pughaus

I'm in trouble. The woodenwick peeps have introduced a line of pricey FO's and I'm such a sucker for good web design and fancy FO's. https://woodenwick.com/thelabandco/

@jeana have you ever tried Flaming Candle's Caribbean Teakwood? I've seen it on their site but haven't bought it yet.

For those of you not close to candlewic- you can buy 6 lbs of their apricot wax on amazon prime: $22.50 + free shipping.

It did travel across country and yes, it's FO. I ordered it since it was marketed as a coconut wax, and only coconut wax, candle. Since I've been struggling so much with coco wax I'm always curious to see how others perform. I'm not convinced this is an all coconut candle now but I'm still really curious to see how it burns all the way through, so I'll keep it.

thanks @Kerven I must say this little candle has shown me several mishaps that I'd read about here but never seen in person. It arrived pretty much with a puddle of FO sweat, barely stayed lit for an hour on the 1st burn, revealed a big sinkhole on the 2nd burn and now this interesting pattern popped up against the glass. It may not be the best made candle but at least I'm learning from it. Can't wait to see what else it does.

I've been burning a "premium" candle purchased at retail and as I'm burning it I'm seeing all sorts of interesting things- 1st a large sinkhole revealed itself next to the wick, and now I noticed this odd layered cracking all along the side... how did it get there? what causes this?

I usually use boiling water or the freezer method to remove leftover wax from containers.

I suspect Ned (the cat) is responsible for the missing wick pack too. He likes to hide things in little collections that I find later. The IGI 6570 paracoco blend is at at Aztec, C&S and here on the West coast, a smaller shop in Seattle stocks it. 25 lbs is the min order qty. FWIW, the supplier website reviews are very positive. I can see what you mean about the depth issue on SC21. The 51 papercore is now well into hour 3 with a 3/4" deep melt pool and a 1/2" flame. OTOH, I started this test burn with a half filled container so it is trapping heat. About 1/8" wax hang up left on the glass. It is nice though to see all these steady, not -huge flames. This is new for me. I'll keep a close watch on the MP depth on these testers going forward. Glad you pointed that out. I'm using amber glass and it's hard to eyeball it. I need to use sticks.

I'm so glad to see at least 1 other person is testing this wax. Right now I'm testing a small batch that has been cured 4 days. (My 1st test batch became a casualty of a playful cat. All 5 of them were shattered 1/2 way through. Bad kitty.) I just finished a 3.15 hr 1st test burn today of LX24 and a CD12 in a 3" glass tumbler. They burned pretty much identically in this test- very steady flame, a bit more than 1/8" wax hang up all around at the end. Wick stayed neat and trimmed on both. An eco 6 test was nixed after 1.5 hrs- it was too deep and tunneling. It smelled weird too; had an odd chemical note. Just lit a 51-32 paper core an hour ago. Might be undersized, but my new pack of 60-44 wicks has vanished so this is biggest I've got right now. It sure is easy to pour this wax -it's very pretty and not 1 of my 11 candles poured has produced a single wet spot. I don't much care about wet spots but it's worth noting when they are completely absent. Not sure about throw- this batch is my 1st using any fragrance in this wax. I'm burning 7.5% /aveda shampure dupe which to me is a "soft" fragrance to begin with, which is why I like it. Throw seems fine so far me. Honestly, I'm just so relieved to no longer be testing coco83. I'm still new to this candlemaking stuff and just spent 4 months trying in vain to wick that accursed wax. I never really even got to the point of addressing details like..throw There is also the IGI paracoco wax to try. And that blend may be more reliably supplied in the future. Have you considered that one?

well folks, I almost hate to admit this but I've been test burning 4 of my 12 cured SC-21 (paracoco and...?) testers and darn it, I'm starting to like this wax. It sure is easier to wick than coco83.

they are very cute jars and really, one could fill them with wax that's fragranced to match the Oui flavors. Every flavor is readily available as a FO. I bet people would buy a Oui fruit scented candle. This yogurt probably already has something of a cult following. And you can be sure, if you do it and do it well, Oui will boost you by featuring these "adorable Oui inspired" candles on their social media. Go for it y'all!

@jeana Yeah, I think I'll give the IGI 6570 a whirl next. I don't get the feeling calcandle is all that committed to this new coco blend.

Can't say yet- I only poured some testers and I'm still letting them cure before I stick some wicks in them. It came with NO instructions at all so I went with the same temps I used with Coco 83. I called them today for more info and some wicking suggestions- they seemed pretty clueless and admitted it's a new wax for them and they haven't tested it much. Great. I asked if this wax was similar to IGI's paracoco and was told they're not familiar with IGI's and this is their own house blend. Then I asked, OK did you start with coco83 as a base - they said no. It's a whole new blend. But it's like coco83, just easier to wick. So all I can say, based in what they've told me is this is a coconut wax with some paraffin and ...other stuff? Now that I put this all in writing, I'm starting to wonder why I'm even bothering to test it

looking good! I'm curious why you blended the 2 waxes. Did you try the CB9 alone and find it lacking? I have a small box of CB9 at home to test, haven't gotten to it yet but I did pour some of their SC21 paracoco last night.

@TallTayl Have you tried helix wicks? I just realized that's one stone I've left unturned!

@talltayl yeah, I can see how they might burn very hot. And I don't think I'll be able to trim it in it's current state, without digging it out. It's basically in shreds. It's my very last wick series to try in my wax so I HAD to test it. Reminds me of the ribbon wicks, but more fragile. Related ( a nice organization is using them) https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2017/05/08/thistle-farms-turns-to-the-wondry-for-wrist-saving-wick-installing-device/

this is what I mean about the wick separation. Have you had this happen as well?

@pinkt what timing! I'm literally testing a cottonwood wick right now and just started burn 2- one thing that concerns me is that they seem tricky to trim. The top edge becomes shredded and the individual fibers are separating. You need some super sharp scissors to trim this neatly- my wick trimmer just kind of mangles it. I sure hope this self trims going forward because it seems like it's going to hard to trim it properly myself. On the plus side, the throw is great, the MP just where it should be at this point and the flame steady as can be.. for now

That looks beautiful!

Oh yikes, something went very wrong with that candle. I have their blue butterfly one and it sure isn't throwing that kind of smoke. Even my coconut candles, for all their flaws, don't soot like that despite my very imperfect wicking. I noticed they use a coco, beeswax, soy blend. I wonder if the soy you all have been struggling with is the "bad batch of wax" in this candle. Well, at least these ailing candles ended up in capable hands. They are refunding your money, I hope?

A disappearing wick! Now there's a weather/wax possibility I had never considered! (If anyone here is a Seinfeld fan they might be reminded of George Castanza's pool "shrinkage" incident.)

oh boy- oops! That's quite an oversight. Here's the phone # from their facebook 800.270.4316, in case it's not on the bottom of the candle.

Thanks all! I've realized (rather late) that as I work through all my wick testing that I should do an "untrimmed" test much earlier - if not in the very beginning- of my elimination process since that seems to be the test that my top contenders are most likely to fail. I too have always trimmed my wicks, but as we all know, the wick trimming consumers are a minority. Next question - just so I'm assured I'm not chasing a unicorn- you all make candles that can be re-lit without trimming and that will burn satisfactorily and consistently with no smoking or too tall flame upon relighting? This can be done, right?

When testing your candles, do you... A. Trim wicks between each test burn. As per good candle hygiene and the instruction label on your candle B. Leave the wick untrimmed and expect your candles to perform well without any trimming. If they don't do well, it's a test failure. C. Trim occasionally, but only if needed (ex: big mushroom, unraveling wick tip) but otherwise let them do their thing without help. D. Other

!!! How am I just learning about this wicking service? What an amazing resource to have. They do this for anyone?