Author Topic: beeswax candle wicks (Read 13831 times)

tedh · « **on:** August 16, 2015, 04:50:01 pm »

Anyone have any experiance with beeswax votive candle wicks? What size, brands, are best for that application? Thanks, Ted

Perry · « **Reply #1 on:** August 16, 2015, 04:55:49 pm »

We order most of our stuff from here, but that doesn't help you much there.
http://www.wicksandwax.com/
Mann Lake are pretty good to help with questions as well.

tedh · « **Reply #2 on:** August 16, 2015, 05:41:05 pm »

Thanks Perry! Ted

tedh · « **Reply #3 on:** August 16, 2015, 06:21:11 pm »

Josh melted and filtered the wonky comb we've been scraping off over the season, and a tiny bit from last year. It's not much, but we're going to try making a couple votive candles to burn at Christmas time. Ted

Going to order the 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch votive mold from Mann Lake as well as the 2/0 wick. Thanks again for the idea Perry.

I'll post pics of the results.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #4 on:** August 16, 2015, 06:26:42 pm »

Need some more wax let me know!

tedh · « **Reply #5 on:** August 16, 2015, 06:59:02 pm »

Lazy! I like that! Maybe we can work out a trade? Ted

apisbees · « **Reply #6 on:** August 16, 2015, 07:16:38 pm »

with lazy's wife not doing the candles He may have everything you need

Perry · « **Reply #7 on:** August 16, 2015, 07:23:03 pm »

Nice clean looking wax ted.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #8 on:** August 17, 2015, 09:07:08 pm »

heh yep. I still need to render the wax from the last extracting too!

riverbee · « **Reply #9 on:** August 19, 2015, 10:58:15 am »

ted, the wax does look very clean. how many times did josh filter? or what did he use to filter with?
this can be the most frustrating part of candles and wicks, and really if the wax is not super clean, you will have problems with wicks/burning. half the battle is making sure your wax is sediment free and super clean.
how to tell if it's not? the wax should be uniform in color from top to bottom, any sediment that remains will settle to the bottom, and there will be a slight discoloration (very light brown) towards the bottom or underneath side of it. if you see any of this discoloration, even a slight hint of it, remelt the wax and filter again. hope this makes sense, and for anyone else who wants to venture into candle-making. i have found with super clean wax, i have less problems with wicks not burning properly.

tedh · « **Reply #10 on:** August 19, 2015, 04:10:41 pm »

I think Josh told me he filtered the wax 4 times. He used a white, cotton, flour sac?, sack cloth?, dish towel. I'm not sure what they're called but it was well worn. Here's a pic of the bottom of the cakes.

Is this acceptable or will it need to be filtered again? Thanks, Ted

riverbee · « **Reply #11 on:** August 19, 2015, 04:48:02 pm »

hi ted, the wax appears to have particles embedded in the wax? (brown specks). if so, this will clog up a candle wick. what you can use to filter and remove it with is sheer nylon curtain material, and doubled. this material is very tight and will filter wax pretty clean.

this is also an alternative from b and b honey farm, i use this stuff to strain honey with, but have used it to filter wax with, and it works well:

NYLON FILTER CLOTH

tedh · « **Reply #12 on:** August 19, 2015, 05:22:55 pm »

Thanks riverbee. Between the two which do you prefer? Ted

riverbee · « **Reply #13 on:** August 19, 2015, 06:46:09 pm »

i like the nylon filter cloth, because i always have it on hand, either will work well. another method, easy, is to use the dish towel/sack cloth, or a thread bare t shirt but add a piece of paper towel (bounty) on top of the dish towel/t-shirt. (you don't need a whole paper towel, just enough to pour the wax through, enough coverage so that the wax melts through both materials; a smaller square). make sure when you remelt and filter, pour the wax slowly so that the paper towel catches the remaining sediment. you can remelt and filter into one container, keep that container warm or reheat and then pour into whatever mold you were using. some beeks have used coffee filters for this in lieu of paper towel, not sure how well this works?

tedh · « **Reply #14 on:** August 20, 2015, 04:58:54 pm »

Tried to order the nylon from B and B but apparently they're out. Just my luck. I think I'll go with the curtain material for now. I will keep checking back though! Thanks again for the idea riverbee. Ted

riverbee · « **Reply #15 on:** August 21, 2015, 01:22:30 pm »

you are welcome ted. they do run out from time to time, it's pretty popular. i hoard the stuff........

i use it primarily for a final straining of my honey. when it gets a little rag tag, i save it for filtering the ziploc bags full of wax bits that i forgot to throw in the solar melter.

the curtain material will get ya the same result. if you would like, let me see how much i have of the b and b stuff, could maybe send you a couple of 12 x 12 swaths of the stuff?

tedh · « **Reply #16 on:** August 21, 2015, 04:44:23 pm »

As much as I appreciate the thought riverbee, we really don't have enough wax to mess with. We're just new to this and quite excited. I'll check in with B and B from time to time and order some when I can. But, thanks again! Ted

brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #17 on:** August 21, 2015, 10:16:53 pm »

I have cakes of bees wax that i have filtered 3 times and it still comes out a light brown? Anyway to get that yellow bees wax to it?? I probably have 20 lbs of it.

Jack

Yankee11 · « **Reply #18 on:** August 22, 2015, 01:37:11 am »

I use the filters that restaurants use to filter their grease. It removes everything from the wax. I only use these to do the final filtering.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/10-paper-grease-filter-cone-50-box/121100.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CJTekbn7u8cCFQ6RaQodZKoGrg

I use this holder. The filter sits inside this holder and it sits on top of a bucket.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/10-paper-grease-filter-cone-50-box/121100.html?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CJTekbn7u8cCFQ6RaQodZKoGrg

riverbee · « **Reply #19 on:** August 22, 2015, 10:01:54 am »

jack, it may be the color of the wax? or there is some find sediment remaining? how do you filter your wax?

the majority of my wax is run through a solar melter. a beek friend recently gave me cakes of wax that were extremely brown. these cakes came out nice and a light yellow. i aggressively filter the wax; in the solar melter for the initial melting, it is laid on top of a weber pan with hardware cloth attached, and on top of that is window screening. it is melted into a milk carton with a raggedty t shirt/cotton staining cloth and a piece of bounty paper towel on top of that. the second straining, i run again with a clean peice of window screening, and the miilk carton has cheesecloth doubled and clipped to it, and again another square of paper towel. i rarely have to filter a third time.

for small bits of wax i pretty much heat/melt/ filter the same way into a milk carton or half and half container; first melt, window screen, then paper towel, then the cotton. 2nd run paper towel over the cotton or the nylon material, and if it needs a third run i just use the nylon material. comes out clean.