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Mike

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    New York
  • Interests
    Soy candles.

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  1. Yes this thread is very old but I was searching around the site for answers before I asked a bunch of questions that have already been asked. Is it ok to revive an old post or should I start a new one if the one I find is very old?
  2. The recipe I have for 8oz tins makes 3 candles. So I'm going to try the recommended wick and one over and one under. I just got the sample pack of wicks so it'll make things easier for trying that. I also got the salsa jars so I'll be doing the same with those. My problem right now is my basement is packed with antiques and collectibles from my ebay business. Trying to liquidate that and experiment with the candles is proving to be a hassle. Add to that my wife complaining she can't get to her basement pantry or freezer or refrigerator because my candle stuff and leatherworking tools (another hobby but that's a whole other story) are in her way and I'm in a bit of a fix. I think I'm going to have to put everything on hold until I can make some more room. Too bad it's not summer or I'd have a huge garage sale. I think my life was easier before I retired lmao!
  3. I definitely am going to try this. I wondered what to do with the piece of wick that I was cutting off, it seemed like such a waste. I hadn't gotten around to throwing them out and glad I saw this before i did. Thanks OG.
  4. Reading through some old posts to try and learn about re-tabbing wick trimmings and came across this thread. When you re-tab a wick trimming, what tool do you use? Someone said a needle nose pliers but isn't the end supposed to be crimped all the way around the base of the wick to snuff it when it gets to a certain point? Will it snuff correctly if it's crimped like that? Thanks.
  5. Lol! I have to pick a supplier though. I bought 6 each from 2 different places so I guess I'll try them out and pick one I like best before I buy any more. Same with containers but at least there aren't that many choices.
  6. Moonshine, I bought a couple of things the other day and without thinking about it I threw in a couple more fragrances lol. It's like potato chips I hope my lack of space stops me from going overboard.
  7. Thanks OG. That's a great idea about cutting the wicks and getting 3 for one! I never thought of that and didn't want to make my own. I was speaking of this tool that centers the wick for you in the bottom of the container. Not the thing you put on the rim to hold it straight for pouring and cooling. I think I'll try it out. I have sausage fingers and it's hard to see what I'm doing. I may try the bic pen idea too. Hi Ocean!
  8. Also, does anyone use the wick centering tool thing from CandleScience? I was going to get one but I was wondering how well it works for 8 ounce tins. And should I buy the sample pack of wicks or get 100 of each size? I was going to get the sample pack but I'm thinking I'm going to need a lot of wicks for testing so I'm second guessing that.
  9. Great info. And thank you for the compliments. But I'm not naturally organized and my basement shows this. But I am trying to keep track of my testing because if I can't reproduce my results, there's no point in doing the tests. I haven't noticed any sunken areas, but if I turn the candle in certain ways in the light, I can see what looks like what would be called crazing if we were talking about china on the surface of the wax. It doesn't look like it's cracks, it looks like it's on the surface and I can get rid of them if I wipe the surface with a cloth or paper towel. I thought maybe it was caused by my basement being cold like 60-62 F this time of year. Maybe the wax is cooling too fast?
  10. Lol, yea I hear you Moon. But right now I have a tiny space in my basement so it's hard to buy a lot of different things. So I did set up a spreadsheet and I guess I have to add a few things to it. I actually do keep track of fragrance by weight. I started by volume but found out really quick that it's by weight not volume. Although someone at one of the big supply companies I won't name told me different when I called to ask about the plastic measuring cups I bought (they basically melted the plastic and that's how I discovered about containers for the fragrance and about weighing them as opposed to measuring them which my wife couldn't grasp ). But the woman told me to use a teaspoon to measure the fragrance. When I told her I had read it should be weighed she didn't know what I was talking about and sort of acted like I was crazy and she maybe sounded a little annoyed like she was busy and I was bothering her. But I also could be a little over-sensitive. This is what I keep track of: type of wax, type of fragrance, wax weight in pounds, fragrance weight in ounces, container used, wick used, temp wax heated to, temp fragrance added, temp wax poured, air temp during cooling, humidity during cooling and cure time. Does that sound about right in the beginning? Is there anything I should add as I get some experience. Thank you. Mike
  11. Thank you so much for the great advice. It is much appreciated. I do have a lot to learn but it's a lot of fun and sometimes getting there is just as much fun as the destination.
  12. Thank you OG. Would you recommend insurance if I'm not selling them but giving them to friends? I would obviously look at getting insurance if I ever get that far and decide to try and start selling. I started out with 10lbs of Golden Brands 464 Soy wax with ECO 14 wicks in 8 oz candle tins from Candle Science and I just bought another 50 lbs of wax, 120 more tins and 6 - 8 ounce bottle of fragrance from Candlewic (the shipping seemed better). I'm really just starting out like I've only made 9 candles total, gave away 4 and burned 3 myself. I was just heating the wax with direct heat from an electric hot plate (CandleScience should change their video). I just recently realized I needed to make a doube boiler type set up so I bought a 6 quart sauce pan, I'm putting a round cookie cutter in the bottom and putting my pouring pitcher on that with about 2 inches of water above the bottom of the pouring pitcher. I haven't tried that out yet but I'm going to as soon as I can. Also I didn't know about the curing time so my next batch is going to sit about 2 weeks before I burn them or give them away. That kind of stinks because another friend and his wife mentioned they like bayberry so I ordered some of that fragrance and was going to give them a couple of bayberry candles for Christmas. One of the problems I have to overcome is the wax not melting to the edges of the containers. The ones I burned seemed fine but one friend tells me he's getting a hole in the wax where the wick is burning down the center. I think I read somewhere you should let the wax burn to the outside of the container or you can expect that to happen but I'm not sure. Also after they burn a while it looks sort of like cottage cheese. So I'm wondering if that's normal. Funny story, my wife said the beach lined candle I was burning smelled weak. Well not all fragrances are created equal but I didn't know that and made some cranberry marmalade's with and ounce and a half of fragrance to a pound of wax. It was a little stronger than I cared for. But that's what testing is about.
  13. I just joined yesterday and wanted to say hello. Hello! I'm retired a few years and was looking for something new to try. So I bought some soy wax and supplies and made a few candles and it's kind of fun. But I'm really at the hobby phase right now giving the candles I made to friends, but pretty good feedback so far. I'm not too sure I'll ever be able to make them to sell, but I am interested in learning new things so this is my hobby right now. I have learned a few things already reading through some of the posts on the forums here. So I do have one questions. I will do some experimenting with fragrances and wicks and stuff, I'm not really worried about putting some time and money into it and coming up with my own thing. But I was concerned by one comment in particular that I couldn't get out of my head so I have to ask about it. As I said, I'm giving away the candles that I've made to some friends, and my number one concern is not getting anyone hurt. I saw yesterday a post about testing and coming up with a "safe" candle. What exactly is meant by a safe candle? I wish I could remember where I saw the comment, because it may sound out of context here. But is there anything I should look out for safety-wise aside from the obvious don't burn anyone's house down? Thanks to all. Mike
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