Wick for pb soy wax

[Amy S]

Hi all, I have Ecosoya PB wax and 2.5" square mold. I used 24 ply flat braid wick but didn't like it much. It takes a lot of time to get a complete melt pool and the flame is also not great. I also had put insufficient fragrance oil in the candle. Which wick works the best according to you guys?

Thanks

Amy

[Chefmom]

When I was testing 100% Pillar Soy, the best burns were from square braid wicks. At the time I did not have the CSN from candlescience but I think they may work well, they have worked very well in the soy/paraffin pillars that I have tested.

I always primed my square braid wicks myself in high melt paraffin mixed with beeswax. If you don't want to do the paraffin, then just do beeswax. My wicks stood up better while burning when I primed them.

In the end the Pillar Soy at 100% burned weird for me, and I had a lot of spilling issues. When I tried to make scented ones they lit up the area with their cold throw and then I could get zero hot throw. I think I tried about 10 of my best throwing fragrances with no results and I threw in the towel.

I think the pillar soy is a great additive for tarts to firm them up when you want to stick with 100% soy. I think it can be used as an additive for other candles, I just didn't like the results with it at 100%. I tried with votives as well, but I lost more votives just removing them from the molds with its brittle nature.

Square braid wicks are usually the go to wick for beeswax candles, you need a much larger wick than you think with beeswax and soy is similar in its need for a larger wick. If you check out peaks wicks you can buy small packages of the unprimed wick for very little money. Once I figured out the sizes I needed I then went to Candlewic and put down the bucks for the big spools of raw wick.

My research on here over the past years has put CD and CDN wicks on the top for soy candles. People love them for the high fragrance soy containers. I have not used them for pillars, but the CDN are designed for soy and palm waxes so that would be worth trying.

Also, the CSN wicks are working well for me in soy blended pillars and beeswax pillars. They were originally designed for palm, but candlescience doesn't carry palm anymore, yet they still carry their wicks. They sell them in small sample packs so it's nice to buy enough to have on hand.

Good Luck! Wicks will be the death of us all......

[Amy S]

Surprisingly, the wick that I got from Hobby Lobby months back, works much better. By the way, the candles that I made were chunk. Does that make any difference?

[Amy S]

Oh yes, the Hobby Lobby one is a square braid wick.

[Chefmom]

Surprisingly, the wick that I got from Hobby Lobby months back, works much better. By the way, the candles that I made were chunk. Does that make any difference?

I can't answer that, I have never made any kind of chunk candles. I have done cold pour and layered candles, but never chunk.

As usual, testing is best. To answer that I would make a chunk candle and a plain, use the same wick and then burn them side by side for the same amount of time. That should give you the best answer of if there is a difference between them.

[Amy S]

My another problem is whenever I burn the candle, one side melts completely and the wax leaks from that side. There is no melt pool created and so the candle burns very quickly with lot of wax wasted. What must be going wrong?

[Chefmom]

That is a wick issue. You are getting an uneven burn, one side hotter than the other. Either the wick is too long and leaning to one side, or the wick needs to be primed in high melt wax to help it stand a little higher. It can also be a sign that the melt point of your wax is too low. EcoSoy Pillar Blend is a 130* melt point. What's weird is the fact that parasoy 6006 (for containers) has a melt point of 133*. If you make a 6006 pillar it will pool in a puddle. But PB is supposed to stand upright without a container. Hhhmmmm. That was one of my issues when I made 100% PB pillars.

After my attempts at a 100% soy pillar, and disappointing results I threw in the towel and moved to paraffin and beeswax based pillars. Even with 100% beeswax I had burning issues and gummed up wick issues.

One thing I like about square braid is it tends to stand more straight. I like flat braid wicks for 2-inch diameter pillars and square for 3-inch diameter.

There is also the hardness of the wax itself. Basic paraffin for pillars is usually 140* melt point. I have found that the paraffins can bulge at the top because they soften before they melt. So they do better with additives to "harden" the wax. This is why buying a pre mixed wax, like the 4625 can help a beginner.

I have played with many combinations of additives that are readily available from most suppliers. I read, then make and observe.

My favorite test is to make 12 pillars with three different recipes and test four different wicks in each of the different recipes. Then I clear my dining room table and light them up. I start taking notes and go from there. You can learn a lot from burning different wicks side by side.

I have ironed out many of my pillar burning issues with experimentation and a LOT of reading and a LOT of burning. We had a major power outage several months back at the end of winter when a main-line transformer caught on fire. Within minutes my house was glowing when my daughter started to fill the rooms with my tester candles! I was glad that I didn't melt them back down the week before.

If I were you, and if you are set on soy wax, I would play with additives like beewsax and even palm waxes. Candlewic has a palm/soy blend pillar wax that has always made me go "Hmmmm". I haven't played with palm waxes yet. I do like the look of them as a finished candle, I just don't care for the pictures of them (that I've seen on here) when they are burning.

http://www.candlewic.com/store/Product.aspx?q=c19,p766&title=Smooth-Pillar-Blend-%28CSP-1%29---Natural-Wax-Blend-fo

Every time I order ANYTHING from any supplier I always buy a type of wick that I don't have. That way the cost of the wick can piggy back on the rest of the order, and I have a good supply of a variety of wicks.

One important lesson I have learned is when you try what seems like every wick, you need to look at the wax and try to change the wax, softer, harder, higher melt point etc.

[Amy S]

I liked your idea of burning 12 different combination candles at the same time. I'll do that and see which works the best. Thanks a lot.

[moonshine]

When I use straight PB( not that often) I found LX wicks to burn best- but I never tried the square braid or CSN

I made a heart pillar a couple of years ago and LX was the only one of many I tried that didn't blow a hole thru it

I make my votives with PB and 415 blended and my chunk votives are PB for the chunks and the over pour PB/415 but that would be to soft if your doing pillars that stand alone with no holder

So LX could be a option for you to try also

[Amy S]

Ya, the CS website also suggests LX wicks. So I'll try that too. When you make chunks with PB, can you cut them in even pieces or they just break unevenly?

[moonshine]

They do break and crumble if you do them in a pan but I started using the mini cube trays and it works perfect- they pop right out

[Amy S]

Wow...mini cube trays is a great idea. So does ecosoya pb give a good scent throw or I should try something else?

[moonshine]

I only work with soy and PB is one of the few available for a pillar wax- I think it throws okay- but not great enough to use alone-for me- that's why I use some container blended in my over pour - but if your doing free standing pillars you cannot do this it will make it to soft

Throw is very subjective - what works for some doesn't work at all for others- if soy is what your wanting to work with get some samples of other pillar soy and do some testing to see what you like best

The other options I believe are millennium waxes and KY has a soy line, natural pillar and votive blend which is good also