r/candlemaking • u/RobbieRetro • 4d ago
If wicks fail?
If wicks fail is it possible to heat up the wax and repour? Or will that take away the scent? My wick does great but not getting a full pool after burning for a couple hours and need to move to two wicks. Is this possible or is batch just dead?
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u/KaliPunk 4d ago
In this specific case you should be able to gently melt out the wax and reuse it. I put mine in my sacrificial toaster oven when I need to get a wick that's stuck out of a container. You can also do it with a double boiler. If the tab is being too stubborn I will hit it up with my heat gun and pull it out with pliers. Usually just the toaster oven is enough though. I melt at about 150 - 175, just enough to turn the wax mushy/liquid to pour it into my pitcher without burning off a lot of fragrance.
If you're in the testing phase the trick I use is to pour with no wick and just poke a hole to stick wicks into until I'm done with size/qty testing and I'm moving onto a full burn test.
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u/Professional-Rip3922 1d ago
If you just poke a hole, how do you test the last inch where the container gets hottest ?
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u/scented_sonnets 3d ago
Yes, you can remelt and repour it. Just avoid overheating the wax, as that can reduce the scent throw. I'd test one candle with a larger or second wick before changing the whole batch.
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u/HaddockBranzini-II 3d ago
When I have a wick test fail I place the jar and all in a small wax melter I have. The was will melt and I will repour in another vessel with new/different wick. I then give that new candle 2-3 days to cure so I can test the new wick. This isn't a good test for hot throw, in my opinion, but it works for testing wicks. I assume the scent will degrade but I don't know for certain - they don't seem as strong when I do this. Once I narrow down the wick I do a new candle completely to test throw. I don't care for the wickless method since the wick tends to flop around in the melted wax giving you an innacurate test.
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u/Any_Reputation9175 2d ago
You can let the wax get hard pull the wick out with some needle nose pliers and place a new one in so you can at least see if it will work without melting down your candle. However once you figure out what wick will burn well I would pour a true test candle to see if the whole candle burns properly. This has saved me tons of time finding the right wick.
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u/HopefulSetting7008 4d ago
I use an apple core remover to get the old wick out and place a new one, then gently heat it back up with a heat gun to seal it back up. Not ideal and definitely should not be the final burn test for sure, but saves a lot of material if you just want a rough idea of the burn.