Wicks and Wick Kits and Which Wick oh my.....

[Dana Mae]

I hope everyone is not too tired of my newbie questions yet. I have one more question before I place my order.

Ok. From what I have read, I make just one candle to begin, and test it.

Correct?

I'm ordering from CS, and using their wick guide since I don't know where else to start (and from searching the forum there are as many recommended wicks with my wax as there are types of wicks).

So with 4627 and a 2.5-3" container they recommend an ECO2 which is only a 3" wick. Too short. For a 3-3.5" container they recommend an ECO 8. So with the smaller diameter jar should I try an ECO4 or ECO 6 that are in between in size and 6" long? Is my thought process correct?

But here is REALLY my question:

It seems weird no matter what wick I start with to buy 100 if I don't know if it will work.

Is it a better idea to order a few of the wick kits of different brands that have several sizes of each wick?

Or stick with one brand and buy a few sizes? Or a few 100ct bags of different brands of wicks?

And I'm only ordering one FO so that once I have success with that candle I can move on to other FO or other jars..

Do I have the right idea?

Ok, off to look at wicks some more. For the 4627 I've gathered that in addition to the ECO that CS recommends others are using zinc and HTP.

Right now the letters and numbers mean nothing to me, lol.

I just want to order some supplies so I can start the learning process.

OHH!!! I almost forgot. Glue gun, silicone, or sticky things to set the wick?

If silicone, I need to know what to buy. I used to have a glue gun somewhere but I'd need to buy another. Sticky things, I heard not all are created equal and I can't remember which were good.

Thank you so much

Dana:D

[Chickie1st]

I hope everyone is not too tired of my newbie questions yet. I have one more question before I place my order.

But here is REALLY my question:

It seems weird no matter what wick I start with to buy 100 if I don't know if it will work.

Is it a better idea to order a few of the wick kits of different brands that have several sizes of each wick?

Or stick with one brand and buy a few sizes? Or a few 100ct bags of different brands of wicks?

Thank you so much

Dana:D

When I started out, I bought several different wick sampler packs. If one wick didn't work, then I had several others to try and didn't have to be stuck with hundreds of wicks I couldn't use.

[topofmurrayhill]

CandleScience is a great choice for supplies.

Wicks kits are good to have on hand. You could start with ECO or buy more than one if you like. As far as ECO is concerned I think you could reasonably start testing with ECO 4. I'd guess you'll need 4 or 6.

One possibility for what you can do with FO is buy a larger size of the one you'd like to start testing your first candle with, plus maybe a few 1 oz samples of other things that sound interesting. You'll be accumulating a lot of those 1 oz bottles in your candle career.

Sticky things are handy for testing. candlesupply.com is one of the places that sells good ones. Hot glue can work well. You need the high temperature glue and a gun that's compatible with it.

You probably don't want to use silicone for testing pruposes, seeing as it's very permanent. For future reference, GE Silicone III works well. The smallest size is like a tube of toothpaste and goes up from there. Silicone III comes in versions called household glue, kitchens & bathrooms, etc. Far as I've seen the relevant proporties are all the same, so you can use any of them.