Gel Candle Articles: How to Pick a Wick:

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by Bill Binder of CANDLEWIC
www.candlewic.com

Other than perfecting the appearance of your gel candles, one of the most important tasks is selecting the proper wick and assembly for the candle.

Gel Candle Wicks

This process should not be taken lightly for two reasons:

                  • Safety of the candle
                  • Performance of the candle

When evaluating wick there are four important components to consider:

  1. The first is choosing the wick core material. There is a vast selection of wicks to choose from including zinc core, paper core, cordless and even cotton core.

  2. The second component is wick size, which is determined by the density of the gel you are using and the diameter of the glass.

  3. The third component of the wick assembly to consider would be the wick base or the tab. The tab dimension consist of 2 factors: the actual base and the neck height.
    • The first number signifies the base which can be 15 mm (about the size of a dime) and 20 mm (size of a nickel).
    • The second number signifies the height of the neck (the part holding the wick). The 15 mm and 20 mm tabs are available with neck heights of 3 mm, 6 mm and 9 mm. The trend for gel candles is always to place them with a 9 mm neck.
    • This neck height assists in extinguishing the flame before it reaches the bottom of the container.

  4. The final part of the wick assembly is the wax coating used on the wick. In most instances for gel candles the highest melt point wick coating available is always desirable. We have formulated a wick coating that has a 212° F melt point coating. The coating helps to provide rigidity to the wick. This helps to stabilize the wick when pouring the gel into the container. Using the highest temperature wick coating reduces the amount of clouding in the candle caused by the wick, also.

To review, the components to evaluate when choosing a wick for a gel candle are wick core material, wick size, the size of the tab and neck and the wax coating.

Popular wick sizes for the gel candle include 44-32-18 zinc, 51-32-18 zinc and 60-44-18 zinc. We have also found the WEDO wick RRD series to be very effective in gel candles.

The four criteria for choosing the proper wick assemblies are extremely important and it can not be emphasized enough that test burning should be done on all candles before leaving your facility. Our Technical Staff can provide assistance with selecting the proper wick.

One of the features we are most proud of on our web site is our "CUSTOM WICK BUILDER". Using this feature gives all candle makers the ability to choose the exact wick assembly they need for their application, at no additional charge. In five easy steps the custom wick builder allows the customer to select their wick, base and coating for ordering standard wick assemblies. The best feature of all is the price, we are the manufacturer of the assemblies, offering the most competitive prices available.

As we say here at Candlewic, "PAWAWAC", Pick A Wick Assembly With A Click.

Gel Candle News© Subscribers Free Wick Special: Try our Custom Wick Builder in March: We are offering an additional 25% bonus of free wick assemblies when using the Custom Wick Builder. Order 1,000 wick assemblies and receive 250 Free, for a total of 1,250 wick assemblies. Order 10,000 wick assemblies and receive 2,500 Free, for a total of 12,500 wick assemblies. Full details at http://www.candlewic.com/Store/WickBuilder.asp

That's it for this edition, LET'S POUR,
or should we say LET'S PAWAWAC!

So, until next time,

LET's POUR.


http://www.candlewic.com

 
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