coconut Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I don't do soy, so please forgive my dumb question. Friend of mine received a soy candle for a gift. It tunneled so badly she gave up burning it and stuck a votive in the center, because it was arranged so nicely. She said it kept going out. But the weirdest thing is that she said it smelled like burning wires. What might that be? This gal burns lots of candles, used to sell PartyLite, and she is one of my testers. She never even heard of soy before receiving this one. (soy is not big here). Obviously a candle underwicked and not tested. What do y'all think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I think it was a poorly made candle.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridith Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I think it was a poorly made candle.. Not necessarily so. Soy can change from batch to batch and there have been some batches that were really bad. There have been discussions in threads on here about this. It has happened to me twice that I've gotten batches where my wicking completely changed all together. That is the frustrating thing about soy.As for the burnt smell, it was probably the wick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coconut Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 As for the burnt smell, it was probably the wick.She mentioned "burning wire". Could this have been a zinc or (God forbid) a lead wick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Are you sure she didn't smell a 'fuel' smell? Thats a rather common problem with the fragrance oil and can be fixed by mixing the oil with another oil such as a vanilla.I have smelled those fuel smells before. I bought a candle once that smelled like kerosene when it burned-- from a well known candle company too! I also once had a testor that had a funny burned fabric smell until I remixed the oil and retested it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridith Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 She mentioned "burning wire". Could this have been a zinc or (God forbid) a lead wick?If there was a "wire" in the wick, it would not have been lead but zinc. I dont' use zinc in soy becuase I've not had any luck with it - it burns too cool. But the candles I've burned with zinc never had a burning metal smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coconut Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 The candle was a gift, so I don't know the country of origin or anything else. I'll ask her about the fuel smell. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyberry Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I was also going to mention "fuel smell" certain fo's are really bad this way... i have smelled some horrrid citrus and rose types that smell a little "electrical" with the fuel smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justcountry Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 and I have had candles tunnel that burned great in testing and after thay aged for a while light the same kind same fo same batch and they tunnel thats when you pray that scent did not sell:o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coconut Posted October 23, 2008 Author Share Posted October 23, 2008 Thanks again, everyone. I sent the link to this thread from my friend and she was very impressed. She said thank you very much to everyone and said "WOW! Excellent network of pros. The scent was supposed to be pumpkin spice – and smells that way when NOT lit" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Well my guess is that stearic acid was used with the soy. I tried a making a candle with soy and palm wax and used stearic acid forgot how much I used but had read on a candle wax site how much to use and it smelled similar to what you are describing. I haven't used it since and switched to coconut oil (a small amount) and it works much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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