I've decided that I hate all wicks equally

[calan]

..at least the ones I've tried.

Since getting into this about a month ago, I've experimented with HTP, CD, Hemp, Zinc, wooden, and Premier wicks in IGI4630, GW 444, FC's  ProBlend 600, and a few blends of those... and I hate them all. 

HTP burns decent and is consistent, but they lean and curl and getting a nice symetrical MP is impossible. CD's aren't bad, but they are a smokey blow-torch in the 4630. (The Hemp 1400's are also super hot). Zincs are consistent, but I have a black golfball sitting on top of every candle after 5 minutes (even with no FO or dye and properly sized). The Premiers burn nice, but they are unpredictable...a 735 may burn hotter than a 755...or it may not. 
 

The wooden wicks have the nicest flame and ease of use, but they are the least consistent of all. Assuming I can ever find the right size for any given candle...I can pull two wicks from the same bag and put them into two candles poured simultaneaously from the same pitcher of wax... and one may flicker and drown while the other threatens to catch the ceiling on fire.

I have some ECO's coming to play with, and still looking for a sample of LX's and the seemingly rare paper-core ""44-xx" series for my container size (2" to 3"), but I don't expect to see much difference.

So, I have about 50 lbs of wicks and 2 working candles. I think I'll just start buying up Walmarts melts and slapping a new label on them.  😛

 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by calan

[TallTayl]

No wonder you’re frustrated! You’re shotgunning your testing LOL.

 

Wooden wicks are challenging. They need to be primed to work IME. 

 

In 4630 think down down down on wick size. No need for a cannon to kill a mosquito. 

 

Try  CD in the 444. Also try eco-in the 444. The right Wick in the right fuel makes all the difference.

 

As does curing. A month in to testing and all of your candles are technically still fairly fresh/uncured. Give it time and you’ll probably love them.

[calan]

Yeah...I'm just getting a little impatient and cynical in my old age. 

(I am actually being methodical about it, mostly. Keeping a spreadsheet on everything and going in incremental steps)

GW 444 is a breeze to work with and clean up, but a bit ugly and it has the usual soy issues. IGI 4630 is just so damn sticky and messy, and I can't make it not smoke. I made up a pound of a 70/30 blend of those two to test, since it's what I have right now...but I dunno.

I may just get some more of the ProBlend 600 and stick with that. It's clean, takes dye nicely, easy to work with, cleans up easily, and makes nice smooth candles. Maybe the throw will come around if I just wait long enough.

BTW, thanks for all the helpful info you've posted here over the years. I've read a lot of your comments and got something useful from them all.

Edited September 27, 2019 by calan

[CaptnKush]

54 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Wooden wicks are challenging. They need to be primed to work IME. 

 

 

I just got a sample pack from Woodenwick.com to try out. How do you prime them?

[calan]

Those are the one's I've been using. They say no priming is needed, and actually recommend against it IIRC. But I think TT up there ^ might know a little bit about this candle thing. 

They burn ok, but seem to be inconsistent. I think the secret is keeping them perfectly trimmed throughout the burn...but I can't trust everyone to do that...so they make me nervous.

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by calan

[bfroberts]

I hate to break it to you, but if you are looking for perfection, you've chosen the wrong craft.  LOL
 

I can't speak for all your waxes, but with 4630 here's the thing.  If you want a symmetrical MP, go with LX.  The downside is the wicks will need to be trimmed for an optimal burn and some mushrooming may be present. HTP are self-trimming, but the MP will not be symmetrical and you'll have to be mindful of the MP depth to keep the wicks from leaning.  Zincs burn nice and cool, symmetrical pool and are rigid core but are prone to mushrooming, and again with the trimming.  And so on and so forth.  It's always something.  This is the craft of trade-offs.

 

It sounds like you are throwing darts at a wall to see what sticks.  Just focus on one wax and one or two recommended wick series.  Dial that in.   You'll just muddy the waters blending this and that and jumping around.  And honestly, I wouldn't recommend wood wicks at all...but that's just my opinion.  

 

Side note:  amount of cure time can and does change the burn.  Try to resist the temptation to test too soon. Good luck!

[TallTayl]

All of the wood wicks I’ve ever burned dry out tremendously over time.

 

All I do is I throw them in my Presto pot with enough wax to cover them. Then I heat until I don’t see any more champagne bubbles coming from them. Since I started doing that my problems getting them to light and draw wax consistently had disappeared. Maybe I’m just lucky? Or crazy?

[calan]

1 hour ago, bfroberts said:

It sounds like you are throwing darts at a wall to see what sticks.  Just focus on one wax and one or two recommended wick series.  Dial that in.   You'll just muddy the waters blending this and that and jumping around.

LOL  I can see how it seems like that. TT mentioned it also.

Right now, I'm just playing with different waxes and wicks to see what I want to work with, and which ones aren't going to fight me too much....all while reading and learning. I'm not trying to get a perfect candle or anything like that yet...just doing some methodical testing (In fact, I'm mostly just smelling the FO's in their bottles and burning plain wax in various containers with various wicks...no sense wasting the pricey little FO samples until I at least know which waxes I like). Once I settle on a wax and couple of containers that I want to go with.... I'll settle in and start fine tuning.

So I guess I am sort of throwing darts at a wall, but I'm aiming for a specific, big target at this point. 

(This thread was meant sort of tongue-in-cheek...I have a somewhat warped sense of humor  )

Edited September 27, 2019 by calan

[bfroberts]

1 hour ago, calan said:

LOL  I can see how it seems like that. TT mentioned it also.

Right now, I'm just playing with different waxes and wicks to see what I want to work with, and which ones aren't going to fight me too much....all while reading and learning. I'm not trying to get a perfect candle or anything like that yet...just doing some methodical testing (In fact, I'm mostly just smelling the FO's in their bottles and burning plain wax in various containers with various wicks...no sense wasting the pricey little FO samples until I at least know which waxes I like). Once I settle on a wax and couple of containers that I want to go with.... I'll settle in and start fine tuning.

So I guess I am sort of throwing darts at a wall, but I'm aiming for a specific, big target at this point. 

(This thread was meant sort of tongue-in-cheek...I have a somewhat warped sense of humor  )

I don't hate all wicks, but I do pretty much hate all waxes, so I know exactly where you're coming from.  😉

[calan]

Fired up 6 more test candles when I got home from work with some more wicks I got today, and I gotta say...I'm kinda liking these ECO wicks after a couple of hours. (4630 and 4630/444 blend, straight wax). They seem to be burning clean and symetrical, with no 'shrooming at all. Premiers and CD's aren't horrible, once I get the right size dialed in.

The zincs on the other hand... ughhh. Looks like the Manhattan Project. 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by calan

[BusyBee]

Welcome to the world of searching for magical wicks!

 

Like you said, I hated all of the wicks.  I mean all of them.  I have tried everything available from candle suppliers, wick assemblers, wick manufacturers, and I have tried no brand wicks from China, etc.  I even tried oil lamp wicks.  Tried to make my own wooden wick like many people did in this forum.  I ran out of wicks to test, so I even pulled out wicks from name brand candle companies and tested on my candle.

 

So, I ended up ran into this wick.

I pulled out this one from WoodWick Candle.  They call this +PlusWick and I believe it is patented.  This was the magical one that I was looking for.  Zero black soot even in heavy drift, just right amount of fire power, 100% self trimming, etc.  

 

I tried to make this wick by using wood wick from Wooden Wicks, but it wasn't working similar to this exact one.  China sells a lot of this copy cats, but no one should buy those unless he or she wants major law suits from Yankee Candle and Dana Decker company.

 

So, what is our solution?  I would suggest you to try "wood tube wick" by Wooden Wicks.  You can buy sample quantity from North Wood Distributing.  If you are using any soy blend wax or vegetable wax, try combination of wood tube wick with ECO wicks.  Wood tube wick only works with combination of other regular wicks.  It should give you result close 100% satisfaction. 

 

100% paraffin wax, I don't know.  It's very frustrating many times, but once you figure it out...  Have fun with your journey! 

[calan]

55 minutes ago, BusyBee said:

I would suggest you to try "wood tube wick" by Wooden Wicks.  You can buy sample quantity from North Wood Distributing. 

I actually have some of those. They came in the sample pack I ordered from WW. Just not sure how to mount them in a jar.

[BusyBee]

Wood tube wick was originally designed to use with combination of regular wicks.  Even though WW claim now it can be used by itself, it would not work good by itself.

You should cut them into desired length before you pour.

I believe tube wick with ECO 6(or 😎 would work best for your candle.  It should be an wonderful wick!

[calan]

I can't even get one wick to work reliably every time...I can't imagine trying to combine two of them.   

 

 

[BusyBee]

Think of it as blending two different waxes.  Actually, blending two wicks is much easier  task than blending two waxes.  

 

 

You will be surprised to find this kind of blending would work little better than single wick.

[Athena27]

Hey - I’m new to this craft as well but I love the imperfection of it and I think people who appreciate soy candles understands that’s just how it is for the trade off of a healthier product. 

 

Anyway - did I i understand you to say that you are just test burning plain wax without FO? If so, I understand why you are trying that, but my impression is that when you start adding FO into your mix it will totally change how you may feel about a certain wick. It could burn completely differently when you add another variable. 

[calan]

3 hours ago, Athena27 said:

Anyway - did I i understand you to say that you are just test burning plain wax without FO? If so, I understand why you are trying that, but my impression is that when you start adding FO into your mix it will totally change how you may feel about a certain wick. It could burn completely differently when you add another variable. 

Yep. I'm just test burning various wicks in plain wax to establish a baseline and record burn rates.

[NightLight]

Here’s what I have learned. You may have to adjust the wax to work with the wick that you like the best. I have four coconut wax formulas now, with different combos of this and that, and different wicks depending on the combo. None of these waxes is perfect.

You should test waxes with fragrance. You have to see how they throw, and also how wicks work with fo.

First decide and define what is your perfect candle.

For me, and who I want to sell to. The candle must have a smooth perfect top before and after burning, the candle will adhere to side while burning and after burning. Good throw obvi. Wicks must behave for customer because they are not going to be doing any trimming like we do.This is all before designing the candle label etc.

[kandlekrazy]

I'm late to this party of wick haters (myself included).  Just thought I'd mention again that if you twist your flat self trimming wicks before putting into the jar (like HTP), they will burn way more evenly and not to one side.  I twist the heck out of them, lol.

[CandleRush]

So relatable!

I wanted those wood wicks to work and they did until the 3rd burn. I was mesmerized by the crackling which I so enjoyed. I built up the whole candle making process in my head in to this magical fantasy and then eventually went back to basics. I thought, well everyone and their mother are making beautiful scented candles, how hard can it be!

 

One wax, one type of wick. When that did not work I kept the wax and chose different wicks to try. 

You will get there!

Candles don’t want to be rushed!🌸

 

[calan]

19 hours ago, NightLight said:

You should test waxes with fragrance. You have to see how they throw, and also how wicks work with fo.

Oh I am... slowly but surely learning what works and what doesn't. 

 

[NightLight]

It’s a long process. But once you learn all about wax and wicks you are able to really work up good formulas. My goal is not to be dependent on one particular wax as the industry seems to have so many flub ups. Companies going out of business, bad batches etc.

 

[calan]

Really digging these ECO wicks so far. Wish they had a bit finer resolution in sizes like the Premiers (which are also working pretty well).

Next favorite would be CD's, but they seem to be less forgiving. They either work beautifully, or not at all.