rebeccajo99

I agree, but I only have one or two burning at a time... once I'm done with one 3 hour burn test... I wait a couple of hours and start the next candle. Plus once I get safety and wicks figured out, I pour candles for a couple of my good friends to test the throw too. They really like the free candles and it gives me other opinions:yay:

well... I went outside today and found some pinecones and clipped some twigs out of our christmas tree (it was sitting on our deck for the birds this winter). I warmed up some dud wax on my warmer and poured my first firestarters. nice and baby powder scented. A friend of mine said that I can come over and test them in his firepit... won't he just love the fact that they are baby powder!!! A quick question... I used paper cupcake liners to line my cupcake tin, do I take those off when testing, or do I just leave them there. I did put a wick in them. I think I would just leave them there since that would be something else to help with the fire.

As I sit here and read the board and watching the candles I'm currently testing, I'm wondering how many different candles scents you test at a time. I tested 4 at one time and now I have 6 scents that I like and feel satisfied with. (even though I'm thinking about pulling them and trying different wicks in them... found LX wicks and I'm liking those better). Just wondering if I'm the only crazy one doing 4 at a time. I was thinking about doing 4 at a time until I had 15 scents... then dropping to 1 or 2 at a time.

I was using 2 cotton core 60 or 70. Both of those failed me... so I went to candle science website. I ordered the LX 26 like they recomend. (jar size is 3 7/8 inches in diameter). I read that anything over 3 needs two wicks, but felt that LX 26 was rather large, so I poured 2, put 2 wicks in 1 jar and 1 in the other. The testing has shown that the 2 wicks are just way to large... and blew them out after 1 hour...(had a full melt pool and 1 1/2 inche depth). I got a full melt pool and 1/2 inche depth with the first burn with the 1 wick... (after 3 hours) which i'm thinking may be good since it is 3.25 inches at the top. I'm waiting for the candle to harden again before doing my second burn. Maybe I just got lucky and got a wick on my 3/4th shot :-) I am using the ecosoya advanced wax. I'll let you know how it finishes. (will take a few days)

Good question. Sorry I don't know if my answer is correct. I always let my wicked candles cure for 48 to 72 hours before starting my testing. I just did the same for my wickless. Maybe I'm wrong on my curing for wicked too. (If I am, please let me know)

I am trying my hand at a new scent "Birds of Paradise" I was using 1.5 oz of fo per 17 oz of wax, and thinking of dropping down since i've been reading on here more, so maybe I should scrap this test all together. Either way... I'm still testing just incase i decide to keep going with that amount of fo. For this candle I used ecosoya 135 and LX wicks. I am down to LX 16 in my 9 oz hex jar (3 inch in diamater). I don't have the next size down, so I will have to order them if I do need to go down. Here is my results so far. I am about 1/4 way done with my test burn. (3rd test) I burned for 3 hours and had a nice mp and 1/2 inch depth also. was really happy with that. However when I grabbed the jar to test the heat, it got hot after holding it for 15 seconds. I like it if I can hold the jar for 30 seconds and have it only be mildly hot. Am I being too picky on my heat tests or am I being good and do need to wick down some more. Also note... that the hot spot is where the melted wax is... not the whole jar.

Ok, my candle warming plate came in the mail today. Its a 17 w plate. I put an 11 oz tureen jar on it of a dark burgandy and cranberry citrus scent. I like killer scents so I put 1 1/5 oz of fo per 17 oz of ecosoya advance wax (i know wierd formula, but that is what I like ) After 1 1/2 hours of sitting on the plate it was completly melted and was letting off an AMAZING throw... absolutly love it. After 2 hours, I took it off the plate and felt the side of the jar and it fell cool to the touch and i stick a finger into the melted wax and that was also just warm. I took the temp and it was 125 degrees. However, I felt the bottom of the jar and I about burned myself after about 15 seconds of having my hand there. I don't like that, but is that normal with using these warming plates with these jars?

what are cd wicks? I see a lot of people talking about those, but don't know if they are short for something or if that is the name for them. Thanks

I have a lot of dud wax here from failed testing and I was looking at making firestarters with it. However, I don't have a fire place in my house and I live in an area where we can't have firepits in our yard. How did you guys test these, or do you not and just put the things together.

Thank-you Kandle Krazy for answering. My warmer should come today and I will check for throw. They have a great cold throw, so I'm sure I will be happy with a hot throw too. When my husband and I were talking last night he was wondering about heat. So I'm going to check glass and wax temp too. I know that isn't something that I will be able to control with the different warmers, but at least I know how hot they are getting on mine.

can somebody please help me with this. I have been searching this forum for 2 days now trying to find the answer. I want to sell wickless, but it just seems like an odd thing to test. Its not like your using a flame to get a good burn and melt pool. How long do you test these and do you do it with every scent. I'm putting the max amount of scent for this wax. Sorry, but I'm just getting discouraged by not getting an answer to my question.

I am having major problems wicking them too. I love the jars, very cute. I have given up right now and decided to do more research on wicking them. I am now testing them as wickless jars. I use the 11 oz jars.

Isn't this fun. I just poured my first wickless too. I'm waiting for them to cure and my warming plate to come in the mail. The cold throw is GREAT... Love it. I was having issues wicking my 11 oz jars, so I decided to try them wickless for now. I have some poured in Ecosoya advanced and some in ecosoya 135. We will see what I like better

I have been doing a lot of research the last couple of months on reed diffusers and I'm about ready to purchase my first supplies for them to test. However, I'm not finding information on how long to test a reed diffuser. Do you guys test them until they are gone or do you just test them for a few weeks and see how strong the scent is? I know a normal reed diffuser takes months before they are completely gone. Also, what is a good ratio to start... I am seeing some people do 50/50 and some doing 30/70 (FO/base). I like killer strong scents, so I'm thinking about doing the 50/50 and then telling people to use less reeds if they like weaker scents. How do I know if the scent isn't going up the reeds? (sorry about all the posts by me. I have been researching and making candles for 6 months now and just found you guys. Thanks for all the support, I have learned more this week from you guys then the 6 months of my own research and testing)

I've been searching this board and can't find what I am looking for. At my show this weekend, I had somebody ask me if I carried a particular scent. I did not, so she walked away. I was talking to my mom this weekend and she suggested making a book of available scents from my FO supplier(s) and put up a sign that I take special orders. I'm thinking... hmm, this may be a possilbity because it would add to my scent stock by scents people want, not what I think they want. (I'm new so I currently only have 6 scents in 1 jar size and tealights) However, realisically, is this even feasable. I'm thinking it would take 4 to 6 weeks to get a candle ready for sale if I concentrate on testing that candle only. Who is going to want to wait 4 to 6 weeks for a candle. Is my pestimistic side of me kicking in and shutting out this opporunity, or am I being realistic. I do this full time, so here is how I come up with the math... Place the order for the FO as soon as I get home from the show. That takes 3 to 4 days to come here. Pour the test candles the following day (I live in a cold climent so I always have my fo sit out at room temp for at least 24 hours before using). let cure for 2 days.- week 1 done Start testing mode. Light each test candle and start 3 hour burn tests... I made 40 hour candles so that would take 14 days to finish testing. Week 2 and 3 done If I'm lucky and get a good candle from my tests, pour candle for sale... let cure for 3 days before shipping... week 4 done. Then that gives me 2 weeks of extra testing incase my tests results are bad from the first batch. Or could I shorten test time and do two 3 hour burn tests a day... one in the morning and one in the evening. That would cut out a week. I currently only do one 3 hour burn test a day.

I have been doing a lot of reading on how you guys test your candles. What I have been doing is doing a complete burn test for each scent and jar size. I also do a random test burn of each candle batch even if it has been a scent I have been making for months (randomly choose a jar size and test it). I feel like this is a lot of testing and wasting a lot of money. I obviously do not want to give up testing (that would just be stupid), but is the test burn with each batch really necessary. Do you guys do that? (I do like the abusive burn test that Stella does I have not tried that yet, but i'm sure my friends are pretty abusive to thier candles they are testing for me)

I've been reading the forums on wickless candles and I am just not finding what I'm looking for. So sorry, if it is acutally out there and I just missed it. I started contiplating wickless candles since I had a problem with one of my wicked candles. So, I have ordered a warmer and waiting for that to come in the mail. I have my first 3 wickless candles poured and curring. So, my question is... how long and how often should you test wickless. Is it the same for wicked? I also put 1 1/2 oz of FO per lb of soy wax, Is that good or not enough? (using ecosoya advanced) Last question... if you like the throw in wicked candles, is there a need to test the wickless candle made the same way. Sorry if I sound stupid on this, but decided to go into the world of wickless as well.

Stella... Thank-you for your concern. I was getting consitant results on my testing for multiple tests conducted myself and with my friends before I decided to sign up for my first show. My tests today are showing the same results and I received before the bad test. I'm thinking it is with that candle itself.

I'm using the 11 oz tureen jars, so they would make cute wickless also. I do have them double wicked. Per somebodies suggestion, I just pulled a light, medium and dark candle from my stock and have them burning. Maybe it is a simple as a temp change and/or fragrance mixup. This is frusterating... I have a show next week and I'm about ready to pull from it.

I am using Ecosoya advanced with cotton core wicks. I just ordered LX wicks since I found the candle science website that I found people talking about on this forum. They recommended the LX wicks for this wax. Praying those work.

I am getting very frusterated with my candles. After many hours/months of testing I felt confident in my product and signed up for my first craft show. Did fairly well, but decided to pull a random sample to keep testing and I did not like what I found (and i tested a few days before going without any problems). The candle did not burn worth anything... I am about ready to just pull all the wicks and make them wickless. I have also did some more research and ordered a sample pack of some new wicks. However, I have not made wickless jar candles yet... what is the best way to test them. Just get a warmer and throw them on there? What is a good time for them to be melted?

I'm new to the candle making, so I'm a little behind on the lingo. I have been using cotton core wicks from Peak sizes 60 and 70. Having a hard time getting the 70's to even burn in a 2.8 inch diam. container double wicked.

I'm having problems with wicking Ecosoya Advanced. I have tried double wicking, higher wicks and I still cannot get the melt pool to the edge of the candles. I have really liked the Ecosoya 135, but hate it looks like only half of the candle adhered to the side of the container. Has anybody had luck with mixing the 2 waxes? I'm thinking about just going back to Ecosoya 135 and just continue using my heat gun on everything. Thank-you