As a family, we believe is very important to give back to the community. Since we are so blessed, we have no reason not to. One of the things the girls and I do is help to pack lunches for a homeless shelter every month. That’s what we did this morning.
We packed 50 lunches. Each lunch had a sandwich, a bag of chips, a piece of fruit, a dessert, and a bottle of water. Also, we add a note of encouragement, often made by the kids, to hopefully brighten someone’s day. I love that because we homeschool, Princess Girl is able to help out on days like this. The lessons she learns while helping those less fortunate is just as important, as book learning.
Today was also day #2 of candle testing. And after the standout results from yesterday, I was rather disappointed in how they performed today.
Today, I used one wick made out of a different string material only coated in wax, one wick made out of the same salt solution as yesterday, and I made a wick from the 48hr borax soak, only I twisted two strands together before waxing them.
So, let’s get this party started!
Lighting them up
One hour burn time
2 hrs burn time, after re-lighting the salt wick
two and a half hours burn time – all three wicks are falling over 😦
4 hour burn time. Had to baby them quite a bit the last two hours or so to keep them burning.
I think the pictures speak for themselves. I think the main reason is that the wicks keep falling over. As the wax melts there is not much support for to hold the wick upright. I was hoping that the thicker string wouldn’t fall over as easily. Or the doubled borax string. And since the salt wick did so well yesterday, I was disappointed to see that it did not do that well today. It actually did the worst today.
As I experiment with these and work on them, I am figuring some things out. Like it may depend more on the straightness of the wick more than what it is soaked in. I have a hard time getting the wick to stay in place when I pour in the wax. Yes, I know there are things you can buy to keep the wicks in place, but remember, I’m trying to do this with the minimum possible supplies. And namely things I might have around the house. And so far, I’m not seeing any real difference in how the wicks burn according to smoke rate and/or flame height and/or burn time. As long as the wicks stay upright, they all seem to burn the same.
So, in the next couple of days, I plan to work on the problem some more. I have a couple of ideas, so I’ll keep you updated.
Castle Rock Homestead 