A Question for the Experts

[lisinka1]

Hello Candle Makers! I have a question. I see that there is a lot of talk on here about wicks mushrooming and it seems to be a negative thing. Is this a sign of a poorly made candle? I buy candles from 3 different soy companies. Each company has its own uniqueness which is why I buy from each. I noticed that with two of the brands, the wicks always mushroom. I hate this because I quench the candles to extinguish them (if I blow them out the wicks smoke because they are 100% cotton). When I quench them the mushroom falls into the wax and I have to scoop it out. The other company's wicks never mushroom and rarely need a trim. In fact, if I trim the wicks they sometimes get drowned out by the wax which is strange because I always cut to 1/4". Anyway, can someone tell me if a candle that mushrooms is still a well made candle. Other than the mushrooms, the candles burn perfectly and have a phenomenal scent throw. TIA!

[geekrunner]

Mushrooming can be a function of the dye and/or FO used. Some FOs are heavier than others and tend to make a wick mushroom, while lighter ones won't. Depending on the level of perfection a chandler wishes to attain, mushrooming may not be totally avoidable but could be minimized. It just takes alot of wick testing and playing wiht the FO loads.

HTH! geek

[Meridith]

Also, with soy, it can be hard to avoid those mushrooms since soy is such a thick wax. Certain wicks, like cottons and RRDs are notorious for mushrooms while others, like the CD's and HTP's won't shroom as much because they are self trimming. While the cottons do tend to shroom more, I prefer them in soy because they burn hot enough and I don't care for the self trimming nature of the CDs and HTPs and the hangup these wicks can cause. Plus, they can mushroom and need trimming too. I do use the HTP's in my larger jars though because I like the burn better in those jars with that wick compared to the cottons.