Totaly lost

[Gbhunter]

I have no idea what half these post talk about since they use abreviations when reffering to wicks and wax is there a place i can find out what all this stuff means? Also I made 2 container candles but the flame is tiny and dim. Plus the larger glass container candle is tunneling. Used the wick that my local store has marked as "extra large". Is there a way to soften wax? Where should I go to learn about wicks and buy supplies.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Gbhunter

[Judy, USMC]

This is the link to Peaks' Basic Instructions ... and the instructions contain information about waxes, too. There are a few other companies who also have instructions. I'm sure others can point you to them.

This is one to start with ... http://www.peakcandle.com/basicinstructions.aspx

[pamlaura]

what wax are you using? I'll try to help as much as possible. ALso what size jars are you using? THanks

[topofmurrayhill]

You need to start buying your supplies online from the specialty suppliers. If you click on the link that Judy gave you and look at the basic instructions for making a container candle, there is a list of materials that is linked to Peak Candle Supply. The 4786 wax that's used in the example is a good one to start with. Get the wax, wicks and other supplies that are listed and follow the step-by-step instructions.

If Peak is far away from you, you can consider www.candlesupply.com and www.candlescience.com. They are both very good and carry some of the same waxes and wicks as Peak.

One of the tricky things is knowing what size wick to use. Peak has some guidelines on their site for choosing a starting point for the wick size, based on how wide the container is. Don't start with a container that's wider than 3 inches. Also, don't buy only one wick size; buy a sample pack of wicks in different sizes. That way you can start with the suggested size but go up or down depending on how the candle works.

There are several types of wicks and you might be confused about which to buy. I am going to suggest HTP, or maybe LX, because they are useful and common, and all the suppliers I listed above carry them.

[Gbhunter]

How does pourng temp affect the wax. These latest candles were poured at 170. The ones I had before that burned better were poured at 195. Could that cause this type of problem? I used the same wicks before.

[JacquiO]

I don't notice a significant difference with pour temps and burns. It may affect soy waxes more than paraffin. But with paraffin the pour temp effects just the look but not necessarily the burn. The thing that would effect the burn would be the wick size, wax/FO combination and the diameter of you jar. With different fragrance oils (FO for short) you may need to wick up or down even though your wax and jar are the same.

Wicking is the biggest challenge for candlemakers and it takes a lot of research and trial and error. Candlewic is a great online supplier for wicks and they used to send me lots of free sample wicks to try. All I had to do was email them a request. This page gives you a lot of useful information about types of wicks and with wax application and diameter recommendations. http://www.candlewic.com/candle-wicks/pop-spools.asp

Candlescience also has an online wick guide where you put in your type of wax, type of candle and diameter and it gives you recommendations. http://www.candlescience.com/learning/wick-guide.php

For me it best to have a variety of wicks on hand and once you meet the forum member criteria for the classified section you can request wicks from other forum members to test as well. Just put in an ISO ad (ISO stands for In Search Of) and some forum members may be willing to sell you a dozen or two of different size wicks for you to play with. This way you can build up your wick stock without having to buy 100 to 500 at a time or entire spools.

In addition to candlewic and candlescience there are lots of other great suppliers out there too. Once the candle-making bug has hit you your going to want to branch off from the craft store to a reputable supplier. I recommend finding ones that are closest to you to help ease shipping costs. I stick to the east coast because I'm in NY.

HTH (Hope this helps),

Jacqui

[Sharon in KY]

since you just want to fix these candles with these wicks. Try a little Crisco to make the wax softer maybe the wick will work.

Then pick a company and stick with them till you get it figured out. Although that may never happen. Maybe a supplier that is close to you so shipping will be cheaper. A lot of suppliers have instructions on their site. Peaks has pictures too...

[Gbhunter]

I use Yaley wax that has no spacifications. I heard from some people that that wax is junk. Is that true. I did notice on the store bought candlesthe wax is softer. When I make a candle the wax is like stone.

[Stella1952]

Is there a way to soften wax?... How does pourng temp affect the wax

Without knowing exactly what wax you are using, that's impossible to answer. Why would you want to make the wax softer? Different waxes have different properties.

I have no idea what half these post talk about since they use abreviations when reffering to wicks and wax is there a place i can find out what all this stuff means?...Used the wick that my local store has marked as "extra large"

When people use abbreviations for wicks such as CD, CDN, HTP, RRD, etc. these are designations by the manufacturer - whatever it is that they stand for is known to them. An HTP or CDN is the same wherever you go - that's the name of that particular brand of wick. Each brand has its own sizing that range from tealight size to huge wicks used in buckets for citronella candles, so "extra large" is completely ridiculous! Wicking is far more specific than that! This is why shopping at hobby stores is NOT the place to get supplies if you want to make quality products. A good place to study about wicks is at the two big wick distributors - WickIt and Wicks Unlimited. From there you will learn that there are different manufacturers of wicking - Wedo, Heinz Verhaegh, Atkins & Pearce and others. Their websites offer information specific to their wicking. The same thing holds true for waxes - we use numbers and abbreviations to keep from typing our fingers off. For example, C3 = NatureWax C3, a container soy blend manufactured by Elevance. CBA = EcoSoya Container Blend Advanced, a container soy blend manufactured by Nature's Gifts International, etc. You learn these things by reading here, supplier sites and manufacturer sites. We refer to suppliers by abbreviations, which are listed HERE.

As with any skill, there's a lot to learn. "Lingo" is part of it. There's no shortcut to learning! My best advice is to read, read, read. There is a TON of great information here at CT, from supplier & manufacturer sites, etc. HTH

[JacquiO]

I use Yaley wax that has no spacifications. I heard from some people that that wax is junk. Is that true. I did notice on the store bought candlesthe wax is softer. When I make a candle the wax is like stone.

Yes, Yaley wax is a cheap junkie wax and believe me I know cause that's where I started too. And what's really sad is you pay double the price for it in the craft store.

If your wax is really hard it may not actually be for containers. Container candle waxes even in paraffin tend to be softer then a pillar/votive wax so it can adhere to the jar. Pillar wax is hard and it shrinks so that it pulls away from your mold so you can release it. The tag on the wax slab should have specified if it was container or pillar wax. I bought a solid container paraffin from candlewic once but it was still softer than their pillar blend and doesn't break apart as easy with a hammer.

The candle wax you bought may just have had a number on it like 132, 141, or 155. This is actually the melting temperature of the straight paraffin wax. Lower melt point waxes like 126 or 132 are usually for containers and votives. 141 it a pillar wax. 145 and higher is for cut -and-curl candles and hurricanes.

Straight paraffin has no additives to help improve the look or performance of the candle. If your using a straight paraffin you may also want to add vybar to improve fragrance throw and stearic acid to aid mold release. Yaley slabs are straight so they can hook you with additives too. The craft store probably carries them too but in small quantities again at inflated prices. Online you can buy pre-blended paraffin waxes that are ready to go with no additional additives needed and produce great candles.

If you tell me where your at in the US I can recommend some good online suppliers for you and some waxes you can try. When I first started working with soy I bought one pound sample of about 6 different soy waxes and tried each of them with the same FO and jar. Once I found the wax I liked then I started testing wicks in it. Now after 10 years of doing this I've come to prefer CD and ECO wicks. And if you checked out that candlewic guide you can see that CD and ECO wicks both have interwoven paper threads and I think they work great in both paraffin and soy applications with little to no mushrooming and less carbon build up. But that's just me. Everyone tends to have their own preference. All I can do is point you in a helpful direction.

Cheers,

Jacqui