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So... I'm new to candle making; I got some paraffin (nobody here sells soy wax), molds, stearic acid and other ingredients. Today I was trying the second candle I made; it was not a small candle at all, it was about 6cm x 10cm; I used about 240 grams of wax for it, plus stearate, color and fragrance.

It looked pretty ok, I light it a while ago, left home and when I came back roughly 5 hours later, I found this:

messy melted candle

So, what might be possible causes for this? What did I do wrong? One thing I know for sure I did different from another candle I made a while ago is this time I used a somewhat thicker wick. Could that be the reason? Was that one of many contributing factors?

Gregorio Litenstein
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    You left a candle burning for five hours while you were away? – Joachim Jan 05 '19 at 10:53
  • It does seem like the wick might cause to much wax to heat up a lot more than it needs to keep burning. Otherwise, it must be the consistency of the wax, having too low a melting point. – Joachim Jan 05 '19 at 10:56
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    I have little to no experience with candles but agree with @Joachim, you shouldn't left! However from the pattern and my past experience, I guess the wax was melting inside the candle without enough heat to melt the surrounding but at some point finally the wall can't withstand the heat and melts then there's a flow of wax. (This was what happened to mine). – user174174 Jan 05 '19 at 12:26
  • @Joachim it was meant to be a Yahrzeit candle. Could it also have had to do with it not having a proper container? – Gregorio Litenstein Jan 05 '19 at 14:39
  • I doubt it, as a container should not keep a candle together. You write the candle looked 'pretty ok': can you expand on that? Was it already soft to begin with? – Joachim Jan 05 '19 at 18:21
  • Also please provide more details such as room temperature, original candle shape, advertised melting point of the wax, brand of the components (wax, sterate acid, colors and fragrances), wick thickness and material. Almost any of these can affect burning time. Is there an unusual amount of soot above or around the candle which might indicate a hotter than normal burn? If the wax was already harder than your usual finished products, why did you add the acid and how much did you add? – Henry Taylor Jan 05 '19 at 22:09
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    Check out this link which suggests that stearic acid can adversely affect paraffin melting point in low percentage by weight doses. – Henry Taylor Jan 05 '19 at 22:51
  • @Joachim It was a cylinder; not particularly soft at all, although I did notice some irregularities like some color appeared to have precipitated to the bottom of the mould (not too much but the very top of the candle/bottom of the mould appeared to have some color nor completely mixed). – Gregorio Litenstein Jan 05 '19 at 23:48
  • @HenryTaylor room temp must have been around 27°C, brand no idea since these guys are 99% probably resellers. Wick was braided cotton 2mm. Soot looked like the normal amount one would expect. Material sellers recommend adding 10% stearate by weight, which is what I did. – Gregorio Litenstein Jan 05 '19 at 23:48
  • Leaving a candle unattended in a sensible location and container seems fine to me, but not one from a new batch made to an untested (by you) recipe and wick combination. BTW, how long before lighting it did you make it? The wax may have still been a little soft if you rushed it – Chris H Jan 08 '19 at 10:30
  • It had a little bit over 24 hours after the last pour before I lit it. Another (smaller, about half the size) candle made with the same recipe (save for coloring and probably it had less scent also), but with a thinner wick burnt for roughly 24 hours with no problem ‍♂️ – Gregorio Litenstein Jan 09 '19 at 11:18
  • What kind of colourant did you use? And what did you use to scent it? Apart from structural weakness due to its size, these are apparently the only variables and have likely influenced the consistency. – Joachim Feb 05 '20 at 15:07
  • @Joachim it was powdered color; not entirely sure what kind; mixed a seemingly (not sure if actually) fluorescent yellow with some blue. I'm pretty sure it was the thicker wick that was to blame. – Gregorio Litenstein Mar 05 '20 at 10:33

3 Answers3

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You did not do anything wrong, except leave a candle burning for hours unattended. Candles melt when burning, and five hours is not a short time in a regular candles life.

rebusB
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    But that's not the point of the question: the OP is asking for a reason the wax has not evaporated and burned away, but just melted and streamed away. – Joachim May 11 '20 at 23:07
  • Where? The question specifically said the candle "burned (or melted) way too quickly" Nothing about evaporating. I guess it is hinted at in some of the comments, but never stated. – rebusB May 12 '20 at 19:44
  • The OP asks "what might be possible causes for this?" after showing the consequences of burning this candle in the image. The "way too quickly" refers to that very same effect of the wax just streaming away (which I think is reason enough to assume it didn't combust properly). Evaporation is part of that process but, indeed, not mentioned by the author. – Joachim May 12 '20 at 21:01
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Commercial candles normally have a higher melting temperature wax on the outer surface. This retains a pool of low temperature wax to be drawn up the wick by capillary action.

blacksmith37
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It seems the wick was to blame.

Apart from the consistency of the wax, the wick needs to be able to 'guide' enough of the wax towards the flame. If too much wax melts before it can reach the flame to properly combust, the wax will just run off. So my guess is the capillarity of the wick was too low.
You mention a smaller candle, about half the size of the one depicted, was burning properly for 24 hours on a smaller wick, so try increasing the diameter slightly, and see if that works. What's important, I think, is not the size necessarily, but the diameter of the candle that's exposed to the flame.

Joachim
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