geekrunner

My UPS guy really knows me well, I used to ship and receive alot of PC parts through eBay, and he knows my special hidey hole for packages. He usually delivers late in afternoon, but that's no big deal since I have to leave for the day job about 11:30. I'm expecting a package from Peaks Friday of Home for the Holidays, Apple Jack n Peel, and Orange, to finish up my Christmas project and my first sale order!

Interesting. I've heard that Palm wax is a harder wax than soy, would that make it preferable to soy?

Great link, thanks!

1.Does your spigot clog? It did once If so, 1. How often does it clog? Just once, when I reheated a solid mass of wax to a low temp, the wax in the spigot did not get hot enough to melt, and it clogged. But once I turned heat up, it then me,ted and unclogged. 2. How long does it take you to 'fix' or remove the clog? Long enough to heat the pot to melt it 3. What materials is it made of? Brass 4. What type of spigot is it - simple faucet, ball valve, etc.? Ball valve 5. On a scale of 1 to 5, how much of a hassle does the clogging cause? 1 3. Have you ever burned your hand while touching the spigot? no 3. What temperatures does your spigot reach? Same as pot, ab 185 4. How long does it take from the time you turn off the pot until the spigot cools off? Don't know 5. Have you had problems with oxidization around your spigot? no HTH!

Most definitely! We went camping last month, and I used some of my firestarters. Had a roaring fire going in less than 10 minutes!

mmmmm....cinnamon buns. Those look great! I would hate to burn them.

I don't have alot of experience with soy, but I had 50 lbs of Astorlite S1 and it seemed like a decent enough wax, then I had to find another. Since MillCreek is close, and 50 lbs costs about $51.00 with shipping included to my door, I've learned to work with it. I also have worked with Candlemaker's Store's Natural Soy, and I liked it alot, but I don't want to go through alot more testing just now. MC frosts a little, especially on heavy FOs.

I have made firestarters with wood chips in a muffin pan, with paraffin poured in. When I tested one, I set it on bare concrete, and lit it. It worked just fine, but it did stain the concrete. It might help to use paper muffin liners or a paper plate under the firestarter. HTH

I have quite a few really nice sized pine cones that I cannot use in firestarters, and so I'll try my hand at air fresheners. Has anyone here tried that with any success? Any tips are appreciated!

You're back in the saddle!

I'll be waiting to see, I've always wanted to make a marbled pillar too!

I have only dealt with them once, on some closeout scents (which were great deals and smelled great!) and it was not unpleasant. However, I have dealt with Peaks, Mill Creek, Indiana Candle Supply, and Candlemaker's Store, and have had very positive results! MC, CS and Peaks all ship very quickly, kept me informed on status of order, and are very friendly to communicate with. You really cannot go wrong with those four vendors!

Mrs. geekrunner quit her one part-time job as a Pharmacy Tech, and she had me make some special container candles to give away as going away gifts to her coworkers. The loved them, and asked if I was selling. After making up a modest line, with pricing and everything, she picked up orders for 13 candles today! Not as much as I expected, but a good start. It gives me time to test the scents they requested, since I already have a range of wicks that work in the containers I offered. I promised delivery in four weeks. So my one Presto Pot will be fully loaded with MC soy laced with 3% BW and ready to rock! So I'll be testing scents Sunday while watching our stud Indianapolis Colts play the hapless Houston Texans! Hopefully the Colts won't be let down and choke to the worst team in the NFL (which very well could happen; the Colts usually take at least one dump a season ). Also, I'm runinng in a 15k trail race saturday morning. If I finish well, I should win my age group for the season series. Pray for me that I don't step on a root and twist my ankle!

Hi and welcome! I use MC soy also, we have a good sized group of MC soy users here. I like the HTPs the best, and the Cotton cores are a close second. If I double wick, I prefer the cotton cores but the smaller HTPs do well for me also. If you look at the HTPs, you will see a V-shape on either side of the wick. It will curl to the side where the V is pointing up, so you can slightly offset the wick when positioning it after pouring. Ggood luck and have fun here!

Well, DW stopped by her old job to pick up any orders left for us, and she left me a vm saying we got orders for 13 candles! I'm pretty well relieved it was not a tremendous amount. No idea what jar/scent combos there are, but it appears to be manageable. Thank you for the advice!

kitty, even for a guy like me it saddens me to hear of your situation. Especially when you are betrayed in such a cold manner by people who you thought were your friends. When something happens to us, whether good or bad, it happens for a reason. If something like that happened to me, I would be pretty PO'd for awhile! Then, try to find out what God wants me to learn from the situation. In my case, I just recently decided to solicit orders from some of mrs. geekrunner's former co-workers at a pharmacy company. They were a nice group, but some of the women there loved to stir up trouble, and the office politics there was pretty brutal. When she left, she handed out special container candles I made (fully tested, of course and properly labeled) as gifts. It went over so well I was asked if I was selling. I made up what I thought was a very modest offering, with price sheet and examples, and DW will pick up the orders tomorrow. I believe that your situation is a warning to me to BE CAREFUL and FULLY TEST my product before I sell to them. I know that you will come out of this situation with your reputation intact, your health improved, and in great spirits, because you will now know who your true friends are. You don't need backstabbers like them, who apparently only wanted freebies! We here at the geekrunner home will pray fro your health and happiness!

What I do with HTPs is to look on the wick, and you will see a V-shape in the wick. One side of the wick, the V points down, and on the other side, it points up. The wick will curl to the side where the V points up. You can slightly offset the wick in the opposite direction so the flame will be centered. It takes some practice, but when you get the right wick for the particular wax/FO/jar combo, you almost never have to trim it!

I have a skillet too, but I have it underneath onr of my Presto Pot spigots to catch any drips after "decanting" wax to my pour pot. Then if I have any scraps or leftovers from test candles, I dump 'em in there, heat it up, and it solidifies into a nice block I can save for making firestarters. Donita always has great ideas! I'll have to find some of those little creamers too.

Mill Creek soy with 3% BW, HTP-104, C-60, or 44-32-18z depending on the FO used.

Man I dodged a bullet on that one! Now I can fill that candle order I'll be picking up this Friday. I thought I was going to have to call the whole thing off. I feel much better now.

I've been testing J50 in jj with Banana Nut Bread MC FO, and the hot throw is very good! Tested with 44-24-18z and LX-16, the LX mushrooms alot.

I tried and no website loads. Good thing I had nothing ordered. I guess I'll have to find a new soy. First I test S1, can't get it now. Tested MC soy, now I have to switch again. Guess I'll have to use Natural Soy from Candlemaker's Store, or commit to J50.

I have 4 of the six wick tested for plain soy, so it's just a matter of wicking up or down when testing out the FO. I'm sure I've got enough of a grip on it and I'm working on the rest even now, so I can then pour one of each kind ordered and confirm correct wicking. All I need to work on is the 10 and 16 oz apoth. Actually I thought I was being modest with my jar selection. Maybe I'm thinking too big. I see the advantage of two sizes, though. My thinking was to have two types of a decorative jar, in two sizes, and have a smallish price leader along with a huge monster container. I have a dozen each of all but the jj, and I have 2 doz of them (I had a little cash as capital due to an unexpected windfall). Not really planning on any votives or pillars yet. I appreciate the advice!

but a little earlier than I expected! I have a project to make a candle basket for Christmas presents this year for friends and family, and purchased a bunch of red AH apothecary jars. Also got clear coffee cups and had some odds and ends containers. Had some MC soy tested and was ready to start pouring, when mrs. geekrunner asked me to make some candles as going-away presents for her co-workers at one of her part-time jobs. So I made up 24 of the jars with some Potpourri scent I bought at closeout from Candlewic. Smelled great! Anyway, my first big pour, and a giveaway. DW was very happy. So what happens??? Everyone there loves them, and asks if I am selling any! DW says they want a price sheet and what scents I have. Well, I wasn't sure how to react. I knew I wanted to sell candles, but had not planned on it till next year, so I could have a line set up and some product ready. So after some thought and prayer, I decided to list ten scents that would be good to have for the holiday, and four jar types in six different sizes, calculated my costs for all the materials, tripled the cost to determine selling price, tweaked it a little, made up a price list/order sheet, and poured some wax/scent samples they could smell or melt at home. DW then took the wax samples, jar samples and price sheets and droped them off at her old job for her old co-workers to check out this past friday. DW said it went over very well, and was asked to keep the "display" for a week to give everyone a chance to check it out. So I'm a little nervous about it. It's earlier than I wanted, but it seems like an opportunity I can't pass up. I did specify a four week wait, which still gives me time to wick test my jars and deliver so they can enjoy or give as gifts, which is what many of them said they were going to do. I offered an 11 oz and 20 oz tureen, 10 oz and 16 oz apoth with flat lid, 8 oz jj and a monster 32 oz snap lid jar and ten holiday-type scents, most of which I've already tested. I have a basic label that I can write the scent name on, and a warning label as well. They will get burning instructions, similar to the ones I made for them on the gift candles. Whew! We shall see how the order turns out this Friday. Wish me luck!

Well, I'm now experimenting with J50. I poured one with 9% Peak's Home for the Holidays in a 16 oz apoth, double wicked with C60, and it had wonderful hot throw (compared to the MC soy I've been using). I added 1/2 tsp Vybar 260 and 1 oz Crisco per lb. Heated to 190, added FO, stirred for a couple of minutes and poured. I did not check the pour temp. However, I made three jelly jars with Gemlite's Christmas Spice (it didn't do so well in soy IMO) following the same procedures as the HH, and the FO separated from the wax! I had two jars the looked good but did not smell real strong, and one that smelled good but had a big pool of FO at the bottom! I scooped them out in my pour pot, reheated in double boiler to 190, stirred real good, then repoured, stirring again after pouring a jj. After the cooled, they looked and smelled better but each one had just a little FO pooled on the bottom. What gives? I know that it needs to be heated higher and poured hotter, but I found on connie's candles site instructions with J50 where it heats to 170, add FO, pour at 145. Any J50 users have any hints? TIA