Candle Abbreviations and Terminology

[TallTayl]

Will update this first post with replies added to the thread.

 

CT - Cold Throw. How the candle smells without being lit. does it smell strong, weak, etc.

 

HT - Hot Throw. How the candle smells when lit. Does the scent travel into the room? Into adjoining rooms 

 

FP - Flash Point, the temperature at which a liquid needs to be to a silky ignite from a spark or flame. This measurement is important when shipping liquids like fragrances, for instance.

 

MP - Melt Pool. The liquified wax around a lit wick.measured in width and depth.

MP - Melt Point. The temperature at which a wax melts. Lower melt point waxes are generally favored for containers for instance.

 

FMP - Full Melt Pool. A molten, liquified area of wax that reaches fully across the container.

 

FO - Fragrance Oil

 

EO - Essential Oil

 

Fragrance Load - amount of fragrance any given wax will hold

 

Wick up. Try a larger size wick. Some fragrances and wax combinations require bigger sizes to burn properly. 

 

Wick Down. Try a smaller size wick. 

 

Underwicked. The candle seems to be using a wick that is too small.

Overwicked. The candle seems to be using a wick that is too large, burning too hot. 

 

Primed wick. A wick that has a wax coating and often a chamical treament applied.

unprimed Wick, A wick that does not have the wax coating applied. This allows you to choose what coating you want/need. 

 

Wick assembly. A wick cut to a length and affieced into a wick tab.

 

wick tab. A (usually) metal piece crimped onto a wick that allows the wick to be affixed into a container. The wick tab can be sealed from the bottom as a safety feature to prevent the candle from consuming too much wax at the end of the candle's life. 

 

Parasoy. A blend of paraffin and soy waxes, 

 

GG, Glass Glow, a type and brand of palm container wax.

Feather Palm. A type and brand of palm pillar wax. 

 

Vybar. A wax additive that can help a wax hold more fragrance. It takes very little to achieve the goal. Too much vybar can hinder fragrance throw by locking it in.

 

Wet spot. When cooled wax pulls away from side of jar creating an air pocket between the jar wall and the wax. Can be very small to very large depending on how much wax pulls away from the side.

 

Frosting. When a part of the surface of wax appears to be white or lighter colored in areas. Typically found on soy candles and may appear anytime or as soon as poured wax cools.

 

Fingernailing. Typically appears on paraffin pillars like smallish half moon or crescent shapes along outer surface. 

 

Air pocket. When wax around the wick or near the surface of the candle shrinks as it cools after its poured and forms an air bubble or pocket. 

 

Dancing Flame. An air current causes the lit wick to move around, burn unsteadily.

 

Cure (wax). Allowing a candle, melt, etc to sit undisturbed to allow the wax to completely cool&sharpen while also allowing chemical reactions to complete. Vegetable Waxes harden and complete crystallization at different points in time, often producing a much different burn and throw than when freshly made. Sometimes candles can require different wick sizes when testing fresh versus cured.

 

Curing Time. The number of days/weeks that it typically takes for a wax to yield its best performance. 

 

Cure (soap). allow excess moisture to evaporate and comple trace saponification activity to produce a harder, gentler, longer lasting bar. 

 

Wax Manufacturers/Brands

GB - Golden Brands. Manufacture 444 soy, 464 soy, etc.

IGI - International Group, Inc

 

 

Mods, feel free to add, edit and update as needed. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by Candybee

[Ajah]

Can u add cure and curing time. Thanks 

[TallTayl]

On 10/18/2017 at 9:05 PM, Ajah said:

Can u add cure and curing time. Thanks 

Added. 

[Suzi]

Very helpful thanks

[Emma Crowford]

very very helpful thanks🥰