What do I use for a wick?

[Goodlife1970]

Have been busy collecting candle ends ready to melt down to make new candles but what can I use as a wick? I already have moulds from a kit someone bought me years ago but finding the wick a bit of a problem. I know you can buy proper wick but I was wondering if there was a cheaper alternative? I have considered using string,primed first with wax but dont fancy setting the house alight until Ive had some advice!

[Millymollymandy]

I tried candle making that way although I did buy new wicks. However there's something in that saved candle wax that doesn't hold it together second time round - after burning for half an hour or so they just sort of melted and it was a real problem trying to clear up dried candle wax from every nook and cranny they had oozed into.

So please be very careful and place your candle in a large enough container to hold ALL the wax should this happen to you!

[Wombat]

G'Day GL & M3

I don't know why that should be ( the recast wax melting more easily tha is...) - but here goes:

Perhaps the burning of the candle burned off the stearic acid and just melted the candle wax leaving the meltings poor in stearic acid. The stearic acid poor paraffin wax would have a lower melting point and not stand up to high temperatures as well. So you could get around this by adding in, say 15% by weight of stearic acid, meld and mix and re-cast the candles.

So much for the theory!

Candle wicks are braided so that they lean over towards the edge of the candle flame and continually burn off the burnt end - called self snuffing. The string would work but you would need to trim the top every so often with scissors to get the best light out of the candle and prevent smoking!

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks Wombat. No idea where one would buy stearic acid (or even what it is!) but it is nice to have that mystery solved at long last!

[Goodlife1970]

Thanks Nev,Im assuming that stearic acid is also called stearin? I do have some of this left in the kits so will add that to the ends when I melt them down. Will try with the string wick and let you know how I get on.

[Wombat]

G'Day M3 and GL!

Yep, more or less the same thing. ou may be able to get it from the chemist perhaps or craft shops that supply candle making stuff!

Nev