pexancrafts

I have been making candles for awhile now and selling them (albeit slowly) but now with the summer months in Texas, it is really not good for me to take them to the local flea market. I still want to be able to take something there, however, so I've been looking into start making body products. I've narrowed it down to M&P soaps (can't work with lye with my toddler around), bath bombs, foaming bath truffles, bath salts, and sugar/salt scrubs. But, I don't know which I should start with! I know I can't start with all of them at once, so I guess I am looking for some advice on which product line would be the most likely to sell well to start off with?

I made a batch of candles today and so far there are no cracks or sink holes. I heated it to around 180, added FO at 9%, cooled to around 150 and poured directly from the presto pot. Also, I can't tell when my wax was made as my supplier puts it into their own bags and it doesn't have that info on it, but so far it seems that I was just pouring too hot. Thanks for everyone's help!

I stir with a spoon in a circular motion, so I wouldn't think it would introduce air that way. When I'm waiting for it to cool, I'll stir every time I check the temperature. What are things you look for to tell if it's going to crack or not?

Alright! ?Thanks for that info. I had been pouring at the 130 to 140 mark like I had seen, but I guess you can't follow the directions on wax sometimes lol

I wasn't really sure what the amount was. According to Lonestar Candle Supply it is 7 to 9%, however Candlescience says up to 12% and both are for 464, so I figured I'd try 10. I couldn't find anything that was conclusive. No, I don't have the oven on. I have the candles on a tray in the oven with the door cracked.

Thanks, Trappeur. I'll try adding the oil at a higher temperature to see if maybe that'll help with some scents hot throw. Certain scents I have are really strong with me adding it at 150. I had put the candles on a cookie sheet and put them in the pan, but I do agree it is still pretty unstable. I live in a mobile home and sometimes my husband's heavy walking will disturb the wick bars and displace them. The draft is from the air vent on the floor. Would putting the box over them still help? Thank you for your advice! I'll be trying to make some more either tomorrow night or this weekend, so I'll let ya'll know how it turns out and hope I don't have a bad batch of wax!

Thanks, Goldie. I haven't had too much of an issue with hot throw with them, at least for scents that I already had a good hot throw. Still testing other scents to figure out if it'll work in soy or not. But the ones I know give a good hot throw still do. So I hope it's not the wax, but my next batch I'll try to pour hotter and see what happens. Would using a spigot on a presto pot be too fast, or would it depend on how far I opened it?

Oh, one more detail I forgot to add. I have been using a Presto pot with a spigot to pour the candles instead of an actual pouring pot. (Can melt more wax that way.) I started with a pouring pot but then switched to a presto since it held more and it was easier to control the pour.

I am sort of new to candle making, so please bear with me. I have been using Golden Brands 464 wax since I started making candles. At first, the tops were great! No cracks, just small little pits near the wicks. Not a big deal to me. But that was only the first few batches when I was testing. Now, in all the batches I'm making, the majority of the candles will have huge cracks and the parts that are not cracked are cottage cheese looking. But the kicker is that some of them turn out perfect! My FO load is 10%, the max recommended for this wax. Dye does not matter because it happens to both undyed and dyed candles. I place the candles in the oven to make sure they do not get cooled too fast as my AC vent in the kitchen would blow right on them on the table. There are no bubbles in the wax when I pour it. The only consistency I see is in jar size. I have 3 different size jars I pour into when making a batch. The smallest ones will more than likely come out perfect, the mediums more likely come out bad, and the larges always come out bad. I've been pouring around 130 to 140. However, when I was first making candles, I didn't pay attention to the pour temp. I added fragrance oil between 150 and 180, stirred, and poured right away. Now I heat to around 150, add fragrance oil and stir. I was getting a better hot throw by adding the fragrance oil at a cooler temperature. Any tips to what could be causing these huge cracks? Also, any tips to perhaps fix the candles I've already made? I don't want to waste all that wax and fragrance oil. I know soy is prone to shrinkage and will produce SMALL pits and cracks, but it should not create cracks that you can see half way down the candle! Thanks in advance!