What FO's tend to the hardest to wick?

[ILikeWaxMelts]

What FO's tend to give the most trouble with wicking?

Is it Scents like Vanilla; that give the most trouble wicking;

(or) is it Floral scents; (or) scents like Cinnamon Stick?

I'm asking because; I figure; if I can master one of the hardest to wick

Scents first; that may give me a good testing point for future batches!!!

[Jcandleattic]

It really depends on many variables as to how hard a candle is to wick. Scent plays a part in that, but not a huge one. It's not standard, and each scent group will vary on wicking as well. All FO's (groups or otherwise) are not created equal, so this is a hard question to answer. 

Keeping that in mind, typically you have to wick up on the heavier scents, such as vanilla's or foody type scents, but not always. 

Typically you have to wick down on florals, but again, not always, and jar size, wax type, and other variables are going to play a huge part is how you wick your candles. 

For instance, I have never had to change my wicking due to scent in any pillar I've ever made, but containers are a different story. A scent that I get from Nature's Garden wicks perfectly, but the same named scent from Aztec (same group type of FO also) I have to wick up on, so again, it will just vary. 

Edited November 2, 2016 by Jcandleattic

[TallTayl]

My hardest-learned bit of advice.... Wick the unscented candle to nail it first without adding other unpredictable variables. Once I figure out how my wax/wick/container combo worked, changing one variable at a time made my testing phases fly. I can tell very quickly if a new scent will be problematic.

 

in my combo, florals are easy to wick, using the same wicks as the plain, unscented candle. 

 

Bakery scents, vanillas, musks, ambers need a size wick up. My Pink Sugar, Egyptian Musk, Frankincense and Myrrh, peppermint, etc. need sometimes  2+ wick sizes up.

[Chefmom]

41 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

My hardest-learned bit of advice.... Wick the unscented candle to nail it first without adding other unpredictable variables. Once I figure out how my wax/wick/container combo worked, changing one variable at a time made my testing phases fly. I can tell very quickly if a new scent will be problematic.

 

This, this and THIS!!  I get breathless passing out this advise and too many people are in a heck of a hurry to get that colored and scented candle made for a "quick and easy gift" or a "quick and easy buck".  I take the unscented wax test one step further in containers by pouring only half the container full.  I want to first see the wick deep inside the jar, and if wicking a full jar that is a whole lot of burns that can look pretty good to get to the bottom of the jar to see problems.  So when I first test the combo I test half jars, unscented and uncolored and light them all up, usually 12 at a time so I can compare the burns side by side.  They get narrowed down to best and second best etc and then I continue testing with fragrances.  But before all of that I know exactly what wick is working best in that jar/container and that wax and can move on from there. It's time consuming but it's a whole lot better than having a scented candle with a poor wick combo to deal with than some leftover plain wax that I can melt down and use for another test.

 

As for trouble wicking...I also agree with TT that florals (and many fruits for me) are quick and easy to wick but the deeper earthy and buttery scents are usually the ones that need adjustments.  Also if you are making them in really deep and dark colors your wicks can get bogged down just from the color.  Black is still my color nemesis.

[TallTayl]

I keep forgetting that half full trick! 

 

Sometimes, for really nasty to wick fragrances, I have to resort to a different wick series, but that is rare. And it had better be one helluva great cent and seller!

[ILikeWaxMelts]

I thought that in general the hardest FO's to wick

we're the Heavy ones like Vanilla; is this True???

[Scented]

Personally there are still patchoulis out there that could vary in whether to wick up or not. There was once an amber that required a rope (4x a wick up). Vanillas vary IMO, but spicy can get difficult as well. 

It's why testing is important, because it will differ by wick type also. 

 

Edited November 10, 2016 by Scented

[ILikeWaxMelts]

17 hours ago, Scented said:

Personally there are still patchoulis out there that could vary in whether to wick up or not. There was once an amber that required a rope (4x a wick up). Vanillas vary IMO, but spicy can get difficult as well. 

It's why testing is important, because it will differ by wick type also. 

 

 

So the same size HTP; could preform very differently then the Same size of LX am I correct?

[Scented]

Or they could perform similarly.  So for instance say I  have a candle that has to be wicked up a size, but if I test a LX 28 on it to a flat ply 30, I might find that the LX tests give me say 50 hours on a 3x3.5 candle, but what I didn't like about all of that burn was that the LX's flame was a little high. However, I also burned a fp 30 and found that I got 54 hours out of it and I could live with the results of it. 

The make up of the wicks are different. Some might have similar components or performances, but there's generally something different. Put your  HTP up against LX for a full burn and you should see the differences.