fab Flowers (Queen and Co.)
Brads: (American Crafts)
Tools: Melting Pot (Ranger)
Wax: Soy Wax (Dharma)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

Let’s talk clean up. This is my least favorite part of the creative process and often the reason that I don’t “try” or “play”. I really dislike the mess that some products make, and by all accounts soy wax had the potential to make a real mess. Or so I thought. I am pleased to tell you how wrong I was about what I thought would be a messy clean up this product. I worried that I would never get out all that sitting there in my melting pot. Several sites recommended never melting wax in a melting pot that would hold UTEE . Honestly, I was worried. I only have one pot. What if I ruined it? With a deadline ahead I really didn’t have time to worry. I had to work with this product, no matter the outcome. But in the end, a little kitchen soap and hot tap water was all I needed! The brush I used to paint with was actually harder to clean than the one that I used in the wax! The foam stamps came clean in that same kitchen sink of soapy water! I am truly excited about that!!

Well, all in all I am pleased with what the end results look like, but the process was long and hard on me. Maybe I entered this one with too much negativity, or with out much inspiration. But in the end, I am pleased with all I learned and tried. I am happy that clean up was a breeze and that the foam stamps I used were not ruined.

I asked if it was such a stretch for soy wax to be used in batik applications or for resist. I am happy to report that not only is it a perfect application for soy wax it’s also better than the traditional methods! It’s easier to clean, and easier to create! I wasn’t even worried when my children came to check out what was happening. I knew that, while the wax was hot (110 degrees F) it wasn’t so hot that I worried about them being hurt. While I think that I will go back to work with wax again, I can say that if you are interested in trying a wax based project then you are going to be much happier with a soy wax, rather than beeswax or paraffin wax.

For more information visit Dharma Trading Co.