Wicking Dilema

[ladysj]

Not sure how many of you are familiar with Green Leafs 70/30 blend 70% soy 30% paraffin. I'm at my wits end on this one. I'm testing a 26 ounce libbey storage jar almost 4" in diameter, 9% fo with 2 htp 73's. 1 of the wicks is burning fine the other wick is kind of dwindling out like it wants to extinguish it's self. I've been burning it for 2.5 hours now.

I guess my question kind of is can you get the wicks too close together & that affect the way they burn. I've tested CD 6's, Eco 4's double wicked.

CD 5's worked pretty good on the 15 ounce jars but needed a size up so I'm testing CD 6's on it now.

Could the higher percentage of FO be the reason? Maybe I need to wick up to bigger sizes than I would normally use?

ANY & ALL input, suggestions, help is greatly appreciated.

Edited August 19, 2012 by ladysj

[rjdaines]

Everyone's experience is unique to their own systems so whatever I says my not apply to your particular problem. I've never found that putting two wicks together has caused this problem. I place the tabs almost touching. When I do see this, the cause has been the wicks getting clogged. The FO Cinnamon Buns does this to me, I can't use this FO. At 9% FO is could be your problem depending on what the FO is. A simple test would be to make a candle without any FO and see how it burns. If the problem is still there, then you'll have to explore a different avenue of thought. For a 4" diameter using soy alone I use 2 CD-5s and maybe a CD-6 with a thicker FO. For parasoy I use 2 ECO-1s or 2 ECO-2s.

If the wicks are clogging, then going to a size or two up won't fix it in my experience.

[Chefmom]

Are you using color in your mix? Deep colors can also weigh down a wick, and I agree with RJ above to try a burn with no fragrance and see what happens. That way you know your wick is working in the wax configuration, and then you can add the fragrance back and if that gives you issues you know its the fragrance.

[chuck_35550]

I've been using that wax for about 6 years now and rarely exceed 6% on fo. I have found cd wicks are the most reliable in performance and you might try a couple of 10s in there and see how it goes. I use 16s on my salsa jars and get a perfect burn, so go figure. HTH

Steve

[Holly]

I've been using that wax for about 6 years now and rarely exceed 6% on fo. I have found cd wicks are the most reliable in performance and you might try a couple of 10s in there and see how it goes. I use 16s on my salsa jars and get a perfect burn, so go figure. HTH

Steve

Steve, do you double wick this wax with success? I have used this wax on and off for a long time and I never could successfully double wick this wax in jars that are tall....only the 8 oz. apothecary jars. Once the burn gets close to the halfway mark in the 16 oz. apothecary jars, the flames will get real tiny no matter what size is put in there.

Ladysj, I have found that this is a problem with most wax (non pure soy wax - container paraffin blends or parasoys) if you double wick them. I have successfully wicked the Clarus 70/30 wax in the 8 oz. apothecaries but not in the taller ones. I have found though that if the jar is wide with NO neck (like the Libbey cylinder jar) double wicking works. I have not yet tried the tallest jar in that kind of jar but the one I did try was deeper than the 8 oz. apothecary jar.

I find the pure soy is the best for double wicking in tall jars with necks. That was one of the reasons why I went with pure soy when I first started to make candles. I big named company has terrible issues with the double wicked candles that are in their 16 oz. and 24 oz. apothecary jars. Flames piddle out. I don't know how they keep selling them or why. Their wide open mouthed jars do ok but not the tall apothecaries. I gave up on them and I no longer feel like they are competition really. Who wants a jar that does not burn right or barely stays lit!

Edited August 20, 2012 by Holly

[ladysj]

Thank you everyone for the input I really appreciate it. I'll try your suggestions.

Steve I am going back to 6% FO I was having good results with it my son said they need to smell better when burning. "Like a dummy I thought I'll up the FO however, I did forget the 2 jars I gave him to test was not a full 6% FO load. Go figure. So back to 6% FO for me

[chuck_35550]

I triple wick the heart shape containers and they are beautiful but that's an easy wick placement with plenty of oxygen. I have double wicked wide containers but not tall ones but that's not to say it couldn't be done with the Stasis. The wicks would have to be centered closely together IMHO to draft oxygen down into the container for the last half of the burn but I just go with those jumbo wicks when possible. HTH

There are some fos that require more than 6% and some (Candle Coccoon) that require less than 6% for great ht/ct. I figure my wax at 15 oz and my fo at 1 oz and get no waste (about 6.5%) and have been satisfied with the results. HTH

Steve

[ladysj]

Thanks Steve I love this wax but was really wanting to be able to offer 100% soy candles but I've been so pleased with this wax I really don't want to change. Where do you purchase your wax from?

[Holly]

Meant to say........."I have used this wax on and off for a long time and I never could successfully double wick this wax in jars that are tall WITH NECKS." I have not yet tried to double wick the tall non necked jars but will soon.

[HorseScentS]

I don't have that much experience with double wicking, but when I try to wick 4627 with HTPs the flames get tiny and drown after awhile. I'm under the impression that it's easier to double wick with zincs, maybe because they burn cooler and don't melt the wax too fast and cause drowning.

[ladysj]

I'm wondering if I remelt this candle & add more wax if this would help the burn factor since it's actually decreasing the percentage of FO which should knock it down to I'm guessing about 7% or so.