littlebrownbug

I live in South Central Nebraska and we have 3 candle manufacturers in our little town of 5600 people and all 3 of us have different top 10 sellers. Ours for Spring/Summer are: 1. Sweet Pea 2. Dreamsicle 3. China Rain 4. Fresh Linen 5. Lilac 6. Black Cherry 7. Hot Baked Apple Pie 8. Red Hot Cinnamon 9. Blueberry Patch 10. Juniper Breeze Our top 10 for Fall/Winter are: 1. Hot Baked Apple Pie 2. Mulberry 3. Red Hot Cinnamon 4. Blueberry Patch 5. Cinnamon Buns 6. Vanilla 7. Holiday Memories 8. Victorian Christmas 9. Candy Cane 10. Pumpkin Pie Spice Hope that this helps some....I kind of like this idea and I don't think it has to represent the State you are in.....only your top 10. Mike

Hmmmmm......what kind of containers.....there are lots of different kinds,then perhaps someone could help you more with your request. Mike

Hi Sydnee, I'm guessing that those black puffs are soot coming from your wicks. Not knowing what kind of wax you are using and the amount of fragrance oils per pound of wax you are using and the wicks you are using it is hard to give any solid advice. I would guess that it is a combination of to much fragrance oil and the wrong wick size. I'm sure there are others on the board here that can give you better and more definative answers than I can. Hopefully they will post some good advice for you.....they always do..... Mike

When test burning container candles of any kind,how many of you test the temp. of the melt pool,the flame temp. and the temp. of the container itself. The latter could be important if your jars end up cracking or breaking while testing. This could help deterimine your wick size too. To hot....smaller wick,not hot enough....bigger wick.....seems logical to me,how about others on this board? I have started to test those temps. with my trusty IR temp. gun....I really like that......hmmmmm....maybe that's why I started testing those temps. I like to play....smiles. Mike

It seems to me that the cure time for palm containers depends on who you buy your wax from. I've been told by one company that 12 hrs. is a good cure time before testing.I have had another company tell me that 48 hours is their recommended cure time...so you see,they don't really seem to know what's best for cure time yet. I do know that with palm wax,the longer it sets the harder it gets. Your initial burn tests might be really good,but,as you approach the middle of the candle you might not be getting as good a result as the first time or two(that's because the wax has had time to harden up by the time you get to the middle of your container).....hence the term....test test test and test again. Mike

There is a difference between melt points and flash points...the latter usually being a much higher temp. and can cause a flash fire. The melt point is the temp. that once reached begins to melt the wax you are using,and the pouring temp. is the temp. that you pour your wax at....Hope this helps you some..... Mike

Not sure about palm stearic being the same as crystalized wax but I am willing to bet that it is very close if not the same thing. Yes you can add it to soy to harden it for shipping purposes......HTH Mike

Exactly what I thought to Stella....it must be the industry's stock answer....I seem to hear it alot... Mike

If you have heard of Bittersweet Candles they also have a soy/paraffin blend....their's is 85% paraffin and 15% soy and it's a very good candle. I have used them and they are a good candle....I just didn't want to join their MLM part is all so I didn't go far with them....smiles Mike

Hi Becky, Thanks for the post. It's quite possible like you say that my fo's are the problem. However,I used the CSN16 and got a great hot throw using CS's Black Cherry(that one is awesome) and six drops of burgandy,it just isn 't big enough of a wick I think to get a really good melt pool.My only other option and the one I think is best is to double wick em. I do have some new wicks from Wick It that hold lots of promise....we shall see. I will also try those wicks in some Strahl and Pitsch 487 palm derived wax.They are the ones that recommended that I try the wicks from Wick It as they work really well in their SP 487 wax....again,we shall see. I am hoping to find several really good palm waxes. If none stand out then I can use them all comfortably and not worry about the quality so much. Mike

Hi Henry, CS told me that they thought it was the nature of the wax....kind of like wet spots in soy candles....I may just have to live with it I guess. I really like natural wax candles but maybe my time has come to try paraffin candles too. Mike

Thanks for your responses....some definate alternatives to soot seeping into the melt pool. However, I am now burning that candle as we speak and there is definately black wisps of something floating in the wax. So,I can't rule out the soot problem either. On the other hand,if you used a wickless candle and had the same problem then it could be what the Candle Science folks told me and that is that it is the nature of natural waxes including soy as I guess it happens there also. If it is the nature of a natural wax candle then I can live with it and if it's not then I need to try different wicks and try to lick the soot problem or not put as much color in them or fragrance oils as well. Mike

P.S. to my last post here. I forgot to tell you all how much fragrance oils I am using....so here goes: I am using mostly NG fo's so unless otherwised mentioned that is what I am using. Fresh Linen (NG)....very strong fragrance....3/4 of an ounce per pound of wax....no coloring of the wax for this one. Blueberry Patch.....Very good one from BCN...1 ounce per pound of wax and 6 drops of dark blue liquid candle dye from CS. Sweet Pea (NG).... very pleasant....1 ounce per pound of wax...1 drop of red liquid candle dye also from CS All the rest have been made with one ounce of fo per pound of wax and a single wick and those just tunnel but don't have that ring around it at all....go figure. Mike

Hey Stella and Judy, I finally figured out how to put photos on here using my wonderful Mac. They are posted in the Gallery.....let me know what you think. Mike

Judy thinks this is from soot bleeding into the wax and I don't see any reason to doubt her call on this....anyone else have any other suggestions?? Mike

Hi Judy....I am using the Candle Science CSN9 double wicked. I think it's the smallest wick they have specifically designed for their palm wax by Wedo of Germany. Would you have any other suggestions. I ordered some other wicks designed for palm wax from Wick It. Hopefully I can get some to work from them....Strahl and Pitsch recommend them for their "palm derived" waxes like their 487......might be used in Mia Bellas to but not real sure on that. So far I believe that for palm wax you should double wick them as that does create a clean burn all the way to the bottom. I have found so far that if you use just a single wick....it does not burn well but tunnels very well and that was using mostly the CSN16 wick from CS and that was the largest one they had designed specifically for palm wax. Mike

Thanks for the info. Stella. Now my next question is: How would I get my pictures on here so that you might be able to see them? Mike

Hi Stella, I have no residue on the inside of the jar. It has burned clean all the way around the edge of the jar and there is no black or any other color on the inside of my jars. I do have photos and I also have a Mac.....which means I don't really know how to load them up and send them to you.....got any pointers? The folks at CS told me that they think that that is just the nature of palm wax and that it does also happen in soy candles as well......never happened in any of my soy candles.....boy,now I am so confuddled I don't know what to think. Mike

P.S. I have not had a single wet spot with the palm wax either....and my hot throw is much better than with soy wax and using less fragrance oils as well....now that makes me happy....smiles Mike

In using the CS frosted palm wax I have noticed some rattling in the jars....must be a little bit loose maybe. But the biggest thing for me is what I call "ring around the collar." When my candle is done burning it leaves a tell tale,usually darker ring that just happens to match the depth of my melt pool. I made one totally white candle and it looks like a white shirt with a dirt ring around the the entire jar and as deep as my melt pool was.....anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing this? It's the same way with my colored candles as well. I have been heating them up to 195 and pouring them at that also. I even pre-heat my jars to 140 just like the good folks at CS told me to do.....I'm such a good boy....some of the time anyway. I thought I was maybe scorching the wax becasue that's kind of what it looks like in the white candle. Any helpful comments sure would be appreciated! Mike

Hi everyone, Our little company is making the switch to palm wax primarily because we couldn't get a really good hot throw with the soy wax we were using. We will continue to work with soy trying to find ways to make a really good hot throw. In the meantime we have been testing CS frosted palm wax and I really like it. We use a 10 and a 16oz. apothecary jar and for the palm wax I would definately double wick it.....unless of course one could find a really good single wick. We use the CS csn 9 wick and so far that has been really good. We get a really good melt pool in about 2 hrs or so and they smell great while burning. The CSN 9 (double wicked) provides a clean even burn and that is all the way to the bottom of the jar....finally!! Of course one wouldn't want to go all the way to the bottom of the jar.....glass might maybe break then. We will be testing wicks from Wick It and hopefully those will have good results also. They are supposed to work really good with SP 487?? wax as well. Well,these are just some of my insignifigant thoughts for this morning....hope this helps some one anyway. Mike

I have been following this thread about candlewealth and find it quite interesting. Some aggressive posts and some very defensive postings as well. I too have been involved in MLM from time to time and it no different really from lots of other businesses out there(the guy or gal at the top of the heap still makes most of the money irregardless of the nature of the marketing scheme it uses.) However,there was an article that I read online that may answer the question about ethics involved with some MLM companies and it has to do with teaching it at Harvard and Yale. I hope this all fits in here as it is quite lengthy....here goes: Inside Network Marketing Why Mainstream Academia Will Never Accept Network Marketing By Leonard W. Clements © 2000 Okay, so we all know by now that network marketing was never actually taught at Harvard, or Yale, or Stanford, or (pick your rumored college or university). Will it ever be? There are some MLM authorities who would have you believe there are colleges and universities all over the nation preparing to ad, or are at least opening their mind to adding, MLM as an official part of their curriculum. They haven't, and they won't. Why not? The reason can be summed up in one simple, logical, oh so obvious answer: No college is ever going to educate their students as to how to earn a living at a profession that does not require a college education! Think about it for a second (that's as long as it should take to make sense). Colleges and Universities exist on tuition fees, and various other profits derived from their student body. The men and women who run colleges and universities tend to be pretty bright people. They're not likely going to just decide one day "Hey, let's teach these kids how to earn a living without paying us $30,000 a semester!" Network marketing is a "simple" business, right? Isn't that what we were all told when we first checked out MLM? It "levels the playing field," it allows the "average American to succeed in business," it provides an opportunity for "Sally Homemaker and Joe Toetruck" to be entrepreneurs. We just watch what our successful upline does and simply duplicate the process. I'm not saying it's easy, but it is, in fact, quite simple. So, if we can acquire all the knowledge we need to be successful in this business from a couple of "Big Al" books, and a few training calls from our upline (which is really all it might take), then why would anyone spend over $100,000 and four years of their life studying it? Even if MLM were only offered as a requisite class for a more standard Marketing degree (as opposed to their one day being a degree in MLM), it would still expose the concept, in a positive light, to the entire student body (not necessarily just those who take the class). And once the concept of MLM has been explained to the class itself, it's not that hard to imagine a room for of 19 year olds with little light bulbs above their heads with dollar signs swirling around them. I mean, imagine the kind of ad co-op you could put together with that 100 grand you're about to spend on tuition and books! Even if, somehow, a few schools do ever offer MLM as part of their curriculum, it will only be for as long as it takes for the entire campus to be blanketed with "Lose 30 pounds in 30 days" fliers, the Dean's car windshield to crack from the weight of all the "Earn $10,000 in 90 days!" cards, and the first dozen restraining orders to be slapped on overly aggressive fellow students. And I'm only slightly exaggerating. More realistically, they're teach it until the first student succeeds at it and drops out. The only way any school could actually avoid a potential loss of revenue, or perhaps even profit by offering classes in MLM, is if the institution itself were to endorse, promote and build a downline in a particular MLM company. It's conceivable they could eventually generate more income from overrides than from tuition fees. It also opens a Pandora's Box full of cans of worms. For example, can you even imagine the wheelin' an' dealin' that would go on behind close doors between MLM companies and campus administration?. In spite of how ridiculous this idea is, and the number of reasons why it would be a fiasco, I have no doubt that someday, somebody, somewhere, is going to try it. There have been some recent, highly publicized developments related to this issue that would seem to suggest my theory is already proving false. After all, there is a "Certificate" course now being taught at the University of Chicago. A college level text book on direct selling now exists. Representatives from various educational institutions recently met at the University of Texas to discuss, among other things, the idea of embracing direct selling as a part of their curriculum. First of all, network marketing is a subset of direct selling. It is quite possible to have a discussion about direct selling and not even mention MLM. Even if classes in direct selling emerge there's no guarantee that MLM will be more than a side bar. What's more, one very real possibility is that such a course, if one were to be developed, would focus primarily on starting and running an MLM company (which is the last thing this opportunity saturated industry needs), rather than attracting and educating more distributors (which this industry desperately needs). And just because a college level text book exists doesn't mean any college is ever going to use it. Currently, only the Utah Valley State College has adopted the text book, and only in preparation for an MLM course that may be offered later in the year. What's more, I strongly suspect this course will focus on developing MLM company employees, not distributors (it's no coincidence that the one college preparing to adopt this MLM textbook is right in the middle of the highest concentration of MLM corporate offices in the country). Finally, any laser printer can produce a "certificate." This document only verifies you've completed the course. It does not mean the course has been academically "certified" or that the course is accredited (counts towards graduation credits). Not only is the MLM training conducted at the University of Chicago not an accredited college course, it is a for profit business venture developed by an individual, which has been primarily attended by existing MLM distributors from around the country, not U of C students. By the way, I'm not at all implying there is anything wrong with this course (I've heard good things about it), or the text book (which is an excellent resource). All I'm saying is, they don't offer any evidence that colleges and universities are becoming infatuated with MLM. Personally, I wish the "powers that be" in this industry would spend less time and effort pursuing this academic dead end and focus on enticing the media over to our side (state and federal regulatory agencies are already being lobbied, and there has been progress made there in recent years). The media has great power (excuse my pointing out the absurdly obvious). You could try to persuade your friend to open their mind to network marketing until you're too old to speak and get no where, but if Larry King (or, God forbid, the Oprah!) were to suggest they check it out and you'd have to rent the Rose Bowl for your next opportunity meeting! Yes, it's true that most media lives and dies by advertising dollars and MLM is an industry that does not typically advertise in the mainstream media. But this little catch-22 has already been solved by some inventive MLMers with the cooperation of adventurous, open minded media people. For example, one radio station owner could have charged a top distributor for a nutritional company $12,000 per month for one hour of weekday air time to promote his products. Instead, he agreed to charge nothing for the air time and enroll as a distributor with the condition that all sales volume generated from the show would go in his downline. Now, two-and-a-half years later, there are over 100 other radio stations in his downline and he's earning over five times what he would have charged for the air time. Imagine if somebody could pull this off with television stations all over the country. Getting back to the original subject, we should all understand and appreciate that the reason colleges and universities have not accepted MLM (they've had 54 years now, you know) is not because it's not a worthy subject, or that it's not considered a legitimate form of business, or any other reason due to disrespect, it's simply because there's no demand for it. The industry of network marketing, believe it or not, is still a relatively small, undiscovered business alternative (mainly due to the fact that most of the 7 million distributors in this country are all pitching it to each other). And, once again, the business is just too simple to warrant a college level education based on it, or even one college level class. Furthermore, even if there was a sufficient demand, these educational institutions will be too afraid to expose their student body to it. Not because it's wrong or bad, but because it's too good! If offers to many powerful benefits and advantages over those careers that demand an expensive, four to eight year education. So, no, MLM is not taught at Harvard or Yale, nor will it ever be – and it's something we should brag about!

I just started testing on the CS frosted palm wax and really like it. So far all the fragrances that we have tried have worked very well and those are: 1. Black Cherry from CS....www.candlescience.com 2. Fresh Linen from NG..... www.naturesgardencandles.com 3. Blueberry Patch from BC.... www.bittercreekcandle.com 4. Sweet Pea from NG.... www.naturesgardencandles.com 5. China Rain from NG....www.naturesgardencandles.com Mike

Hello everyone, My name is Mike and I am new to making candles of any kind and I have chosen to make soy candles. In some of my testing I have found wet spots in my containers and when I burn them the scent throw is real low.....could you all help me figure this out? I am using EL Millenium wax.....which so far I do like other than the above mentioned problems. I may try a different wax if need be but want to try everything I can first with this wax. Also,what is a good wick size for an 8 oz. apothecary jar or an 8 oz. jelly jar....I really do appreciate your help. BW, Mike P.S. I have preheated my jars even and I still have the wet spot problem....heated in the MW for 30 seconds.....maybe longer is needed????