Is my problem typical of all soy candles?

[jonsie]

I have only worked with wooden wicks so far, and the only corded wicks I have used have been with tea lights. So my chandling experience is embarassingly limited :embarasse.

Well, here's my problem. After any one of my candles has burned for some time and cooled off, I have some difficulty relighting it. I'm blaming this on the air pockets in my post-burned soy. I find that when the soy in my container candles cools, air pockets form from the melt pool. When I relight my wick, the surrounding wax melts, drains into one of the air pockets, and extinguishes the candle. It takes a few relights but eventually it will stay relit.

Is this a common problem with soy candles? Or is this something that may be a problem with wooden wicks? I'll guess that since wooden wicks have more surface area than corded wicks then it's more likely air pockets will form around them, causing them to extinguish more often. But if you can tell me that you have this same problem with corded wicks, then I can blame the soy, and not the wick.

And I'm mainly using GW464. I'd like to keep my wax 'veggie' if possible so I don't mind other veg waxes as additives but I'd like to avoid beeswax and paraffin if possible.

THANKS!!!

[Tribalvixen]

Hiya

I had this happen with 464 just recently which is kinda why I have decided to stay with cb 135. I had to light and tip out a little bit of wax a couple of times before I could finally get the darn thing going. I thought it could have been from the FO (violet and lime) but maybe its not.... Its been driving me crazy. I never get this with cb135.

Just a FYI for you Jonsie looks like ncs is getting in wood wicks. Thought you might like to know

Tammy

[jonsie]

Thank you Tammy! Yes, I definitely appreciate knowing about NCS And that is interesting about your experience with 135. Gives me something to think about.

[RichardLOZ]

Jonsie

We use 464 +palm and have never experienced this issue. We also pour very hot for soy as well, with no wet spots and no frosting for the most part, just on one or two scents.

We also do not use wood wicks, although when I have tested with the wood wicks I was getting the same issue as you, again depending on the scent. Personally I just feel that wood wicks and soy particularly are an issue, although having said that I know of one shop that gets loads of returns of the genuine Woodwick candles due to their extremely poor burn quality and issues with not being able to stay lit.

I have not played with wood wicks too much as I just havent had the time to do so, but I think it is really going to be a matter of trial and error for each scent as some will work for you and some just wont.

HTH

[Sharon in KY]

Are your wicks melting your wax completely to the side of the jars? Are you pouring on the cool/thick side? I find I do not have to poke holes around my wick if I pour slushy but do if I pour hot. And I do think this is a soy problem.

[ChrisR]

Actually it's not just soy wax, but any container wax can get air pockets. I blend my own parasoy and to make sure I don't have any air pockets I poke holes after they've set up and I heat gun the tops to fill in any voids. It doesn't take all the long to make sure I don't have a problem burn!

[jonsie]

Personally I just feel that wood wicks and soy particularly are an issue, although having said that I know of one shop that gets loads of returns of the genuine Woodwick candles due to their extremely poor burn quality and issues with not being able to stay lit.

Thank Richard, that does help. I have four Woodwicks here at home and they seem to all relight just fine. I'll also experiment more with the soy and palm to see if that helps.

Are your wicks melting your wax completely to the side of the jars? Are you pouring on the cool/thick side? I find I do not have to poke holes around my wick if I pour slushy but do if I pour hot. And I do think this is a soy problem.

Thanks Sharon. I get full melt pools and I'm satisfied with how the wicks melt the wax. The problem is once the melt pool cools off. I have tried pouring slushy but I don't know if it is because of my climate or what I'm doing wrong but my candles look horrible with I pour at a low temp. Like Chris is suggesting below, maybe I need to poke holes, but I really hate that, lol.

Actually it's not just soy wax, but any container wax can get air pockets. I blend my own parasoy and to make sure I don't have any air pockets I poke holes after they've set up and I heat gun the tops to fill in any voids. It doesn't take all the long to make sure I don't have a problem burn!

Thanks Chris. I just hate fussing with them, but I just might have to to prevent problems during the burn. Ugh!