jasondigitized

I recently ran Zinc, CD, HTP, LX, and ECO for 6006 in a 8oz Libbey Rocks.  LX and HTP came out ahead, with HTP outperforming LX as it did not product any soot for the majority of the scents I wanted.   CD ran too hot and Zinc mushroomed like crazy.  

I bought this one ( recommended by Wirecutter )  and it can weigh to .01 ounces / .1 grams which should be all the precision you will ever need to measure fragrance for a single candle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001RF3XJ2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I would love to stick to one wick +/- one size and simply drop FOs that don’t work within those parameters. 

After extensive jar / wax / wick testing, I am now moving on to fragrance testing with 5 of my friends testing.   The last goal I am focused on is preventing any soot from appearing on my 8oz. Libbey rocks glass.   

Question 1:  In a world of different fragrances and customers who power burn, is it unrealistic to expect that I can get all of my candles to burn soot free?

I have landed on 6006 in a 8oz. rocks jar with LX-14.  All of by burns without fragrance are doing great with no soot.  As soon as I add fragrance some of the fragrances will eventually soot. 

Question 2:  For each fragrance I want to develop, should I be wicking up / down and also changing to something like Zinc or CD and testing all combinations to decide on the ideal combination?   I have all the patience in the world to develop the best candle I can, so am wondering:  in a candle line of 8 different scents, do some people have a variety of different wick types and sizes to ensure the best burn for that particular fragrance?  It seems to mean that each fragrance has different burn characteristics and that there must be an ideal wick and % fragrance if I keep the jar and wax the same.  Or do others simply stick to the same wicks and only offer the fragrances that burn best under those conditions.  In other words, do you let the wick or fragrance guide your candle line?

Awesome answer and exactly the inspiration i was looking for. 

How did you specifically get started selling and promoting your candles?  I know all about testing of candles before selling thanks to you guys.  I would love to hear everyone's stories about the road leading up to selling your candles and how you changes your approach since then.  Any great stories you want to share?  Did you start by giving away to friends and word spread?  Did you take the plunge and just started setting up at farmer's markets?  Tell me your specific story on how you started in the business.  I'd love to know.  I find it inspiring.  

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.  

I may have to try CS Black Sea. 

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.  

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.  

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).

Very close on the half pour @Trappeur.  1/8 inch to go which passes the test for me.  Do you think it should be FMP after 3 hours on initial burn on a half pour in a 3" status jar?

I am going through exhaustive testing with 12 oz. status jars right now and am finding good results with straight 6006 or 6006 mixed with 15 - 40% 464.    60% 6006 with 40% is burning really nicely but I am concerned the cure time will be too long to do throw tests in a timely manner.  

LX wicks definitely leading the pack when measuring soot, heat, mushroom.  

Zinc are doing great as well except for mushrooms.

CD's also doing great but at times got way too hot on longer burns.  

I ended up doing a full and a half pour using identical wax / jar / wick.  The half pour definitely burned faster out of the gate.  After 3 hours the half pour had a larger melt pool but not by much.  

Any advice here?

I am currently testing out 12 oz. status jars with 6006 ( 100% ) / 6006 ( 85% ) + 464 ( 15% ) using various LX, CD, Eco, and Zinc Wicks.   A lot of chandlers on this site recommend testing with half poured jars with no fragrance when trying to figure out the best wax / wick / container combo.

1) If I was pouring a full jar, I would be looking for a FMP on the 2nd or 3rd burn.  Should I be expecting the same rate to a FMP on a half poured jar or will that happen faster when only pouring a half jar.  Is it ok to reach a FMP on  the first 3 hour burn test when only pouring half jars?

2) Since I am not testing fragrance / throw, what else should I be looking for when determining the best 2-3 possible wicks + wax combos.  I am assuming in a perfect candle, I would have no mushrooming, no soot, no tunneling, low temp on the glass, minimal catchup, and a reasonable rate to get to a FMP.   How do you ultimately choose between the many combinations that are possible here?  For example, should I always choose the wick that results in a cooler jar and takes longer to reach a FMP?  In my mind, I can imagine chandlers giving each attribute a rating ( soot / mushroom / heat / melt pool ) and then deciding the best based on a score or is this more of a subjective determination that comes with experience?   I understand once I start mixing in fragrance all bets are off, but I would like to limit that test to only a few wax / wick combos if possible.  

By the way, I am somewhat referring the approach @Chefmom talks about here:  

3 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

I consider success when I can easily recreate the same candle consistently in the same scent, color. etc. several times in a row - and each passes erratic burn tests never getting out of hand, and not tunneling. recreating a successful candle depends on how well you control variables.

 

They must pass freeze/thaw testing to see if they develop cracks or develop symptoms of syneresys. 

 

They must pass heat tests, like sitting packaged in the hot black mailbox for a few hours tests. ... I mail some to my sister in Utah. She burns some and mails some back to me so I can see how the extremes of temp change the candle. (no slumping, cracking, etc. allowed!)

 

Candles change quite a bit under different environmental conditions both while being manufactured and during storage. Some of my soy developed hairline cracks that split the entire candle from top to bottom in the jars after curing in controlled environments for a few months. That is a BIG fail. I scrapped quite a lot of candles after that.

 

Test them over time. Today's perfect burn may be wildly different in a couple of months.

 

sounds like you are on the right track. No rush.

This is another great answer and the kind of answer I was looking for.  

I meant victory for the testing of your candle, e.g. it got a FMP on the 3rd 3 hour burn test, the flame never exceeded 1 1/2 inches, the jar never got hotter than 150, and some other things did happen but I am ok with it.  Just curious what you must have / must not have before you say this candle can be sold / given away.  

I’m curious when you declare victory. What conditions exists where you say “this is a winner!”

One hour per inch is the standard for the diameter of the melt pool on a test burn I believe.  

54 minutes ago, Sarah S said:

If I may, I have been making candles for a much shorter period of time then the talented and experienced ladies above, so my A-Z is also a bit shorter. 

1. I want great HT, and I don't want to wait on a cure, and I'm too lazy to do a second pour, and I get frustrated easily, so that means a low-melt point parrafin. I live very close to Candlewic, so I started with their CBL-125 and I love it, so that is my wax of choice.

2. I tried HTP wicks, and they worked great right off the bat, so that is my wick series of choice. I am never tempted to cheat on them with those other tawdry wicks.

3. I like the look of glass jars. I don't like to pay a bunch of money for fancy jars, so I use canning jars with smooth sides for a simple and clean look. Size selection is easy from there, 8 or 16oz.

4. Fragrance can seem overwhelming, but that's where having a clear vision of your overall brand comes into play. I know exactly how every fragrance I try fits into my brand as a whole. If I can't make it fit, I don't use it (or it become a "just for me" candle).

5. I test my wax, wicks, and fragrance in both size jars, because you just never know. I had one FO that I adored, that I just couldn't wick correctly in the 16oz jar, but it worked in the 8oz jar. If I can't get a FO to work with my wax, wick and jars, I don't use it.

6. I write notes on all my test burns, and I don't test more than 3 or 4 candles at once because I have a short attention span. 😆

I do test burns just like I would burn a candle for my own use, which for me means 4-6 hour burns. Keepin' it easy.

 

So that's my development process. Super simple, right? It has saved me so many headaches to focus on one wax, one wick series, and a couple of basic jars.  I have about 10 fragrances that I know work really well, and that fit great with my branding vision. I consistently get positive feedback about them. That took me around 18 months to get to that point, but in that time I learned a ton about my wax and how it behaves.

Now I have started to play with parasoy in my personal candles, and I have tried some larger multi-wick containers as well. Still same wick series though, and my base wax is still a low-melt point container wax, so I'm not really changing too many factors.

Next I want to play with palm wax, so I'll probably need to try some different wicks since that's a totally different wax. But I'll use my standard 8oz and 16oz jars since I know what a good burn looks like in those. And I'll use FOs that I've already tested, so I have a general idea of what kind of throw to expect.

Learning to make great candles is a lengthy process, but if you're methodical and consistent, you'll have a product you know inside and out and that you can be proud of!

 That’s a awesome reply Sarah S.  I realize people all do this differently but I am looking to understand those differences and it’s good to see how your personally approach the creation of a candle.  Super helpful. 

Ok, so let's say wax goes first.  Can you provide more detail on the specific steps you take to finally get to "Success!!!!"

When you create a new candle concept, what does your process look like from beginning to end?  I am really curious how any of you go from "It would be really cool if I did a candle that looked like ABC and smelled like XYZ" to "I feel good enough to sell this candle".    I have heard people say they start with a jar as the first variable that doesn't change and start testing from there.  I am curious what your specific steps are and how you don't waste too much $$$ and or pull your hair out in the process.   Based on all my reading, in mind mind it might looks something like this:

1) Identify a jar I like and order 24 of them ( For the purposes of this question let's pretend it's a 10oz tumbler )

2) Pour 12 candles with 3 different sizes of CD, LX, Zinc, and :HTTP: with no fragrance and fill jars half way.

3) Perform 4, 3 hour burns tests, trimming wick each time and write down the following:  a,b,c,d,e,f

4) Perform a power burn for 8 hours, trimming wick and writing down the following: a,b,c,d,e,f

5) Perform as many 3 hour burn tests until I reach the bottom candle or the candle dies / drowns / explodes

6) Pick the top 2 performing candles.  Let say it ends up being LX-18 and CD-12 with 6006

7) Pour 6 candles with 3 different fragrance percentages ( 6,8,10 ) for each wick size ( LX-18 / 6006 )

Next Step

Next Step

................

Final Step ( Yes!!!  I am now awesome and can sell this candle to strangers! )

.......................

Does your process look anything like this?  Am I being too methodical / not methodical enough?  I am really interested to see how much the answers are going to vary among all the awesome and knowledgeable chandlers on this board.  I have read and learned so much from this board and I think I have a good idea around what my process would be but would like to see where agreement and disagreement lies across approaches.  Thanks for any insight you can provide into what you have found as a great approach over the years.  

I'm still confused.  If the hole is bigger than the wick which I am assuming is required to push a wick through the hole, doesn't that effect the burn test.  I am having trouble understanding how you can continue to put bigger or smaller wicks in the same candle and not have air gaps that affect the burn test.  Or at least have trouble pushing a wick ( which is not rigid ) through such a tight hole.  I need to see a video of this. 

Once you stick the wick in and use a heat gun to seal it up, how long do you wait to perform your burn test?  I am assuming you have to wait some time for the wax to harden?