rjdaines

I do what Pam does, mostly paper towel when the wax is still hot for the pot. I don't clean anything else.

Don't go for a FMP on the first burn, by the end of the candle you will have a hot and sooty mess. As for wicks I use a variety as dictated by the container size and the FO. These wicks are HTP, ECO, and CD. Many people use zinc with great success but I have not tried them.

The higher wick tab is doing what it was designed for and that is to leave unused wax for safety. Stick with the 6 mm.

Bow ties for me too.

I use 4630 and rub into slightly sunken tops only with larger diameter containers. While it's supposed to be a single pour wax, it does shrink a little. Why yours are behaving as they are I can't explain. I heat to 185, add cold FO, heat to 180, stir, and pour at 175 into cold containers. The containers are nestled on a cork mat and left to cool. I am not a believer in curing but do wait a week to test burn. Not all FOs will work in all waxes. To test if it is the wax or your system, make some melts and test those. If you get good HT, then your system is not optimized and, most likely, you need to find a different wick. I find that a weaker burn works better than a more vigorous one.

No, it never ends. The LX-21 tunneled so it's back to LX-22 for yet another test. While it's great to strive for perfection, I don't think that it is always possible because of all of the variables that we can't take into account.

I'm testing a LX-21 now, so far so good. If this works, I will need to buy a spool so I can twist the wick more easily.

Candybee's post should be a sticky post.

LOL, too funny.

I know what you are saying and do power burn tests but you can't wick for that. You have to wick for a normal burn and see how candle performs in those other situations (longer burns).

I'd judge by what you see at 3 or 4 hours. Your instructions on the candle should recommend not burning for more than that. While it's nice to see what a power burn does, I don't think you should wick for that. You may be over-wicked but maybe not. I've seen plenty of BBW that look as you describe when they have been burned all day in the store.

Weight won't change through the process but volume does change. Do you pour your candles based on volume or weight? I pour mine by volume rather than weight (the candles always have a greater weight that I advertise so none are short). In your case, the weight you start with should be the same as when all the candles of that batch are weighed. So, yes, volume can be different. The heating method (I'm guessing) shouldn't matter but maybe you have a different lot of wax or it is the interaction of the wax and FO. Another explanation is that some of the wax is not making it out of your new heater, is that possible?

Frosting can occur and any time during a candle's life.

I use both and you can make votives with both. I find that the 4794 votives burn and melt into the container better, 4625 I use more for pillars and votives made with 4625 "try" to burn like pillars the first couple of burns. As for the "frosting", pour hotter.

Hard to tell from the photo but I am guessing that the white stripe is frosting. The melt pool on the red one looks a bit deep to me but I don't knw how long it has burned.

I use HTP wicks with 4630 and occasionally ECO with thicker FOs.

I use 4630 and it is a good single pour wax and throws most FOs that I have tried. It can be a bit smokey with a large flamed, maybe the zincs will help but I haven't tried them.

I'll throw my 2 cents in for the Presto Pot, love mine (6 of them). When I did the double boiler method I just put my pouring pot into the container holding the water. Frosting s*cks but such is the way of soy, you can use paraffin, as mentioned above, to eliminate it. Universal additive (for paraffin) is not the same as Universal Soy Additive (for soy). I know that there are C3 folks here that use it but not sure it will work with your wax.

Very Vanilla from Candle Science is what I use, you might want to try a sample. I don't think that there are any tweaks you can do to make yours work, from my experience, it will either work or not.

Vegetable waxes do tend to leave a film on the glass. From what I've seen, only a hotter burn can eliminate it. However, hotter burns can create other problems. Post a photo and let's see how bad it looks, it might be fine as is.

I break mine into chunks and put it into the Presto Pot, weigh it out later in the pouring pot.

I saw these and got depressed. I sell my 6-packs for $3 and these are 8-packs. It's hard enough to compete with Walmart's melts but now there are these as well. While our melts may be better, the convenience of buying them along with your groceries is also important. Give me a self in Walmart and let's compare sales!

I've never seen a candle in a store that says, "Don't burn until (some date)." So in a practical sense curing is only an issue for the makers of the candle, eager testers. I am making candles for a November craft show and some will 2 months old by that time, others 3 or 4 weeks. And then, when will the new owners of the candle burn them, unknown, could be days, weeks, or months. So I don't worry about curing. If it works for me after a week, I'm happy. I'd never sell an candle that required a month to have a decent HT.

Try using 4625 instead of 4794. At 50% I get great release from the mold.

I don't use C3. Currently my candles are parasoy (my blend) but I and itching to start working on a new blend. Parasoy gives me a wider range of FOs that "work", once I have a bunch that I like I may revisit them in soy (464).