Ask the Audience: Wax Candle Burning

Posted on January 18, 2016, 1:18 pm by Chris

Last week I melted and filtered some beeswax.

After melting and filtering three times, I poured some of the melted wax into a 4 oz jelly jar and added a wooden wick we bought from a craft supply store. I also poured some wax into tealight candles with traditional wax string wicks.

I left the wicks slightly longer than the 1/4" recommended wick length for both the wooden and wax string wicks, to make sure they weren't too short.
 
I lit the tealight candle right away and the wick burnt brightly and the wax started to melt. About 10 minutes later, the wick was fizzling out, with a tiny glow of flame.

Below is a picture of the candle with the wooden wick, which did the same thing. I left this candle sit over night after pouring it to see if a 24 hour waiting period would help.


It didn't help. The wick burnt down to the wax, started to melt the wax and then began to smolder and fizzle out. To be clear, it never went out, just an ultra low flame.

Here's a video of the candle burning:



There are no additives, no scents, coloring or other items added to these candles, they're 100% pure bees wax.

Are they burning as expected? Candles I buy from the store that aren't 100% bees wax burn with a much more intense, taller flame. 

Did I do something wrong, or is this just how beeswax candles burn?

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section, thanks!!

Update: Read the update to this article where I discovered that blending oils with beeswax was a big help.


Comments For This Post: (3) | Post Your Comments! Hide The Comment Form
Anonymous says...
Date:   January 20, 2016, 12:03 pm

did you mordant and prime the wicks?


Thomas says...
Date:   January 25, 2016, 7:34 am

I'm thinking candles that give the strongest flame are designed such that the melting wax can run off. 


Chris (Show Me The Honey) says...
Date:   January 26, 2016, 9:12 pm

I think the pure beeswax is not melting fast enough to be wicked up the wick. I found a resource that suggested I use square cotton braided wick instead of the store bought wicks or wooden wick. 

The reason was that beeswax melts at a higher temperature, and needs a larger flame to melt the wax fast enough to be wicked up the wick, and prevent tunneling.

I had some small diameter cotton braided wick string, so I remelted the candle and tried again. It burned better, but still tunneled and eventually went out.

I'm going to get some larger size cotton braided wick string and try once more before I look into remelting and adding an additive like palm oil to the candle.



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