Do you believe in curing?

[loveandlight]

I know many of you are experienced chandlers and from reading past posts, it seems like the consensus is that curing the candle will help its HT.

Do you believe in curing in general? Why or why not? I'm curious if there's an actual scientific explanation.

[Node11]

It's a good question. Being new to the craft I do it because I read it's proper. I cure my jar candles anywhere from 2 to 7 days depending on my schedule. The molecules need time to settle I'm told. It helps the scent throw.

I sometimes wonder if I am curing the candle or curing candle nose. I'm a scientific type. I like to read the data and really try to understand what is going on. I can't find any technical papers regarding what happens to or in a candle after is has fully cooled to room temperature. This doesn't mean something isn't going on. I just can't prove or disprove it yet.

Look at CP soap for an example. There is definitely a lengthy cure time in which a chemical process takes place. Beer, whisky and wine benefit from a curing or fermenting process in a measurable way. Has anyone studied the candle curing process in a controlled environment and produced repeatable conclusions and measurable data?

I will continue to cure my candles as I am because I think it is the right thing to do, because I cannot disprove the theory that it is beneficial and because I don't believe it can cause any negative effect other than testing my patience

[moonshine]

I do it simply because it works... If I make a candle and light it the day after it has no smell (I use pure soy)

If I wait 2 to 3 days it kinda has smell

If I wait 5 t0 7 days it's there

But if it cures for a month or more it's super stronger

I lit a candle made last year in August and it filled my entire house it was amazing

I made the same candle a week ago and the throw is nowhere near as strong- it's there but not like my over a year old one - same FO same wax and same formula

[Karen M]

I do tend to cure soy candles, but I have also been impatient and burned a soy candle the next day and it was great!

[bugtussle]

I do not use pure soy and often I don't have time to cure candles. I don't see any difference in hot throw!

[rjdaines]

I make a parasoy blend and see no difference in HT based on curing. Cold throw is there immediately. If anything, the curing effect my be related to candle-nose.

[marcuset]

Absolutely believe in at with my parasoy blends & plain soy.

[Pam W]

I make a parasoy blend and see no difference in HT based on curing. Cold throw is there immediately. If anything, the curing effect my be related to candle-nose.

I do only paraffin & find that curing really doesn't make any difference ...except there have been times that I got bored and did a bunch of blending of FO. I do this quite often (for personal use) to use up old FOs or FOs that I don't like and discovered on many occasions that the scent throw can change if allowed to cure. Many times, I poured some blenders & wasn't impressed so they get shoved back on the shelf, only to run across them months later, lite them up and go 'wow, I don't remember that smelling like that when 1st poured'!! I have to assume that the long cure time allowed the various scents to marry. And of course, these can't be duplicated because I didn't make notes - but I do love the surprise and special treat.

[Candybee]

As others have pointed out different wax types can make a difference as to how fast a scent will throw. Some waxes like pure soy and soy blend can take anywhere from 24 hours up to a month or more for a good throw. In addition to that you still have the variable of the scent itself, some are better suited to some waxes while others may or may not work in respect to scent throw. So its possible to use the same soy wax and have one scent throw withing 24 hrs of curing while another takes 2 weeks or longer.

Curing a candle for scent throw is not the only reason for curing. For example, I make palm container candles. Palm wax crystalizes as it hardens. It also takes 2-3 days for the wax to completely finish crystalizing and hardening. It will feel stone hard in just a few hours but that does not mean it has finished crystalizing and hardening. If I burn the candle before this hardening cure time the burn is completely different. Its quite visable if you test side by side uncured to fully cured palm candles. The difference in the burn can readily be seen. The candles just burn better after a 2-3 day cure. Scent wise, palm wax pretty much throws almost any scent I add to it as soon as it has hardened up enough to burn. But there are subtle changes in the scent after a few days to a week cure.

The best way to know the difference is do your own testing with side by side cured and uncured candles. It will help you to understand your wax better and how it works after a cure, scent wise, burn wise, etc.

[Scented]

Actually I suppose this makes me a curing believer and I pour paraffin. A 24-hour minimum wait in this medium helps to allow the fragrance(s) to bind with the wax.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Scented

[Candybee]

Scented is being very modest. She makes awesome candles that smell wicked good!! Whatever you are doing Scented don't change a thing!

[Ravens]

Paraffin and the occasional parasoy here. I let them cure 2 or 3 days. :smiley2:

[chuck_35550]

My parasoy doesn't require curing (3022) as a rule but when dealing with light fragrances or complex (many notes) curing is essential. If I pour Cherry Bomb or Mulberry at a load of 6 or 7%; they're loud both on ct and ht IMHO but some florals or seasonal fragrances seem to improve on the ct if not the ht after a week of curing. Its an old trick when some chandlers add a top layer of fo to ehance the dynamics of their product. You burn it off and all of sudden the candle doesn't throw anymore. I don't believe that fragrance oil binds to wax of any kind but rather it is suspended in the wax. The wick will absorb both oils once liquified and combustion does the rest of the job in dispersing the fragrance but only if they are of similar weight and the fragrance oil is not too heavy to be suspended in the wax. That is why more is not always better with fo load. Too much fragrance oil just becomes too heavy to remain suspended in the wax and collects in the bottom. Whew!

Steve

Edited November 8, 2013 by chuck_35550

[Node11]

Interesting posts everyone. Thank you.

[rjdaines]

My ideas run along the same line with a few differences. I too believe that the wax, for the most part, is just a medium in which the FO is suspended though based on the fact that soy doesn't throw some FOs, this may not be entirely true OR the are additives that bind the FO. Vybar is known to do this. Where I differ is that I believe that the HT comes from the melt pool and not any FO that enters the wick and get burned. Combustion is typically not good for maintaining the integrity of complex molecules. Some of my best HTs come from weakly burning wicks that have wide melt pools.

So back to curing. It seems we are breaking it down into two parts, its effect on HT and the need for the wax to completely solidify. Those two things may not be related. HT comes from the melted wax (CT is FO the escapes at room temp), so the structure is gone which means it wasn't important to begin with. The one thing that may change over time is the amount of the original carrier that the FO was dissolved in. I have no information about the carrier's evaporation rate or its longevity in a candle.

My parasoy doesn't require curing (3022) as a rule but when dealing with light fragrances or complex (many notes) curing is essential. If I pour Cherry Bomb or Mulberry at a load of 6 or 7%; they're loud both on ct and ht IMHO but some florals or seasonal fragrances seem to improve on the ct if not the ht after a week of curing. Its an old trick when some chandlers add a top layer of fo to ehance the dynamics of their product. You burn it off and all of sudden the candle doesn't throw anymore. I don't believe that fragrance oil binds to wax of any kind but rather it is suspended in the wax. The wick will absorb both oils once liquified and combustion does the rest of the job in dispersing the fragrance but only if they are of similar weight and the fragrance oil is not too heavy to be suspended in the wax. That is why more is not always better with fo load. Too much fragrance oil just becomes too heavy to remain suspended in the wax and collects in the bottom. Whew!

Steve