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Can you wick a candle too much?


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I tested my odd shaped container candle. It burned quite well actually triple wicked, nearly getting a full burn pool. But, looking at it, I know if I put in four wicks I can get the whole thing to melt evenly.

Is there such thing as too many wicks? I know it will burn faster, but wouldn't a faster yet even burn be preferred?

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Depends on whether your pushing the full melt pool, great smell...or a long lasting candle. All these sites say that soy burns slower (I only make soy) but I burn paraffin all the time and the jury is out with me...I don't think there is much difference in burn time if the candle is wicked properly.

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Can you post a pic. of you odd shaped container? I think if it is wide enough 3 might be ok. but you have to remember to follow the guidelines for your size of wick. Make sure you are getting a melting pool because if you aren't than you might have too many wicks or too large of wicks...

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Sorry, every time I see this title, I picture a candle with 100 wicks in it and I can actually picture myself lighting it, and LOL! I know...weird...almost everyone who has lived on the West Coast for any length of time gets weird...comes from too much sun pounding on our heads.

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How would you tell if four is too many?

You achieve a melt pool too fast and is too deep.

The presence of soot can sometimes be an indicator.

Jar is way too hot - you can't even touch it.

If using 4 wicks, try 3 and see how that goes. Remember, the more wicks you have too, the faster the candle may burn so you want to try to wick it with as few as wicks as necessary that are the correct size. Or, it could be that 4 is O.K. and you just need to wick down. Testing should provide you with the right answers. Keep going and you will figure it out. :)

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Something my insurance rep asked me a long time ago - and I think if it each time I wick a new jar. What is the recommended use of the wick from the manufacturer of the wick? If the wick is designed for use in a 3 inch jar and you are using 2 - in a jar with diameter of 3.5 inches, it's clear you are not using the wick as intended - any problems with that candle and it causes an incident I need to have those wick recommendations back up my product, taking into account the properties of other ingredients in the make up of my candle. If I use wicks in a manner not intended that could be a problem. Just something to think about - I know I do when I see multiple wicks in jars that obviously could be single wicked.

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Good information posted above! One thing I have noticed is that sometimes the same wick size will be shown on different supplier sites with different information concerning the suggested size container use. Of course the wick may burn differently in paraffin than soy. With soy you usually have to wick up a size from paraffin. I normally try to test and find one single wick that will work for a container that is less than 4 inches in diameter. Any container wider than 4 inches I normally have to use two wicks. However, with soy I sometimes had to start double wicking with containers that were 3.5 wide and larger. That isn't a rule, it's just what I discovered in my testing.

As for if soy will burn longer than paraffin, it just depends. I have used certain wicks in soy that consumed the wax very quickly so my soy candles were lasting just as long or even less than the paraffin I made. It is always a trade off when making candles. I discovered some wicks gave me a much better hot throw but burned too quickly. Others burned longer but might have slight mushrooming. Another might not have any mushrooming but burn with a curl producing a uneven melt pool.

What is the diameter of the container you are wicking?

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