How do you know if an oil is considered a heavy oil?

[ScentsandMore]

Someone the other day told me what size of wick to use for my container and said if it is a heavier oil to go up in size. This got me to thinking. How can you tell if it is considered a heavier oil or is it possible before you pour the oil in the wax? There is my silly question for the day. Thank you.

[gingerinarkansas]

You know when you order oil and one bottle of the same amount has less than another. The bottle with the lesser amount is a heavier oil than the other. I'm not sure if there is anyway of telling other than that but maybe someone will chime in with some information. Ginger

[SatinDucky]

When you weigh out an oz, there will be a tiny bit less in the cup than with other oils. Often you can expect certain scents to be heavier, like vanillas and sugars.

You will just have to test the wicking to find out for sure. That's one of the reasons there is so much testing... you never know how the combination will do until you try it

[fredron]

This sounds like a subjective measurement to me, where 300 people would have 300 ways to determine heavy. My criteria would be more along the line of how it pours. If it's watery, it's light. If it pours like molasses, it's heavy.

Fredron

[Candle Man]

This sounds like a subjective measurement to me, where 300 people would have 300 ways to determine heavy. My criteria would be more along the line of how it pours. If it's watery, it's light. If it pours like molasses, it's heavy.

Fredron

It has nothing to do with the density but specific gravity.

Water will measure and weigh the same, FO's will not. It's the chemical compounds used to make up the FO's, each chemical will weight different. If you weigh a FO in a shot glass (with measurments) and 1oz by weight is less than 1oz by volume, then you have a heavy oil.

If you order FO's from a supplier that only sells by weight, not volume, and you order 10 different scents that come in transparent bottles, you will see a different fill line on some of the bottles. You may think you are being cheated, but your not, heavy FO's take up less room in the bottle, by weight.

That's why you need to measure you FO's by weight for your candles.

Some of the known FO's to be heavy are...

Vanillas

Some of the Spices

Sandlewood

Patchoulli

BTW - With heavy FO's you use less amounts and usually have to use a larger wick (wick-up).

HTH Candle Man

[fredron]

Yeah, yeah, but an ounce of vanilla weighs the same as an ounce of cucumber melon.

So by definition, what specific gravity constitutes a 'heavy" oil?

Some of you guys make everything into rocket science.

If it pours, its light & if it oozes, its heavy.

Fredron

[Candle Man]

Yeah, yeah, but an ounce of vanilla weighs the same as an ounce of cucumber melon.

So by definition, what specific gravity constitutes a 'heavy" oil?

Some of you guys make everything into rocket science.

If it pours, its light & if it oozes, its heavy.

Fredron

FO is not like Water (light FO) & Honey (heavy FO).

I have never come across a thick FO.

The only way you know for certain in by weight and by the ones that burn poorly and needt to be wicked-up, like vanilla etc.

[fredron]

I'm glad you mentioned honey, because the vanilla I use is just about the same consistancy as honey. The cucumber melon is like water. Somewhere in between is chocolate chip cookie or banana nut bread. I can't take another breath until I know if banana nut bread is light or heavy.

By the way, I weigh all my FO before pouring too, so that every batch is as close to the one before it as I can make it.

Fredron

[Candle Man]

I'm glad you mentioned honey, because the vanilla I use is just about the same consistancy as honey.

The cucumber melon is like water. Somewhere in between is chocolate chip cookie or banana nut bread. I can't take another breath until I know if banana nut bread is light or heavy.

By the way, I weigh all my FO before pouring too, so that every batch is as close to the one before it as I can make it.

Fredron

That's strange, I've never had a thick FO, mine are always very pourable.

Are you sure it's not an old oil?

[Ring of Fire]

That's strange, I've never had a thick FO, mine are always very pourable.

Are you sure it's not an old oil?

Have you ever poured BCN Blueberry Muffins? I have several like this and the pour consistency is definitely different than a cucumber melon. It's very obvious. I think that is what fedron is saying.

[so-soy]

Just because a fo is light or heavy doesn't mean beans when it comes to testing the wicks...I've had very light oils, like water, that are very hard to wick and I've had very thick oils that used my standard wick...so whether an oil is thick or thin doesn't mean squat to me!

[Vicky_CO]

Heavy oil is just an easy term used to explain the difference between a hard to wick FO and one that is not. I think it started because a lot of time it hold true FO with heavier specific gravity seem to be ones that that have to be wicked up. But I am like so-soy in I have heavy FO that are normal wicking and some very light ones that have to be wicked up.

[Bette]

Just because a fo is light or heavy doesn't mean beans when it comes to testing the wicks...I've had very light oils, like water, that are very hard to wick and I've had very thick oils that used my standard wick...so whether an oil is thick or thin doesn't mean squat to me!

Ditto everything so-soy said. Case in point - KY's Ocean - a light oil, wonderful scent, but first ocean type I've ever had to wick up.

[topofmurrayhill]

Let me just jump on the bandwagon here.

Part of the original question is whether you can tell in advance what might need to be wicked up and I'd say no, it's not really predictable. Certain scents are often wicked up, presumably because they typically contain similar ingredients, but even that doesn't always hold true. You just have to pour it, test it and wick it.

I've always had doubts about the term "heavy FO" as I don't know that wicking has ever been correlated to anything like specific gravity or viscosity. The term seems overused and maybe misused.

[Michi]

Yep, I never even think about, let alone worry about heavy/light oils, I pour them all out the same, weigh them, and then TEST until I get the burn I want!