Marisa11

I was getting really frustrated with this too. I used a coconut wax blend I’ve been playing with. Pour temp and and how they cool Is a big part. I use polycarbonate chocolate  molds for my snap bars and I had started having the same thing happen and I couldn’t figure out why. I am pretty sure it’s because I am a ding dong and I was cleaning the mold with alcohol before I poured. And that’s is supposed to be one of the tricks to stop wet spots from happening on jars. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I felt like such a dummy. So maybe that could be part of it for you depending on how you clean out the mold before you pour? 

On 12/17/2020 at 2:16 PM, CatoftheCanals said:

Thanks! I'll keep this in mind for my testing. The green candle actually had a full melt pool several burns in but the darn flame was high and throwing soot early in the burn.

 

I tried using Stearic Acid (vegetable based) to calm the flame (hope my internet research was correct) and it did, but now I'm concerned the melt pool won't be as big. Testing them now so we will see.

 

 

 

 

I am hoping that adding stearic will help calm the flames down so that my jars don't get too hot. did you find a significant change in the jar temps?

21 hours ago, NightLight said:

I would try and lx wick. I haven’t tried this wax but it seems it’s the equivalent of soft paraffin.

Your test candles. Make a half full candle and test burn with wicks there. This will tell you where you should land with wicks with this wax. Ecos I would ditch not enough sizes to fine tune candles.

CD wicks burn very hot and high in soft waxes, that’s why you you should try LX.

I was wondering what wick I should use tonight for my testers. I'll throw in some LX wicks I haven't tested with those in a while. My recent testings in half jars I have been getting way too big of a melt pool and jars are getting way too hot in under an hour.  Which is a bummer because on my wickless testing I did not see those issues. Especially the jar getting too hot otherwise I would not have re-tested. 

On 12/4/2020 at 7:16 PM, Kris10Tackles said:

I hear what you’re saying. I’m not necessarily going for “gangbusters” throw but was focused more on the size of the flame. I used 10% FO because that’s what I have been using and that’s what was recommended from NorthWood. I knew I was changing the container and bumping up to 3 wicks, I didn’t want to change absolutely everything. I also knew from reading other posts that I would probably and eventually try a lower percentage of FO. However, I love the size of flame, I love the hot throw, I love the cold throw, I love how gorgeous the wax looks. All in all for what I was going for, I’ll take the win and pat myself on the back thank you very much. 😉 I may have a very different experience when I do cut back on the FO, but I’ll fight that battle on a different day. Today I’m doing a happy dance.

 

Also, luckily I’m only doing this for fun and so shipping in the summer to random people isn‘t exactly on my radar. 
 

Just an FYI referring to someone as “that lady” sounds incredibly condescending and judge-y. She is the owner of the company and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my interactions with her and her customer service. You might not agree with what she recommends but you don’t have to come off sounding... well the way you did.

I think her name is Vanessa? She is awesome.  She knew I had been looking for some CD-2 and CD-3 wicks that were not just for tealight/votives. So when I ordered some CDN wicks to test form her site she sent me some CD-2's and 3's from her personal stash. 

I do agree that 12% is excessive. I have had luck with a 5% load and have not gone above 8% in the coconut wax. Just need to get the right wax,wick, FO formula down. it is so amazing how much difference just a different wick makes. I made 3 candles with 3 different wicks and the first one even though it performed well in my wickless testing did not do well in my half jar test it was about a 2.  2nd wick the HT was a 5 and I am testing the 3rd type wick that did well in my wickless testing sometime this weekend that way the memory of the 1st and 2nd candle are still in my head. 

yes I love their containers too. I have plenty of containers to last me a while. 

On 12/7/2020 at 7:12 PM, BusyBee said:

I still think wood would be the top material which burns well enough to be used as candle wick.  But its lack of capillary action on high density part of woods will make the wooden wick won't lit up or stay lit.

 

Yes.  Those old ones had sawdust coating, which would have ability to pull up melted waxes on outer surface.  Small gap or any small particle on outer surface of any wick would create exterior capillary action.  What if we scratch the wooden surface and create many tiny gab lines?  Would that create enough capillary action on outer surface?  I might try this too!  First I have dig up wooden wick that would not lit up first. 😄

 

  

 I'll send you wood wicks with the container.

On 12/7/2020 at 12:29 PM, BusyBee said:

@TallTayl

I don't think there is any way to make the wooden wick work consistently unless someone can make wooden wick out of 100% wood fibers or wood dust.  Or design a wooden wick that would depend on exterior capillary action only.  It's just nature of wood that would not provide consistent capillary action through the wood.  I think "Sponiebr" in this forum came close to solution by hammering down on wooden wick trying to break wood fibers to make them loose.

 

You are the one who started this idea some months ago, and this idea is working better than I expected.  I am using a special wick that can be made to make this idea work.  But I am leaning toward using shallow wider containers instead of tall narrow ones.

I can send you the shallow wide container you need! Look at you, you should have been an engineer! 😄

Hello! I think there is a thread in here about FO recommendations. The search bar in here is really helpful to get answers faster.

I haven't used lone star's FO's so I am no help there. I like Natures garden, Studio fragrance, and bulk apothecary. I know a lot of people use Candle Science and I had been seeing more and more people using candle cacoon (I think that's the name) If you are looking for a certain type of scent like a citrus type it in the search bar and use the filters and that might help guide you in the right direction.

Marisa

I use my Instant pot in the slow cooker mode and use a slow cooker liner for easy clean up. 

I love my coconut apricot wax. I did post a pan test I did 3 different ones so 18 different wicks. I also really liked Joy wax but I did not care for IGI 6006 only because I was spoiled with the Joywax that didn't give me sink holes. 6006 does have a killer HT though. When I was doing my pan tests with the coconut apricot I did notice that it seemed to purify the air. I know that is a known thing with beeswax but this is what I came to notice when I was doing my pan tests. So I am all for non scented candles with this wax.

There is a lot of different information for the same wax. I had to leave all the facebook groups it was too much. everyone had different temps they said you needed to add FO to and to use 12% FO load. Which I have great results with 6%-8% and I play with adding FO at the temps I got directly from the manufacturer to make sure my FO binds properly. I play with it adding stearic acid and paraffin wax. I make wax melts out of the wax by mixing additives.

I find a lot of people get turned off by it because of the 2 week cure time. Its been hard finding a coconut apricot buddy.  There isn't a ton of info just about coconut wax.  Paraffin, soy, vegetable, and beeswax candles are usually talked about the most. So as long as you have patience and are prepared to try a ton of different wicks and fail a lot its pretty fun. I feel like a scientist and since coconut wax is the least talked about (in my recent experience) there is less pressure to get it right, right away. That is my experience anyway. 

When I was researching making fire starters with pine cones there were some people adding different things to change the color of the flame. Some of the stuff sounded almost dangerous. But one of them was salt. I have not come across anything about salt slowing down the burn. I have been testing with stearic acid with my little glass votive candles though. Do you have a link to the source? 

So Final Cut pro is for Apple products and what the pros in the film industry use. That is what I used in college when taking a film editing class. It is extremely pricey.

But if you want something simple and user friendly. I used Windows movie maker when I was younger. I had liked making homemade videos for my family. Nothing fancy but it got the job done. There is also an Apple app called iMovie but I have never used it as I have been out of the editing game for quite some time.  I know that the iphone11 pro takes 4K videos as well as HD videos. I think Jeff Standley had also talked about creating content on how he creates his videos. I didn't see them on his channel so he might have a different one. I know people in here have mixed reviews about him on here but I think he is great his videos are also very good quality so that will also make you stand out.

Dyes also can have an affect on wicking too. You will never stop learning.

Yeah definitely wick up. I think because it’s so shallow too you aren’t going to get the same heat you would from a taller vessel once the wick is lower.  I used an HTP-72 the other night and it was too small but I can’t find my HTP-83 wicks. I’m usually good about putting them away in the right place and I don’t think I used them all. 

28 minutes ago, Cosmic candle creations said:

Wish me luck on my eco 8 wick test with no mica 👍

Wow! That was fast. The scent?

2 minutes ago, Cosmic candle creations said:

Thank you for all of that useful information. It seems I will be going the route of no mica on my embeds when placed on a candle, and only using mica on my wax melts and tarts 😕

Not a problem. Glad it helped. I would like to see any tarts you end up making with those coffee bean embeds!

47 minutes ago, bfroberts said:

A sweet girl in one of the FB groups pm'd me a couple weeks ago and asked if she could mail me a couple of her candles to burn and give her some feedback.  I thought it would be fun, so I agreed, and she sent 4.  I've test burned them for 4 days now.  They are all nice, conservatively wicked, good throw, pretty nice all around.  It was a happy surprise, and I enjoyed trying someone else's product.  So there is one new candle maker that seems to know what she is doing.

That is awesome that you did that for her. I bet she was nervous sending them to you. I am glad you ended up liking them.  I enjoy burning other peoples candles because I can actually enjoy the candle and not have to set a timer, and take notes, and pictures every 30min or so. I have peaked at the list in here with the users shop links. I also have been checking that holiday thread. Just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

The Mica is pretty I wish it did work. I had bought 3 candles from a vendor not knowing 2 of the 3 candles had Mica in it and was pleasantly surprised when I did see it because I had not been aware that it was a thing. I’m am a girl so yay glitter!  However I was not getting any kind of HT and the flame was teeny tiny or would just go out on it’s own. When I told the vendor she said I probably cut the wick too short. Well I use wick trimmers that measure the wick to 1/4” and am familiar with candle care just not candle care with Mica. So I dumped out some of the wax and re-lit without trimming and still had the same issue. The vendor then said it was probably the new glitter she tried. (So no testing?)

the 3rd candle w/o Mica had a HT and I had no issues with it. 
 

look at a candle like a glass of water(Wax) and a straw(wick) now take a glass of water (wax) a straw(wick) and add some fresh Cut up fruit (Mica) to it to pizazz it up.
 

well when you put your mouth (the flame) to the straw and start sucking up the plain glass of water it has no issues going through the straw and into your mouth.  
Now the water with fruit the chances of getting a piece of fruit stuck in the straw of obscuring it are high. When that happens your mouth will need to suck harder to try and get that fruit all

the way through the straw to continue drinking it otherwise you will have to stop drinking it all together. Well the flame doesn’t have the ability to (suck harder) so therefore (the fruit is left stuck in the straw) the wicks go out because it can’t pull in any more wax through the wick and when you cut off the fuel to the wick the flame dies out. 
 

well what if you used a bigger straw so that the fruit pieces had less of a chance of getting stuck? Yeah that might work but the amount of energy it would take to suck on a straw that big and then you are consuming more water and pieces of fruit in your mouth than you can swallow causing other problems like choking (mushrooming) But still no guarantee no fruit will clog it up. 
 

on a side not you did a great job on the embeds as they do look real. I use Mica but in my wax melts to be used on a warmer.  You can use your embed making skills to add those to a cool looking wax tart. There is a big market for it and you obviously have talent for it. 

2 hours ago, BusyBee said:

No!  That's too small.  One size up might do the job.

My main problem is I think it will burn through the wax too quickly. I’ll try adding some stearic acid.

But what if I use a really really small wick?

@TORI ok so I tested and I need to wick up to HTP-83 for this particular combo.  The 72 worked on a different FO just fine so it’s good to have different sizes for this reason. 

@TORI oh and cure for 2 weeks. I think a lot of people get away from this wax because of the cure time. I have 6 pets and boyfriend that all like a lot of attention so luckily patience is one of my strong suits. 😂 I say patience but it might be the lack of time needed to record my burn results so 2 weeks easily goes by for me. 

11 hours ago, TallTayl said:

cd or Htp should work well in that jar with that wax. Resist the temptation to overwick. 

ECO-16? Did you check the outside temp of the jar? I would think that would have gotten really hot. This wax definitely likes smaller wicks.  If you go with the CD try CD-3 with that diameter.  Like @TallTayl Said try not to overwick.  I have a similar sized jar and a candle ready to test. I’ll see what results I get since its a different FO

On 10/30/2020 at 10:12 AM, TallTayl said:

I think we all need to change terminology. Diluted implies that a company received a keg of FO, and adds something to it to stretch the FO.  This is really not the case.  

 

 

So that is what I was saying when someone was asking about “Watered down” fragrances. When some of these companies claim that they are 100% concentrated like BA and NG they are implying that other suppliers might  “dilute,water down” their fragrances so they can have a larger profit margin.  So I understand what you are saying about the manufacturer making the fragrance but are you saying that there is not a way for suppliers when receiving their Keg to add a lil somethin’ somethin’ extra to stretch out that FO?

Wouldn’t that then make the original MSDS sheet invalid? I notice that there are a lot of companies that do not offer MSDS directly on their sites. My company does not but I don’t have issues getting them from our vendors. I only notice this because of my job and I know one time I needed to provide the MSDS sheet for some tire sealant because it had spilled out of a shipping box onto the FedEx driver and they were allergic to latex.  We receive the sealant in 55gal drums and then we re-package into multiple packages to re-sell. It is water based so I guess if they wanted to they could add some water without it affecting the final product. 

So is that a possibility? Obviously not water but something else they could add in house? So really all that BA and NG are saying is that its 100% “concentrated” from theIr manufacturer meaning it is sold with the same compound as they receive it? As a consumer that was how I read it.  You have much better insight. 

1 hour ago, strugglebrother said:

We had great hot throw with 6-8% fragrance load in this wax when we tested a few fragrances.

 

The problem we had was that the wicks at the end of the candle self-trimmed so much that they die at the last 20% of the candle. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

To prevent this we tried CDN wicks but they didn't give as much throw as we wanted.

Which wicks did that for you? I’ve been doing a lot of wickless testing. I didn’t notice that happening with HTP, PREMIER 700, or LX I tested recently that were wicked but I didn’t have a great HT I need to just stop with the citrus scents already.  Thanks for the info that is good to know that can happen Towards the end. I am planning on making some wicked testers with CDN, Paper Core, and zinc since those came out with a good HT in a wickless test so now I want to see side by side. 

@birdcharm thank you for the info. I’ll let you know if I get to that point in my journey.  So I did look at my RRD wicks and stripped some of the wax off I could see the braid but I didn’t see anything that stood out that would show me which way the wick went if it wasn’t tabbed. Sorry. I’m interested to see your results after a side by side test too.