I could cry........palm container woes

[candleessence]

Well, this weekend I learned a very shocking truth. Palm wax changes ALOT after a few month of curing :undecided I had some candles that have been around for about 6 mos & decided to burn one, well needless to say the wicks no longer worked-they all drowned. I tested these jars for many, many months (endlessly, it seemed) and was positive I had finally gotton the wicking right only to find out that the longer palm sets the harder the wax gets. I am sooooo bummed. So basically to work with this wax and be postive it's wicked right, I need to make a candle (4 actually) and guess a basic wick size, and test burn it @ 3, 6, 9 & 12 months No wonder you don't see to many palm containers on the market. Guess Im off to the classifies to see if anyone wants palm container wax

[topofmurrayhill]

I wonder if the wick could have changed and not the wax. Did you use one of those wicks with the natural wax chemical treatment? RRD, the bigger LX, and CDN are made for that kind of acidic wax.

[CathyinME]

Where do you store your candles? Could the wicks have gotten moisture? I want to start now making candles for the fall shows but if they don't burn after a few months that sucks! Is this just with the container palm? I'm going to be doing both the containers & pillars/votives.Anyone else out there make the palm candles & have this problem? Cathy

[candleessence]

I used both RRD's & CD's. After I posted this I pulled even more candles out to test~they all were under-wicked by @ least one size. I tested some votives too & I only use RRD 29's or 34's for them. The 34's were fine, the 29's just cut it. The candles were stored in a place that was subject to outside temps, so when I brought them in I let the jar warm back up to room temp before burning. They all had lids on them, didn't seem to be any moisture inside the jar. The votives were stored inside my home in room temps:undecided

[candleessence]

OMG, OMG, OMG! After reading your post Cathy I started thinking about the "moisture" factor. I have alot of different candles stored in this area (all containers) & started to wonder.....so I also have mason jars w/ gel & paraffin. Think that some have been there since summer, I pulled one, lit it & it smoke like MAD!!! I mean just one pure stream of smoke, totally confused now I went & grabbed another.....lit it, flame was struggling to stay lit. Oh I don't know whether to be mad/sad b/c I ruined all these candles b/c of where I stored them or relieved b/c putting them somewhere else in the future could easily fix this problem :undecided Wouldn't a candle spit & sputter if the wick got moisture in them? Im off to go take some aspirin

[CathyinME]

Hi! Yes, the wicks will sputter if there's moisture. I would be both mad & sad. It's alot of work & time to have them all ruined. I guess we know that it is not hte wax? I guess I can start making things for the fall & know that they will be ok. I'll have to date a couple & try them in a few months just to be sure but I think it is because of where they were stored. Cathy

[fiftycupsofcoffee]

I am wondering would cigerette smoke effect stored candles. I don't smoke, but the family who lived in this family before me smoked so much the walls were yellow. We have cleaned and primed over most of the house, but the closet I planed on storing my candle stuff in has not been cleaned or repainted. Should I clean and repaint before I use it for storage. We don't use it right now but I want to be sure before I make a huge mistake.

Thanks, Connie

[shell1226]

Hi Fifty, as someone who used to be a heavy smoker, I would say yes. To be safe, clean and paint that room before you put your stuff in there. There is a very good chance of them picking up the smoke odors.

[candleessence]

I too am a smoker & it is definitely a "smell" that clings. I too would clean up the area before storing them there.