jbrooks

I put my candles in the oven, melt them down, then pour any unwanted wax into a huge bowl lined with parchment paper and sit on counter to cool. Once cooled, you can pop out the whole thing with the parchment paper and dispose of it. Wash and reuse jars.

I agree OldGlory, the only way to know for sure is lots and lots of testing and notes. I was simply suggesting that in some situations it seems like there would be sort of a catchall suggestion (ie- great CT/no HT - probably the wick) etc etc. I wasn't just asking about my particular set of variables so much as a starting reference point for certain issues. Thanks for you input!!!

Okay, sorry for the long topic title! I am still in the testing phase (on and off for roughly one year) and I have a hard time telling which element is giving me an issue when I test. I am mainly trying to start this thread to focus on how you may be able to narrow down problems during the testing phase. I definitely could use some guidance, and I'm sure a quick list would be good for others as well. For instance, if you are using a fragrance oil and the cold throw is great, but you get no hot throw(my current issue)... would you suspect this to be an issue with your wax, your FO, or your wick? I would assume it would be a wicking issue, since there is a good CT, but I'm not sure if I'm thinking about it properly. There are all kinds of issues that show up like this and I assume some of the more seasoned board members generally look to one of the 3 (wax/FO/wick) for certain issues. For us newbies, when it's so hard to tell which element isn't working, it's easy to want to scrap it all and try something totally different across the board. The biggest ones seem to be related to throw - no HT/no CT, good HT/CT but weak on the other, great burn but no throw, etc etc etc, Another biggie seems to be smoking/sooting wicks. I've had so many times I thought a wick was working well, but still had too much smoke! Looking forward to hearing any input, and thanks for reading!

I use a 10 oz jar that is 3" in diameter. I'm testing 4627 and 3022, and I get mine from woodcandlewick. They have a bajillion sizes there but they also offer a good sampler kit to try, that's where I would start! They've been nice so far, but I'm still dabbling and haven't made any decisions. Definitely worth trying out though!

I wish you so much good luck! I've been testing on and off for a little more than a year, and wicking still has me tripped up. You're already doing better than I was, I was all over the place. I tried about 6-8 waxes and I have sample packs of every kind of wick. Finally in the past couple of months I have narrowed down to 2 waxes for testing and have had the best luck with wooden wicks, surprisingly! It's definitely a journey, but you're off to a great start!!!

I also wanted to add to this -and it may just be me- but in my (limited) experience, too much fragrance oil also distorts some/many scents really badly. There are lots of oils that I like at 6-7% but I don't think smell very great closer to 10%. Again, may just be me but wanted to voice that opinion

Do you guys think that it would be wise to buy a masterbuilt that has been used (twice) for actually frying turkey? There's one on my local craigslist for a good price, but I don't know how well you could clean it :/

Is there a specific 'Dirt' f/o that you like? Would love to find one to mix into several scents. I really want a wet mossy fragrance and don't know where to look because SOS gets such mixed reviews!

Thanks for the tip!!!

Do you guys using the rebatch bases find that they sweat or are they pretty sweat resistant?

I have purchased candles with this fragrance from another maker, and they called it Christmas Past, which I thought was pretty evocative of the smell

I am having a smoke problem, but it's because I am testing with 4627. On top of that, I'm testing wooden wicks, so the combination is a nightmare to wick. First burn is usually great, then on subsequent burns as soon as you light the candle, smoke pours out of the wick. It seems like the wood wick really sucks up the wax, because when I go to touch it/trim it after it's been blown out and sitting, the wick is super greasy. Anyone know if adding a small amount of soy (10%) would help this issue? I don't have any straight soy laying around so would have to order some to test. Anyhow, I know this isn't the exact same issue as you are having OP, but it really does seem to all boil down to the wick with smoke. Soot further down in the jar might be a little different, but I think if you light up the wick and it immediately starts smoking, it's definitely the wick.

Now, these are actually 2 different things. Yes, I totally agree that a formula can be copyright protected (I am not sure if they actually are, or if they are just 'owned'). A fragrance or scent cannot. There was recently a Lancome (L'Oreal) lawsuit regarding this exact issue (specifically suing a company for making a knockoff of Tresor, although not keeping that name) and L'Oreal lost. If they can't enforce copyright law in relation to fragrance and win with all of their company money, it is pretty safe to say it is not enforceable under copyright laws. Copyright laws protect an intellectual work that is precise and clearly identifiable. It has been ruled in court (in this particular case) that fragrance is subjective, neither precise nor clearly identifiable. You can google the case to read more legal jabber on the topic, but as it stands, no fragrance in and of itself is going to be copyright protected. Just wanted to clear that up But absolutely, names and logos/likeness are copyright protected and legally actionable.

I have a question about this - I found this same Turk n Surf fryer on craigslist, but it has been used to actually fry a turkey (2 times.) I want to buy it, but would it even be possible to clean it well enough to use for wax? I'm really worried that it wouldn't be able to be cleaned, and I don't want to throw money away with it if it will be unusable. Thanks for any info!

Fragrance/scent can't actually be copyrighted, it's the name that is copyright protected. Just FYI