Jeana Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 I have been making votives for a while now but I still have trouble deciding what the proper wicking should be for them. I have a wick that burns really nice in the beginning, then when it starts to melt down inside the holder the flame gets very large. Then after all the sides are melted the flame is normal and fine. Is this what is considered normal? I never gave too much thought to how they burn until I started making them myself. I would like to know everyone elses idea of how the perfect wick behaves in a votive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane42 Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 I am wondering the same thing....but I have the opposite problem....mine do well at the beginning, then get very tiny and almost look like they are going to drown, then pick back up again. I tried wicking up with the same type wick, but got soot on the votive holder. Now, these burn fine in a holder that is larger than the votive and allows it to spread out, but I feel they should burn good in a tight fitting votive holder - that should be my goal. So I will be interested in hearing how the "perfect votive" should burn... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazymom Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 my votives seem to burn very nicely in a tight fitting container. I use the Ecosoya VB and use either an RRD 34 or 37 depending on the FO I am using. Votives are supposed to be burned in a tight holder, I have seen them referred to as a container candle without the container.HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacien Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 What kind of wicks are you guys using? I have heard great things about the RD's with vege wax and votives and pillars. Premier 700's work great too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane42 Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 What kind of wicks are you guys using? I have heard great things about the RD's with vege wax and votives and pillars. Premier 700's work great too.Well, I popped my post right in here, then realized I was in the natural wax forum...:rolleyes2 My experience has been with IGI4794 - paraffin - using the Premier 700's and LX10's. We are just experimenting with the soy and have only burned a few votives....with lots of tunneling.....so we obviously have to wick WAAYYY up!! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeana Posted May 16, 2006 Author Share Posted May 16, 2006 I like like some of the LX, square braid, and TL series wicks in them. But they all get rather large when they go over the sides and start to fill into the container. Like I said though they do mellow out once all the wax is melted in the container. It seems to me if it doesn't go through this large flame stage the flame drowns when all the wax is filled in the container. This happens in the tighter containers I test in too. I just need to know if the large flame stage is "normal" for a votive or if I should be looking for it to do something else. And I am asking those of you who like the way your votives burn, what is it about them that you like? What made you say, "this is the wick for me". Does that makes sense?Jane if you use the Strahl & Pitsch smooth pillar veggie blend it burns more to the same sizes of paraffin. For instance an LX 12 is ok to use in this wax. So you wouldn't have to wick up as much as some of the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazymom Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 what i llike about the way my votives burn is, they make a melt pool all the way across first, then begin to spill over into the votive cup, and melt down nice and even. They leave very little residue on the cup, burns almost 100% of the wax, except for a tiny bit at the bottom, and do not smoke. Also, they can fill a large room with scent if I just place a few around the room.HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeana Posted May 16, 2006 Author Share Posted May 16, 2006 When yours start to spill over does the flame get larger for a time? If so, how tall would you say it is - 1" or larger? Do they have a real steady flame, or do they flicker?And do you have to trim them if you let them cool and relight?Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henryk Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 I'm surprised this hasn't been bought up over and over. Mine do the same thing - and I've used BW, soy, and para/soy for votives - all the same. The problem is when wax spills into the crevice of holder and you then have a long wick with a flame thrower on it. I've just needed to trim at that point - but I don't want to have to "time" that - I'd like to have them burn down perfectly with no intervention as much as possible*.Part of it I've chalked it up to natural waxes and the luck of the draw in how they burn down (some are better than others). The only votives that burned consistenly for me were the all-paraffin ones and since I don't make votives all that much I haven't pulled my hair out trying to figure it out. The best soy ones where from KY's votive/pillar wax.* My next idea (which I think will work out better) is to buy straight sided votive molds and treat them (wick them) like they are just small pillars - the size of 1 & 3/4" is the same from top to bottom. At the very least the spillover wax - if it still happens, will have less room to "hide" and maybe the wick will "catch up" a little faster to that extra run-away wax. (I can't believe I actually think about these things in such detail). :embarasse Has anyone tried the straight-sided as opposed to the standard tapered votive molds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in KY Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Has anyone tried the straight-sided as opposed to the standard tapered votive molds?I haven't bought the straight sided votive molds because I have so dang many of the reg. molds. And I don't make that many to warrant buying more. But I have dipped the votives to make them fatter on the sides. Also have poured cooler wax on top and let drizzle down sides, aka not as much room in votive holders. But everytime I do either one the bottoms get all yucky and I can't figure out how to smooth them out. Tried the sitting on a wire rack, after dip, to dry but still bits of wax cling to bottom and look bad. Any tips on getting a nice bottom when dipping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 I've only made paraffin votives but I think it must be harder with soy because of the larger wick. The bigger ones don't self-trim as well. With paraffin I feel like I've had a fighting chance at making a self-trimming votive.I've done some that could be burned from top to bottom in one stretch without needing a trim and there wasn't a big problem when the wax spilled over because the flame would die down quickly. I suppose that would be my ideal, but seems to me it requires a flat braided wick with a lot of sizes at the low end so you can fine tune. I used CD to good effect.Generally I like the tapered cups better because it seems the flame flickers a bit less. Plus a few of those straight sided holders are so narrow you have to break the rim of the votive.Not sure if my experience only applies to paraffin but FWIW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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