How long..tealight candle burner

[minx]

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I have posted but I am still around. Saving and saving to continue buying candle ingredients. I have a question though. How long does your fragrance last when you use a tealight candle with a wax melt. I've only been getting 3 or 4 hours and getting a little concerned. I've wondered if it was cause the fragrances I have chosen were soft ones or what.

I'm using plam wax. Blend of container and pillar. I have tried different ratios and there seems no difference at all between them. It's called crystalizing wax here in Oz. I do the correct temp thing and pour thing. Fragrances I have used are Frankisense and Myrrh, Lavender Vanilla, Mimosa & Mandarin and a few others but along the same scents. I have been using 9-10% fragrance.

I don't have a electric warmer so was considering getting one of those to try, but at the same time I don't want to have so many different burn times depending on what warmer they are using.

Am I using the wrong fragrance to start with? Or is 3-4 hours normal with a tealight candle in a warmer?

Thanks for ANY info you have

Amanda

[minx]

No one?? Ah well will just have to try another fragrance and see what happens.

[ChandlerWicks]

I believe the heat from the tealight burns the melt faster than an electric burner. Much hotter. I think the experts are sleeping!

[sunharbor]

When I use my tealight burner for melts they don't last as long as when I use my 2 in 1 electric burner (24watts). It's been my experience tealights burn hotter shortening the melts fragrance lifespan. It also depends on the height of where the tealight sits from the bowl. I have a short squatty tealight burner and melts will last around 3-4 hrs because of the heat. My taller burner will last longer because the tealight is farther away from the bowl. Hope this makes sense.

[justajesuschick]

I am a newbie but I am testing like crazy and I am awake!

I have just recently made a correlation in burner to FO longevity myself.

I do not have a tealight warmer so that is not a part of my test.

I have 2 combo/plate warmers (CandleWarmers brand) and 2 bulb warmers with their standard bulbs (Scentsy brand). I get instant scent from the combo warmers. The wax in them gets hot. Too hot, really. I tried hitting it with an infrared but the dishes are darkly colored so it was not accurate but suffice it to say that the wax, left on for some time, gets hotter than when I made it. As a result, scent fills a room quickly but dissipates more quickly as well for me.

The Scentsy, or light bulb warmers, give me a slower room fill but because the wax does not get as hot, the scent lasts much longer.

Not surprisingly, cinnamon/spicy scents and laundry scents last the longest for me and lighter scents like vanillas/birthday cake/sugar cookie types do not have the longevity.

I use paraffin so was interested in reading your comments as I have no experience with palm wax.

[jeanie353]

I have a few different type tea light burners. Some are ceramic where the tart sits in the dish with the tea light 4-6" below and several from the Dollar Store that are black flat metal and the tea light sits about the same length away but a totally different style. The tea light burner from the dollar store heats up and burns off the scent the fastest. I don't know why. The only difference is that nothing is enclosed in that type. Its made of wire where the tea light is out in the open. On the ceramic ones, the tea light is inside the cavity.

These all give me the strongest HT from the tarts equally in strength though not equally in longevity.

I also have two of the plug in type warmers from Walmart that are Better Homes & Gardens brand. One with a square dish and one round. The tarts melt in equal time between the square and round dish. They both have the same HT for the same length of time. Both use a 25 watt bulb (I think is the watt) and both have the bulb very close to the tart tray on the top. These don't have as strong a HT as the tea light burners but do last longer.

I will get about 2 days from the tea light type and into the 3rd day from the plug in type...usually. The 2-3 day longevity does seem to depend, at least, somewhat on the scent type as well as supplier. I've found by switching FO supplier on those that didn't last quite as long, it can make a difference.

I use a blend of 4625 and paraffin container wax for the tarts

HTH

Edited September 15, 2012 by jeanie353

[minx]

Thank you everyone It's actually good to know that a decent melt might not be that far away!! Yay!!

I think I will go and buy an electric warmer and compare the melts. I have been using a ceramic burner which encloses the tealight. I know those things get really hot because I tried to move one when it was lit and it was far far too hot for me to pick it up.( What a mess I made...lol) The distance from the tealight to the base of the burner is maybe 3".

I don't know how popular the electric warmers are here in Australia hence why I was using only the tealights.

Thanks again

[Chefmom]

Back in my pre-candle making days, long, long ago I burned my tealight burner. I would put a little olive oil in the top with essential oils and the scent would last about as long as 2 tealights, so 8 hours is my best guess. I was using the cheapy cheapy tealights from Michael's.

Then, again before candles, I started melting some of the wax that was left over in the tealights, then adding the EO to THAT instead of olive oil. Again, the scent was lucky to last through 2 tealights of burning time.

Now I officially make scented tarties and I have two warmers, both electric. They last for a very long time, about 2 to 2 1/2 days in the smaller electric burner, but even the heaviest scented ones only last several hours in the tealight burner.

I think the high heat of the tealight is burning off the fragrance faster than the warmer. I can't even think of touching the tealight burner (soapstone) it is so hot, but I can handle the little tray of the electric warmer without a problem. It's warm, but it doesn't burn me.