May I be so bold as to ask a chandler...

[lenarenee]

Last year I dabbled in candle making but quickly realized I'm not willing to spend the time and money perfecting candle skills for a product that's really not necessary - especially here in fire-prone S. California. I'll stick with soap and lotion.

However I have 7 or so pounds of Golden Wax 444, and I would like to make candles for my own pleasure. Would anyone be willing to share the "recipe" to help me make a successful wood wick candle? (as in...size of glass container, source for wooden wicks with best sound, etc)

I don't want colored candles - the most important thing to me is the sound of the candle. Scented would be nice, but not necessary. I know scent can clog the wick. Multi-wick is fine with me.

I made 6 candles last year and they were mostly successful, but the sound sure didn't match the quality of those very expensive name brand candles I don't want to pay $40 for!!! There's such conflicting information on candle supply websites regarding temperature to add fo, temperature to pour...etc., that I really don't know which to trust.

 

[PrairieLights]

Have you resolved this question?
If not, I am happy to walk you through it.
I recommend the wood wicks from lonestarcandlesupply.com. Order the extra large wicks (because soy needs that size). Go to Dollar Tree and find candle jars that are thick and sturdy and around 3-3.5" mouth (trying to save you more money). They usually run about 10 ounces. In order to save on shipping, I'd choose a fragrance or two from lonestar too. I have never tried their fragrances, but I am sure they are fine. How much more do you want me to walk you through?
-Lisa

 

[lenarenee]

Thanks Lisa!
Can I just ship the stuff to you - you work your magic - and ship back finished candles??? LOL! Unfortunately there's no fun in that.

You've had success with wood wicks?

Are you familiar with Nature's Wick candles (target, bed bath and beyond)? They're + shaped wicks and have a nice crackling sound to them. (their wax is at least paraffin I suspect) I haven't found a candle supplier that has that same shape - only the flat wood wicks.

I have a variety of mason jars sizes. I have the large wood wicks from nature's garden, from DreamWick I have the 1/2 and 3/4 size Ultimate wicks.

I've half-heartedly used a couple of the Dream Wick wicks in the gw444. One candle burns fairly well, one won't stay lit and the other....I can't remember.

(Also right now I have some GW www, Naturewax C3, and palm wax. I'm curing the Nature C3 with Eco wicks 6, 8, 10 in 2 3/4 inch mason jars.)

My priority is to have a nice sound. I have a nice assortment of fragrance oils. I'm confused as to whether fo's add or detract to the crackling sound. I'm perfectly happy to leave fo's and dye out of the candle in order to get the sound. (starting to experiment with eco wick soy and palm candles to make scented candles)

I've also read that some people double layer the wood wicks?

 

[TBandCW]

I just did an extensive search for criss cross wooden wicks and came up with nothing. They look pretty cool, but I couldn't find any suppliers.

 

[lenarenee]

I just did an extensive search for criss cross wooden wicks and came up with nothing. They look pretty cool, but I couldn't find any suppliers.

They make quite a bit of crackling sound! The flat wood wicks I've used make almost none - but that could be due to the fact I'm new at candles.

The brand WoodWick also has the criss cross wick (I like your term for that!) and they are a better quality than Nature's Wick which are noticeably crappier than last year's candles.

WoodWick is really expensive. Of course one could argue that buying 10 lb bags of wax and packs of wicks to make substandard candles is also expensive!

 

[TBandCW]

I can't take credit for the name criss cross wicks, seems to be the name online for that type. We did have wood wick candles for awhile but they didn't sell well. We get a couple of requests a year for them, not enough to warrant making them for selling.

 

[PrairieLights]

No, I am not familiar with the one wood wick candle, but I have seen "wood wick" company candles. I have not seen the + shaped ones. We had a nice crackle with the single ones. I did double one of the smaller ww to see if that would work as well as the larger wick in getting an edge-to-edge burn. It did not. I do not believe fo's would detract from the crackle - possibly even make it better. Dye... well that can change burn times, so it might affect crackle. I do not use dyes in the soy.

Did anyone ever find the + wood wicks for sale? I'm interested.

As for your wick, if the wax is drowning the wick ("going out"), then you need a larger wick. Waxes burn differently, depending on what kind they are and what additives are in them. It really is trial and error. I have not used the companies you mentioned, nor am familiar with those names of wicks. :-/

 

[Hearthy]

Did anyone ever find the + wood wicks for sale? I'm interested.

I haven't found them for sale but here is a diagram from someone who makes her own.

http://www.craftserver.com/topic/104865-wooden-wicks/