Revisiting 6006...hoping for wick suggestions

[bfroberts]

Hello, everyone.  A recent post has me in mind to try working with 6006 again.  I have several slabs left over from an earlier attempt that ended badly.  I loved the wax, but since most of our sales are the 8 oz square masons and 6006 didn't pour well into that jar, I gave it up.  I would like to use up the 6006 I have by making candles for Christmas gifts for the family, and I am trying to work with the supplies I have on hand without ordering anything I will not use in our normal production. 

 

I will be pouring the 6006 into 10 oz. apothecary jars (which should eliminate the air pockets I had trouble with in the mason jars).  I have the following wicks on hand:

 

Premier....all sizes from 755 up to 798

HTP....62, 73, 83, 93, 104

Zinc.....36-24-24, 44-24-18, 44-32-18, 51-32-12, 60-44-18
RRD.....47, 50, 55

 

I would prefer to single wick, but I realize double wicking may be the only way to go, and I am OK with that.  I only have a couple of jars to use for testing, because I will need the bulk of what I have for the actual product I am gifting.  So, can someone give me a starting point for either single or double wicking using the supplies I already have?  I will be using heavier FO's at 6% and 5-6 drops liquid dye per pound of wax.

I haven't used this wax in a while, and I don't have a lot of experience with zinc wicks, but I've read a lot of people have had great success with that combo.

[Guest OldGlory]

I like zinc wicks in 6006. They still mushroom but so did everything else I tried and these burn the best. I have not had to wick a jar the size of your apothecary but would suggest trying your biggest wick - the 60.

[bfroberts]

Thank you, OldGlory.  I started to go ahead use the 60z, but I've read that so many had trouble single wicking this jar....I guess I just needed some validation that it might be possible. I'm working with fairly limited supplies, and I was reluctant to just jump in willy nilly.

So, I poured 2 testers, one with the 60z and one double wicked with the 36's.  And because I am a gluten for punishment, I used CS's Blueberry Cobbler, which I've always found to be a bear to wick anyway.  I will post results in a few days.  . 

 

Trying to use up some of these jars and wax that I've been kicking around for so long.  And I just found some wood wick samples, so there's that possibility to keep me up at night....

[bfroberts]

11/11/15 Results:

 

The 60z isn't going to work.  I am power burning, because I know that is what the recipients are going to do, and I'm 6 hours in.  It started off beautifully, good MP, great HT, cool jar.  But as it burns down into the jar, the MP has shrunk by more than 1/3,  HT is diminished, and it looks like it is going to tunnel from here on out.  I've got one more tester poured, so I'm gonna pop in a Premier 790...maybe 795...and see how she does. 
 

In other test with same wax/jar combos, two 44-24-18's placed with tabs about 3-4mm apart has burned well with both Buttercream (Tennessee) and Blueberry Cobbler (CS), both of which I usually have to wick up.  HT is great, MP good, the jar is just warm. 
I just really wanted to single wick this jar.

[Guest OldGlory]

Sorry to hear that the 60 zinc won't work. Let us know how you do with the other choices.

[bfroberts]

In case anyone is interested, here are my findings after some pretty extensive testing (for me, anyway).  I am using 6006.

 

For 10 oz apothecary jars, I settled on double wicking with 2 44-24-18z's.  Some FO's burned kinda OK-ish single wicked with 60z, but I got a much cleaner burn, more stable flame, and no mushrooming with the double wick combo.  I have marathon burned several of these over the last few days, 8-12 hours at the time.  I used medium to heavy FO's.....Blue Sugar (TFC), Plum & Caramel (Aztec), Santa's Pipe (WSP), Blueberry Cobbler (CS), and Under The Tree and Buttercream (both from Tennessee).  I also used liquid dye in varying amounts.

 

I am also testing 8 & 16 oz tins using the same FO's.  This testing has been a little surprising to me.  I expected a 51z to work perfectly in the 8 oz tins, but it just hasn't quite enough with the FO's I've tried so far.  I am melting the failures down and repouring using a 60z. 

 

As an aside, I pulled some wood wick samples I had and the "Medium" size was perfect in the 8 oz tin and the "Large" worked equally as well in the 16 oz tin.  This was tested using Under The Tree FO and Sugar Cookie (TFC).  I've only tested 2 each of these so far, but I was surprised at how well they burned.  My wood wicks came from Aztec and The Flaming Candle.  I don't know how they compare to other suppliers.

[Guest OldGlory]

I make a lot of 8 oz tins, and it is kind of surprising how large a wick it needs. I don't know why it is, but my thoughts are that the candle just doesn't retain a lot of heat - it's so open and relatively shallow, so you have to give it a bit more wick.

I buy woodwicks from BCN and love them. As long as they work in your candles, it doesn't matter where you get them.

Thanks for letting us know which wicks worked for you. Someone will come along and need that information.

[wthomas57]

You all using zincs ever notice the wicks themselves smell horrible? Have they ever affected the smell of your finished candle. Zincs are my wick of choice still overall but I have concerns about it. Thanks