I had a dream....

[Darbla]

Literally, and in it somebody was telling me he commonly uses 2 oz or more of FO in a pound of wax. I know this is not the norm, but it's got me thinking now of trying it. Is that excessive enough that it is problematic in any way? Like guaranteed to soot a lot, or will never get it wicked right?

Lordy, I've got too much candle stuff on the brain. Now it's haunting me in my sleep.

[Candybee]

Well I've actually had another candlemaker tell me she puts 2 oz of FO in her candles. And she makes palm container candles!

You can try it and see how your wax will perform using that much FO. There are some waxes that can hold up to 1 1/2 oz per lb and ways you can tweak your wax to hold more.

Every wax has a recommended amount by the manufacturer of how much FO load it can carry. If you go over yes you can start having problems with oil seapege, wick clogging, etc.

I think you will find that adding more FO generally does nothing to help scent throw. A well made candle should have good scent throw without drowning your wax with too much FO.

Think of how much the cost per candle is of adding more FO if its not necessary. If you are going to sell candles thats another issue for you to consider. Sellers don't look for ways to make their products more costly but more towards economizing without compromizing quality.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Candybee

[ChrisR]

Another thing is if you need to use that much FO in any candle, obviously you need to purchase better quality oils. Even years ago when using straight soy wax, I never had to use more than 1 oz./lb for any FO to get a strong scent throw.

[Darbla]

I'm not selling. I'm mainly wanting to use up stuff I've already bought and then definitely NOT buy it again! Seepage I can watch for and since these are just for me, I mainly just want to make sure I'm not making it into more of a fire hazard than burning candles already is. Thanks, guys!

[Candybee]

Your original question was if it would be problemmatic in any way and if it could soot a lot or effect wicking and the answer is definitely yes. That goes for being a fire hazard as well.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Candybee

[felixncharlie]

An acquaintance of mine got me hooked up with a huge contract filler in Ca. and of course I am nowhere ready to use a company like this but I was able to speak with one of the owners for "tips". He had discussed much more with me than I had thought he would and it was awesome but when he asked me how much fo I was using I said 6-7% and he replied they would uses 10-12% on a regular basis! Now you would all know the candle companies they fill for and some are pretty amazing burners because I have purchased a few but wow 12%. One in particular I have here is super strong but I only got a few puffs of soot towards the very bottom of the jars burn. I don't know how they do this in paraffin? The one thing he bashed me about using is zinc wicks and tried to convince me that eco's and cd's were the industry standard in a paraffin blend. I have tried those in the paraffin blend I am using with either a 6 or 7 fo load and simply got a smoke show. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in this place just to see what they add to make these candles.

[cgoff]

Literally, and in it somebody was telling me he commonly uses 2 oz or more of FO in a pound of wax. I know this is not the norm, but it's got me thinking now of trying it. Is that excessive enough that it is problematic in any way? Like guaranteed to soot a lot, or will never get it wicked right?

Lordy, I've got too much candle stuff on the brain. Now it's haunting me in my sleep.

I have actually made container candles with 2 ounces of fragrance oil per pound of wax, but with most soy waxes, that is beyond the ammount which will bind to the wax, and will result in "bleeding" of the candle. This will result in an unsafe candle, as the fragrance oils are flammable, and can cause flare ups if they begin to pool.

To counteract this, you have 2 choices, purchase wax which will hold 12% fragrance oil or you can use a binder such as Vybar to hold in the extra fragrance oil. But when using a binder, you have to be careful not to use too much as it will eliminate the cold throw of the candle.

Chris