rjdaines

The wick numbering systems has no meaning other than to differentiate one from another. In general, a larger numbered wick will have a higher ROC (rate of consumption), flame height, and pool size than a smaller numbered wick of the same type. It is not always true and you should download a table properties of the wick you use. Try this site for example: http://www.wicksunlimited.com/default.htm

While the data is for a specific wax and usually not what you use (or me), the data does allow you to get a feel as to how the wicks will react.

As a mentioned, a larger number may not always mean that the wick is larger than the previous one.

Best advice I can give you is to visit a seller like Peak and buy sample packs of wicks and test them.

As far a candle "tunneling", that usually calls for a larger wick of the same type or looking for a hotter wick of a different type.

Just a guess but you might have to go to around 20% with the harder wax to get good removal from the bowl.

Other than Pink Sugar, I am going direct to floral FOs this year. Spring comes early to Arizona and based on me being unemployed, I am not feeling romantic.

Many people add FO at 185 and, yes, your temp will drop. One can also pre-warm the FO to help prevent this drop and not "shock" the wax (more important with veggie wax). Once added, stir the wax and FO until you reach your pour temp.

I work in grams because I find it easier. For an 8 oz tin I am using 142 grams of wax and adding 11 grams of FO which works out to 7.2%

Always work with weight, not volume.

Of the hole is not that big, a heat gun remelt of the top will usually fix the flaw.

Here is a better photo of the condiment bowls from Ikea compared to a standard tealight.

They come in glass and metal but may be too expensive to be used as generic tealights, I reuse mine. Now whether they float or not,I've never tried.

Besides the polycarb tealight containers I use small condiment bowls that I got at Ikea.

What Vicky said is so true, the customer response can be the entire spectrum and you have very little control on how they use the product. For melts, there are many devices that are available for heating; bulbs, hot plates, lamps, and tealights. All will produce a different affect.

Pick quality waxes and FOs, follow recommended procedures and you will have a good product. Work from there.

OK, here are two more pics, the tins are on their 4th burn now and one was a fairly long one during Christmas Day. The left-hand tin has a CD-8 wick and the right a HTP-83. Because of the angle at which the photo was taken, the flames appear smaller than they actually were, that said, the HTP had a smaller flame and was not acceptable to me. Both had very good melt pools and the HT from both candles was very good but I liked the HTP better as there was less of a burned wax smell. HT is all about the melt pool. Mushrooming was also more prevalent with the HTP most likely because it was the cooler of the two wicks. I may run another test with a larger HTP wick and an Eco.

The tins were never too hot to pick up and move around.

The second pic shows the tops when cool.

For home use, I am not a fan of tins because you don't see much of the flame for get a nice glow as you do with glass containers. However, they make a great traveling candle and can be used in places where glass is not appropriate.

Thanks, the first burn went well with both wicks will see how the next few burns go. The tops cooled to smooth and flat again, very pleased.

Working on a new line of what I hope will become aromatherapy candles. They are "soyaffin" but mostly 415. Testing 2 wicks in the photo, just best guesses for now, will see what happens.

At a minimum, one should be able to refrigerate the bowl and have to wax come off with a small amount of push.

What is a scent shot?

When i was using straight 464 I didn't worry about the occasional sweating, I had bigger issues like frosting. Final gave up on it and went parasoy, I am much happier now.

I tested CO too and found that for my system it did not do anything positive. Also keep in mind the adding CO will reduce the total amount of oil that the wax can hold since some of that is now the CO.

I use Pink Sugar and have not had this problem in my parasoy candles.

I am developing an aromatherapy line of candles and Lavender will be one of them. I'm not wanting to get into the discussion of FO vs EO and their therapeutic values but I think it's mostly how the user relates to the fragrances. The lavender FO for Candle Science is very good with both CT and HT, it was a big seller for me this fall. When researching FO vs. EO the impression I got was that EOs where great but didn't have the lifespan of FOs. So, going with straight EOs may not produce the best candle. On the other hand, many candle FOs do contain both FO and EO which, to me, is the best of both worlds.

Others who work with EOs hopefully will add their experience to this thread.

My guess is that it is a safety feature. Try supporting the cord to be as horizontal as possible.

Just keep in mind that no one can explain what "curing" is and not all of us believe that is makes much difference. That said one should wait a period of time for the wax (paraffin or soy) to completely cool and harden. The exact time for this depends on the size of the candle. People typically wait 24 to 48 hours for paraffin and up to a week with soy. For testing purposes, soy candles can be tested sooner that 7 days. As mentioned above, if you have to wait weeks for an FO to "cure", is it really worth it unless it's for personal use.

I've done larger than 16 oz by far with no issues and I can see no reason you can't use a larger container. Just be sure to always test burn for proper wick size/configuration!

Thanks for the reply, will try some experiments.

It's not unreasonable to assume that there may be variations in soy wax based on the quality of the soy bean harvest of any given year. I have no idea what the manufacturers do to account for this other than adding in more additives. The quality control characteristics for a lot must have a specific target range as well and so long as a lot falls within that range it's good to sell.

Just my ideas on the subject.

Reading the description of 464 it says soy wax and soy-based additives

All FOs need testing as to how how % you need to add and (as you said) room size will be a factor as well as the type of warmer but 8% will fill a large room and more. To know how much the wax will hold, testing is the only way to know for sure.