I stir for a good three minutes in every batch. Sorry, I forgot to include that. :x
I had no idea I could put a hole in the candle. I thought I had to just melt it down and rewick or start from scratch. That's awesome. Does the wax adhesion to the wick make a difference? I imagine that if you drill a hole, there will be a little bit of space between the wick and the wax immediately. Or do you use a heat gun after inserting the wick to make sure the wax is right up to the wick? This would be so cool. Bums me out when I have a candle that clearly needs another wick but being able to switch like that would be fantastic. The two week cure time is painful with seasonal FO.
Since you test every new batch of wax, how many candles do you make for each test batch? Do you use a range of wick sizes when testing a new batch of wax or just start with the wick size that worked last time? At what point do you say, "okay, this passes and I can make some for sale now"? Three successful candles? Six? I really want to get a good testing protocol so that I have confidence in my product. Part of why I started making candles is because I got tired of store bought candles fizzling out and not working. I don't want my business to have iffy product too.
I started with CandleScience FOs. I have also bought and tried some from Flaming and NorthWood, but the CS ones I picked up smelled so amazing (when they work) that if I could get those in my shop, I'd be a very happy camper. Actually, the cold throw on some of these is so amazing that they make me pretty happy without lighting haha. My fall CS FOs are Very Vanilla, Cinnamon Buns, Hazelnut Coffee, Fireside, Toasted Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin Souffle, Pumpkin and Caramel, Apple Harvest, Macintosh, and Apple Maple Bourbon. My CS holiday contender samples are Gingerbread, Hansel and Gretel, Snickerdoodle, Amaretto Nog, Merry Mistletoe, Holly Berry, Mulled Cider and Chestnuts, Wassail, Christmas Hearth, Cranberry Marmalade, Cinnamon Stick, Cranberry Woods, Peppermint Bark, and Mistletoe. Have not made test batches out of all the holiday samples due to a massive heat wave we had in Portland. I didn't want the extreme heat to be a variable in the process.
So it sounds like for testing, I will wait 2 weeks for curing, then continue with the 4hr and 8hr power burn tests. Now I just need to figure out how many to make and what the litmus test is for knowing when a product is ready for sale.
I really appreciate the help. Thank you! I was shooting for mid October with a "just to see if I can pull it off" mindset, but figured if I missed the fall scent window I could move on to winter scents. Incorporating in January at the beginning of the fiscal year does have some perks. Plus I really want a good product.