Logging notes, photos, and burn-test results for a candle batch
Capture how a batch actually went — step notes and photos as you pour — then let the burn test, not a star rating, decide whether the candle passed.
As you run a candle batch, you can jot down what's happening and snap photos along the way, then note how it turned out at the end. All of it is optional — but it turns your batch history into a real record you can learn from. One thing works differently from resin, though: a candle's real verdict doesn't come from a star rating. It comes from the burn test.
Notes and photos along the way
Each step of a batch has an optional capture panel, headed NOTES AS YOU GO (OPTIONAL). Type observations, surprises, or things to remember into the box, and tap Add photo to attach a shot of that step. On a phone the photo picker opens the rear camera, so it's easy to shoot the melt, the pour, or the top as it sets. Once a photo is attached the button reads Change photo if you want to reshoot.
When you finish the batch, a COMPLETION NOTES (OPTIONAL) box lets you write down how it turned out overall — "How did it turn out? Anything to remember next time…" — and add one more photo for the whole run. Step photos and the completion photo are saved to the batch, so they're all there when you look back at it later.
The self-check at completion
Before you complete a candle batch, there's a single box to tick: I checked the batch looks right — color, scent, and fill. It's a quick, honest gut-check that the candle came out the way you expected. You do need to tick it before you can complete the batch — until it's ticked, the Complete button stays disabled and a hint reminds you to confirm the batch looks right.
This is deliberately lighter than the resin flow. Resin pours get a multi-part quality rating; a candle just gets this one look-right confirmation, because a candle you just poured hasn't proven anything yet. Whether the wax, wick, and fragrance actually work together only shows up once the candle burns.
The verdict is the burn test
For a candle, the burn test is where "did this work?" gets answered. After you complete a batch, the batch page shows a Run the burn test action that opens the burn-test surface for that batch. There you log the burn cycles, then confirm the winning wick — and that's what validates the recipe and sets its active wick.
So the flow to keep in mind is:
| Stage | What you capture |
|---|---|
| During the pour | Step notes and photos, as they happen. |
| At completion | A completion note, an overall photo, and the quick looks-right self-check. |
| After it cures | The burn test — the real pass/fail for the candle. |
A batch can look perfect at completion and still fail its burn test, or look unremarkable and burn beautifully. That's why the burn test, not a rating at pour time, is the candle's verdict.
Give it time to cure first. A candle needs to cure before it burns and throws scent the way it will on the shelf — run the burn test after the cure, not the day you pour. See curing your candles.
Where to go next
- Running a candle batch — starting a batch and working through its steps.
- Burn-test log — logging cycles and confirming the winning wick.