Stella1952 Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I have been reading and looking at lots of pictures here and am sometimes surprised and concerned at the comments. A wick has a circular burn pattern. It cannot burn square! The melt pool is circular! So a small amount of hangup in the corners of square (or anything other than circular) containers is expected. To wick up so that every single molecule of wax burns out of the corners of a square container seems unrealistic, especially with hard waxes like palm. One is literally forcing a round peg into a square hole and expecting it to take up the entire interior! Even double wicking will still leave hangup in one or more corners unless one is concentrating so much heat in the container that roasted weenies are in order! With palm wax in particular, the wax is very hard and does not soften as it is exposed to heat the way that soy or paraffin do - it is either hard or liquid with very little time in the in-between, soft state. Wicking palm wax candles to get every last bit out of the recesses of a container is not an idea with safety first in mind.Palm wax poured in deep circular containers create another issue I am seeing here more often. To burn a big, tall container all the way to the bottom with no hangup requires way hotter temps than are safe. At some point, I think we need to look at the realities of the properties of wax and container choices. Leaving a small amount of wax residue in a tall or odd-shaped container is NOT a bad thing, IMHO! It has less to do with whether the candle is burning "correctly" or that combustion is as nearly complete as possible as it does that there was not enough heat created by the wick to melt everything within the container. Sometimes the amount of heat it would take is simply not compatible with safety issues.What do the rest of y'all think about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinmfritz Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Very well said Stella. Getting a perfect mp seems to be priority over safety of the candle at the end of the burn, you know, the bottom third of the candle that is talked about in the other thread. I think that you wise people are hopefully opening the eyes of some other candle makers. Keep it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted September 26, 2007 Author Share Posted September 26, 2007 you wise peopleUmmm, I hope to become one of those, but have a long way to go, which is why I am personally burning my entire stock of container candles whose wick tabs will not stay stuck (but that's another issue altogether) instead of selling them, as originally planned.:embarasse I'm TRYIN' to learn and do right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennhalcyon Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I hear ya Stella, and I agree. But I don't think that those of us who are playing with palm are forsaking safety in our attempts to wick it. It is a learning experience and for me, at least, it is like being a newbie all over again because this wax is just so different from what I know. I can tell you that I do prefer a jar to burn as cleanly as possible, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. But at least as far as palm is concerned, that means that certain jars just will not lend themselves to this. Then it's back to the drawing board. Again, all part of the learning, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugtussle Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 I agree Stella. Palm wax is very different & probably would never work well in a square container.My very favorite candle for burning now is a 3x5.5" palm pillar burning in a glass cylinder about 6" tall. I just let it form a container candle and the design as it spills over is beautiful. It will burn all the way down and is so clean, the sides of the glass do not get soot. I may not have to learn to pour palm containers. I let the pillar do it for me. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinmfritz Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 My very favorite candle for burning now is a 3x5.5" palm pillar burning in a glass cylinder about 6" tall. I just let it form a container candle and the design as it spills over is beautiful. It will burn all the way down and is so clean, the sides of the glass do not get soot. I may not have to learn to pour palm containers. I let the pillar do it for me. CaroleThat sounds pretty, can you post us a picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugtussle Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 I will post picture in am. Camera is in shop and I'm just enjoying the candle now. Here's a pic of container from Riekes. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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