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For this same reason, I use a product made by Frankfort Arsenal. A little goes a long way. Everybody has their own favorite fluxing agent and a long time ago, I too used saw-dust. I also know a fella who use to use his kids old crayons. When I flux, I don't just drop it in and watch. I like to stir the pot in order to get a good mix. ....
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Paraffin is a good flux-er, it gets the dirt to the surface. It does return oxides to their metallic state. It does not remove contaminants from the lead alloy, like aluminum, iron, calcium and others, wood chips/sawdust does do that.
Anything that you use has to have carbon in it. Carbon is what does the reduction of tin, lead, and antimony oxides to return to the alloy as a solution. You MUST stir whatever flux you use to get the carbon under the surface of the metal. Or IOW to get the oxides in contact with the flux so it can do it's work.
If that FA product is a white powder in a tub, it's a boron compound similar to marveluxe. Marveluxe is like paraffin/wax, it's a great cleaner, but will actually REMOVE tin from the alloy, not what you want! Besides, it's hygroscopic, it'll soak up humidity from the air to hold it on any surface it's exposed to. A spoon used to stir the pot when using marveluxe will develop a black scum. When plunged into the hot metal, it'll explode with steam, possibly getting you burned. It'll also rust a steel pot overnight.
This stuff?¿
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/593...-compound-1-lb
I use sawdust,,,---period! It cleans as good as anything else, but also reduces tin and other valuable alloy components back into the alloy.