Jcandleattic Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Am I the only person who doesn't prime my flat braid wicks for pillars? My zinc's for containers are primed because that's how I buy them, but my flat braids, I buy by the yard and just wick my mold (unprimed) pour and viola - wicked pillar with no muss! If I use wick pins, I will sometimes prime them with just the teeniest tiny amount of wax on the wick to make it easier to wick through the wick hole the wick pin left, but I rarely use wick pins anymore. I've been making candles since 1999, so am just curious what the benefits are for those of you that prime yours? For me, and my applications, I found it to be an unnecessary step that I quickly eliminated. But y'alls experience may vary, so I'm curious, is all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I do not prime my square braid going into molded tapers or pillars. It primes itself as it soaks up wax in the mold. (No wick pins). Finding i don't need to in containers either. When i finish the candle i usually dab a bit of wax onto the lighting part of the wick to make it easier to light. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmJean Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Good to know...I have been avoiding pillars because of the whole priming thing. Maybe I will start playing around with those Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 I do not prime my square braid going into molded tapers or pillars. It primes itself as it soaks up wax in the mold. (No wick pins). Finding i don't need to in containers either. When i finish the candle i usually dab a bit of wax onto the lighting part of the wick to make it easier to light.Yeah, that's exactly why I don't prime my pillar wicks - it's not needed. I wouldn't prime my container wicks either, but I buy the pre-cut, pre-tabbed, pre-primed wicks for 90% of my containers, so it's already done. I also don't use wick pins much anymore because I have found that the flat braids I use are 'sloppy' in the wick hole and not tight, so they burn a little irregular. I just don't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Ditto!! I don't prime any of my pillar wicks and I absolutely HATE wick pins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksranch Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Same here... no priming and no wick pins (except for votives) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfear Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 (edited) I had been wondering if priming them effects the burn so this info helps.I had been using wick pins with my small pillars and wicking with c-50 from Peak. I decided today that I can't stand the look of a "wick-pinned" pillar anymore so I'm going back to molded in flat-braid.Off note; The flame sometimes seems too large for me with flat braid; is this just a trimming issue? I'm using 4625/4786 blend 5% FO and only an 18ply. The flat braid scares me a bit, but I REALLY love the "homemade" look for my pillars. Edited April 24, 2015 by jfear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 What size diameter are your pillars? I love my flat braids for my paraffin pillars. Sometimes they do seem to curl to one side, so when prepping my mold, I twist them. That way they twist when burning, and I get a better, more even burn that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixFyre Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Awesome topic! Very interested to hear everyone's input on this. The few pillars I have made I was using either the pre-made wicks or braided wicks that I primed myself because I had read so many times that priming was needed for wicks. I finally decided to experiment a few days ago and made a pillar with raw braided wick. I thought I was committing a major candle sin, lol!! I felt so daring...like I had to close my shades and lock my doors before the candle police caught me using an unprimed wick! I haven't test burned it yet, but it'll be fun to see what the difference is. I also finally tried out the jiffy wicker system that so many of you use. First time didn't work out so well, but the next two times I poured a little cooler...worked like a charm! This may spell the end of my use of wick pins!! Thanks for opening this topic, Jcandleattic. Very helpful for us beginners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I use spooled non-primed wicking for just about everything, including containers. I do have primed wick assemblies lying around and have been known to sometimes heat gun the wax off of them if I decide to use one for something. As long as the wick has had a chance to soak up some wax in the course of making the candle, it will start off just fine. You don't want it dry though, so in certain circumstances you might want to do a quick dip in hot wax. For instance, the wick might stay a little dry when you're doing a very cool pour of soy wax. In fact, I think that's the only case where I ever ran into a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricofAZ Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 (edited) I have a huge container of raw wicks. So, um, IF, I prime them, they are primed in something with a much higher meltpoint than the wax they are intended for. Micro wax is good. I get it good and hot (over 200 F) and let a few feet of wick to stay in long enough to get rid of the bubbles that come out. Then drape it and let it cool. I have used unprimed too. So here is how I decide.... If the wax I am using has a low MP, meaning that the wax pool will be deep and bowl shaped in the container with the deepest part around the wick, then I prime the wick so that it will stand up and not wilt over. If the wax is higher MP and I know the pool will be more even rather bowl shaped, then, well, I might just twist the wick and use it raw. It primes itself well enough during the cooling process and will stand up because it is not in a bowl of hot fluid. Eric Edit: Oh, and if you like to twist the wicks, twist the primed ones before they dry. And I rarely use braided but when I do, they are unprimed because about the only wax I use braided in is palm and that is hot enough that the wicks soak up the wax during priming. Be careful using palm in glass containers with braided wicks Glass temp can get pretty high. Edited May 1, 2015 by EricofAZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfear Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 What size diameter are your pillars? I love my flat braids for my paraffin pillars. Sometimes they do seem to curl to one side, so when prepping my mold, I twist them. That way they twist when burning, and I get a better, more even burn that way.@Jcandleattic, my pillars are two inch diameter. I use an 80/20 blend with low melt container paraffin (I love the smooth look). I think this is why I have issues with the flat braid. The wick flops over and the melt pool is SO off center. Not to mention even with an 18 flat the flame is huge! I would LOVE to get the flat to work for me but until then I'm going to be using Peak's cotton cores.I will continue to test the flats; I'll try the twisting technique you recommend, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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