Wax dipping?

Anyone do this? Wax dip the top of the bottles for decorative purposes.

A friend and I attempted this with some wax we found at hobby lobby. This end result wasn't amazing. The wax itself is deceitfully transparent. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks

I have not done any wax dipping myself, but happened to have read some of this thread earlier that you should check out.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/hot-glue-bottle-wax-experiment-127485/

I've done this. The transparency issue, I've found, is related to the temperature of the wax when you dip it. The hotter it is, the thinner it is. Thus, the thinner the coating on your bottle will be. Try letting it cool some after melting, and testing the thickness with a toothpick or something. I used a wood skewer for barbecuing that you get in the bags of 100 each. Also - you may already have figured this out, but if you either tilt the bottle or the can when you dip, I find it looks more interesting than a flat/straight across coating. See my picture.

Thanks for the tip. And I agree the tilt looks better.

I have done this a few times, mixing hot glue sticks with crayons. Sticks well and no transparency issues. I think last time I used 2 parts hot glue to 1 part crayon. Same method as the link above.

For those who use crayon and glue sticks, has anyone had issues with crayon flavor? I wax imperial stout bottles using this method. One of the variants was aged on cranberries and raisins, as well as oak. I kinda get the feeling that the crayon flavor was actually from the fruit. The only reason why I say this is because it wasn't an issue with the other variants that were waxed. But, it would also be one hell of a coincidence considering this off flavor is exactly like crayon.

Maybe, just like how different food colorings can have different (chemical) flavors, the specific color of crayon imparted more crayon?
Since oxygen does get into the bottles over a long period of time, couldn't it carry with it some crayon particles?

I have never done wax dips but I've added plastic heat shrink wrap tops which normally go on wine bottles to beer bottles before. They looked pretty good and were easy peasy to install with my cheapo Harbor Freight heat gun.

hlmbrwng said:

Maybe, just like how different food colorings can have different (chemical) flavors, the specific color of crayon imparted more crayon?
Since oxygen does get into the bottles over a long period of time, couldn't it carry with it some crayon particles?

Click to expand...

I've thought about this to because crayons have a funny smell. I don't think it's possible for the air to penetrate the glue stick crayon mixture. I do think it's possible to get pieces of it in the beer when opening. So, what I do is put a piece of filament tape over the cap. Then dip leaving the tip of the tape exposed. They split just like baby bell mini-cheeses. I make sure to tell everyone to remove before opening the cap. I haven't had one bottle taste like crayons.