Cetacea

Go get a wire striper/crimper from Wal-Mart ($4).

Has anyone got wicked wet spots with j223? I have almost a whole case of it left, I guess I am going to try wickless with it! I was just wondering if anyone else had the same problem as me!?

Kimmeroo

Yep. Wet spots are just part of making candles. To reduce them with J223, lower your pouring temp. I pour around 155 and have hardly any wetspots.

3 days - 2 weeks. I wait 3 days to wick/scent test and pour at least 2 weeks before a show. HTH

Me too, I'd prefer to drive the 5 hours to Ashland rather than bother with that site! LMAO

I just saw these in my local store today, $2 each.

Are you using them for container candles? Or just tealights as they are labeled. They have warnings on them saying they are for tealights and will get very hot, etc.

Just wondering........

Kathy

Always used them for container candles and they don't get any hotter than any other container.

Sorry but can't post a pic, my camera took a dump last week. Really need to get a new one.

You know I don't think I've ever seen them around here. I should look this year. That or you've been here and bought them out lol.

ME? (evil laugh) I wouldn't DREAM of doing something like that! By the way, where do you live? HEE HEE. I bet I could get there in no time. LMAO. I need a huge supply. Sold out of them in 4 hours last time I carried them and I didn't have but 4 cases( I almost scoured the whole state to find that amount too).

10oz jars with a pumpkin face and a black witches hat top

Yep you read right, Big Lots has the pumpkin jars again this year. Better hurry, supplies are very limited and I've already cleaned out the 3 cities near me. LMAO.

FYI

Wal-Mart has them? Cool! I scoured every Big Lots within 50 miles the last time they had them and sold out (all whopping 36) in less than 2 hours! So if Wally World has them...I'm off to shop! Hee hee.

Kitchen stores have scalloped tart molds super cheap.

Here's a link to help you get started with candles: Link

HTH

dip them in wax and stick them on---be careful to smooth out the airbubbles. Then overdip the whole thing.

I agree 12% is pretty high. You might try a different size and or type of wick.

Also are you adding anything to your wax besides FO and color?

No amount of heating or stirring is going to incorporate FO into wax that is already saturated. If it is simply a heavier oil, try cutting back on your FO % and then stir a bit longer. If you've still got an oil slick on the bottom of your pouring pot, cut it back some more. Keep going until you find the right % of that FO for your wax.

If you think of wax like a sponge--it will only hold so much oil before it starts to leak. The trick is to find the % of FO that your wax will hold. Not all FO's % will be the same.

HTH.

Or you can go down to your hardware store and get metal mesh, that way you don't have to wait for the wax to harden to filter it again. The tighter the mesh the better.

I pay about $2/lb for filtered in 25lb blocks. If I want 5 lb blocks, its $2.50/lb.

1. Weigh your empty tin
   
2. Tare Scale
   
3. Fill tin with water and weight it
   
4. Multiply by .8 to get approximate wax weight.

Its not rocket science....

mix pink and yellow

Wax does NOT evaporate. :rolleyes2

How bout a Party Store?

At least 24 hours. That way you know without a doubt that the wax has completely cooled and settled.

HTH

Actually, your notebook is the perfect thing that you need right now. I don't go in for loose papers...I buy bound books (all that scientific training...its become ingrained...LMAO). So keep your notebook...and guard it well. Write everything in it. LOL.

As for receipts...I'm terrible about them, I have a basket that I toss them in and at the end of the year, I put them in order and add them up. It takes me about an hour or so. Invoices and show totals go in another basket...that's about an hour too. So 2 hours at the end of the year aren't bad...LMAO.

Just an offshoot here: I believe that bath bombs FIZZ not suds---of course mine never did, all they did was go flat. LMAO.

Hey everyone,

We seem to be having a sooting problem with our candles. I am hoping that someone can give us some expert advise. We use J223 wax, 44-24-18 zinc core wicks, the jars that we use are 4" diameter at the base and 3 1/4 at the lid. We double wick and 1 oz. per pound of fragrance. We have already wicked down and that helped but did not eliminate the problem. We are in the works of testing LX wicks same size as the zinc core. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :undecided

Thanks

Wade

Sounds like you are moving in the right direction....wicking down and/or trying different wicks. LX wicks work great in J223, no mushrooming to speak of and hardly any soot. I'd start with a LX-16 single wick and move up from there.

Just curious why you are double wicking? 44-24-18z are pretty small, have you tried going up in zinc's with single wicking?

You might have too much honey in the wax for it to burn properly, try filtering the wax a couple of times. You can go buy some mesh at the hardware store (the tighter the mesh the better) or you can use pantyhose.

Simply melt the wax and then pour it through either your mesh or pantyhose a couple of times. Its a mess and kind of a pain to keep it liquid but it works.

If you use pantyhose place the beeswax inside the hose then melt. Pantyhose filters require more pass throughs...but they are bendable.

Just a suggestion.

are you using the bags for storage or for wrapping?

For long time storage you want to go with poly pro. For short term until you sell you can use polyethylene.

I don't use bags for either. I store my votives in plastic containers. For a show I take them out and put them in their display.

zinc wicks do contain a minuscule amount of lead BUT that amount is negligible to the EPA. They are safe to burn. In fact they are so safe that the government has decided that candles made with zinc wicks don't need a warning label on each individual candle just the box.

If you are having a problem with your wicks drowning out, you need to go up one size and test again. Keep going up until you get the burn you want.

In the future if a customer tells you that you have metal in your wick and its not safe, they are misinformed. You can no longer buy lead wicks nor can any candle made with a lead wick be sold or imported in the US. So now you know.

I don't get it.

mommy has already gotten 5 packs of newborns so i figured that would be pointless lol.

LOL, that's not nearly enough....she could use a lot more. LMAO. Trust me.