Inside The Scent Factory - Episode 24

In this episode of Inside The Scent Factory we talk about a big problem we had with one of our shipments from a supplier recently meaning that we are going to be delayed in getting our subscription boxes out by a week!

We also talk about wick testing, why it's important and what we are doing to ensure our new candle range is as high quality as it possibly can be.

The Problem

We buy our empty Cosy Pods in bulk, either 16,000 or 32,000 at a time. We ordered some just before Christmas with the expectation that they would be delivered the first week of January, which is what we were told. That didn't happen and they ended up arriving at the end of the second week, which is incredibly frustrating when we rely on these to make our products.

This means that the subscription box has been delayed. However, there's always a positive, and the positive in this case is the realisation that we really do need to look at getting our own pods designed and made for us so we don't face this problem again!

Wick Testing

Wick testing for candles is key to ensure a good quality candle. As you know our candles are made with quality ingredients and are all vegan friendly. We get lots of questions with regards to our candles and one of the most frequently asked is if our candles will tunnel. Tunnelling in a candle occurs when the melt pool of the candle does reach the edges of the container. This can be down to a number of things such as the wick not being the correct size for that particular container or because the candle hasn’t been alight for long enough on the first burn.

The first burn of your candle is important because that will determine what is called the ‘wax memory’. If you light your candle for a very short amount of time and the wax pool doesn’t reach all the way to the edge of the container the next time you light it the wax will then reach the slight ridge formed from the last burn then tunnel down. This will leave you with a ring of unused wax which no one wants in a candle.

We ensure that each fragrance oil is tested with multiple wick combinations to guarantee that the candle burns all the way through as well as having a great scent pool and the best scent throw possible.

We have also been hard at work pouring lots of mini melts for the luxury wax melt gift boxes. A little time lapse of Tamar pouring just two of the 8 scents that feature in these boxes gives you a little look into one aspect of the production you don’t see much.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode. Stay tuned for more Inside The Scent Factory coming soon.