wick coating

[Gbhunter]

If using spooled wick for palm pillars what wax should be used to coat the wick? Palm hs a rather high melt point and in pillars the wick curl akes the wax pool off center making the candle burn unevenly.

Edited December 10, 2011 by Gbhunter

[Stella1952]

You really do not HAVE to prime the wick. Use palm wax or any high-temp "natural" or paraffin based wick wax blend if you wish to prime and stiffen it. The wick wax has nada to do with the curl of the wick - that's all in the braiding.

[EricofAZ]

I rarely prime the wick. The first burn for the first few minutes will do the job. Rarely will the wick be dry, usually by the time you fiddle with it getting it in the wick holder at the top, the wick has drawn up some of the palm or whatever wax on the outside. After it cures and you light it, the first burn will prime the core in about 5 minutes or so.

However, if priming to the core is important to you (makes for more stable and repeatable testing results) then you might want to use some high temp micro wax. You can get microcrystaline in 200 degree or so melt point blocks. The key is to melt a pound or so in the presto and put a few yards of raw wick in it for a few minutes. You'll see the wick "foam" which is basically the air in the core expanding in the heat and escaping. When the foaming stops and you can move the wick around in the pot with no air bubbles, its primed. Then when you remove the wick, draw it over the edge of the pot to remove the excess.

There are two reasons to prime. One is to get rid of the air so that the wick draws only wax and has no air in the core that can cause a flicker. The other is to make a stiff wick that will stand up in the jar when you pour.

I found that the first reason is the only valid reason. Thus the pre-primed wicks from vendors that only cote the outside are a joke (buy only primed wicks that are primed through the core if that's what you want). The second can and should be resolved by using a wick holder.

Like Stella says, the curl is in the braiding.

Edited December 11, 2011 by EricofAZ