Paraffin container candles

[Harribo]

Hi everyone,
I would really love some advice.

I have made 2 small paraffin blend container candles using 4candles pro blend wax. I have used the jars from 4candles, medium sized, which holds 95 grams of wax, top of jar measures 1.5 inches in diameter. I have used good quality fragrance oil and roughly used 6-7%.

Now I let them cure for 24 hours and today I have lit them and they have no hot throw, cold throw is amazing.

The wicks I used was 3x12c and lx12 both from 4candles.

Why is it I have no hot throw? I have a full melt pool. Is the wick is too big for the jar can that result in no throw?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Spencer101]

Hi Harribo,

First off I would suggest letting the candles cure longer than 24 hours. I tend to let mine cure for a minimum of two weeks before lighting them and get a decent hot scent throw each time.

Another thing to keep in mind is you may not be able to smell the scent throw but others might. This is because you overload your senses when making candles so become "immune" to the particular aroma for a little while afterward. Try your candles again in 2 or 3 days and see what it's like then.

A wick that is too big, as far as I'm aware, will not hamper scent throw.

Hope that's of some help.

S.

[Harribo]

Hi, thanks so much for reply.

I did wonder that but then read somewhere that paraffin does not need a cure time? I was so excited that I had made these and they looked fab so got a little impatient and lit them.

How do I know if the wick is too big/small for the jar?
Thanks again jo

[Harribo]

Sorry also to say, I'm sure they have no throw as I made a tart in the same fragrance and I have melted that today and I am able to smell that quite strongly.

Also I have full melt pools about half inch deep but the wicks do appear to have mushrooms on them, is this normal?

[Spencer101]

Hi Jo,

If the melt pool doesn't reach all the way to the sides then it's too small.

If you get excessive smoking /sooting from the flame or the melt pool is exessively deep (over 2cm, depending on the size of the candle) then it's too big.

Just make sure you use a cored wick in all container candles. If the melt pool gets too deep the wick, if NOT cored, can lean over close to the side and can cause the container to crack through overheating. This is obviously a bad thing!

S.

[Spencer101]

The mushrooming on the wick may hint that the wick is a little too big. Try stepping down to the 3x10 pehaps.

Did you trim the wick nice and short before burning it? a wick too long can cause muhrooming.

It also could signal too much fragrance oil in the mix, but from the amount you said you added it doesn't sound this this is the cause to me.

Failing all of those reasons, your lack of scent throw could just be that the jar is too small. I use the same wax from the same seller, I have the same wick and have not problems with scent throw. I also have the same jars, but they're now full of buttons and things as decided too small to make candles in...

S.

[Harribo]

Thank you again for reply.

I am new to this and find the wicking confusing. I got full melt pool quite quickly but obviously these are small jars.

I know one wick is cored not sure about the wedo?

Also what does it mean if you get mushrooms on the wick?

[Harribo]

Ok thank you.

I have the lx10 and also the 3x10c so perhaps I could try them.

Do you know if I can use 10% in fragrance oil or is this too much?

[Spencer101]

I would avoid the LX wicks for containers. Great wick for pillars and tapers, but due to it not having a core it can be dangerous for the reasons I stated above.

10% fragrance could be used without too much problem. You may get more mushrooming that way, you may need a bigger wick to cope with the extra fragrance... Only testing will tell.

Try different combinations of wick and fragrance percentage and keeps notes of each variation. Test burn them one at a time and at some point you will find the ideal combination for scent throw and clean burnig and be able to replicate it over and over. This is where your notes become invaluable!!

[Harribo]

Right ok will do. The next candles I make I am going to try the 3x10 wick and see how that goes. Do you know anything about paper core wicks? I was looking at the 4candles website and it states that they are good when using a large amount of fragrance.

[Spencer101]

I quite often use paper cored wicks for high fragrance content containers. Never had a problem with it. It's more rigid than cotton cored wick so is a good choice, but burns with a cooler flame than cotton or zinc cored wicks so not the best to use if you're making candles in metal containers and using the slighly harder high temperature container wax.

S.

[Harribo]

I think I am going to stick with the pro c container blend wax, I really like it. I have got the eco soy wax but i find i prefer paraffin wax. Also I only really want to make the glass jar candles and wax melts.

Think I will order some paper cored as well and test with that.
Thank you so much for all your advice it is greatly appreciated.

[Spencer101]

I too prefer paraffin over soy. Easier to work with and nicer looking end results

Not a problem with the advice I was just starting out about 2 years ago and found forums like this a great source of help and inspiration.

Glad to have been of some help.

Happy candle making

[Harribo]

Hi, sorry one more thing. Would you be able to advise me on a suitable size jar for a beginner?
Many thanks jo

[Spencer101]

I started with (and still now use) these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/72-x-Std-1...item19cb9d2071

They have a nice wide neck and aren't too tall, so give a good scent throw.

They hold a about 250g of wax and burn for many hours.