what constitutes a great scent throw.

[bella soy]

Im having a hard time judging the scent throw of my testers. I started test burning a candle at 8:00 this evening. I still cannot smell it that well. its sitting in my living room on the coffee table and Im on the couch. I feel like I can only smell it when I concentrate and "try" to smell it.

The Fo is Lemon pound cake from peaks. Im using 70/30 blend. .5oz of fo per 8oz. jar. The candle has cured for 5 days. im using an Eco 6 wick which seems to be doing great. Almost a full melt pool.

I heard great things about Peaks Fo's and Im wondering if my expectations were too high. Or am I just being impatient? How long does it usually take for a good scent throw to start happening? Its been burning now for an hour and 15 minutes. I tried leaving the room and walking back in. still no difference. maybe this Fo doesnt throw in parasoy? or maybe I need to try a hotter wick, like an HTP?? Ok now Im thinking out loud..lol..

any suggestions/comments....????

[BrandNewToCandles]

I'm certainly no expert, but I do use soy in 8 oz containers and I have read many times on this board that a lot of fo's don't throw that well in soy (not that sure about parasoy) and I'm thinking that .5 oz pp might be too little. Try 1 or 1 1/2 oz, see if that makes a difference.

[quietgirl2004]

I'm certainly no expert, but I do use soy in 8 oz containers and I have read many times on this board that a lot of fo's don't throw that well in soy (not that sure about parasoy) and I'm thinking that .5 oz pp might be too little. Try 1 or 1 1/2 oz, see if that makes a difference.

In one 8 oz. container?

[lbtddr]

i would try 1.5 per lb of wax so 3/4 of a oz for 8 oz

[bella soy]

I heard that too much Fo can cause adverse effects such as frosting etc. and actually make the candle not smell at all. Its worth a shot though. I really really like this Fo and want to make it work. It smells wonderful. I cant even explain it. So you all dont think that the wick has anything to do with it???

[Sab]

You should have someone else test the scent throw. After I've completed my own testing (wicks, etc) I send all my candles to my neighbor to test the scent throw. I've done so much pouring that my nose is fried. She always tells me the candle scented her entire house when I could barely smell it 2 feet away.

[Saltbox Pantry]

Im having a hard time judging the scent throw of my testers. I started test burning a candle at 8:00 this evening. I still cannot smell it that well. its sitting in my living room on the coffee table and Im on the couch. I feel like I can only smell it when I concentrate and "try" to smell it.

The Fo is Lemon pound cake from peaks. Im using 70/30 blend. .5oz of fo per 8oz. jar. The candle has cured for 5 days. im using an Eco 6 wick which seems to be doing great. Almost a full melt pool.

I heard great things about Peaks Fo's and Im wondering if my expectations were too high. Or am I just being impatient? How long does it usually take for a good scent throw to start happening? Its been burning now for an hour and 15 minutes. I tried leaving the room and walking back in. still no difference. maybe this Fo doesnt throw in parasoy? or maybe I need to try a hotter wick, like an HTP?? Ok now Im thinking out loud..lol..

any suggestions/comments....????

I too ordered Peaks oils because of all the great reviews and it does not throw well in El Soy. I just poured Lemon Danish in GL 70/30.... the same as your 8 oz tester. I will be test burning tomorrow and I will post my review.

I think that most of the reviews are for paraffin, so I will be testing in the 4786 after I'm done with GL.

SP

[topofmurrayhill]

Your wick sounds too big. Try an ECO 4 or ECO 2 and you may find the scent throw improves considerably.

[roxi4112000]

I agree that if I tried to smell in testing I wouldnt smell it but someone else could, I always have someone there when Im testing so I can tell if its doing good or not:cheesy2:

[bella soy]

ok....so try a smaller wick???? now im confused. I thought the bigger the hotter which means more scent?. Plus If I wick down I might not get a full melt pool. Ill try it.

Saltbaox, I got Lemon danish too! i poured that on sunday so ill be testing in a few days. I poured that in a 4 oz. quilted ball jar from the grocery store. Ill post my results as well. I will be interested to hear your results on this since we are using the same wax for this FO. Lemon danish smells great too! What wick, jar, % Fo did you use???

So basically my next candle needs to have a smaller wick and more FO. Got it. Cant wait to pour another one.

I did forget to mention that my hubby got out of the shower about 1 1/2 after the candle was lite and he said that he could smell it as soon as he got out. Maybe i do have candle nose after all...lol

[topofmurrayhill]

You mentioned having almost a full melt pool in a little over an hour. I'm not sure what almost means but it sounded maybe too fast, especially at the top of the jar.

A lot of people have the idea that a bigger wick throws more scent. At least when it comes to flat braided wicks I don't believe it's true. You could get a throw faster but never get the best intensity. A flat braid that's bigger than necessary can consume wax very fast, which shortens the candle life and burns off scent instead of throwing it.

Look for a FMP pool in 2+ hours with that jar. It's good to test enough that you know for sure what is the smallest wick that will do it.

[AngelaVA]

I would definitely wick down, since you're using a blend, and try that with 6% FO. Then if that doesn't work, try it again with more FO. Sounds like a waste, but if change too many variables at one time, you really don't know why you're getting the result you are. I generally only change one thing at a time. If I had results like yours, I might change wick size first. Then if still no throw, add more Fo. If still no throw, change wick series, etc and go from there.

Also, take that same candle and have someone else test it for you - someone you trust to give you honest feedback. I have a friend who tests for me and sometimes, Fos that I think are light or not throwing will scent her house and others really don't throw. I know she's honest (almost to a fault, lol), but that's what makes a great tester. Having others give you feedback is really important because it's easy for us to lose perspective sometimes.

[bella soy]

thanks thats great advice. Ill take that same candle to work today and give it to someone that I know will tell the truth. As for testing one thing at a time, that makes sense. Ill try to wick down first. I only buy 1 oz samples at a time so ill have to get more Fo If i want to test more. I have to wait till payday...lol

[AngelaVA]

thanks thats great advice. Ill take that same candle to work today and give it to someone that I know will tell the truth. As for testing one thing at a time, that makes sense. Ill try to wick down first. I only buy 1 oz samples at a time so ill have to get more Fo If i want to test more. I have to wait till payday...lol

One word of caution, give the candle to someone who likely won't be jealous at your newfound hobby and want to run out and start selling candles herself. There are always people who see you doing something and decide to copy you. I'm just being honest, I think we all know someone like that. I would be careful about giving to someone at work for that reason - even if the tester is your friend - your jealous enemy may be in the next cubicle or someone may get mad because you didn't ask them to test for you. I hate to sound so jaded, but it has happened so many times to people on this board and to friends of mine personally. My tester friend would never want to make candles, but loves to burn them. So she makes a great tester. Just give it some thought before you ask someone to test for you. Even if you aren't thinking of starting a business now, you may want to later and don't want someone to edge you out of your own market.

[Candle Makin Momma]

You shouldn't need to go any higher than 1 oz pp. I use straight soy and if I had to go above 1 oz, I wouldn't use the oil. It would just be one that doesn't throw well in soy.

1.5 would be a bit much

[tyru007]

I would stongly suggest standardizing a proceedure for testing scent throw. We have standardized on using 4 oz tins as the testers with 1 oz pp FO. We test burn in a couple of enclosed 8x10 room in a heavy metal tray (for safety reasons) and check the smell every half hour. This gives us a basis to judge and compare scent throw when we either change an aspect of a candle or to compare FO throws. As you test a bunch of FO with a standard proceedure, you'll get a feel for what has strong/weak throw.

I have noted that a lot of candle makers go for knock you out of the room throws. However, there are alot of FO that are much better as a subtle smell vs one that tends to cling to you. IMHO a good scent is one that greets you and welcomes you in with a gentle reminder, not one that knocks you back two feet when you open the door.

[AngelaVA]

I would stongly suggest standardizing a proceedure for testing scent throw. We have standardized on using 4 oz tins as the testers with 1 oz pp FO. We test burn in a couple of enclosed 8x10 room in a heavy metal tray (for safety reasons) and check the smell every half hour. This gives us a basis to judge and compare scent throw when we either change an aspect of a candle or to compare FO throws. As you test a bunch of FO with a standard proceedure, you'll get a feel for what has strong/weak throw.

I have noted that a lot of candle makers go for knock you out of the room throws. However, there are alot of FO that are much better as a subtle smell vs one that tends to cling to you. IMHO a good scent is one that greets you and welcomes you in with a gentle reminder, not one that knocks you back two feet when you open the door.

I completely agree about what is a good scent. I like strong scents, just like everyone else, but they don't all need to knock you in the face. I have some great Fos that are lighter and more subtle, but have an amazing throw and are really complex. Stronger is not always better.

[Hope]

Im using 70/30 blend. .5oz of fo per 8oz. jar.

Is that amount of fo per wax in a 8 oz. jar? I know that buying 1 oz. fo's at a time can become a PITA when trying to find what does & doesn't work. The following is to further emphasize measurement stuff in previous posts.

6.5oz wax in 8oz.jar (assuming/approx'ing the wax mass in a jar)

.5oz fo = 7.7%

.75oz fo = 11.5%

6.0oz wax in 8oz.jar (ditto above)

.5oz fo = 8.3%

.75oz fo = 12.5%

fo pp %

1.0oz fo = 6.3%

1.5oz fo = 9.4%

The 70/30 is said to have a typical fo% of 8-10%. And, up to 12% capacity.

So, it might enjoy mo' fo.

[Saltbox Pantry]

Saltbaox, I got Lemon danish too! i poured that on sunday so ill be testing in a few days. I poured that in a 4 oz. quilted ball jar from the grocery store. Ill post my results as well. I will be interested to hear your results on this since we are using the same wax for this FO. Lemon danish smells great too! What wick, jar, % Fo did you use???

I love this scent and I want it to work so badly!!!!

I just want to let you know I'm still in the testing stage with this wax. The wax that I normally use and still using is El Soy Blend with HTP wicks.

I'm using a square jar that holds about 9.5 oz wax. I only pour 8 oz with .5oz of fo. The jar measures from corner to corner 4". I used Eco 14.

Start the test burn this morning at around 7:30 am, at 10:23 am the meltpool is 2" in diameter.....so its slow moving. Scent throw is barely noticeable and for a bakery scent, it should be strong.

I know the cure time is only a day BUT most of the oils that I choose and keep throw strong in a day.

I'm not the type to wait around for weeks for a decent throw. If it doesn't throw in my wax with only using 1 oz and a day or two cure time, I will not use it.

I will let it sit for awhile longer and see how it throws......and try few different wicks. I'm suppose to be getting Fil Tec wicks, so want to give them a try in this wax.

SP:cheesy2:

[Beth-VT]

I'm going to argue with Top about the Eco sizes. I use Eco's almost exclusively, in a para/soy blend similar to what you're using. IMO an Eco 6 is probably the smallest size you'll get away with in an 8oz. jar. By the time you get half way down the jar and the air flow is more restricted, and Eco2 or 4 will drown out.

[BrandNewToCandles]

In one 8 oz. container?

I must have misread, I thought it was stated .5 ounce per POUND, not per 8 ounce container. Sorry. I use at least one ounce per POUND....lol.

[mystical_angel1219]

I completely agree about what is a good scent. I like strong scents, just like everyone else, but they don't all need to knock you in the face. I have some great Fos that are lighter and more subtle, but have an amazing throw and are really complex. Stronger is not always better.

I have to agree on this theory 110%.

Not every scent is designed to knock you out with the intensity of the scent throw. Some fragrances just do not have these type of results no matter what company you purchase them from. For example, VS Lovespell. I despise this scent- but it is light in almost any of my applications, including B&B.

Some scents are meant to be subtle. I personally can't tolerate some of my really strong throwers. But customers think they are the bomb. I have had customers complain that the scent was too strong. (imagine that )

[Saltbox Pantry]

I'm going to argue with Top about the Eco sizes. I use Eco's almost exclusively, in a para/soy blend similar to what you're using. IMO an Eco 6 is probably the smallest size you'll get away with in an 8oz. jar. By the time you get half way down the jar and the air flow is more restricted, and Eco2 or 4 will drown out.

Yup, this is what I tested in 8 oz jj, Eco 6 with Anthala Vanilla and it burns perfectly.....I'm so happy that it works because this is a lovely oil.

SP:cheesy2:

[mindy5140]

With some FO's I need to use 1.5 oz in my soy but half the time I only use 1 oz.

Like Creme Brulee, Orange Juice Cake, Raspberry Sorbet, and Cucumber Melon I have to use 1.5 oz but all the others I only use the 1 oz. If I didn't you could only smell them when you were right on top of it.

Mindy

[sawyer's moon]

I'm going to argue with Top about the Eco sizes. I use Eco's almost exclusively, in a para/soy blend similar to what you're using. IMO an Eco 6 is probably the smallest size you'll get away with in an 8oz. jar. By the time you get half way down the jar and the air flow is more restricted, and Eco2 or 4 will drown out.

And I'm going to have to humbly disagree with you. I didn't believe an eco 4 would work in an 8oz jj with GL's 70/30 but tried it anyway when I wasn't getting the results I wanted with higher ecos. The eco 4 truly does work in this jar and wax combo...I only go up to the eco 6 with a very heavy oil. I've burned many a 8oz jj with the eco 4 down to the very bottom without a problem!

Jen