Donita Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 I have seen these candles in stores across the country. Just the average kind of candle one would buy while grocery shopping. They come in various sizes and colors and have a pretty little "coin" tied on. Jante is the company. I thought it would be a good idea to buy one and see how an "average" candle burns. We all worry so much about our melt pools and how our candles burn....guess they didn't test this one. (smile)It has had three, three hour burns. It is tunneling like crazy and getting a bulge. Just found this to be interesting.Now....I have bought more expensive candles and they burn much better....but again.....this is what is on the shelves for the general public. Donita Louise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candlesprite7 Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 wow....makes us more confident in our products doesnt it? Even my mistakes dont burn that badly...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinmfritz Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 I agree with you Donita, we are way too hard on ourselves. The general public is accustomed to that kind of burning candle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judyvega Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 They sell these in our local grocery store. Nice to know they suck. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnjieBurdett Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 Bet that hurt buying a mass produced candle Donita and a pants one at that! Even MINE burn better than that lol and i'm just testing. Damn I feel good lolAnjie,x. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gdawg Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 eww that is ugly wow I think you are right that one should never have made it pass the testing phase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandmaskitchen Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 That is one ugly candle! Makes you feel proud of the ones you make yourself! I have purchased jar candles before just to see how they burn, and I was totally unstatisfied with them. The candle smelled good, but tunnelled very bad.Thank you for sharing this with us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmvanilla Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 ah! so that's what a bulge is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlessjade Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 lol you have really bolstered my self-esteem with that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candle Man Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Yep, that is the norm, if not worse, for most average mass produced candles out there.I have tested lots of mass produced and name brand candles and mine will out burn all I have tested, so far. The problem with mass produced is poor quality and throw. Name brand are mostly high priced, and on average, not much better than the mass produced, they are sure not worth the high price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candle Man Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 eww that is ugly wow I think you are right that one should never have made it pass the testing phaseThat one, try thousands of mass produced candles that never get tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharyl55 Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Darn, if that is sold nation wide, then I'm a lot further along in my pillar testing than I thought. Even my worst one looked better than that. It's a shame what gets peddled by a 'real' company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalamazoo Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 I recently purchased a candle that burnt like that as well. The wick was so small for this pillar that I knew it would tunnel and have a pathetic small flame. I certainly did not have to trim this wick much, the scent throw was good, but it did leave a shell like this one posted and you kinda give up burning these after a while, because the flame is small.Do you think that maybe manufacturers worry about the potential hazzard of larger wicks/large flames and just underwick so that there is no possibility of the candle flame getting out of control? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 I don't know if underwicking is made on purpose or not.. but that candle is burning scary!I also have three yankmee pillars and all three tunnel and have a wall not a shell of wax around them. to me it's a waste of wax. I can't even hug them because the shell stays hard as a rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 I agree with Candle Man that this is the norm for mass produced candles. I have talked to people and this is what they have come to expect. My grandma used to gather up the leftover wax and use as a pin cushion. So to them having so much tunnelling is nothing wrong, this is what they believe all candles are supposed to do. Yes, sad but true.Cybersix, I have a feeling underwicking could be done on purpose. The manufacturers probably expect the average person to marathon burn. Most people I know do not read the instructions, after all. So they wouldn't realize they are supposed to switch it off after X number of hours. Underwicking, while wasteful, would take care of this behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Ok it's done on purpose but all that wax and FO I paid I'm using only half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donita Posted April 21, 2007 Author Share Posted April 21, 2007 Hi my little sister Sabrina......see....we are doing a good job. However....the candles from Illuminations and Illume burn better but then you pay way more for them. I see small wicks in expensive candles too, but their wax formulas match. I haven't been in to the Yankme candle store for so long. It made me sick to my stomach. I couldn't take all of the scents in a small place. So I haven't burned one of their candles for years. Many years ago, I carried Colonial candles in my lampshade store, before I learned how to make my own candles. The were fair....but one large pillar had a huge hole (about 4 inches) in the middle running lengthwise and as soon as the flame hit that spot.....a bunch of wax came running out and spilled over the plate it was on and onto the mantel. Scary......I sold a bunch of those candles. This was one I had left over for a few years and then decided to burn it. That is how a candle can start a house fire. When you mass produce you don't have the same quality control as we little people do. Hope you have a nice day today.....I just got up and it is time for coffee AND TO LIGHT MY LATEST TESTER......(smile)....I counted yesterday and I have about 20 candles halfway burned in the living room. I put them in a cupboard. Now I can start over doing it again.......honestly......it never ends for me.....test test test. The house smelled like Creme Brulee all day yesterday.....so we just had to order it for dessert last night. Yum.Hugs, Big Sister Donita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeana Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Cybersix, I have a feeling underwicking could be done on purpose. The manufacturers probably expect the average person to marathon burn. Most people I know do not read the instructions, after all. So they wouldn't realize they are supposed to switch it off after X number of hours. Underwicking, while wasteful, would take care of this behavior.I was thinking the same thing. Also, they probably expect people not to trim their wicks. That explains the tunneling but that still doesn't explain the bulging. I bought some Yankee pillars a while back to see how a popular name pillar would burn. I couldn't keep them lit to even get that much melt pool. The flame kept fizzling out. I had better luck remelting them and putting my own wicks in them. Makes me happy that even my worst candles surpass their best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doris Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I was testing some votives at our shop a while ago, and they were actually behaving and doing what they should, and one of my other partners looked at it and said, "There's something wrong with your candle. It's all melted on top. They're supposed to just burn down the middle. All the votives I've ever bought did that." She was right, you know. All the votives I've ever bought in my pre-candle-making days did that, and I had no idea what they were supposed to do until I came here. I used to buy and burn a fair amount of candles, and most pillars were thrown out after a few inches. They would tunnel down the middle, and then become impossible to light. The votives would mess up my votive containers, and I thought the only purpose of a votive container was to look nice. I had no idea of how a candle should behave until quite recently. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I agree with you Donita, we are way too hard on ourselves. The general public is accustomed to that kind of burning candle!You know its funny...I was at a friends house & she had bought a candle from Wal-Mart. It was burning so badly! Kinda like what I just saw on this post. My friend said she loves that candle & will be getting more. I told her I would be back & came back with one of my testers (hoping it was a good one) I started burning it came back acouple hours later to see it & she was amazed. She had no clue...I told her thats how a candle is SUPPOSE to burn. Now she wants me to make all her candles...FYI..I dont sell to the public yet, so kinda scared, but most of my candles that I make are forever candles anyways, but I do make my own tealights & votives for them. Kinda made my head swell alittle (someone actually loved my candles) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I can see thsi happen all the time. before joining this board i had no clue at all about properly burning a candle and I suppose general public still doesn't know.But I try to make candles that burn the best they can and try to teach my customers about it. So as a "candle producer" myself I get angy when i see the ugly stuff that's around. people may not know how a good candle is supposed to be, but we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mona Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 On the rare occasions that I do buy candles, I make sure they're made in the U.S. Usually, the quality is better.This description for a Jante candle says:12 oz Jar.Lead free wicks & fragrance made in USA.Made in Vietnam.http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=304800&navAction=jump&navCount=0&id=prod2630175 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam W Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I sent a case of candles to my niece last Xmas and she called to ask what she should do with all the leftover wax!!!.....well, I sent specific instructions on burning, trimming and hugging...if the instructions had been followed, there would be no leftover wax since the candles were wicked and TESTED to self-consume. The general public just doesn't know what a good burn is and are pre-programmed to expect a crappy burn.I make candles for one friend that is a Patch lover and she refuses trim or hug...so she gets a lot of soot & smoke. Her new husband is sensitive to the smoke...but instead of trimming her wicks as I have showed her, she just doesn't burn them when he is home..now is that stupid or what??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I just came across this thread, and have a question. I only make gel candles, but purchase alot of paraffin candles over the years. They all look like the picture in this thread. Could someone post a picture of a properly made pillar that has burned as long as this one? I'd love to see what they're supposed to look like.I also purchased jar candles, but I've seen pictures on here of properly burning jars, and I won't buy in the store anymore. A waste of money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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