Candle Talk
Our Glossary of Candle Terms
Sometimes it seems as though chandlers have a language of their own when talking about their candles, so here is a brief guide,
Melt Pool
The pool of molten wax that forms around the wick of a candle. The perfect melt pool will burn right out to the side of the container to ensure that all of the wax is used and nothing goes to waste.
Hot Throw
The smell that is given off by the candle when lit. Chandlers spend a lot of time adjusting fragrance oil contents, wax brands and wick types and sizes to make sure their candles give a good hot throw.
Cold Throw
This is the smell given off by a candle when it is not lit. All chandlers like to have a good cold throw so customers get that wow factor when they open their box.
Tunnelling
If a candle is not burned for long enough on its first burn the wax will not reach the edge of the container. Next time the candle is lit it will continue to burn down instead of across and will burrow a tunnel down the centre of the container. Once this pattern is established it is difficult to break which will result in a lot of wasted wax and a shorter burn time.
Wet Spots
A wet spot is chandler terminology for the air pockets that sometimes form between the wax and the edge of the container in Soy Candles. They are caused by sudden temperature fluctuation, when wax gets cool it shrinks and comes away from the sides of container leaving wet spots. Wet spots should disappear completely when the candle returns to room temperature.
Wicking
Wicking is the process that a chandler goes through when creating a candle for the first time with new wax, container or fragrance oil. The process incolves testing numerous wick brands and sizes to find the perfect wick for your candle. This is a very frustrating process and is where a lot of new chandlers give up.
Mushrooming
When a wick is too big for a candle the wick takes up more wax than it can burn, the result is a build up of carbon on the end of the wick. The build up of carbon takes the shape of a mushroom so when a wick does this it is referred to as mushrooming.
Flash Point
Flash Point refers to the temperature at which a fragrance oil can be heated to before it begins to evaporate and the scent begins to burn off. When making candles chandlers have to heat the wax high enough to ensure that the particles in the wax and fragrance become properly integrated but lower than the flash point to ensure the mix doesn't lose its scent.
CLP
CLP stands for "Classification Label and Packaging" and refers to the European guidance for labelling products that contain hazardous properties. There are specific requirements about how candles should be labelled and failure to correctly label products would result in a chandlers insurance becoming invalid.