kec91 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 Ideas for a mushroom mystery? Let me know what you chandlers think. Last month I poured about 300 tea light candles on the same evening, about 100 tea light candles in each of three different fragrances. I had positive burn test results a few days after curing for each of the fragrances. I have also burned another 10 or so of each of these candles without issue (though not recorded in burn tests). The past couple of days I decided to do a one month burn test for 6 candles in each of the fragrances to see if anything changed. Every single candle performed perfectly—except one! One candle had mushrooming. I burn tea lights until they self extinguish for my tests, and I allowed the candle burn without intervention. The mushroom eventually fell into the melt pool. The candle then burned the rest of the wick and the mushroom debris until it self-extinguished. The flame was contained but larger when burning the debris and left soot/heated the container. I want to figure out how to prevent this from happening again. Summary: 1 out of 7 candles formally burn tested from the same 100 tea light candle batch mushroomed. I also burned about 10 more from the same batch (not recorded) without issue. Ideas for why this one candle had mushroom issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightLight Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 You answered your own question. Type of fragrance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 That one fragrance may require a smaller wick. Carbon heading is due to incomplete combustion either from size or wick series incompatibility, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kec91 Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 Thank you! So many burned for that fragrance without mushrooming, I wasn't sure if there was an environmental thing I should be looking at. I will give a different wick a try !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kec91 Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, NightLight said: You answered your own question. Type of fragrance. Yes! Since ~16 of the candles burned without issue for that fragrance, and just one mushroomed, I was wondering if there might be something less common for me to look for though. Edited November 4, 2022 by kec91 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 3 hours ago, kec91 said: Thank you! So many burned for that fragrance without mushrooming, I wasn't sure if there was an environmental thing I should be looking at. I will give a different wick a try !! I must have misread the Op. all were the same fragrance from the same pour? If so, could be incomplete even blending. Was the carbon prone one poured at the end of the batch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kec91 Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 23 minutes ago, TallTayl said: I must have misread the Op. all were the same fragrance from the same pour? If so, could be incomplete even blending. Was the carbon prone one poured at the end of the batch? Long post! Wasn’t sure which details to include. Yes, I burned 7 (tracked with pics/notes) and ~10 (not tracked) for the same fragrance and same pour. Only 1 of the 17 I’ve burned has mushroomed. I did not label each candle’s order of being poured. That makes more sense though with what I’m seeing. I’ve been doing this about three years and this is the first time I have had this happen! Always learning. Do you all have a target percentage of successful burn tests to assess a batch? I burned just shy of 20% of this batch before finding this. Thankful for relevant discussions you could point me towards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightLight Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 I don’t think one is a deal breaker but try a different wick. As TT said make sure you heat and blend fragrance in very well, as it could be the last one with fo not dissolved enough in wax at bottom of pour pitcher that could be the problem. Try a mini test batch and see how it works. Just to let you know I have burned plenty of commercial tea lights and most of them are terrible. For example ikea tealights are cheap and they have a terrible burn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdcharm Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 (edited) 16 hours ago, kec91 said: Yes! Since ~16 of the candles burned without issue for that fragrance, and just one mushroomed, I was wondering if there might be something less common for me to look for though. I agree, it could be a matter of stirring more frequently; just before pouring and especially mid-way through the process as well as near the end. I've always thought it's best to stir well at the start, then lightly here & there throughout the process of cool down (i.e., soy wax) or once again prior to pouring. Edited November 4, 2022 by birdcharm (typo) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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