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FINDING THE PROPER SIZE WICK

Perhaps the hardest part of candle making is finding the proper wick for your candle.  The wick is at the very heart of the candle – and if the wick is not right, the candle won’t burn properly. 

The wick is considered the most important part of the candle.  A candle with the proper wick will burn slowly and beautifully.  But a candle with the wrong wick can cause problems - such as excessive smoking, excessive dripping or too large a flame:

    - If the wick is too large, the candle will smoke excessively and excess wax will run over the sides of the candle. 

    - If the wick is too small for the candle, the wick will burn for a very short while and then extinguish itself.

The wick delivers the fuel to the flame by “wicking” or “drawing up” the liquefied wax.  If the wick is not large enough to handle the amount of molten wax around it, the wick will drown itself out.  Also, a wick that is cut too short will drown in the molten wax.

You can obtain general wick information from manufacturers and suppliers – but the only way that you’re going to know which wick will work the very best for your particular candle is by conducting the test burns yourself.   A number of factors can influence how a candle burns: 

• The type of wax
• The meltpoint of the wax
• The wax additives
• Fragrance oil
• Candle dye
• Room temperature
• Air movement
• The size of the candle
• The shape of the candle

You need the proper “wick/wax ratio” for every type of candle you make – and this can only be achieved by testing the wicks.

HOW TO CONDUCT A WICK TEST

First, determine which wicks might work best for the size and type of candle you plan to make.   A wick recommendation chart (available online from wick suppliers and wick manufacturers) will give you a general idea of the types of wicks that should work for your particular size and type of candle. 

Second, obtain a sample of each of the various wicks that you want to test.  (You may have to pay a nominal fee for the samples). 

Pour the candles and insert the wicks.  Pour similar candles for each of the wicks that you want to test – using a different wick in each of the candles.  You can pour these candles without wicks –  and then simply drill a hole a few inches deep in the top of the candle and insert a short length of wick into the hole, rather than wicking the entire candle.  Be sure to write down which wicks are in which candles (very important). 

Third, conduct the test burns.  Test burn the candles under similar conditions in an adequate sized room. Make sure that the candles are at least three feet apart from each other.  Keep the wicks trimmed. 

 HOW TO SECURE THE WICK IN A CONTAINER CANDLE

First, place the tabbed wick in a length of drinking straw that’s about ½” shorter than the wick itself.  This makes it easier to place the wick tab where you want it to go.

HOW TO PRIME RAW WICK

Raw wick needs to be primed.  The raw wick inside the candle is primed as soon as the hot wax is poured into the mold or container. The wick becomes soaked with wax and is completely surrounded by wax.  But the short length of raw wick sticking out of the top of the finished candle will be difficult to light - and can literally burn up and disappear when you light it - if it has not been primed.   An easy way to prime this wick would be to rub a small amount of soft jar candle wax between your thumb and finger and then rub it on the wick.  The wick is now primed and the candle should light easily – and stay lit.

HOW DO YOU BREAK UP A SLAB OF WAX?

Wax generally comes in 10 pound slabs.  If it's a slab of soft container wax - a sharp knife can be used to cut the slab into pieces. 

HOW TO GET RID OF WATER IN THE WAX

Fortunately it doesn't happen very often, but slabs of candle wax sometimes contain small amounts of trapped water - and just one drop of water in a pan of melting wax can cause serious problems.  You need to get rid of that drop of water before the wax gets too hot (if you plan to heat the wax above 200 degrees).

Let's say that you are melting a pot of wax and you notice a few small water droplets sitting on the bottom of the melting pot.  The water just sits there on the bottom - it doesn't mix with the wax.  But once that water droplet gets hot enough, it will begin to rise up and down in the wax - and very soon it will erupt, causing hot wax to splatter out of the pot. 

Turn off the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and carefully remove the pot of wax from the heat source.  Let the wax cool down for a short while.  If the hot wax is in a melting pot with a pouring lip, pour the wax into another container - being careful not to transfer any water droplets into the second pot.   

Pour any remaining wax (the small amount of leftover wax containing the water droplets) into a small container (such as a ceramic bowl) and set it aside.  

Using a generous amount of paper towel, carefully wipe out any traces of water from the bottom of the empty melting pot (be very careful - since the pot is still very hot).  You can now transfer the wax back into that original melting pot - but not the wax in the bowl that contains the water droplets.

After the wax in the bowl completely hardens - dump the hardened wax out of the bowl and thoroughly wipe any water droplets off of the wax.  It may be necessary to air dry this wax overnight in order to completely eliminate all of the moisture from the surface of the wax.

WAX ADDITIVES

Vybar 103 - Opaque wax hardener.  Use in high meltpoint waxes (pillar and votive candle wax) / raises the meltpoint of the wax, making the wax harder / softens dye color and increases opacity, giving candles a creamier look / reduces seepage of the fragrance oil from the wax / eliminates mottling.

Vybar 260 - Opaque wax hardener.  Use in low meltpoint waxes (container candle wax) / raises the meltpoint of the wax, making the wax harder / softens dye color and increases opacity, giving candles a creamier look / reduces seepage of the fragrance oil from the wax / eliminates mottling. 

Stearin (also known as Stearine or Stearic Acid) -  Opaque wax hardener.  Stearin raises the meltpoint of wax, making the wax harder / softens dye color and increases opacity, giving candles a creamier look / reduces seepage of the fragrance oil from the wax.  (Vybar is generally preferred in place of Stearin). 

Gloss Poly (Polyethelene)  / Luster Crystals  - Opaque wax hardener.  Improves glossy appearance of the candle. 

Translucent Crystals - Translucent wax hardener.  These crystals can be added to straight paraffin wax to make the wax more translucent.  Increases the meltpoint of the wax. 

Microcrystalline Wax (Micro Wax) 180 - Translucent wax hardener, increased elasticity.  Increases the hardness but not the opacity of the wax, elasticity makes wax less brittle. 

Microcrystalline wax (Micro Wax) 195 - Translucent wax hardener.  Micro 195 will increase the hardness of the wax, raise the melt point, and reduce or eliminate mottling. Recommend for pillars and tapers.