# Wax



## rob (Mar 22, 2013)

Who has tried wax to seal the top of their bottles? I would like to try but have no idea how to do it


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## Runningwolf (Mar 22, 2013)

Rob I use wax on all of my bottles. I have about ten different colors. I countersink the corks about a 1/4" and just pour warm wax into the void creating a button of wax on each bottle. The wax can be purchased at Presque Isle Wine Cellars. This is all I use anymore.


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## rob (Mar 22, 2013)

Thanks Dan, I was more going for a look where it would replace the shrink wrap and go down the sides 2inches???


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## Runningwolf (Mar 22, 2013)

The reson I do it like this is its real easy to clean and I wanted to expose my personalized corks. I bought a cheap hot plate for about $20 on Amazon and each time I went to Walmart I would buy a few very small sauce pans (teflon coated) for about $4.00 each. This way I had a pan for each color and never have to clean the pans out. This saves on waste. You could do the same thing and then just dip you bottle necks in the pan of wax. Once the wax is half melted in the pan, I turn it down to low and leave it there. You don't want it too hot or runny.


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## rob (Mar 22, 2013)

Thanks Dan, good tip on the pan! That might keep me out of the dog house


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## Abrnth3 (Mar 22, 2013)

I have been using an old popari warmer full of wax and dipping the tops in it a couple of times puts a nice coating. I kind of like the looks of the pvc shrink wraps better thow.


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## rob (Mar 22, 2013)

Abernathy, just noticed your from Mc Comb, I travel that area about once every 2 months, we will need to hook up and trade some wine


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## Runningwolf (Mar 22, 2013)

Abrnth3 said:


> I have been using an old popari warmer full of wax and dipping the tops in it a couple of times puts a nice coating. I kind of like the looks of the pvc shrink wraps better thow.


 
I agree, I personally do not like the look of bottles dipped. I also tried the soup can trick of putting it in a pan of boilng water and did not like that meathod at all.


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## rob (Mar 22, 2013)

The only reason I am doing this is because these bottles I used have a flange? About a 1/2 inch down from the top and the shrink wrap will not fit over it, and it is my own grape......not happy


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## vernsgal (Mar 23, 2013)

There are shrink wraps you can buy to fit the flanged bottles. They're a bit wider than the norm. If you have a lot of patience you can wiggle and stretch the normal ones on most timesI accidently bought 3 dozen flanged bottles and ran into the same problem. Now I just use them when I'm out of regular and just keep a few packs of the larger shrink wraps on hand.


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## FTC Wines (Mar 23, 2013)

Dan, I like your different colored wax idea, could use a diff color for each of my main wines. Question " how do you POUR the wax into the 1/4" headspace?" special spoon? Must be a simple way & not make a MESS. Roy


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## ibglowin (Mar 23, 2013)

I have collected some commercial stuff with Wax that I would love to emulate at some point. I have this one and really love the angled wax. It is very uniform as well. Very classy IMHO.


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## seth8530 (Mar 23, 2013)

If you read page 9 of my black currant port project, you can see the wax experiment I went through. I just simply used crayons and it worked out pretty well for me... This is is something I would recommend doing outside though because of the fumes.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f6/black-currant-port-30246/index9.html


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## Runningwolf (Mar 23, 2013)

FTC Wines said:


> Dan, I like your different colored wax idea, could use a diff color for each of my main wines. Question " how do you POUR the wax into the 1/4" headspace?" special spoon? Must be a simple way & not make a MESS. Roy


 
I just buy cheap spoons at Walmart and pour it in. Its very easy and as quick or quicker than capsules.



ibglowin said:


> I have collected some commercial stuff with Wax that I would love to emulate at some point. I have this one and really love the angled wax. It is very uniform as well. Very classy IMHO.


 
Mike that would be very easy to do. Just don't get the wax to hot or runny. I guess waxing like that almost reminds me of the Zork tops that I don't think ever really took off.


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## vacuumpumpman (Mar 23, 2013)

I countersink the corks about a 1/4" and just pour warm wax into the void creating a button of wax on each bottle. I use a spoon like others - I warm up the wax using a metal can over the stove holding it with a pair of vice grips. 

I did in the past dip the entire top in wax - it was a real pain in the A.. to get off in order to open the bottle and I go thru alot less wax this way also.


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## rob (Mar 23, 2013)

Well I tried the wax and It came out really nice. Dan your right about not getting it to hot, I had to let it cool for about 10 minutes. Really please with the look, a little pricey the wax was 16.00 and I am not sure how far it will go, looks like I used half of it on 30 bottles


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## ibglowin (Mar 23, 2013)

Pics please!


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## Runningwolf (Mar 23, 2013)

Here you go Mike. Doing the button on top is very easy, it pops off as soon as you hit it with the cork screw, leaves no residue and the best part is you can save them to reuse later. I bought a pound of each color and I do blend the primary colors to come up with another one I want like orange for my orange wine. I think our price is like $13 a pound.


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## rob (Mar 23, 2013)

I tried to add a photo, looks like it is different than what it use to be, I can upload the file and it shows up as an attachment but I can't get it to here.


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## Runningwolf (Mar 23, 2013)

Additionally, which ever meathod of waxing you chose, you could also get a embossing stamp to brand the top of the bottle. I do this for our ice wine at work and it's a real PITA. I will not do it at home.


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## rob (Mar 23, 2013)

Dan where can you get custom corks and how much are they


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## Runningwolf (Mar 23, 2013)

I buy mine from the place listed below. You can also do a search for there website. Since I started using them a few others here have also like Ibglowin. You have to 1000 minimum. There is a one time $100 fee to design and make the branding iron. The corks are high grade 1+1 and cost.13 each. I'm on my fifth bag of them.


LafitteCork and Capsule

45Executive Court

Napa,Ca 94558

707.258.2675


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## Polarhug (Mar 24, 2013)

Those wax buttons are super nice looking! Do they actually seal to the side of the bottle or just for decoration?


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## rob (Mar 24, 2013)

I wonder if It would be cheaper to melt down candles?


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## FTC Wines (Mar 24, 2013)

OK, I really like the wax button idea, BUT, how does it effect the cork/aging process? Does it slow down the aging in the bottle? Curious, Roy


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## vacuumpumpman (Mar 24, 2013)

FTC Wines said:


> OK, I really like the wax button idea, BUT, how does it effect the cork/aging process? Does it slow down the aging in the bottle? Curious, Roy



I use normac corks for the past 8 years plus with wax on the top of them - since the normac corks don't breath it shouldn't matter with the wax


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## Brew and Wine Supply (Mar 24, 2013)

rob said:


> I wonder if It would be cheaper to melt down candles?


 
cheese wax works well at about half the price of bottle wax. Its just a bit softer.


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## rob (Mar 24, 2013)

Your right about that, cheese wax is 6.99 a pound compared to 16.99. Do you know if it be as solid in color?


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## Runningwolf (Mar 24, 2013)

Now Doug that is just plain cheesy!  Wax at Preque Isle is 13.99 in all different colors and doesn't leave that cheesy taste. LOL I wonder if you can add a coloring to the Cheese wax to achieve the color you're looking for? The price is attractive.


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## Brew and Wine Supply (Mar 24, 2013)

The only cheese flavor comes from the cheese, not the wax

I have red, black and a yellow / clear. The last one you may be able to color.

here is a link to the red at $5.49lb http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=33_88&product_id=349


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## vacuumpumpman (Mar 24, 2013)

Brew and Wine Supply said:


> The only cheese flavor comes from the cheese, not the wax
> 
> I have red, black and a yellow / clear. The last one you may be able to color.
> 
> here is a link to the red at $5.49lb http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=33_88&product_id=349



I used a 50% of each cheese and bottle wax and it worked extremely well. Next time the ratio wil be more cheese wax because I reuse the same tin can


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