Curing your candles and the cure clock
Why candles need to cure before you burn test them, how Hi Ellie starts the cure clock when you complete a batch, and how the dashboard shows what's curing and what's ready.
A freshly poured candle isn't finished. The wax needs time to set up and the fragrance needs time to bind before the candle burns and throws scent the way it will on the shelf. That waiting period is the cure, and Hi Ellie tracks it for you so you know when a batch is ready to test.
Why cure before you burn test
If you light a candle the day you pour it, you're testing wax that hasn't settled and fragrance that hasn't fully bound. The burn will read worse than the candle really is — weak cold throw, a wick that behaves differently once the wax is cured, results you can't trust.
Curing gives the candle time to reach its finished state so your burn test measures the real thing. It's the same reason resin makers wait for a full cure before demolding: a rushed test tells you about a candle that no longer exists a week later.
The cure clock starts when you complete a batch
Hi Ellie doesn't start counting while you're still pouring. The cure window is set at the moment you complete a batch — an in-progress batch has no cure window yet. When you finish and complete the batch, Hi Ellie stamps the cure clock and works out the date the candle will be ready.
That ready date is the completion time plus the cure window from your recipe. The window comes from the recipe itself — Hi Ellie reads the cure time your wax carries — so different waxes and recipes cure for different lengths. There's no single fixed number: the batch is ready when its own cure window is up.
For how to run and finish a batch in the first place, see Working a candle batch.
Once a batch is completed, its cure window is locked in. Editing the batch afterward won't move the ready date — the cure clock reflects the candle you actually poured.
Curing vs. ready
Hi Ellie derives a batch's live cure state by comparing today's date against the batch's ready date. There are two states you'll see:
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Curing | The ready date is still in the future. Give it more time before you burn test. |
| Ready to demold | The ready date has arrived or passed — the batch has finished curing and is ready to handle and test. |
Because the ready date is a calendar date, the state flips once a day rather than by the minute. A completed batch whose recipe carries no cure window is treated as ready right away.
Seeing it on the dashboard
Your dashboard has a This week's rhythm panel that lists your recent batches and shows each one's live state. A batch that's still curing shows curing; a batch that's finished shows ready to demold. Completed batches that don't map to a cure state show their outcome instead.
At the top of the panel, a short summary counts your batches — how many are completed, how many are in progress, how many are ready to demold, and how many were abandoned. The "ready to demold" count is your at-a-glance answer to "what can I test today?"
If you've poured more than a handful this week, the panel shows your most recent few and notes how many more happened earlier in the week. Before you've logged anything, the panel simply tells you your first pour will show up there.
When a batch is ready
Once a batch reads ready to demold, its cure window is up and you can move it into burn testing with confidence. Head to the burn test log to record how it burns, size your wick, and decide what to adjust.
If a test tells you the candle needs work, that feedback flows back into the recipe — see Refining a candle recipe.
Tips
- Let the clock do the waiting. The whole point of the cure window is to keep you from testing too early. If the dashboard says a batch is still curing, trust it.
- Complete the batch when you actually finish pouring. The cure clock starts at completion, so completing promptly keeps the ready date honest.
- Set a real cure time on your wax. The ready date is only as good as the cure window your recipe carries — a wax with an accurate cure time gives you an accurate ready date. See your candle pantry to check your wax details.