Help with wood wick candles!! I am getting inconsistent flame from my tests

[confused_candle]

Hi Guys, 

 

I am really struggling here and need you to assist me please as I have run out of what to test. 

 

I am using essential oil + soy wax (464) + wood wicks (from the wooden wicken wick co ).

 

My problem is: I am getting 70% weak flame and 30% good and strong flame with my small jar candle only and I am not sure where my problem is.

 

My small jar has a diameter of 47mm and height of 62mm, and I am currently using a wood wick with the measurement of width 0.375" (9.5mm), and I trim my wick to around 1mm - 3mm above the wax which allows it to pick up the flame easily, because I realized if I dont trim it short enough the candle cant be lit at all. 

 

However, I am not getting consistent results, because sometimes the flame is strong, other times it gets so weak that it seems like its suffocating, yet I do exactly the same things when I test. 

 

The test I did today, my wick was about 1mm-2mm above the wax, and while the flame isnt as strong as some of my other tests, it still kept burning, but half way through as I saw the flame getting weaker, I thought I would trim it to see if that helps the candle to burn better, but it didnt. The flame went extremely weak. Should I not have done so?

 

My other candle is from another test I did a few days ago, it burns very well, and I am not sure why, especially because the length of the wick above the wax is pretty similar.  

 

Can you guys please tell me what is happening here please? I dont even really know the problem.   

 

Below are my candle pictures. 

 

  

 

 

[Karen Ov]

2 hours ago, confused_candle said:

Hi Guys, 

 

I am really struggling here and need you to assist me please as I have run out of what to test. 

 

I am using essential oil + soy wax (464) + wood wicks (from the wooden wicken wick co ).

 

My problem is: I am getting 70% weak flame and 30% good and strong flame with my small jar candle only and I am not sure where my problem is.

 

My small jar has a diameter of 47mm and height of 62mm, and I am currently using a wood wick with the measurement of width 0.375" (9.5mm), and I trim my wick to around 1mm - 3mm above the wax which allows it to pick up the flame easily, because I realized if I dont trim it short enough the candle cant be lit at all. 

 

However, I am not getting consistent results, because sometimes the flame is strong, other times it gets so weak that it seems like its suffocating, yet I do exactly the same things when I test. 

 

The test I did today, my wick was about 1mm-2mm above the wax, and while the flame isnt as strong as some of my other tests, it still kept burning, but half way through as I saw the flame getting weaker, I thought I would trim it to see if that helps the candle to burn better, but it didnt. The flame went extremely weak. Should I not have done so?

 

My other candle is from another test I did a few days ago, it burns very well, and I am not sure why, especially because the length of the wick above the wax is pretty similar.  

 

Can you guys please tell me what is happening here please? I dont even really know the problem.   

 

Below are my candle pictures. 

 

  

 

 

Hi...It might be because of the essential oils,   try with fragrance oils..fo's are more suited for candles

[BusyBee]

Most of us haven't figured out how to deal with quality of UNRELIABLE WOOD WICKS.  It is just nature of wood wick that is just unpredictable with serious quality issue. 

 

I use 464, and I know wood wick would be the best wick for 464 if I can make it stay lit.  But, some wood wick will perform excellent while many other same size & model wood wick just want stay lit at all.  

 

There are only handful of essential oils that can be used candle making.  I am assuming you are using one of those right EOs in your candle.

 

Below is picture of the one that is keep on dying out.

 

[TallTayl]

Are both of your candles in the pic of the first post the same fragrance/essential oil? Same lot of wax? 

 

we have read many tales of inconsistent wooden wicks for the last couple of months since Atkins and Pearce took over manufacturing.  Not blaming A&P, just noticing the timing. 
 

I struggled with consistency in soy too and learned sometimes the wick itself has less “thirsty” fibers.  Sometimes they need to be primed in hot wax to drive out the air before pouring the candle. Priming helped in my case the most. I hold the wicks under wax to the bottom of my presto pot and let the air and moisture sizzle out of them before using.

 

sometimes the FO clogs some of the wood types more than others. The pale colored smooth wicks did better in some fragrance and essential oils. Sometimes the dark wood type was better. They are of different wood types and likely different chemical treatments also. Sometimes I need to mix a crackly with a smooth to get things rolling. Smaller jars are more difficult than bigger to combine.

 

i also noticed that 2 0.02” thick was a hotter burn than one 0.04” thick. 
 

when sized well, and of the right wood type, you should not need to meticulously trim each time you light. Knocking off the char should do the job. Not knocking it off won’t squash the burn that much. Make sure you light from the bottom, to melt some wax to get things going. 

[ErronB]

Wooden wicks are wooden wicks..... nothing you can do about it. I spent an entire year staring at wooden wick flames burning, trying to get SOMETHING to burn completely consistent with these Wooden Wick Co types and there was nothing after testing 7 waxes. Even if you got a good batch of wicks then the next time you'd order them they could be completely off. The slightest variance of thickness from their Sunshinee QC determines if your candle will fizzle to nothing when you light it, or flare up to oblivion.

 

Priming them in wax does help some for when you first light it, but the way the wick burns is not the same after burning it a couple times, which again throws the whole consistency out the window. I miss the old wicks...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[confused_candle]

Thanks 

2 hours ago, ErronB said:

Wooden wicks are wooden wicks..... nothing you can do about it. I spent an entire year staring at wooden wick flames burning, trying to get SOMETHING to burn completely consistent with these Wooden Wick Co types and there was nothing after testing 7 waxes. Even if you got a good batch of wicks then the next time you'd order them they could be completely off. The slightest variance of thickness from their Sunshinee QC determines if your candle will fizzle to nothing when you light it, or flare up to oblivion.

 

Priming them in wax does help some for when you first light it, but the way the wick burns is not the same after burning it a couple times, which again throws the whole consistency out the window. I miss the old wicks...

 

 

 

Thanks for this! do you know any other companies that supply wood wicks? I mean so many other candle places do wood wicks so I suppose there must be other ones we can try other than woode wick co. Also This is only happening to my small candles, my big jars seem to work perfectly fine so ya....

 

 

 

[confused_candle]

2 hours ago, ErronB said:

Wooden wicks are wooden wicks..... nothing you can do about it. I spent an entire year staring at wooden wick flames burning, trying to get SOMETHING to burn completely consistent with these Wooden Wick Co types and there was nothing after testing 7 waxes. Even if you got a good batch of wicks then the next time you'd order them they could be completely off. The slightest variance of thickness from their Sunshinee QC determines if your candle will fizzle to nothing when you light it, or flare up to oblivion.

 

Priming them in wax does help some for when you first light it, but the way the wick burns is not the same after burning it a couple times, which again throws the whole consistency out the window. I miss the old wicks...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 8/26/2020 at 5:41 AM, TallTayl said:

Are both of your candles in the pic of the first post the same fragrance/essential oil? Same lot of wax? 

 

we have read many tales of inconsistent wooden wicks for the last couple of months since Atkins and Pearce took over manufacturing.  Not blaming A&P, just noticing the timing. 
 

I struggled with consistency in soy too and learned sometimes the wick itself has less “thirsty” fibers.  Sometimes they need to be primed in hot wax to drive out the air before pouring the candle. Priming helped in my case the most. I hold the wicks under wax to the bottom of my presto pot and let the air and moisture sizzle out of them before using.

 

sometimes the FO clogs some of the wood types more than others. The pale colored smooth wicks did better in some fragrance and essential oils. Sometimes the dark wood type was better. They are of different wood types and likely different chemical treatments also. Sometimes I need to mix a crackly with a smooth to get things rolling. Smaller jars are more difficult than bigger to combine.

 

i also noticed that 2 0.02” thick was a hotter burn than one 0.04” thick. 
 

when sized well, and of the right wood type, you should not need to meticulously trim each time you light. Knocking off the char should do the job. Not knocking it off won’t squash the burn that much. Make sure you light from the bottom, to melt some wax to get things going. 

 

Thanks for the assistance, I primed my tonight one worked and one didnt, so what I did was putting the wicks into the oven to 'dry' them and then coated them. Dont know if this works? Are there any other suppliers for wood wicks that you can recommend?

[confused_candle]

On 8/26/2020 at 5:03 AM, BusyBee said:

Most of us haven't figured out how to deal with quality of UNRELIABLE WOOD WICKS.  It is just nature of wood wick that is just unpredictable with serious quality issue. 

 

I use 464, and I know wood wick would be the best wick for 464 if I can make it stay lit.  But, some wood wick will perform excellent while many other same size & model wood wick just want stay lit at all.  

 

There are only handful of essential oils that can be used candle making.  I am assuming you are using one of those right EOs in your candle.

 

Below is picture of the one that is keep on dying out.

 

Sigh its such a different task to master, what wood wick companies have you tried so far? any other recommendations other than wooden wick co? Thanks!

[ErronB]

2 hours ago, confused_candle said:

 

 

Thanks for the assistance, I primed my tonight one worked and one didnt, so what I did was putting the wicks into the oven to 'dry' them and then coated them. Dont know if this works? Are there any other suppliers for wood wicks that you can recommend?

 

I don't ever do anything that drastic. I did prime them with olive oil a few times which helped lighting it the first time but the way it burned after that was kind of sketchy. In pure soy it was 'ok'. The Wooden Wick Co owns the patents for the wicks so you can't buy any different ones anymore (unless you buy them from China but they're even worse). There used to be good ones, but since they got shut down we are stuck with this crap we got now. I know they have a cross wick coming out, it was supposed to come out the same time as the spiral wick (which is also crap) but it never did. That will probably work better for soy.

[BusyBee]

18 hours ago, confused_candle said:

Sigh its such a different task to master, what wood wick companies have you tried so far? any other recommendations other than wooden wick co? Thanks!

There are only 3 companies who holds wood wick patents in US.  All general wood wick patent holder is Wooden Wick Co.  Plus+ wood wick patent holder is WoodWick Candle(Don't get confused the other one.), which is sister company of Yankee.  Cross Wick patent holder is Chinese company in Guangdong China.  Other than these three no other company is allowed to manufacturer or sell any type of wood wick in US.  WoodWick will never sell their Plus+ wood wick, so we actually have only two choices in US.  There could be ways to go around their patents, but I don't have resource and time to spend on that.

 

Atkins & Pearce is global distributor of Wooden Wick Company, but it seems like they haven't started carrying any wooden wick yet.

 

At current stage, wooden wick would be a great choice for hobbyist especially in soy wax.  But, it wouldn't be suitable for commercial candle making unless Wooden Wick Company can figure out the issues.

[confused_candle]

On 8/28/2020 at 2:17 PM, BusyBee said:

There are only 3 companies who holds wood wick patents in US.  All general wood wick patent holder is Wooden Wick Co.  Plus+ wood wick patent holder is WoodWick Candle(Don't get confused the other one.), which is sister company of Yankee.  Cross Wick patent holder is Chinese company in Guangdong China.  Other than these three no other company is allowed to manufacturer or sell any type of wood wick in US.  WoodWick will never sell their Plus+ wood wick, so we actually have only two choices in US.  There could be ways to go around their patents, but I don't have resource and time to spend on that.

 

Atkins & Pearce is global distributor of Wooden Wick Company, but it seems like they haven't started carrying any wooden wick yet.

 

At current stage, wooden wick would be a great choice for hobbyist especially in soy wax.  But, it wouldn't be suitable for commercial candle making unless Wooden Wick Company can figure out the issues.

So I just emailed Atkins & Pearce and see what they say. Something I have done that improved the wicks is that oven them and primed them with wax after, it seems to have helped but still the odd ones that came with the dimmed flame. I have invested all the time and money into this now and I cant seem to turn back  

[ErronB]

11 hours ago, confused_candle said:

So I just emailed Atkins & Pearce and see what they say. Something I have done that improved the wicks is that oven them and primed them with wax after, it seems to have helped but still the odd ones that came with the dimmed flame. I have invested all the time and money into this now and I cant seem to turn back  

 

You don't even want to know how much time and money I wasted on wooden wicks trying to get something consistent, it's just not going to happen with the crap ones available. Maybe in the future we will get some decent primed ones again.

[BusyBee]

One of the  best 464 wax candle that I was able to make was by using wood wick, and here is the picture.  See how clean the top is after burn.  It gave me 100% satisfaction result from top to bottom.  I will not able to make anything similar to this candle using any other wicks.  Now, if they can send me a same wick that will work like this all the time...  Every wood wick will burn differently even though they claim that they are same model and size.

 

Be careful with Atkins & Pearce!  I am having horrible time with them right now.  They messed up my order on other wick, and they are not responding for more than 10 days now.

 

 

 

[BusyBee]

You will surprise to find that any paper would burn better than wood wick.  First one is card board box and second one is folded regular copy paper.  It burns nicely, but it will produce lots of soot and after glow is really bad that it won't be suitable to make into a wick.  Now, if someone can make a wick that is in between paper and wood...

 

 

 

[Pam W]

On 9/5/2020 at 3:52 PM, BusyBee said:

You will surprise to find that any paper would burn better than wood wick.  First one is card board box and second one is folded regular copy paper.  It burns nicely, but it will produce lots of soot and after glow is really bad that it won't be suitable to make into a wick.  Now, if someone can make a wick that is in between paper and wood...

 

 

 

I've never experimented with wood wicks....basically because I can get a nice HT using standard wicks. My ultimate goal is to produce a candle that has a nice throw and fills the room with a lovely scent....So I figure that wood wicks would be a total waste of my time any money to do so.  

 

So my question to you is WHY do you want to use wood wicks ... what's the advantage??????

[Pam W]

Oh BTW.......essential oils really do not do well in candles.  

 

[BusyBee]

3 hours ago, Pam W said:

I've never experimented with wood wicks....basically because I can get a nice HT using standard wicks. My ultimate goal is to produce a candle that has a nice throw and fills the room with a lovely scent....So I figure that wood wicks would be a total waste of my time any money to do so.  

 

So my question to you is WHY do you want to use wood wicks ... what's the advantage??????

I use soy 464, and best result I had was with wood wick (only the one that stayed lit).  It performed to perfection.  Zero soot even in draft, shallow full melt pool through out, container never got hot even bottom 1/3, best HT, nice cool wide decent size flame, clean top after burn, very short after glow with little smoke, etc.  I cannot find any other wick that would work this good in 464.  I make and sell candles with other wick, but it isn't as good as the one I have made with wood wick.  I am confident with my current candle, but I know it can be improved because I saw that with wood wick.  That's why I am still searching for good quality wood wick, but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.