My 3 "Problem Lamps": Episode I

[Mobius]

Greetings,

I am a new member to this site, and a beginning collector. I'm hoping that the community here can give me some ideas about my 3 "problem lamps."


1st:
I have this Enchantress Planter (which I would love to find a wreath for, if anyone has one) that I found at an antique store for $10. The problem is, as you can see in the attached photo, that there are small specks in the lava. Most of these specks are white, but there are a few black ones as well. The flow is not very good either; it tends to stay in one "light-bulb" shape, which hovers near the center of the globe. After about 6 hours of use, the specks are not as noticable (I guess they all settle to the bottom of the wax), which coincides with an improvement of the lava flow. Any idea what these specks could be, or how I could get rid of them? Could I just pour the hot wax through a screen, and filter them out?

Thanks in advance,
~Mobius

More Episodes to come...