Today I thought I would share a little sneak peak into what is involved in the candle making process. The most important part of making a candle is testing it. I laugh at my naivety the first time I ever made a candle. I thought how hard could it be. Melt some wax, add some fragrance and pour it into a container. Right? Wrong! I learned very quickly that there were a lot more variables than I even could imagine.
The most important part in making a candle is safety. This is why I do so much testing.
No candle is created equal which makes it all the more rewarding when you achieve the desired result. There are many mediums to choose from. Do you want paraffin, beeswax, palm, soy, or a blend? What kind of fragrance do you want? What color do you want to achieve, which wick will work the best with your application? Learning which wick will burn the best in your medium and give you the maximum scent throw is in my opinion the hardest part of making a candle.
The picture above is just a little hint of a small part of the process I go through. I test burn many, many candles to find the best wick type, wick size and if I need to single wick or double wick a container. In this scenario the candles all are using the same wax blend that I have created, the same fragrance and amount of fragrance and the same dye amount. What is different with each one though is that I am testing three different cotnainer sizes and many different wick types and sizes.
My goal in doing this is to find the perfect combination that will give you a wick that burns optimally. This means that you will have a wick that doesn't soot to much, burn too hot or not burn hot enough to melt the wax. Once the safety issues are addressed then I want to make sure that I get the best possible scent throw from my final selections.
Once all of this has been achieved then I go back and test each fragrance individually as some are heavier than others and will still require a differnet wick size.
All that being said it can at times be frustrating but most of all it's such a joy to feel that you mastered that particular container and fragrance and can share it with others that will enjoy it as well!
I am actually off to do a little more testing right now! My wonderful UPS man just deliverd a couple of boxes of goodies tonight. It's always like Christmas around here lately.
It's kind of like cooking and even though I sometimes want to take a bite out of some of this yummy smelling stuff, I love that no calories are added in this particular recipe!
Tomorrow I'll share a sneak of some pretty containers that have been poured for individual testing!
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