ErronB

Just smelled the CT on my testers... holy jesus... they are crazy strong, very nice. Dying to burn them but gonna leave them for another 5 or so days as I've heard anything sooner is a bad idea with palm if you're trying to wick test. I didn't know exactly how bad the air pockets can be until I cracked the top on one as it was setting, it's no joke, now I understand why people flip them. The glass adhesion is a bit iffy in a couple of spots, but hopefully I'll be able to get it down better next time. I couldn't notice any burned off notes in the fragrances either after adding them at 200, smells promising, I hope the HT is as impressive as the CT.

I don’t have much experience with palm yet, just got some Glass Glow and CSN wicks to play with, if it works good in 8oz jelly jars then I’m just gonna use that from now on. Does seem a bit easy, I’m waiting for the ‘catch’ to reveal itself, there’s always something not quite right.

I have some GG coming in later this week (from Aztec), I'll let you know if it looks like yours.

I'd do what TallTayl said, play with all the different sizes and types and see what you like. The sample pack they sell is good for that. I have a huge amount of experience with wooden wicks and my number 1 piece of advice would be to ignore anything the Wooden Wick Co says or tells you, they do not know what they are doing. Since you're using soy wax, you should be able to find something that works reasonably well, just don't expect perfection because they are very inconsistent and stay away from the dual wicks they are causing so many problems that some suppliers don't even want to carry them anymore.

If you are making candles that are religiously trimmed after every burn then it's easier to find a wood wick to fit the cause, but if you're trying to get a clean burn that you can leave for multiple hours without problems then that's where it get's dodgy. Everyone has different opinions on what is good enough for them, so don't let me completely deter you, you can always get the sampler pack from The Wooden Wick Co and see how it goes. Just don't take them too seriously because there is only so much that they will do.

It's always ended up differently for me depending on the wax and container, sometimes evenly spaced between the wicks to the container walls has worked, sometimes I've had to place the wicks in a tighter triangle, it's a trial and error thing really. I've never been able to get a nice clean burn the bottom part of a triple wick unless I'm using something with heavy soy, stuff like 6006 and paraffin get's too dirty for me no matter how hard I try. A typical example of what I used to use is CBL-130, I've gotten many flawless burns from that wax with multiple wicks.

You don’t want to go down that rabbit hole.... it takes a LOT of testing and messing around to get familiar with them. There used to be some decent wood wicks around before The Wooden Wick Co shut them down. Now we are stuck with their crap because they hold the patents. Some thicknesses and types are ‘acceptable’ under the right circumstances and waxes, but most are just a waste of time because of how inconsistent they burn. If you use soy wax or heavier soy blends they are easier to get something going, but paraffin / parasoy is just a nightmare.

I've tried a Voluspa candle before, it burned like pretty much every other store candle I've bought, except it actually had a hot throw. I like the glass containers they use with the patterns, I've only seen them for sale on Amazon, not my usual places.

I never found one wax that the ribbons worked in consistently, I wish they were like the ribbons in the store candles (i liked those) but I'm assuming the ones we got were one of the rejected designs. Cottonwood.... I just can't get along with them. When I use them in paraffin / parasoy blends the first burn is spectacular, but every burn after that the flame just wants to grow huge, and the way they fray apart annoys me too.

Saw an email from Northwood...... Ribbon wicks aren't being made by the manufacturer anymore so once current stock is gone they are gone for good... Cottonwood is not quite the horror story, they just stopped making sizes CW60, CW70 CW75, CW90. The rest of the sizes are still being made (for now).

I'm not Moon, but I did test them again in Northwood's own coconut wax that they use for a fair test. They did burn well, nice power behind the flame to get a decent melt pool but the hot throw was very mediocre. And they don't self-trim properly, so if you're into making super clean burning candles then they won't be any use to you. You can still get a good 3 or so burns out of them before they start breaking down though.

The reason you're finding it almost impossible to find a wick for 464 is because you're using 12% FO, you don't need more than 8% (or maybe 10 for really light fragrances) to get a big hot throw. Personally I used CD wicks because they self-trimmed well when you don't use a ton of FO. The problem with 464 is that the batches are so inconsistent finding that 'sweet spot' for the killer throw. It can be all over the place and requires making several testers from each lot, that's why I won't use it anymore. It's not hard to get an average throw after a good cure, but it's capable of a lot more if you know exactly what you're doing.

I would try what TT said, then if that doesn't help I would back off the FO to 8%. At 10% it's going to be more problematic with the mushrooming and dirty burning, also, with less fragrance it will usually be a bigger flame with the same wick. If you go to wick up from the 93 with 10% load then the 104 is next and that will be way too big IMO.

Did they just send you more? or make you jump through hoops and do other stuff? I emailed Bill back a week ago and he never replied.

Yeah, I don't know what to do either. In theory I'd like to just test some wax from a certain lot and be able to get more from it after I've achieved a couple of successful tests. But the way everyone is buying wax right now I don't know what the chances are that I'd get it from the same lot, and if not, how different would it be?. Such a mess. If you find something that works consistently during this horrible time then please feel free to let me know lol.

I haven't bought any recently, but I know someone who got a couple of slabs from CS a couple months ago and it was still the same gooey-ish type so I'd assume it's still the same. I like the hot throw from it a lot, but I can't get a 'clean' burn from it no matter how hard I try. I have had the same problem with so much stuff lately, waxes and wicks, it's all just a mess, it's like I have to start over every time and it's taking up way more time than I have right now. So yeah, you're right, I don't see the point of going through all the work either with the state of supplies.

I have some of that gooey 6006 left over lol. It still throws like a beast but yeah the way it burns is weird. I agree that Eco is definitely the best for performance and melt pools, I think that HTP deals with the self trimming aspect better but the hot throw always seems kinda hit or miss compared to Eco.

It’s been quite a weird time, because all these noobs set up shop when the pandemic hit, and then got a flood of business when everyone got their stimulus check, which they presumed it meant ‘this is your time to start the business for real’. So not knowing barely anything about candle making safety they would just spend all the money on huge amounts of supplies and think ‘this is it, my dream to own my own business is here’. Fast forward to now, almost all of them here locally have gone already. Their candles were so terrible and dangerous that nobody came back to buy anything ever again. Now they are left with huge amounts of supplies which I will buy for pennies on the dollar. Thx noobs lol.

A common thing I’ve been seeing lately in local ‘wannabe pros’ circles is using max fragrance and mica powder to lower the flame height, therefore being able to use a bigger wick to get that big melt pool faster. I did test one of their candles and funnily enough it did work until I got about half way down then the mica just clogged the hell out of the wick and it just burning without self-trimming. It’s the only time I’ve seen an Eco with a really long piece of wick just flopped over horizontally on top lol.

Oh, yes.... I learned a lot more than I could have ever imagined. And it was so costly and painful that I just sit back and laugh now at all these noobs making fancy candles on reddit using them and thinking their candles are worth top shelf money when they're either going to puff black smoke constantly or have trouble staying lit. They can be primed to death, but after a couple burns they have a mind of their own again which is too unpredictable for me. It's not even worth me ranting about it anymore, I know that you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Knew that was coming, and every time I go to Walmart I see their candle kits with dried flowers in them. I just shake my head.

Yes, I messed with wooden wicks for a whole year trying to get them to work consistently and it was a waste of a lot of time and money. Tried every type with 6 different waxes, priming them with different things, and just when I thought I had it down they would turn to sh*t again. I didn’t test much soy because I wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole nowadays, there’s no point when I don’t have to cater to treehuggers.

I feel like the ribbons and cottonwood are rejects that the big candle companies didn't want to use and now they're selling them to the general public to see if there's much interest. I don't think we'll ever get the chance to buy the decent wooden wicks or even the same most BBW candles use. I've asked 2 wick companies about those and I keep getting the runaround and avoiding telling me exactly what they are.

I've been playing with these and I hate them. The way they burn reminds me of Eco but they don't self trim worth a crap, and the HT is rubbish. I'm glad I only bought a few sizes to try.

Cool. There's still a couple of types on that list I need to play with. I'm sure the helix wicks are just a novelty but they might be fun.