H everyone! 👋
I've been making candles for months now trying to get them just right, but no matter what blend or wick I go with I keep having a lot of soot developing in the wax about halfway through the candle. For reference, I'm blending beeswax and coconut oil and using wooden wicks. My fragrance load stays at about 6% to 7% (can go to 10%) so I don't think it's all a fragrance oil problem.
I'm attaching photos of my most recent test burns for reference. Two of them got really dirty, and one of them was a little less sooty (didn't add FO).
I'm at a loss for what to do, because I get a fairly complete burn and the flame isn't getting out of control so I think they're wicked well. Is it normal to have a certain amount of soot start developing when the candle is about half burned and is this something I'm just going to have to deal with? Any advice would be very much appreciated!
Haylee