Candle-making has its own vocabulary just like any other craft. Getting familiar with candle terminology will help you tackle production challenges and address them more efficiently.

Burning a candle for four hours, putting it off, letting it fully cool, and burning it again for four hours and repeating until the candle ends. A burn cycle is an essential part of performing candle testing.

What candle makers refer to as CT is how the candle smells before it's lit.

A candle that is poured into a container, jar, or vessel as opposed to free-standing candles such as votive and pillar candles.

The time needed for a candle to cure and establish a good cold and hot throw. Curing time may vary depending on the candle wax and the fragrance oil used. Soy, coconut, and other natural wax blends require 1-2 weeks of curing time for the wax to solidify and for the fragrance to be fully bound with the wax resulting in a better scent throw. 

Flickering
A flickering wick is a wick that dances. That happens when the Oxygen or wax supply gets disrupted. The most common cause of flickering is wind draft. Candle wicks also flicker when there are impurities in the wax or when too many additives are added.

The percentage of fragrance oil that is added to the wax. We recommend using 7.5-8% with most of our fragrances, but you can add up to 10%. 

The melted wax around the wick when the candle is lit. During testing, a candle should achieve a full melt pool on the second or third burn, meaning that the melted wax should then reach the edges of the container. If by the third burn a full melt pool is not achieved, that will result in tunneling and eventually a dead wick. Full melt pools are not recommended from the first burn. That might mean that the wick is too large and you need to wick it down.

Refers to carbon buildup during and after a candle is burnt. It looks like a mushroom on top of the wick.

The temperature at which the wax and fragrance get poured into the container. Depending on the wax used pouring temperature may vary from 150 - 190 degrees.

A candle with sinkholes might need a second pour of wax to get rid of sinkholes and to achieve smoother tops. This is usually needed with soy wax. 

Holes that are caused by air pockets in a finished candle. This is very common with soy waxes and is treated by a second pour or a heat gun.

Smooth Tops
Refers to the top of the wax in a container. Smooth tops give the candle a presentable look and help achieve an even burn.

Soot
Black smoke that comes out of a burning wick. It is usually a sign that the candle is not properly wicked.

The excess fragrance appears as spots of wet liquid on top of a candle. This is usually caused when too much fragrance load is used and the wax could not hold it, or when the fragrance did not bind well with the wax.

When a candle does not achieve a full melt pool, this will result in the candle burning deeper into the wax rather than burning evenly across the container. Tunneling will cause the wick to drown in the wax and eventually die. Using a bigger wick will most likely help avoid tunneling. If not then this is a sign that there might be an issue with either the wax, the wick, or an additive that is preventing the wick from performing well.

Vessel
A container that holds the wax such as a glass jar.

Also referred to as wax melts, is scented wax that releases fragrance into a room using a wax warmer.

Wet Spots
Air pockets between the wax and the container wall. They appear like wet liquid is trapped, but it's not wet. This is very common and does not affect the performance of a candle. It only appears when using clear glass for the candles.
Wicking
The process of choosing the right wick for a candle.