Hot Throw, Wicks and Burn Times
I've been experimenting a lot with different types and sizes of wicks and noticed that slightly over-wicking leads to a better hot throw. For reference, I use soy-coconut 454 and soy-palm scorpion wax from Virginia Candle and generally do 9% FO.
I was having issues with mushrooming AND wax clinging to the sides so I got some Premier and HPSP wicks to try. They noticeably increase the burn time by a lot, I assume because they burn cooler. Instead of my tester 3oz size lasting around 6 hours, they last closer to 15 hours. However, the hot throw is also noticeably less after the first burn.
Is this because the fragrance oil evaporates from the slower draining pool? Does anyone else actually intentionally slightly over-wick to get a nice strong hot throw? Would increasing the FO % in the bottom half of the candle help at all?