craftsbychris Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 How can I tell if a teacup will hold up, for making candles in it? I found nice teacups with matching saucers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I don't have your answer, but I have wanted to do this too. I just adore this idea.The only thought I've cemented in my brain is to make sure the neck of the wick tab is as tall as it can be so the flame goes out before it gets to the bottom. Teacups narrow so much at the bottom, and that's where my concern has been. If you make some I'd love to see the finished results! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 I have a set of poinsettia tea cups and saucers that I poured red colored wax fragranced with Apple Jack Peel. They are about 4 years old now and they still smell and look great and I put them out for decorative purposes only. I made candles in heavy mugs and those worked just fine and sold pretty good. I look for containers that are stable and not easily tipped over but mostly if they are heavy enough to handle the heat. You could drop a votive holder down in the cup and pour over it maybe? I wouldn't trust something that hasn't been designed for that purpose but I'm seeing a lot of different containers in the stores these days (flower pots ect). HTHSteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehatch1 Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I've been working on soy teacup candles for the last couple of months; GB 444 wax with CSN wicks.I pour my first batch, then when they burn down, reuse the cups to make more testers. Some of my teacups have been through 4 or 5 candles and no breaks or problems! My only issue is finding the right wick, since many of them taper towards the bottom. My 4-inch diameter ones are a pain in the butt. Double-wicking with CSN 12s gets a perfect melt pool at the beginning, but seems to make them burn way too hot at the end, while a single wick (CSN 26) doesn't clean the sides at the top. If anyone has any ideas to fix this, I would appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I've been working on soy teacup candles for the last couple of months; GB 444 wax with CSN wicks.I pour my first batch, then when they burn down, reuse the cups to make more testers. Some of my teacups have been through 4 or 5 candles and no breaks or problems! My only issue is finding the right wick, since many of them taper towards the bottom. My 4-inch diameter ones are a pain in the butt. Double-wicking with CSN 12s gets a perfect melt pool at the beginning, but seems to make them burn way too hot at the end, while a single wick (CSN 26) doesn't clean the sides at the top. If anyone has any ideas to fix this, I would appreciate it.Wide vessels are hard to wick, esp when they taper toward the bottom. When i wick a 4" wide 3" deep cast iron with a very minor taper i use two CD6. Two CD12 would be way too hot, even at the beginning. Plus, it would burn really fast. i wick my stoneware similarly since ceramics hold heat very well and don't seem to need as much wick as glass or tin.The general guideline i follow is to wick for the last 1/3 of the candle. Not the top 2/3. Vintage tea cups can be made of different materials, so thermal properties, including thermal stresses that you can't see right away can become an issue later. I work with ceramic material (stoneware mostly), and have seen how imperfections from the start of the casting process can become more visible over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehatch1 Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Thanks for your advice! It's been hard getting any information out of anyone so far, but after spending countless dollars on different wicks, fragrance oils, etc, I needed some help. I'm test burning one of my 4-inch teacups today; I wicked with two CSN 7s and the results are MUCH better than expected! My melt pool is actually better than it was with the larger wicks. This is about 2 hours in. Fingers crossed for when I get to the bottom half! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Looks good so far . You will see some changes about half way down the candle. I don't worry about FMP at the top of those odd shape containers. The bottom is what counts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonstar Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Im curious to hear what your results have been on the teacups. I found teacups to be very challenging to wick due to the tapering. Have you found any good results ? Your using 464 ??? Have you ever tried the ECO or CD wicks ... Hope all is well as I haven't seen you post for quite some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisS Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 The liability on using things like this always scares me off. There's no way to demonstrate I'm meeting the ATSM standards for glassware without the manufacturer's certs or having the testing done myself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 5 hours ago, Moonstar said: Im curious to hear what your results have been on the teacups. I found teacups to be very challenging to wick due to the tapering. Have you found any good results ? Your using 464 ??? Have you ever tried the ECO or CD wicks ... Hope all is well as I haven't seen you post for quite some time. when I wick for tapering containers I always wick for the middle most diameter, because it'll be wicked too small for the top, but too big for the bottom, this way by the time it's gets to the end it will melt off the remaining top wax to consume, so the bottom part doesn't get too hot. This is what works for me... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonstar Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Makes perfect sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Black Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 6 hours ago, KrisS said: The liability on using things like this always scares me off. There's no way to demonstrate I'm meeting the ATSM standards for glassware without the manufacturer's certs or having the testing done myself. But its not glassware, more ceramics. Would this still fall under those guidlines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehatch1 Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Hi everyone, I am sorry for not having posted in a long time. It's been quite busy and we've just moved from Cali to Arizona; I am just now setting up all of my candle making supplies once again. As for the teacup candles, I had success with double wicking the CSN 7s, and CSN 9s for some fragrances. However, I just ordered some ECO wicks to play around with - I'll probably start trying those out in jelly jars before the teacups. I originally started with ECOs, but the first fragrance I tried with them smelled burned, so I moved on to CSNs. But it could have been the fragrance... so now I'll experiment and find out! I really like the way they look, and they didn't seem to mushroom quite like the CSNs do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisS Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 6 hours ago, Clear Black said: But its not glassware, more ceramics. Would this still fall under those guidlines? That's a question for an attorney and your product liability insurer. However, keep in mind that many court cases are tried by a jury pool lacking in education and common sense. Whether or not it *does* apply isn't as important as how convincing the opposing attorney is in assurances that it should apply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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