EmJean

Nope, I've only tried the LX and Peaks Cotton Core. I got my CD sample pack today so I'm going to give them a shot. I'll put Premier on my list. I've seen them mentioned several times on here too. Thanks!

You are talking about sample sizes, right? I would go ahead and order them, I would just try to resist the urge of pouring one of each the first day you get your supplies But, that's just me. You will develop your own testing system with what works best for you. I was pouring a bunch of scents to start with and then decided I really wasn't getting anywhere so I scaled back to testing 2 at a time. That helped me really concentrate on figuring out my wicking and I found that I made progress much quicker. I was also reading this board constantly so I would find answers to my problems (like lack of hot throw) and realize that I had 10 candles all made up that I didn't add FO at the right temperature! Very frustrating! With wicks, I started off with the cotton core from Peaks. That's all I used for a while but I couldn't always find one that performed the way I wanted. So, I ordered the LX sample pack and that helped fill in the gaps. I have an order of CD's on the way that I am really excited to try too. I'm hoping that between the three of them, I'll be covered. Right now I am just trying to find the best wick with each series and then pick the better of the two to keep with that recipe. Oh boy is right!

Hi JoanneMarie! I would also suggest starting by testing your wicks in only your wax so you can learn how they perform with no FO and get a "baseline" for your wick sizes. I wish I would have done that from the beginning. I've been testing for about 9 months and I think I could have saved myself a lot of headaches if I hadn't jumped into testing multiple FO's right away. I actually had to force myself to stop pouring all of my samples as soon as I got them. I had way too many candles to test and bouncing back and forth between them all was driving me crazy! So, when you start adding FO, pick one that you really love because you will be smelling a lot of it Have fun!! Emily

OK, that's kind of what I was thinking but I'm getting hung up on how to move it out of the inventory. If I just change the "stock left" to "0" after I'm done testing, is it going to screw up any of my other numbers? Maybe I'm thinking too hard here...

I bought the software yesterday and have all my inventory loaded in. How do you log the material you use for testing? I have a few recipes entered and did some batches but can't figure out how to account for the wax/FO/wicks etc used during testing. Do you just adjust inventory levels?

I poured a Plumeria candle and I had flashbacks of my best friend and I in high school. That was her favorite bath and body works lotion! Still trying to get it to throw right in a candle so I can bring one to her...

Focus on your business and product, not the negative people. Don't check those boards anymore. I have the same fears starting my business and I know it will be my biggest challenge to overcome the fear of getting a bad review. There are just always going to be those people who you can't please no matter how hard you try. Don't let people like that make you give up!

I have tried LX26 but it's too large for the scents that I've tried. I've been bouncing between the LX22/24 and C70/C75. At 7% FO the 22 was a little too small but the 24 was definitely too big. I increased it to 9%, hoping the 24 would work. The first burn was a little wild but now I'm 3 hours in to the second burn and it's looking much better. So far there is about 1/8" MP but there's also a big mushroom.

Yeah, I was pretty bummed out yesterday because I got my order of CD sample wicks in the mail and half the labels had fallen off! Of course, one that has a missing label was the CD10, which I think is what you suggested to use in this jar. So, since I can't tell the difference between the 5 wick sizes with missing labels, I am stuck waiting for my replacements to come in the mail.....

Hi everyone, Does anyone else have problems wicking the 8 oz square mason jar? How much wax do you use? I am using 7 oz soy wax and having a hard time with the smaller neck of the jar. On the first couple of burns the flame seems too large and sometimes I get soot but by the end of the jar the wick looks great! If I wick down, it looks great for the first couple of burns but too small by the end. I know I could put less wax in and it would probably help my problem but then it just doesn't look full enough. Thoughts? Wax: Ecosoya 135 Wicks: Testing with LX (22/24) and Peaks C series (C70/75) Emily

Peaks is awesome! The FO's that I have tried so far are wonderful and their customer service is great. I would definitely recommend them. I've also ordered a few things from Candlescience and no complaints there either. If you can pick up your order from Peaks, it may be worth changing waxes in my opinion. Shipping is so expensive! Emily

Good to know! I was wondering about that but haven't been in this long enough to test it out.

How long would you expect a candle to hold CT/HT? Emily

Hi Dave, I had bad frosting when I first started pouring candles (I use ecosoya 135). I started covering them with a big piece of tupperware to cool and that helped a lot. Then I lowered my pouring temperature to 100-105 and now I don't get any frosting even if I don't cover them to cool. Some FO's do frost a little bit after burning and then cooling but I'm OK with that. I would try lowering you pour temp to see if that helps. Emily

Thanks Steve. This looked very strange and I'm wondering if there was another problem besides the FO not incorporating. I decided to do another one the same way I did it before and I didn't have any flakes at all. Emily

Love them both! I can't wait until I've mastered my containers so I can start experimenting with things like cupcakes. Those look great!

I will have to try those. This is totally frustrating. If I get a good looking MP then I get mushrooms, soot and the glass feels too hot. A nice warm jar, no mushrooms or soot, and I get a MP that looks like its constantly trying to catch up. GGRRRR!

Agree completely!! Candles can wait a day.

Wow - I had no idea they could vary depending on the supplier. That is really good to know. I'm trying to keep my suppliers right now to a minimum and I've been ordering mostly from Peaks but I think I will try those CD's. They seem to be popular here. When I was testing the LX22 in Amish Harvest I almost wrote it off half way through because of the sides but decided to keep going and was surprised how nicely it cleaned up. There is only a little film on the glass and no chunks anywhere. But I'm not so sure it would work if someone burned it for short time periods. All of my testing is generally around 3 and a half hours. Who do you buy the CD's from? Thank you so much for all your help.

I don't have my candle business up yet but my husband and I have a small business making outdoor furniture so we deal with that a little bit. We have a website that clearly says we will respond to all emails within 24 hours. Although we normally respond much sooner than that, I did that so we had a little bit of cushion if we were busy on the weekends. You could always put something on your business cards (or website if you have one) stating "available by phone/email Mon-Sat 8:00-5:00", or something similar. It probably won't stop it completely but might help. You definitely don't want to burn yourself out by trying to be available any minute someone might need you. As a customer, I would not expect to get an answer on a Sunday anyways. Emily

In straight ecosoya (no dye and no FO) it does look like LX22 is the winner. I was testing Amish Harvest at 7% FO load and LX22 cleaned up the glass nice but the flame was kind of small towards the end and it never really reached full MP, it just continued to melt the sides down more and more as it burned. The LX24 was way too big and the C70 was too big. Now I'm testing at 8% FO and the LX22 seems to be doing better (the flame hasn't gotten too small). Do you remember if the 22 worked for most of your FO? I'm about to test Pink Sugar in a 22 because the 24 seems a little too big. It almost seems like I need an LX23, which I don't think they make. Is it OK if the MP never really reaches the edges as long as the wax does clean up from the sides by the end of the candle? Emily

SOLD! I'm adding this of my list of things to invest in. Thanks for all the info!

EvyStar - I was looking around on the soapmaker software website and they have a free worksheet you can download. Looks like it will allocate shipping costs for each item in your order. Maybe this will help? http://www.soapmaker.ca/extras.php Emily

Jcandleattic - Do you remember how easy it was to learn? I went to the website and it looks AWESOME! Just wondering how user friendly it is.

Just the answer I was looking for!! THANK YOU!! I am driving myself crazy just with the two wick types. And, I think I probably could have picked an easier jar to start out with. Those darn edges on the square mason are really messing with me. Oh well, I guess it is just good practice! :rolleyes2