Votive burn time

[Mozzie]

I'm not sure how to ask this without sounding daft, so at the risk of being considered dopey :rolleyes2 here goes ... at what stage do you stop burning votives? I'm trying for the miracle 16 hours but find that when the wax is all liquid it starts smoking up the glass even though it's still got plenty of burn left. Am I meant to chuck out the remaining wax or is it okay, albeit messy, to keep burning?

[Candle Kitty]

Sounds like the wick may be either too big or maybe too long. If it's long, then trim it off as you burn the candle.

If the wick is too big, then you need to wick down, what size wick did you use? Also need to know what kind of wax, FO and any additives, all that plays a part in the quality of the burn. Votives are meant to be burned down completely, I never have wax leftover when I test burn my votives.

HTH

[Sarah]

well i would think - and this is what i tell those who burn my candles - that you should treat votives like small container candles. to me this means that i should not burn all the way down to nothing. it seems that you would run the same risk of the holder getting too hot as you would if you were burning a container down that far.

i should add that i have seen others burn my votives down to nothing plenty of times, and i do it myself too when i test. i'm just answering as to what i think we should be doing, lol.

[Mozzie]

what size wick did you use? Also need to know what kind of wax, FO and any additives, all that plays a part in the quality of the burn.

I'm using a zinc wick - 44-24-18Z with straight paraffin and 5% peppermint fo. I added stearine to one votive to see if that increased burn time but it has made no difference. I've also got some LX10 wicks to test. HTH