I am going to wax a few bottles of a bourbon barrel aged vanilla RIS. I plan on putting a can in a pot of water, slowly melting the wax and dipping in the cap side about an inch in. Any advice? How long to actually dip it in the wax?
Take a soup can and direct fire it. I can't remember the timing, but it will be much quicker. We used the crayon + glue stick method found here (so there was a little waiting time to mix and make sure it blended)- http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/hot-glue-bottle-wax-experiment-127485/ We used a soda can on the burner, but they are a little flimsy - I say go soup can. Dip once, pull out and let it run. If you double dip, you get wired layers (like a couple in the below photo). Our final product I did notice cracking though, but they look damn cool. The glue seems to keep a nice sheen and the wax is more rubbery. I can use a bottle opener to dig into it and pop the bottle still fairly easy. I actually bought a couple packs of these crayons. They are larger - maybe twice the size of a standard crayon and handy because you can get all just one color. Of course, you could by the regular multi-color packs if you want different colors (mixing like colors if need be).
I also used this method. I used vice grips to hold the soda can. The results are good enough to never want to purchase the real wax.
I am very interested in this method! After reading the write-up they claim that you will need the ratio of 20:12 glue sticks to crayons. Will all of that fit in one 12oz aluminum can?
Just split it up as needed. 5:3, glue to crayons to start. I think that should fit. Then you can kinda just add it in those increments. I doesn't have to be an exact science.
