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How do you pour and test multiple scents?


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I just got a bunch of different fragrance oils based on your recommendations from multiple fragrance threads.  Hooray! 

 

I am curious how you go about testing a lot of scents for burn / throw and decide which ones may be winners / maybes / losers? 

 

Here is the approach I took.  Would love your feedback on where I could improve or how you do it:

 

Let's say I want to test 4 different fragrances.  I have done a bunch of testing without fragrance oil, so I have a pretty good idea about a good performing jar / wax / wick combo.  

 

1. Wick, label and record 4 jars in a spreadsheet which indicates each fragrance used, e.g. Candle #1 - Jasmine, Candle #2 - Vanilla, etc.  

2. Measure out wax to fill 4 half jars.  Let's just say I am going to fill 4 8oz jars up to 4oz for a total of 16 ounces of wax.

3. Melt the wax in a pour pot in a double boiler. 

4. Measure out 6% ( 4oz x .06 = .24 oz ) of each FO in small pyrex jars and put to the side

5. When wax reaches desired temp in double boiler, pour 4oz of wax into a clean / empty mid sized pre-heated pyrex cup, and pour / mix in one of the FOs.

6. Put pour pot with remaining wax back in double boiler

7. Stir wax / fragrance for a little while.  Measure temp and once you reached desired pour temp, pour.

8. Repeat steps 5 -7 until you pour remaining candles. 

9. Cure for preferred amount of time.  

10.  Burn candles in 4 different rooms ( I am concerned I won't be able to smell anything by this point )

11. Rate Hot Throw after first burn test ( How do you rate  determine good hot throw anyway? )

12. Perform multiple burn tests and rate burn.

13. Decide if each fragrance is a winner / loser / needs tweaking / wick up or down.  

 

Would love your feedback on the approach or more importantly your personal approach to testing multiple fragrances to decide on your next scent(s).

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Shortly i will be doing scent testing myself.  I plan to do almost exactly what you said.  I will test burn them in the same room one fragrance at a time tho.   That way I can judge how well the hot throw is in a consistent manner between candles.  The prob i see with doing it in different rooms is that you are changing the variables that you might not be able to controls.  One room might have a different air flow due to vents or fans so it might disperse the scent to other areas.  So when i do it i will use my bedroom were i tend to burn candles anyways. so that i have a consistent basis to compare the scents throw.   My way will take a bit longer to test all the candles i have scents for but i feel it will give me the best results.  Once i test it in my room for a few burns i will probably take it down stairs and but it in the living room to see how well the scent throws in a big open room.  

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8 hours ago, ncraiders said:

Shortly i will be doing scent testing myself.  I plan to do almost exactly what you said.  I will test burn them in the same room one fragrance at a time tho.   That way I can judge how well the hot throw is in a consistent manner between candles.  The prob i see with doing it in different rooms is that you are changing the variables that you might not be able to controls.  One room might have a different air flow due to vents or fans so it might disperse the scent to other areas.  So when i do it i will use my bedroom were i tend to burn candles anyways. so that i have a consistent basis to compare the scents throw.   My way will take a bit longer to test all the candles i have scents for but i feel it will give me the best results.  Once i test it in my room for a few burns i will probably take it down stairs and but it in the living room to see how well the scent throws in a big open room.  

Yes, I think your approach is better.  Isolating any variables is always a good idea.  It may just take longer.  

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1 minute ago, jasondigitized said:

Yes, I think your approach is better.  Isolating any variables is always a good idea.  It may just take longer.  

I am on disability so i have plenty of time to test candles even doing it the longer way.  I currently have 2 candles burning for wick testing.  once i get the wick down for plain candles i will add in color and scent and test again.

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On May 19, 2018 at 2:41 PM, jasondigitized said:

I just got a bunch of different fragrance oils based on your recommendations from multiple fragrance threads.  Hooray! 

 

I am curious how you go about testing a lot of scents for burn / throw and decide which ones may be winners / maybes / losers? 

 

Here is the approach I took.  Would love your feedback on where I could improve or how you do it:

 

Let's say I want to test 4 different fragrances.  I have done a bunch of testing without fragrance oil, so I have a pretty good idea about a good performing jar / wax / wick combo.  

 

1. Wick, label and record 4 jars in a spreadsheet which indicates each fragrance used, e.g. Candle #1 - Jasmine, Candle #2 - Vanilla, etc.  Spreadsheet is good! I use a notebook. Sometimes I can't read my own notes. 😂 I record the fragrance, FO % and wick size, and type of jar, and color if any. And the date I poured them.

2. Measure out wax to fill 4 half jars.  Let's just say I am going to fill 4 8oz jars up to 4oz for a total of 16 ounces of wax.

3. Melt the wax in a pour pot in a double boiler. 

4. Measure out 6% ( 4oz x .06 = .24 oz ) of each FO in small pyrex jars and put to the side

5. When wax reaches desired temp in double boiler, pour 4oz of wax into a clean / empty mid sized pre-heated pyrex cup, and pour / mix in one of the FOs.

6. Put pour pot with remaining wax back in double boiler

7. Stir wax / fragrance for a little while.  Measure temp and once you reached desired pour temp, pour.

8. Repeat steps 5 -7 until you pour remaining candles. Yes to steps 2-8. Only it looks really tedious when you write it out like that. If I like the fragrance OOB, I might just pour the whole candle. That way I can enjoy it longer! And I always seem to mis-pour something, so I need an extra step for all the cursing. 

9. Cure for preferred amount of time.  

10.  Burn candles in 4 different rooms ( I am concerned I won't be able to smell anything by this point ) I test one candle at a time. Maybe two if I have a specific "bedroom" candle that I'm testing, then I'll have one going in the living area and one upstairs. 

11. Rate Hot Throw after first burn test ( How do you rate  determine good hot throw anyway? ) Totally subjective, IMO. Depends on the size of the room it's in, size of the candle, type of fragrance, if you like the fragrance or not (trust me, the bad ones are always the strongest), and a slew of other factors. You'll have to figure out a rating system that won't make you crazy. 

12. Perform multiple burn tests and rate burn.

13. Decide if each fragrance is a winner / loser / needs tweaking / wick up or down.  Yup. And decide at what point a fragrance isn't worth the work. Again, that point is different for everyone.

 

Would love your feedback on the approach or more importantly your personal approach to testing multiple fragrances to decide on your next scent(s).

 

The only other thing I'd add is, since you don't have experience with a lot of different fragrances, pour your testers with no wick. You can poke a hole in the center with a skewer and pop a tabless wick in there for your first few burns, and easily pull it out to be replaced if your wicking is way off. That was a sanity saver for me when I had no idea how the fragrances would affect my burn. After you have more experience, it gets easier to judge your wicking.

Have fun and enjoy your candles! That's the most important step!!😄

Edited by Sarah S
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On 5/19/2018 at 1:41 PM, jasondigitized said:

I just got a bunch of different fragrance oils based on your recommendations from multiple fragrance threads.  Hooray! 

 

I am curious how you go about testing a lot of scents for burn / throw and decide which ones may be winners / maybes / losers? 

 

Here is the approach I took.  Would love your feedback on where I could improve or how you do it:

 

Let's say I want to test 4 different fragrances.  I have done a bunch of testing without fragrance oil, so I have a pretty good idea about a good performing jar / wax / wick combo.  

 

1. Wick, label and record 4 jars in a spreadsheet which indicates each fragrance used, e.g. Candle #1 - Jasmine, Candle #2 - Vanilla, etc.  

2. Measure out wax to fill 4 half jars.  Let's just say I am going to fill 4 8oz jars up to 4oz for a total of 16 ounces of wax.

3. Melt the wax in a pour pot in a double boiler. 

4. Measure out 6% ( 4oz x .06 = .24 oz ) of each FO in small pyrex jars and put to the side

5. When wax reaches desired temp in double boiler, pour 4oz of wax into a clean / empty mid sized pre-heated pyrex cup, and pour / mix in one of the FOs.

6. Put pour pot with remaining wax back in double boiler

7. Stir wax / fragrance for a little while.  Measure temp and once you reached desired pour temp, pour.

8. Repeat steps 5 -7 until you pour remaining candles. 

9. Cure for preferred amount of time.  

10.  Burn candles in 4 different rooms ( I am concerned I won't be able to smell anything by this point )

11. Rate Hot Throw after first burn test ( How do you rate  determine good hot throw anyway? )

12. Perform multiple burn tests and rate burn.

13. Decide if each fragrance is a winner / loser / needs tweaking / wick up or down.  

 

Would love your feedback on the approach or more importantly your personal approach to testing multiple fragrances to decide on your next scent(s).

Also the other thing that dictates the testing process is the type of wax you are using. For instance I am testing out palm wax and i pretty much have to burn down to the bottom of the jar to test the wick properly so i don't bother with the skewer method myself.  Palm wax seems to burn down then out which is why i don't use the skewer method.   If i had done the skewer method with this wax I would of pulled a wick well before i got a good assessment on how the wick will burn.  even with a full length wick i need to do one more test with 2 of the wick sizes along with testing a double wick in 2 more candles to get the best idea on the correct wick.  My testing just for wick has taken over 30 hours so far and i gotta do another round after this before i even mess with color and scent. That is the neat thing about candles each type of wax burns differently.  So the wick test for one may not work well or at all for another wax..  

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16 hours ago, Sarah S said:

Oh and because I'm nosy, what scents are you testing?? 😁

 

Aztec - Volcano

Aztec - Monkey Farts

Aztec - Black Sea

 

NG - Crackling Firewood

NG - Eucalytpus and Spearmint

NG - Gingered Peach

NG - Ferocious Beast

 

CS - Egyptian Amber

CS - Love Spell

 

Lone Star - Cool Citrus Basil

 

I have a lot more but haven't poured.  I chose these based on initial reactions from some friends who simply smelled the fragrance's from the bottle.  

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Ooohhhh, CS's Egyptian Amber is my new favorite fragrance!! I love that one so much!! ❤️❤️ I haven't tried it in wax yet, I am using it in lotions, shampoos, perfumes and such, and it is divine. I would imagine that one is more subtle in wax than some of your other choices.

Love Spell is another great one, so versatile!

Isn't Aztec's Black Sea an unusual one? I can't decide if I like it, but it was easy to wick and throws really well. It is a completely different fragrance than CS's Black Sea.

I haven't tried any of the others, but they all sound good! I think you're really going to enjoy burning them!

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On 5/21/2018 at 9:32 PM, jerry said:

Some of my extended family really liked CS Black Sea; now I'm curious about Aztec's. Not that I need anymore oils. Love seeing everyone's processes too.

Yes, you need more oils.......this craft is obsessive...........and we're here to help you progress in your addiction to MORE OILS.........lol

Edited by Pam W
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Yeah, I can see where fragrance can be a very addictive part of this.  

 

By the way, I think I got a process down to pour multiple scents in one session.  An ordered checklist of steps helped out a lot once I did it a few times.   Heating the individual pyrex cups before pouring in the wax and fragrance for mixing has been key to ensure the way doesn't cool down too fast.  Outside of that, a pretty smooth process.  As long as you have enough cups for wax / fragrance mixes and not having to clean any of them during your pours, it is is pretty efficient process.  For each wax / fragrance mix, I have a dedicated pyrex cup for mixing, a smaller pyrex cup for the initial fragrance measurement, and a dedicated silicon spoon to mix.  I do all cleanup afterwards using heatgun and paper towels.  

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