xxxAlpha71xxx Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 As I've said I'm very new to this and have learned quite a bit already but I have several questions related to situations I've seen. Since I have multiple questions mostly about wicks but related to different issues I thought I would post them in one handy, dandy summary versus making a bunch of posts. 1) Zinc Wicks. Do Zinc wicks always mushroom or will that issue minimize itself if a candle is wicked properly? 2) Mushrooming. If a candle starts mushrooming can it correct itself as it burns or will it always get worse once it starts? This relates to another issue. Until yesterday I had always assumed that a mushrooming wick meant that the candle was over wicked, so I had been steadily going down sizes on some of my wick tests. Yesterday, I ran across a post that indicated that mushrooming could just as easily mean that the candle was under wicked. I went back to the wick I started with and found that going up 2 sizes gave awesome results but began mushrooming a couple of hours in. Which leads me to yet again another mushrooming question. Why is it that a candle can burn fine for several hours then out of the blue start mushrooming. It seems that if there is too much/too little fuel that it would show long before the 2 or 3 hour mark. 3) When doing wick testing should I expect to see a full melt pull on day 1 after 4 hours? 4) Is there a chart out there that will at least give a good starting point for 6006 wax? CS has one but contrary to what I've heard about ECO wicks not being that great in 6006 their chart indicates ECO wicks across the board. 5) Why do some wicks give better HT than others? For instance, I love the way Premiers burn and the fact that there are so many sizes but the HT on them is considerably less than the others I've tried. Zincs burn well but I've experienced quite a bit of mushrooming with them which could, of course, be related to my mistaken understanding of what causes mushrooming. CD's seem to be giving me the best HT but they seem to burn to one side meaning a perfectly centered wick ends up melting more on one side or the other. I have tried LX's but didn't have any large enough for the container I'm using. I haven't tried HTP's yet but have both larger sizes of LX and HTP's on the way, so they're next on the list. 6) Melt pool. Should I always look for my candle to have a full melt pool across the width of the candle or is it ok for the candle to tunnel a bit as long as it melts the side wax as it burns lower? Wouldn't the lack of a full melt pool affect the HT? 7) Forrest gives the following wick list, which was great and has been a valuable tool but it stops at Zinc 60. The post I read last night had someone with a 3 inch glass jar that was using a CD18 so I decided to give CD 16 a chance and it's burning perfectly. Full 1/4 inch melt pool, good HT, around a 1" flame, glass no hotter than a cup of coffee. Is there anyone out there than can fill in the blanks above CD 10 and Zinc 60 that are the max on Forrest's list? Zinc 60 CD10 WI755 LX18 Zinc 51 CD8 WI745 Zinc44 LX16 CD6 LX14 WI740 I think that's it. Thanks for your patience and all that knowledge you guys pass around. I told the wife that maybe I should be a butcher or a baker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxAlpha71xxx Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 50 minutes ago, xxxAlpha71xxx said: I think that's it. Thanks for your patience and all that knowledge you guys pass around. I told the wife that maybe I should be a butcher or a baker. 8 ) Is it possible for a candle to be so overwicked that it inhibits the melt pool growth? 9) Why does my edit button disappear on posts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 1) Not much when properly wicked. 2) If you trim it between burnings it might not mushroom. 3) Not normally. 4) Let me know if you find one. 5) I can’t answer that one. 6) As long as al the wax melts eventually it is OK 7) My list is limited as all of my containers require wicks smaller than a CD10 at the moment. I would highly recommend that as you are doing testing and find that one wick is bigger than another one, write it down and use the information to expand the list. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandleRush Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Great questions and you’ll get some answers once you start to test. Forests answers are based on his wax and his candle making journey/experiences. The very best way is to start very simple, one wax, one type of wick, one type of container. Take notes. Lots of notes! This is why it takes so long to figure things out. I don’t think there are any short cuts. I found that out! Candle making is not linear. By reading posts here is the very best way to begin, you’ll have support too!🌸 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxAlpha71xxx Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 (edited) 42 minutes ago, CandleRush said: Great questions and you’ll get some answers once you start to test. Forests answers are based on his wax and his candle making journey/experiences. The very best way is to start very simple, one wax, one type of wick, one type of container. Take notes. Lots of notes! This is why it takes so long to figure things out. I don’t think there are any short cuts. I found that out! Candle making is not linear. By reading posts here is the very best way to begin, you’ll have support too!🌸 Thanks CR and Forrest!. Yeah,that was part of my problem. I jumped into it with my eyes wide shut and started tossing together multiple scents with multiple containers with multiple wicks. I'm giving myself a bit of a reset and going back to exactly what you recommended. Edited June 18, 2019 by xxxAlpha71xxx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 11 minutes ago, xxxAlpha71xxx said: Thanks CR. Yeah,that was part of my problem. I jumped into it with my eyes wide shut and started tossing together multiple scents with multiple containers with multiple wicks. I'm giving myself a bit of a reset and going back to exactly what you recommended. Here is some advice I learned in engineering school, and then relearned here at NASA. To properly test something you can only have one variable. Usually this will be your wick. You can run multiple test at the same time once you have a good feel for what you are doing. For example I recently wick tested 8 different FOs at the same time, but those are 8 separate test being run in parallel with the wick as the variable. Another key is get a good system to document everything. Whatever works for you is good. For wick testing I just number my test candles and keep all their information in a log book. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandleRush Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 You can absolutely conquer this! 😀 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 We prob all got over zealous at the beginning, I don't remember that far back but I'm sure I did! Like they said start slow with 1 container and 1 wax and several wick options. You can find threads about pulling out a wick that you know won't work and replacing it with another. No scent until you can get the jar/wick combo right. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxAlpha71xxx Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Forrest said: Here is some advice I learned in engineering school, and then relearned here at NASA. To properly test something you can only have one variable. Usually this will be your wick. You can run multiple test at the same time once you have a good feel for what you are doing. For example I recently wick tested 8 different FOs at the same time, but those are 8 separate test being run in parallel with the wick as the variable. Another key is get a good system to document everything. Whatever works for you is good. For wick testing I just number my test candles and keep all their information in a log book. I know exactly where you're coming from. Our #1 step in QC when diagnosing root cause was to eliminate the variables. A lack of patience coupled and an overabundance of enthusiasm coupled with a dose of unrealistic expectations caused me to make that left turn at Albuquerque (if you're not old enough to remember Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes I forgive you for not knowing the reference.) but I'm getting back on track now. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxAlpha71xxx Posted July 25, 2019 Author Share Posted July 25, 2019 (edited) Back to my questions. I have 4 candles, 4 scents @ 6%, same container (2.5" diameter x 4" height). All of them burn beautifully until I get down to say 25-35% of the candle left. Then, within an hour of lighting them, I get some nasty looking mushrooms. Is this normal for the bottom portion of the candle? Thanks! Edited July 25, 2019 by xxxAlpha71xxx Pics added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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