wthomas57

can anyone recommend certain packaing materials that keep excess heat away from candles/melts better than others durnig shipment. I currently already have some measures in place to help mitigate the risk... for example, I only ship M-W and always ship 1 or 2 day priority. That helps. But trucks still get super hot and was wondering if certain packing materials help with this better than others. I.E., packing peanuts bubble wrap, other materials to combat the internal heat in the boxes? Thanks

I have those same tumblers and even the CD16 is a bit too big for me. Flame gets a bit crazy but more than anything the jar gets too hot. For me back and forth between the CD14 and 16 for that jar worked for the CD wicks. Honestly, in my opinion if you are having to go bigger than that, I'd try a different kind of wick. What FO load are you using? and FWIW, I think Tumblers and straight sided libbys are the hardest to work for some reason. They dont have any curve at the top like a other jars do to keep heat in so they tend to have hang up a bit more than other containers.

Lori, I've done so much expensive wick testing and still going back and forth with preferences and testing. But here is a quick few details on what I've noticed with some mainstreem wicks. CD - good looking flame, but gets too damn hot. So, if I cant wick down and still keep a good melt pool that reaches the edges... then I just pass on these. The problem is, even if I do wick down.. customers power burn and inevitably the wick STILL gets too large and burns too hot with these most of the time. Cotton Core - I cant get good enough melt pools with these to be hoenst. I am using parasoy mostly so so our results could differ. But for the heat and high flame, I want to be getting a better burn as a tradeoff. That being said, I think these flames look the best. But they are also flemsy wicks and do not stay centered as well. HTP - good burn, , minimal mushrooming, but flame burns kinda crazy for me sometimes and also gets really hot for me. I also have a hard time with sizing on these and in the past they discolored my wax a bit. Same with the CDs occasionally. ECO - Blah, not even going to comment. Just skip these, lol. LX - had hard time with sizing and wick pools Premiers - Rigid (which i always like), LOTS of incremental sizing so finding the right size is possible every time with these, just test. These also seem to burn real well and have a nice looking flame. Dont get too hot either. But they tend to mushroom similar to zincs. Maybe not quite as much. I still haven't been able to really get a good feel on scent throw though, so stil working that out. Zincs - These are STILL my go to wick.The majority of my candles are made with this wick for a couple reasons. Wick stays centered all the time. Great scent throw, Good melt pool, cooler burn so glass rarely gets "too hot". The only complaint I have with these is the mushrooming but at this point that has been an acceptable trade off most of the time. I do fear customers see a metal core wick and might freak out and no longer be interested. But so far, that hasn't actually been a problem ( at least not mentioned to me anyway). Now keep in mind you are using soy, I am using a blend so take all of this with a grain of salt. Can I offer a possible suggestion? If you are struggling to the point of frustration, before you give up... try a different wax. It can make ALL the difference. Some waxes are much easier to wick than others. And some Soy waxes can be VERY temperamental. Finally, I used to care a ton about proper looking melt pool. In other words.. I wanted complete melt pool all the way across 1/4" deep after 3 or 4 hours. (or 1 hour for each inch in diamter like you always read). Honestly, I think thats a bit of a misnomer. The key is making sure you have a descent melt pool, but good scent through and make sure your wick is burning well and that your wax does melt completely, but not necessarily quickly or first burn. 9 times out of 10 the edges will catch up if its minimal. I was constantly trying to accomplish the former and was causing me to wick too large every time. I stopped caring about that, wicked down a notch and its been great ever since. Remember, the further down your candle burns, the containers will keep heat in and make wax burn more evenly than it does at the top. I second what others recommended about filling half way to do a burn test. That will give you a better idea of overall performance and give you a better idea of what wicks and sizing to use to avoid excess heat. I know I didn't give an overall 100% recommendation, because its difficult even for those of us who have tested a significant amount. I still try and find better wicks to use all of the time. Make a list of what aspects are most important to you. Then do a pros and cons and go from there. You wont find a perfect one unfortunately. Hope this helps.

No problem Siren, The candle making biz/hobby is an ironic one. Its better to MAKE candles when its warmer and easier to SELL and SHIP during winter months. Go figure, lol. Do some research on old restaurant suppliers and places that are moving or going out of business. You can get industrial style tables and shelving for cheap that way. But I think even Sam's Club has some items that might be helpful. Home Depot and Lowes sells the metal tool boxes. I use one of those as well. For starters, the drawers are handy for supplies, but the top of mine is metal which is good for pouring. Hope this helps. By the way, make sure no other variables have changed that could be attributing to your curing other than air temp. For example, pouring temp.

Ive been using that range simply because everyone burns their candle quite differently. I know people who power burn theirs EVERY TIME all day long! Lol. And then others who only burn couple hours at a time. I tried to get them all covered. Ill try tweaking it for the majority. Yankee seems to expand theirs as they move up in size. For example, they have a 30 hour range on their jars!

yah wicking is a nightmare. I have bags and boxes of every wick type and nearly every size! I went a little overboard with the testing early on, lol. Speaking of which, if anyone is looking for Eco 8s and 10s... I have a bag of 1000 of each, ha!

Thanks man. Ive been working on it for quite some time (although most the work has been backend rather than front end asthetics). But thanks, I appreciate it. I'm always tweaking it. And yah, I wanted a dark background but wanted to keep my classy barn theme so thats the background I decided on. On the tumblers, I use either the 51s, the 60s, or the 62s. I tend to mostly use the 60s and 62 for the same reason.. too much hang up with the 51s. But... the 60s and 62s also muchroom a bit more. Id say currently, half use 60 and half use 62 minus the exception of a few 51s mixed in there. However, I am currently revisiting CDs and trying a few others as well. Always trying to improve. Trying to find that Perfect wick that burns like a zinc but without the mushroom. Never ending challenge. Lol

That is what I am struggling with most recently. With soy changing the market some... I am not sure if I should be focusing all efforts to soy so just stick with some soy, some blended and some parrafin. As candle makers we see a lot more talk about soy and it pushed all time. But, I wonder if most cusomters really care or if it just SEEMS that way to us ya know. I see about half and half sold on shelves in box box stores. But seems to me most people either by the cheapest candle they see (walmart cheap candles) or the most expensive being yankee. And 99% of the time, those are all still parrafin. So I am a bit torn on what people are buying and where to focus my efforts.

cool man, ill check it out. Here is a link to my site. Its also being completely re-done so many links are currently not working and many pictures need updated as well. Work in progress and plan on "re-releasing" in the next week or so. (although, you can actually browse and purchase currently still...lol) https://blacktiebarn.com/ currently only my tumblers and some melts are on there, but everything else should be added in next couple of weeks. I also have new labels which you can see here: https://blacktiebarn.com/collections/black-tie-candles The HARDEST part about candle business is dealing with shipping in my opinion.

that sounds pretty awesome.. but i am guessing that the wax at least is some custom blend. And the wick... like yankee... is what baffles me. Is it some sort of "custom" wick like a custom wax. I didnt know those excisted. Unlike waxes with special ingredients, etc.. I thought pretty much every candle make used a type of wick everyone had access to. What in the hell is Yankee using for their wicks that allow them to burn for a day with on mushroom, and sever burns without trimming and STILL no mushroom, lol.

will do, thanks for the tip. do you have a shop by chance or do you just sell from home direct to customers or wholesalers via website or something?

That is true about caring more about burn times. I am not sure what an acceptable burn range on my labels is. 40-60 for example.. that too big a range?

Ok, I assumed by cold throw meant smelling after taking lid off (which is what I meant too). I was afraid you meant smelling across the room when not lit. That's a bit of unreasonable expectations, and I feared I was missing something. Now with that being cleared up, I have ZERO issues with cold throw on 6006. Again, it helps to let cure a handful of days of course, but cold throw and hot throw are both great for me. I'm afraid anymore more would be too overpowering and make a customer pass out, lol. I think the mason jars are thicker glass so thats probably why dont need to report. I personally never have to repour with any of my candles. Worst case I have to smooth the top a bit if I get a little dip, but I also have a self built well controlled pouring table setup that I am sure is the reason for that. Ill try Clarus out and see how it goes. I like that is more soy, but that could have its diasvantages as well, well see. And finally regarding discoloation, I use dyes too which is why I dont see it on al candles. Its mostly on lighter shade candles. Im not sure how much customers care about that, but I am nitpicky

yah, ECOs are among my least favorite wicks. They danced all over and soot like crazy in my experience. Id LIKE to use the CDs, if for no other reason than the cut down on mushrooms and nix the metal core wicks. But, they have had a tendancy to discolor my wax a bit which is noticeable after they cool. Which..is not cool, lol. zincs dont do this for me.. I'm sure its due to hotter burns. Ill press on with CDs and see how they work. Any ideas what yankee uses for most their wicks in their jars. I cant understand how they can burn forever with little to no mushroom. Also once thing Ive always been confused about with yankee jars, is the wax is really hard, bubbly and mottle looking. Dont most prefer softer wax for containers. Yet, yankee uses hard wax yet it melts perfect, lol.

Agreed and this is what I do as well. Do you use the 11.5oz straight sided tumblers by chance? They hold anywhere from 7-9oz depending on fill line. I ask because yankee sells those too and they list them as 7oz candles. I dont think any of mine are below 8 so was just curious if anyone elses uses those.

Perhaps I am used to 6006 so much, that I dont notice.. but I have no problems with cold throw from 6006. I do let them cure as long as possible.. always a minimum of 1 or 2 weeks and then they are strong as hell. Now, when you are saying cold throw... are you talking about smelling them across the room without burning? Or, are you talking about smelling the lids or the containers directly without burning? I haven't had anyone complain about the mushroom as much as I hear people wanting to avoid metal cored wicks in general. I dont get a ton of suit which is good, you probably get less though since yours is more soy than parrafin. Ill look into the Clarus 3022. I had never heard of it before you. Regarding the 4627. I CANNOT STAND THIS WAX. Perhaps I need to give it another shot. Yes.. the CT and HT is great. But... its so freaking messy. I spent 10 times longer just trying to get it out of the damn bag, weighed and then used. Cleanup a mess too. Any suggestions? It was such a pain, I got tired of dealing with it. Also, while I didn't do much wick testing.. I didn't have much luck. Everything was discoloring the wax really ugly after burning and had lots of trouble with tunneling. Cant remember what all I tested though.

you talking about the CD or the zincs? Zincs - no slumping, but I have to use big size to get complete melt pool and so wick doesn't get too small and overtaken by mushroom after long burns. CD - slumping? not so much, but leaning yes which i hate. Curling, yes by design but while i like how this makes the flame look, im ont a fan of wicks curling back into the wax. is this what you were asking?

Speaking of this... do you fill your jars to the same fill line for each candle (thus making your weights a little different), or do you fill all to the same wight (making your fill lines different). I cant decide. Id prefer to do them all to same weight so my labels are all the same and correct as far as net wt. But, its a pain dealing with different fill lines per candle and per fragrance.

Yes, OG is right on the formulas... maybe I misunderstood and you wanted details on how the math works. My bad for going overboard, lol.

Hey Burns, first and foremost.. when you said it holds 6.6 ounces, are you talking about by weight or volume. Make sure its weight when doing your recipes. So fill up the container to where you want by volume and then weigh how much wax that is. If you already know or have done this, then nvm. Next, can you clarify which method your using for FO. 1) Standard is to take amount of wax you want to use. then figure out 8% of that and add it to the wax. 2) Some people instead use the 8% load of the entire finished product. In other words its 8% of the total weight rather than being added on (most don't do this however) If you with #1, do this: (its a bit tricky) 1 - do your normal math to figure out 8% FO to add to 6.6 wax (since you know those numbers already). 6.6x.08 = .53FO 2- add the .53FO to 6.6wax = 7.13 new total 3 - Since you want a total of 6.6 and not 7.13, first take 6.6/7.13 = .93 4 - The .93 you came up with from step 3 is the percentage of total wax to use, so 6.6x.93 = 6.12wax 5 - now that you have proper wax amount, do your FO math again, 6.12x.08 = .49FO 6 - Lastly, double check your total work now with your new numbers. 6.12Wax + .49FO = 6.61 TOTAL *its a tad higher than 6.6 because I rounded everything. But honestly, 6.61 is 6.6. This is the math I came up with when I started doing the same thing. It seems a bit overwhelming at first, but you quickly get used to it. I also just made a quick excel sheet with the formulas, so you dont have to do it by hand each time. Hope this helps. If you go with #2, just back out the FO amount from 6.6. So, 6.6x.08FO = .53FO. Then, 6.6-.53 = 6.07wax your formula would be 6.07 wax and .53 FO. Easier, but I dont like it as much.

I 100% agree with all of this.... but do the mushrooms for you not ever get TOO big for you? Its not an issue for normal burning. But, I do notice for power burns (anything over 4 hours) the mushrooming can get a little out of hand it seems. Other than just generally not liking mushrooms for typical reasons, a big mushroom also makes the flame look pretty bad IMO. Short, fat flame around the mushroom doesn't look so great, lol. What are your experiences with zincs and mushrooms? Do yours get pretty large after a while too and do customers ever give you negative feedback about that? Or do customers of your ever have concern or distaste for a metal core? Maybe I am making too big a thing out of it, but it seems these days SOOO many buyers are all about natural and non metal wicks, that I worry about using zincs. What wax are you using mostly by the way? Specifically with zinc core wicks. I use mostly 6006 parasoy. I think it does tend to be a bit harder to wick than other waxes but its such a great wax for every other reason.

I agree with this completely about trying CD wicks when having issues with others. I still do get some mushrooming sometimes with CDs, but usually not as bad as zincs. Depends. The issue I have the most with the CDs besides not staying centered is the tend to discolor my wax frequently. Its ugly. I do like how the CDs burn though, flame looks good. I tried twisting the wick... but didn't seem to help me. I mean, once its starts melting down, the wick isn't going to stay twisted or centered IMO. I imagine using CD wicks in harder wax probably does work great... but with softer type waxes I just prefer some rigidity. Have you ever use paper core wicks? I tried one for the first time this week. Best melt pool, rigid so it stayed centered. The only issue was it smoked more than others but I think I used too big of a size. Curious on others thoughts on paper cores.

For me... a little, but I've never went up or down more than 1 size in wick. Now, to be honest Ive used mostly zinc core wicks and they have just so a nice good even consistent burn that does well for me almost always (other than mushrooming). I probably could have used the same size even on the ones I did size up or down and it wouldn't have been a big deal. With all that being said.. that has been MY experience. I read ALL THE TIME that you often need to change wick sizes or even types depending on FO. So... I'm sure there is tons of truth to that. Maybe I just been lucky with my FOs. Maybe Old Glory can chime in here and tell you their experiences with this. -Wade Oh, and FWIW, I have a much harder time deciding which kind of wick to use rather than what size. I love everything about the zincs other than the mushroom, which I am personally ok with it. But, I worry about how consumers view the metal core and if its a big deal. I really dont know.

OG - I definitely see what you're saying. And really we have candle sellers all over here and lots of competition as well. What I was referring to was more of actually knowing experienced candle makers personally and chatting, sharing, etc. I always like working and talking with others in the same niche. Around here, everyone just does there thing and sells. No "candle maker" communities so to speak. ha! And Lori, I agree with OG, I might have given tons of OCD tips on how to prevent or improve the crack, but really that is me just being a perfectionist. Its really not a big deal. Spend your time and money and effort on finding the best wicks and recipes with testing.

Im not sure of any bars... but a simple wick stickum or something on the bottom of your wick tab elevates the wick a tad and will help from burning the candle all the way down to the class. Also... this is really the responsibility of the customer burning the candle. That is why on warning labels, it should be mentioned to stop burning when 1/4" or 1/2" remains. With that being said, if you find out what you are referring to, share with us. Now I am a bit curious. ha