I agree with the learning curve B12. I am still struggling with getting my wax nice and clean. I melt the wax in water, then strain it through cheesecloth into a container to remove the debris, but the bottom of the wax still have some "gunk" in it. So, I struggle getting the wax pretty.
This is the process I use. There may be more efficient ways, but I am doing it on a very small scale. I place my cappings in an old large stock pot and add water. I heat until the cappings have melted and then I allow to cool completely. The wax will form a disc on top of the water. This disk, for me, is filled with debris. Then I use a double boiler and place broken pieces of the disc in it to melt again. Once melted, I then use an old sweat shirt, with the inside facing up, to strain the wax. Unless the wax is from old, old comb, it strains beautifully and is ready to pour into candle molds. I find that piece of sweatshirt is only good for one strain. I know some people use paint strainers, but the old sweatshirt does such a good job and it's using something that would have gone in the trash.
Recently I read that beeswax is selling for about $1.00 per ounce. While at a chain craft store this week, I priced beeswax blocks and they were $15.00 per pound. Our wax has value.
