Testing Wax batches

[Jbruza]

Hello-

 

It was recommended for me to learn what my wax acts like without FO added to help me test when I get new orders in to make sure it's not a bad batch of wax ETC. That being said, I use GW444 and am wondering why the unscented candles I'm making don't burn the same as with FO. For instance, the wick that i found works best with my FO's and gives me a nice even melt pool when it is mixed with fragrance doesn't achieve a full melt pool without an FO. Can anyone offer scientific insight to this? My husband says that oil is like a fuel and adds to the flame of the  candle possibly producing a hotter burn which is why the full Melt pool is achieved with the scented candles in comparison to the unscented. I'm curious as to what you might have to say about it. THanks! 

[kandlekrazy]

The fo can fuel the flame or drown the flame, that's why we test each and every fo.  It would be nice if they all reacted the same but they simply don't.  Anything with heavy vanilla or citrus seem to be my biggest pain to wick.  If you are happy with the wick and burn with fo, I wouldn't test unscented.  I never did the unscented test because I never planned to sell unscented.

You really need to know how your wax performs with the fo in there.

[TallTayl]

The wax blends burn a certain way. anything you add to the wax will make it either burn harder or easier ( will either raise or lower the melting point). Universal soy additive will make it a little harder.  stearic (with my wax) made an easier burn up until about 5% then it burned much harder. UV inhibitor can change the burn. Dyes can change the burn. The scientific process calls for changing one variable at a time in an experiment. Changing more than one makes it near impossible to narrow down problems. 

 

Every fragrance has different blends of aromachemicals and carriers that change the burn. You could add x% of any old kitchen oil from the pantry and it will change the burn of an unscented candle much like a simple fragrance oil might. Some of my fragrances require me to wick down 2-3 sizes. Some require me to change wick series altogether just to stay lit. Musks, menthols, mints, spices, vanillas, etc all make the wax require a bigger wick. If I were basing my tests on any one given fragrance in my shop I would be off 99% of the time without knowing what the wax itself needs. 

 

Every time I read fragrance reviews when some writes that they add a few more% of FO to get throw I feel really badly for them. That % additive might be simply lowering the melt point of the blend a few degrees. 

 

The reason to test naked wax is to eliminate the one one most important variable as a possible problem if/when there is a change to your wax batch. Had I not known how my wax burned before finding the massive changes in the early lots this year My candles made for this year would not have burned right and I would have been put out of business. Since I understand my wax, and was able to quickly find a suitable work around, I was back in business within a month with all 100 scents and my customers were never the wiser. But hey it's your time and money, so do whatever makes you happy. 

[moonshine]

TT is exactly right in every aspect 

 

In the past I never tested naked wax- I went all in with FO and that was a huge costly mistake, you need to know how your wax behaves without anything added to it to quickly be able to determine an issue if one arises 

of course your wax is going to burn and behave different alone - then when you add FO and dye or additives it all changes 

take notes on what it does alone 

take notes on any additives you use 

take notes on any fragrances you use

take notes on any dye you use 

if a problem arises you go back to naked wax test and see if it's the wax itself and if it's normal according to your notes then maybe something changed in the FO, dye or additive - your better able to pinpoint what is going on 

 

[Gary in Canada]

3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

The wax blends burn a certain way. anything you add to the wax will make it either burn harder or easier ( will either raise or lower the melting point). Universal soy additive will make it a little harder.  stearic (with my wax) made an easier burn up until about 5% then it burned much harder. UV inhibitor can change the burn. Dyes can change the burn. The scientific process calls for changing one variable at a time in an experiment. Changing more than one makes it near impossible to narrow down problems. 

 

Every fragrance has different blends of aromachemicals and carriers that change the burn. You could add x% of any old kitchen oil from the pantry and it will change the burn of an unscented candle much like a simple fragrance oil might. Some of my fragrances require me to wick down 2-3 sizes. Some require me to change wick series altogether just to stay lit. Musks, menthols, mints, spices, vanillas, etc all make the wax require a bigger wick. If I were basing my tests on any one given fragrance in my shop I would be off 99% of the time without knowing what the wax itself needs. 

 

Every time I read fragrance reviews when some writes that they add a few more% of FO to get throw I feel really badly for them. That % additive might be simply lowering the melt point of the blend a few degrees. 

 

The reason to test naked wax is to eliminate the one one most important variable as a possible problem if/when there is a change to your wax batch. Had I not known how my wax burned before finding the massive changes in the early lots this year My candles made for this year would not have burned right and I would have been put out of business. Since I understand my wax, and was able to quickly find a suitable work around, I was back in business within a month with all 100 scents and my customers were never the wiser. But hey it's your time and money, so do whatever makes you happy. 

Thanks TallTayl...I am going to take your advice.  

[TallTayl]

@Gary in Canada the best thing about wick testing in unscented wax is you can simply re-melt and reuse the wax. Every retail available wax has different additives. Once I figured out a plain jane wax (415) I could recreate others (like C3). when you spot something awry you can use additives to fix lot to lot variations and shortcomings. 

 

everyone has a different opinion about burning plain wax. In my timeline of Chandlery, I learned the most in the shortest length of time when I stopped for a moment and went back to the kindergarten step of just learning the basic wax. I wasted years chasing variables that I never took the time to learn about.

 

Beeswax is notorious for being a stinker to master. Literally every single box is different. Making a simple test Candle tells me everything I need to know in a super short amount of time. When you crack the code on one wax, others are much simpler. 

[Jbruza]

On 11/24/2017 at 10:33 PM, TallTayl said:

@Gary in Canada the best thing about wick testing in unscented wax is you can simply re-melt and reuse the wax. Every retail available wax has different additives. Once I figured out a plain jane wax (415) I could recreate others (like C3). when you spot something awry you can use additives to fix lot to lot variations and shortcomings. 

 

everyone has a different opinion about burning plain wax. In my timeline of Chandlery, I learned the most in the shortest length of time when I stopped for a moment and went back to the kindergarten step of just learning the basic wax. I wasted years chasing variables that I never took the time to learn about.

 

Beeswax is notorious for being a stinker to master. Literally every single box is different. Making a simple test Candle tells me everything I need to know in a super short amount of time. When you crack the code on one wax, others are much simpler. 

Yes- per your message a while back I made a couple of test candles with my two wicks and am seeing how they burn and how long they take to achieve the full melt pool. I will continue to do this with each carton I buy and hope that it saves me money :)! 

[Jbruza]

With the ones I have burned and that have burned nicely with a FO, how many test candles do you make ? I have a few that I really think are working nicely but have only burned once or twice all the way to the bottom. Is this enough to officially decide on a wick for this particular FO?