HELP - Coconut Wax & Wicks

[NightLight]

I think some of the issues could be Containers. If you switch for example to a a shallower container you will be able to wick more easily.

deeper containers the lower half starts to runaway. I do think though the idea is nice straight coconut the reality is different.

[Candlefriends]

Hi NightLight perhaps deep containers are contributing to the problem. However, this is the look I'm personally going for and part of my brand. Others have made these containers work and with a little more effort things will sort out. I don't think I'm far off. Thanks again!

 

[NightLight]

What I am saying if you are primarily using only coco83 you will have problems, no way around it.

You can blend the wax to be acceptable without turning into torch. If the wax the majority is coconut in a tall jar it will be an issue

wicking. 
The wax is softer than 4627 and burns significantly faster once melted.

[Candlefriends]

Thanks Nightlight - I've made some blends with soy and letting them cure. I know I'm close because my issues don't start until I'm deep in the containers. I think with smaller wicks and cutting it with soy may solve some problems. This will be the basis of my next round of testing - fingers crossed!

 

[NightLight]

For fun did some experiments. Even doing 50 50 this is still a super soft wax. But it behaves better and wickable. At 15 per cent soy, the wax burns way too fast IMHO. No one want to buy a candle that burns that fast especially if you Want to charge higher dollar amount for it. At 50 per cent, I would like to see that candle stand up to summer heat. 

[moomin3]

I'm new to posting here and have also searched through almost all previous posts to determine how to best wick coco83. I hope you don't mind me commiserating! I use the Northwoods coco. I agree with previous posters that it's worrisome to do all the testing for a blended product such as this one and potentially have to test it all over again if batches change. I thought I'd use up the rest of my sample pack of the coco by adding it to 464, which I really want to finally work for me, because I can get it locally which would be a huge cost saver, and just to see if I like the effect of adding some coconut. 

 

So I have been testing a 9oz straight sided 2.75" jar with 70/30 coco83 and 464 with 6% FO (lemon souffle), HTP 104, and the hot throw has been good for a small room. It's definitely more impressive to me than just 464, but maybe it's because it seems like a quicker cure time since coconut is involved. Approx 8 test burns now and the candle is burning slow, melt pools are good, no sooting or dancing. I kind of want to try 10% FO next. I love the look of it, smooths out the signature curdled soy top after burning and it looks great with colors.

 

There are endless variations. We can drive ourselves truly nuts. I innocently started out wanting to use vessels I had, e.g. repurposed salsa, jam containers since I was never planning on selling. Little did I know then how truly insane I would drive myself by trying to properly wick 25 random diameter and depth glass containers 😵 I seriously don't know why I did that. Now I'm committed to just choosing some straight sided vessels and going from there! 

 

 

 

[Candlefriends]

Hi Everyone,

 

First off, thank you so much for all your suggestions. I've had some great success with my latest test.Yay! So, I thought I would share what I did so it could be a useful reference.

I made 2 blends of coconut/soy: one with 90/10 and the other 80/20. I let them cure for 1 week. Both reduced sooting/smoking quite a bit. The 80/20 has almost none out the 3 wicks I used. 

In both blends, I used CDN 10, CD 9, CDN 8 wicks. The CDN's burned a lot cleaner. With 80/20, I still had mild sooting with the CD 9 size. My 3" diameter white jars are good indicators of this! I used 8% fragrance and plan to fine tune a second round between the CDN 10 and CDN 8. The CDN 8 had quite a bit of hang up during most of the candle's burn, but is starting to catch up at the 35th hour. It looks like I still have about 10 hrs to go, but in the past my issues started around the 12th to 18th hour. My last 3 burns have been very consistent.

 

The HT is still excellent as the well as the texture and color of the wax. Also it is burning much more slowly. Before the candles were close to done around 33 hrs. I'll be

close to hitting 45+ hrs. :). I'll post again if anything drastic changes in the final burns. Thanks again!!!

Edited March 25, 2020 by Candlefriends

[NightLight]

It’s def a blender wax, not a main wax. Good additive in some amounts.

[Candlefriends]

Hi Everyone - I hope you all are doing well and staying healthy!

 

With some extra free time I've been really been able to experiment with wax blends with much success. So I've bumped up my blend %'s quite a bit and the power burns are doing great at the 40/60. (40 GW 464 and 60 Coco 83). (Anything less in percentage failed the power burn test). This latest combo has no smoking/soot, mushrooming, and pretty calm flame during power burns.  However, with so much soy, I am running into dipping and cracking around the wick, the tops are smooth. This issue is new to me, (when I worked with soy in the past, it was in a different space and never had these problems). 

 

Until my workspace is built in my basement,  I'm stuck in a open space kitchen / dining area that's pretty hard to control - it's cool and drafty. The containers I use are pretty thin glass.

 

So far I've tried:

Pouring at 140 and the extreme end 120 and cloudy. Heated jars with a heat gun, and my work table is wood. All are the same result. 

Would you recommend - 

1). Putting boxes over the top of the candles as they cool

2). Pouring even hotter

3). Creating relief holes and fixing with a heat gun

4). Using a different soy brand

5). Something else?

6). All of the above or None of the above

 

Thanks!!! 😊 

 

This is not my candle, but is what they look like - before burning. When I burn you can see the cracks in the melt pool usually 2 of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Candlefriends