BusyBee

Sorry! Then it must be the FOs that are causing the clogging problem. If dialing back on FO does not work, then you can also try the wick with more external capillary action. Helix & Paper wick in South Korea would be be ones with most external capillary action. Or you can put any two wicks together like picture below. When you put two wicks like that, the gab between the wicks will create external capillary action which will help fuel delivery. First method would be easy to try. Just stick in two wicks of half the size of your normal. This is Helix. Helix is two Aroma Lite twisted into one wick. Wick near the flame will splits out which will create gab within the wick. *I like play with name brand candles by changing their wicks like the one below. This is Paper wick from South Korea. It has coating on exterior which improves exterior capillary action. This one is almost impossible to get during Pandemic. Good luck with your experiment!

If that is not the case, then let's try second thing that I have noticed. Do you trim your wick using wick trimmer in the picture? If so, have you ever had any problem with it before? It's hard to tell by looking at your picture since it's not clear, but you might be having problem due to that wick trimmer. Sometimes dull blade will damage end of wick which cause wick clogging. You might want to try to trim the wick with sharp scissors. I can suggest you wick recommendation for 464. But I have no clue for the 50/50 464/4627 mixture since I have no experience with that. I just know the 464 becomes totally different wax even if it is added with just small portion of other wax.

By looking at pictures of your candles, I am assuming big size wicks are your problem. Whenever you have deep melt pool and big flame, then that is the sign of many problems. Waxes will expand and rise when they are melted, and that would cause the wick to drown in deep melt pool. The flame of your green one is big. So, you might want to cut it down on wick sizes or maybe try different wicks altogether. It's not going to be easy to maintain shallow melt pool through out the life of candle, but that is what we are aiming to achieve. *Below is 464.

It's not you! It's their wording that is causing confusion to everyone. Most waxes used in wick coatings have melt point of 160 to 180F which are considered as "High Melt Point Wax", and that could be considered as "STANDARD" for wick coating even though there is no such a thing as "STANDARD" in candle industry. Is there standard melt point paraffin? NOPE! So, when word "Standard" is used, it is anyone's guess. However, if they have specified "primed with standard high melt paraffin wax coating", then that wording could be acceptable.

185F would be max. Try heat it to around 182F, so you don't go over 185F. At least you got hardest part right which is getting decent hot throw. 😉

Taper design is an idea that came out from of this forum, and I just tried it since I had those paper wicks which was perfect shape to try that. Paper wick is not my invention either, and they are available in South Korea. But it cannot be used in USA "As Is" due to Lumetique's "Planar Wick" patent. If I can modify that to narrow cone or pyramid shape, then it should be alright even though Lumetique has all different kind wick patents on other shapes too. I wanted to go to factory to discuss changing shape, so it is not planar anymore. Furthermore, make some improvements on them, so it can be used in different waxes. But I don't want to go there during this pandemic time.

One more thing to add! I am in favor of using max FO (I put 12% FO because my area is really dry.), but you might want to try to put less FO (about 6 to 8%) due to your climate condition.

@Fahmighazel I use IGI R2322 Glass Glow Palm, but I think other palm wax would work also. Little bit of Palm wax increased HT of 464 a lot, but too much(more than 10%) will decrease HT. I heat 464 to 180 to 182F, and add FO some where in between 175 to 180F. I get nice finish pouring at 130 to 135F, but I started to do 2nd pour because it gives me more beautiful mirror like finish top 100% of the time. 2nd picture is booster wooden wick, and 3rd is tube wood wick with ECO wick. But I don't use them in real production since wooden wicks are so unreliable. Wick in 1st picture is not a wooden wick. It works nicely for 464 with 4% palm wax mixture. It is paper wick sold only in South Korea. http://gelcandleshop.co.kr/shop/shopbrand.html?xcode=050&mcode=001&type=Y It's kind of pricey, and candle suppliers in South Korea do not have capability to send them out of their country. So, I had to use forwarding service to get them to US. Due to its high price I cannot use them in my regular candle lines, so I use Helix for most of 464/palm candles. This paper wick did not work well for 100% 464 as is. It needed thicker wick for 100% 464, but stock paper wick works well with 464/palm mix.

This is the picture of that candle company.

I had fun testing wooden wicks, and some of them performed really well. But I don't understand why anyone would be interested in using them in real production. Who cares what they require? And also, are the wooden wicks manufactured by others really illegal? If they are, then why haven't Lumetique stopped Amazon and Ebay from selling them? If they can shut them down, then they would be shutting down the biggest supposed to be illegal wooden wick suppliers. I am guessing that they are just trying to intimidate small candle makers since they know they cannot go after Amazon and Ebay. There is one thing that those people, who wants to use wooden wicks, should be aware of. Remember this candle company? They had to shut down their candle company due to law suits they got from their candles blowing up. Ever since, they are trying to make money by selling that unreliable & unsafe wooden wicks to small candle makers. *One more fun fact: If you look at Amazon and Ebay, then you would find some wooden wicks that shows "ECO" in description section. But those are not actually Lumetique products. http://daynadecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/innovations_01.jpg

1) Given that i live in a hot & humid weather, should i add additives such as stearic acid to make the wax a little bit harder? I heard adding stearic acid will decrease the HT Please advise if this is indeed true! Theoretically, adding stearic acid to 464 would be problematic since 464 already has enough in them. In reality, I did not see any noticeable problem, but I also did not see any improvement adding more to 464. 2) Do you recommend using 444 soy wax as i heard that it's a better option for summer weather? If outside weather is around 40C, then the biggest problem using low melt point wax would be transporting candles to another location. Even if full blown air conditioning cars are to be used for transportation, it is going to cause problems. And I have a feeling that 444 would have same problem also. 3) Lastly, are there any methods to ensure that the 464 soy wax candle looks good after burning? Only way to achieve clean top after burn is to use the right wick in 464. There are only few that provides clean top after burn, and when you get clean top after burn then that wick will gives you the best HT also. Since you are in Singapore, you might have access to pure coconut waxes over there that we in US are not aware of. That is something that we don't have in US. So, I don't have any clue what pure coconut wax would do to 464. But adding 10% pure coconut wax might cause more problem in hot weather since pure coconut wax is supposed to be close to oil. Below are pictures of 464 after burns. Other than these, Helix wick would provide decent top(not as good as these) after burn and will produce decent HT. All other wicks on 464? Forget about them! *First one has 4% palm wax in it, and I get mirror like top after burn with better HT. Stay safe and good luck with your candle venture!

I really don't know what melt pool temperature has to do with HT. But I have been observing melt pool temperature and noticed some patterns. I measure about an inch from the wick also with digital meat thermometer. For 464, I get optimal burning candle at 125F which gave me best HT result. Some wicks gave me 123F up to 134F, and I liked the way it burns best when it was 125F. For Coconut 83, I liked it when it was 138F. For 130 melt point paraffin, I liked it when it was 138F also. But I have not tried enough other wicks on this wax to be 100% confident on this number.

Heat of a candle is most complicated part of candle science which is not easy to understand, and not that many people cares about it. Which part of candle are you talking about when you say it is hotter or cooler? Is it flame temperature? Container temperature? Melt pool temperature? Temperature of air around a flame? And so on... There are two sources of heat from a burning candle, and they are heat of flame itself and radiation from a flame. Waxes are fuel and it will burn at same temperature. Some wax will burn faster and some will burn slower, but it is not going to burn hotter or cooler. Blue part of a flame is where oxygen is burning, and that is the part that has highest temperature (1,400F). Yellow part of candle would be next highest temperature which is around 1,200F. Darker brown inner part of flame has temperature of 1,000F. Only way to have more blue flame is to supply more oxygen to the flame which could be controlled by convection. Some wick produce brighter yellowish flame, which means higher temperature of a flame. That would be hotter burning wick than a wick with darker flame color. Since we don't have devices to measure these temperatures (Actually there is but so expensive.), we have to guess them by looking at color of flames. Flame with brighter color would be hotter burning candle. This does not mean that darker flame will keep the container cooler than brighter one because of radiation. Some wick will produce more hotter radiation than others. Once again, there is no way to measure this also. So, it needs to be determined by observation of melt pool and container temperatures. It is true that larger flame will heat up the surrounding air quicker, which lead us to believe bigger flame = hotter. But that does not mean it is hotter. Bigger flame just covers more area to heat than smaller one would. Hard paraffin and soft coconut wax has same melt pool temperature when same wick is used. Soy wax has 13F lower melt pool temperature. But it has nothing to do with hotter burning or cooler burning characteristics. Shape of container plays big roll in convection also besides the wick itself. By finding the wick with right convection and radiation for certain shape of container would be key to control melt pool and safe temperature of a container. *Leaning flame or dancing flame hitting or getting close to the wall is a different story. I have to say this is not easy to explain nor easy to understand subject.

Welcome to this forum! It looks like you are not sure of what this forum is all about. This forum is for candle & soap makers(professionals & hobbyist) to share thoughts on candle/soap making & industry insights. And, no one is allowed to self-promote their own brand here like you and Mark0705 are trying to do here. You are more than welcome to this community if you want to share Chinese candle maker's point of view. After all, we do have interested in hearing about how you guys are doing over there.

If they are having water leakage problem, then that means the machine is falling apart which means it will spit out who knows what. This is GB 464 back in 2016. 7% of 464 candle came out like this. I was a beginner back then, and I just stayed with 464 since I thought it was me who didn't get it right. Current 464 is a lot better than those days. It has weaker CT, but it looks better and burns easier with stronger HT. *I do still have same problem sometime (less than 2%) with current 464, but that is acceptable for me.

Accu-blend had machine problem where cooling water was getting into wax mixture since last year, and I don't think they have fixed it completely.

I think B-Corp and Benefit Corporation is totally different thing. I am pretty sure you have seen and dealing with lots of Non-profits from your day job, and you already know a lot about Non-profits. If it was me, I would file for LLC with S-Corp designation ($800 annual fee + paper works: *S-Corp designation for better tax write off benefits over regular LLC, and LLC over Inc. for lower fees and less paper work) and register as Commercial Coventurer($350 annual registration fee + lots of paper work). Being a Non-profit means that you are giving up on some control of your operation. But do not take my advise as legal counsel. No one can advise better than your CPA to suggest best way for you go. Good luck with your venture!

It sounds like your operation is going to be more of "Commercial Coventurer" rather than being a Non-profit yourself. Either way, they are more heavily regulated(more paper work to file) than regular businesses. Every state has different regulations on this. So, you should consult with CPA for best option for you.

I like Helix for Coconut 83. For 9oz straight sided jar, Helix 1 is about right even though I wish they would have smaller than that one. I say it is about 5 wick size down compare to soy wax. I was not able to single wick Coco/Apricot to satisfaction. But I have seen few who did great job triple wicked using CDN 2 & 3 for 4" diameter vessels. Those small flames work in favor when they are triple wicked.

Any wick can be used in some way if the combination is right. But what can we do with some wooden wicks that would not stay lit and Cottonwood Wick that becomes smoke chimney & inferno after 2 hours?

One by one with simplicity! I would go after one targeted market with simple choice(one size container & less than 5 scents), and then move on to next one with same concept when I have gain enough ground in one. Many candle makers are trapped in a market only looking for candle users to sell their candles. But there are tons of candle buyers who are not actual candle users, and these groups are much easier to deal with. Example: Candle would be one of top gift items. Place candles in heaviest tourist spot with attraction theme labels. Tourists will buy those candles as gift item to hand out when they get back home. One container (7.5oz candle would be perfect since it is not too big or heavy to carry back home nor too small as a gift) with 4 to 5 attraction related scents should work really well.

Hmm! Do you really like them? The packaging was done by Big Sky Packaging in NJ. Is that wooden tube wick they used? Quality of that is as bad as regular wooden wick. Some will not lit up or stay lit. But the one that would stay lit would perform really well. They are claiming fragrance was done in Los Angeles. That means it could have been done by Agilex. Agilex has done good job for quite a few companies. I have feeling that they are probably manufactured by private-label manufacturer here in Los Angeles. One private-label company here does many of those price range candles here in Los Angeles area. Are we the only one who has to follow product label regulation not them? No product identification, no weight in grams, no manufacturer's address??? Their website does not disclose their address either. I think I need to start ignoring label regulation too since no one seems to be following the rules and they are doing oaky. Sorry that this turned out to be very negative response. I did not burn this candle so I should not say too much about this candle. But a new candle company who does not even know how to follow label regulation really turns me off.

To me tins are much easier to work with because I am so use to that shape. Below are some of the very expensive candles. What is it going to take for us get there? Has anyone thought about collaborating with famous perfumer, artists, designers, porcelain company, dinnerware/crystal /glass manufacturers to create high end luxury candle?

My business is not a non-profit, but I deal with them all the time so I am in line with its regulations. You will need to be dealing with IRS & State General Office on top of regular business administrations as a non-profit. Best resource would be your local CPA. Good CPA should be able to guide you thru the registering process.

@TallTayl I find minimal shrink of wax when the melt pool is not large, deep or wide. When I aim for the “U” shape, very small/shallow melt pool with hang I find I don’t need to trim with my selection of single wicks. Is this going to work for tin container with 3.6" inside diameter with 2 1/4" height? My guess would be "Probably not".