Coconut wax and wicking progress!

[Kris10Tackles]

I started playing with coconut wax about a month ago but was having a terrible time wicking. From reading different threads on this forum I knew my wicking was way off. I kept reading and kept trying. From this forum I discovered the company 16/17 and fell in love with their containers. I read their wick suggestions for EC-26 and ceda-serica. I purchased a few sizes of their wick samples and it worked! The wicks are actually self trimming, I have a lovely steady flame, and no soot. It feels so good to finally have a beautiful candle. Now I can’t wait experiment with some other containers.

 

Some details...

Container holds 13oz 
Wax: 11.7oz EC-26

Wick: triple wicked CDN 3

FO @ 10% (1.3oz)

 

Some other notes - I’m making this as a house warming gift for my brother and SIL. For their new home (very open and airy floor plan)I think the amount of fragrance will be perfect. For my own use, will probably try out 6%. 

 

[BusyBee]

@Kris10Tackles

Congratulations!

 

Now you might want to start digging Perfumers Apprentice website for the scent knowledge.  It's a great website to learn about fragrances.

[ErronB]

The problem you're going to have is that wax relies on you using a stupidly high fragrance load 'as is', so if you tried using a sensible amount of FO like 6% then you would need much smaller wicks because the flame would be a lot bigger, and you'd have a very hard time finding something small enough for that wax if you were going for the 'self trim' approach. You'd have to add some soy to tame it down, which would kill the hot throw even more and that's not a good idea for this wax because it already struggles with a lot of fragrance types.

 

It's just such a waste of FO really especially the way that lady at 16/17 does it, she loads up the candles with 12% even in multi wick candles which will completely ruin the scent profile with 99% of fragrances even with a single wick, yet alone multiple, and not even using the 'general rule' 12%. She adds 12% into the total wax amount, so to other chandlers who use the 'add 1oz to 1lb = 6%' norm calculation that is way over 12%. (I know this because I watched her YT vids). Seeing her dump like 15% of those super expensive Wooden Wick Co fragrances into wax made my wallet cry.

 

So it might be the 'gangbusters hot throw' that she raves about in her videos. But I know with any of my scents it would smell like crap with that much FO in it. That wax was never really a strong performer for me regardless, it was easy to use and poured ridiculously smooth with no effort, but the burn characteristics and performance left a lot to be desired. Plus the fact that the melt point isn't very high so it's not ideal for people shipping in hot weather either.

 

But as always, everyone's experiences differ and people use different ingredients / formulas for different situations, this was just my experience after being locked in a room with a couple of cases of it for a few months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kris10Tackles]

I hear what you’re saying. I’m not necessarily going for “gangbusters” throw but was focused more on the size of the flame. I used 10% FO because that’s what I have been using and that’s what was recommended from NorthWood. I knew I was changing the container and bumping up to 3 wicks, I didn’t want to change absolutely everything. I also knew from reading other posts that I would probably and eventually try a lower percentage of FO. However, I love the size of flame, I love the hot throw, I love the cold throw, I love how gorgeous the wax looks. All in all for what I was going for, I’ll take the win and pat myself on the back thank you very much. 😉 I may have a very different experience when I do cut back on the FO, but I’ll fight that battle on a different day. Today I’m doing a happy dance.

 

Also, luckily I’m only doing this for fun and so shipping in the summer to random people isn‘t exactly on my radar. 
 

Just an FYI referring to someone as “that lady” sounds incredibly condescending and judge-y. She is the owner of the company and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my interactions with her and her customer service. You might not agree with what she recommends but you don’t have to come off sounding... well the way you did.

[ErronB]

2 hours ago, Kris10Tackles said:

I hear what you’re saying. I’m not necessarily going for “gangbusters” throw but was focused more on the size of the flame. I used 10% FO because that’s what I have been using and that’s what was recommended from NorthWood. I knew I was changing the container and bumping up to 3 wicks, I didn’t want to change absolutely everything. I also knew from reading other posts that I would probably and eventually try a lower percentage of FO. However, I love the size of flame, I love the hot throw, I love the cold throw, I love how gorgeous the wax looks. All in all for what I was going for, I’ll take the win and pat myself on the back thank you very much. 😉 I may have a very different experience when I do cut back on the FO, but I’ll fight that battle on a different day. Today I’m doing a happy dance.

 

Also, luckily I’m only doing this for fun and so shipping in the summer to random people isn‘t exactly on my radar. 
 

Just an FYI referring to someone as “that lady” sounds incredibly condescending and judge-y. She is the owner of the company and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my interactions with her and her customer service. You might not agree with what she recommends but you don’t have to come off sounding... well the way you did.

 

If you like what you're getting out of it regardless of the cost and amount of materials then that's all that matters, I'm not trying to take anything away from you. I was just pointing out that it doesn't take a super expert level chandler to see that she is wasting a tremendous amount of money the way she makes her candles, and overloading them to death with like 15% load. Doesn't look good for the 'owner of the company' really.

 

But regardless, good luck on your future testing, it's a pain in the arse but can be very rewarding sometimes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Marisa11]

On 12/4/2020 at 7:16 PM, Kris10Tackles said:

I hear what you’re saying. I’m not necessarily going for “gangbusters” throw but was focused more on the size of the flame. I used 10% FO because that’s what I have been using and that’s what was recommended from NorthWood. I knew I was changing the container and bumping up to 3 wicks, I didn’t want to change absolutely everything. I also knew from reading other posts that I would probably and eventually try a lower percentage of FO. However, I love the size of flame, I love the hot throw, I love the cold throw, I love how gorgeous the wax looks. All in all for what I was going for, I’ll take the win and pat myself on the back thank you very much. 😉 I may have a very different experience when I do cut back on the FO, but I’ll fight that battle on a different day. Today I’m doing a happy dance.

 

Also, luckily I’m only doing this for fun and so shipping in the summer to random people isn‘t exactly on my radar. 
 

Just an FYI referring to someone as “that lady” sounds incredibly condescending and judge-y. She is the owner of the company and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about my interactions with her and her customer service. You might not agree with what she recommends but you don’t have to come off sounding... well the way you did.

I think her name is Vanessa? She is awesome.  She knew I had been looking for some CD-2 and CD-3 wicks that were not just for tealight/votives. So when I ordered some CDN wicks to test form her site she sent me some CD-2's and 3's from her personal stash. 

 

I do agree that 12% is excessive. I have had luck with a 5% load and have not gone above 8% in the coconut wax. Just need to get the right wax,wick, FO formula down. it is so amazing how much difference just a different wick makes. I made 3 candles with 3 different wicks and the first one even though it performed well in my wickless testing did not do well in my half jar test it was about a 2.  2nd wick the HT was a 5 and I am testing the 3rd type wick that did well in my wickless testing sometime this weekend that way the memory of the 1st and 2nd candle are still in my head. 

 

yes I love their containers too. I have plenty of containers to last me a while. 

[Kris10Tackles]

On 12/11/2020 at 3:14 PM, Marisa11 said:

I think her name is Vanessa? She is awesome. 
 

I do agree that 12% is excessive. I have had luck with a 5% load and have not gone above 8% in the coconut wax. Just need to get the right wax,wick, FO formula down. it is so amazing how much difference just a different wick makes. I made 3 candles with 3 different wicks and the first one even though it performed well in my wickless testing did not do well in my half jar test it was about a 2.  

 

yes I love their containers too. I have plenty of containers to last me a while. 

Yes Vanessa is so nice!! 
 

Agreed on the 12%. I’ve done as little as 5% on FO that was extremely strong and only as high as 10%. I think I usually average between 6-8%.