Cetacea

The melting point of beeswax is around 158 degrees depending on the level of filtration. Square braided wicking works best with pure beeswax. I'd honestly use the metal tealight cups instead of the plastic ones. This is personal preference, but I've had the plastic ones launch themselves out of a tealight holder--still not sure how that happened. Since beeswax has such a high melting point the metal ones might be the way to go as long as you clearly label that the tealight is not to be moved while lit. Because you know someone out there will try to move the little thing and burn their fingers. Good Luck on the tealights....you are going to need a lot of testing on those sorry to say but beeswax in a container is tricky. HTH.

Candles and supplies has inserts too.....and I think Cindy is running a special on them..but don't hold me to that...LOL.

Why not just call Bitter Creek?

The inset for the hurricane mold is usually just a metal tube. You can use a slightly smaller mold to make a hurricane, although it is trickier. You want an inset that is 1" smaller in diameter from the mold you are using. There are basic instructions for a hurricane on this site. HTH

Chris, Please don't take this the wrong way the but only person that determines if a blend is ok is you by testing it. I went through several percentages of beeswax in my votive blend before I got the right combination for my candles. If 25% turns out to be too much, then lessen it by 5% and keep going until you acheive the results you want. It may sound harsh, but it is not intended to be that way. You need to test. Only then will you be fully confident in your own candles. Good Luck! Hope it turns out well.

Nope won't ruin the wax, might ruin the pot if you leave it in there for a couple of weeks. I found that out when I forgot where I put my pouring pot (don't ask it was chaos..LMAO). Beeswax votives are easy to make actually. Just make sure you use square braid or flat braid wicking and use mold release or PAM. I prefer PAM, its cheaper. Beeswax doesn't need any additives. So don't bother with vybar, stearine..etc. The melting point is around 158 degrees making it a hard wax already. The fragrance load can be anywhere from 6-15% depending on how filtered the wax is and if it was chemically treated (aka white beeswax is sometimes chemically filtered to get it white). The largest problem you are going to have with straight beeswax is coloring and wicking it correctly. Colors are going to vary since you are working with a yellow/gold base instead of white. So make sure you do a drop test. Of course anything you want blue is going to take more dye since yellow and blue make green. Remember when you are looking at wicking charts they are based on paraffin, not beeswax (even square braid). So you definately need to test and probably go up a size or two than what is suggested. HTH. Good luck!

That would be Crisco ...hydrogenated soybean oil. Personally, I can't stand Crisco on my hands, much less using it as a lotion...LOL.

DANGEROUS!!! I WISH this myth would die!!! I'm serious. The use of candles as lotion is a dangerous practice AND advertising. Let me list the dangers for you: 1.) STICKING YOUR FINGERS NEAR FLAME!! 2.) Getting flammable material on your fingers while they are near a FLAME!! 3.) In case nobody knows this..its the WAX vapors that burn just like gasoline. Now imagine coating your hands in gasoline and then lighting a cigarrette...would YOU do that? Of COURSE NOT! Its the same thing with wax.... 4.) CANDLE COLORANTS ARE NOT BODY SAFE!!!! 5.) FO concentrations are higher in candles than in bath and body products. So even though the FO's might be body safe, would you put 6-10% FO in a regular B&B lotion??? No, why? Because the scent would overpower everything. Please! Please!! STOP THIS PRACTICE. If you see another candlemaker doing this, please tell them to STOP. This is a dangerous advertising campaign. Soy wax itself added to a lotion base or used for a lotion base is WONDERFUL stuff. BUT don't sell your candles as double duty...its not only dangerous its LAZY!!! Just make the lotion.

Ply means threads.

I don't see why not. Just wick it correctly.

Yep. Although a straight paraffin would be cheaper.

Interesting, I'm also a biologist. Marine Bio to be specific. I have a background in Environmental Engineering as well.

Go here Joy: http://www.geocities.com/get_scent/waxsection.htm Absyrtus exactly what scientific community are you a part of and referencing? IMHO; the information on your website is a clear example of someone that is not 100% confident in their products. Don't get your blood up...this is very common for beginners to do. They compare their products based on other products instead of emphasizing the key points of their own. Why? Because they are unsure exactly what their own candles will do. I suggest that you start rigorous testing on your own products, ignore what others do and try to get yours to the perfection stage BEFORE attacking or comparing to anyone else. That way you can say with perfect CONFIDENCE, "well my candles will burn......(enter good charactoristics). Notice no comparison? Customer's respond to that confidence. By consistantly comparing to something else, it gives the impression of sleeziness. Why? Because people have been burned already by that marketing ploy. Just my opinion, hth

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok Stacy's DH here you go: ANYTHING you put on a candlewarmer is going to get HOT. NO matter WHAT its made of, including plastic (although it will probably melt before the wax does, so don't try it...LOL). If you are curious about a particular jar, fill it with wax, put it on the warmer and test it, that way you will know without a doubt how hot it will get and if it will stand the heat.

There was a debate about a bad batch of J223 a couple of months ago. I didn't notice anything unusual until I opened my last case from Candlewic. The first half was awful--I had holes the size of the grand canyon in my jars, the second half is fine. I'd say you got part of the bad batch. It burns fine and dandy, just doesn't set up the same way. I ended up remelting most of my jars in the oven then poking the air holes out with a skewer, while they cooled. Pain I know, but that is the only thing I found to work. Even letting them cool at an amazingly slow rate didn't do much. Try zapping them with a heat gun then go digging for air in the holes that you see. HTH, good luck

Yep they get hot. Its called convection. As for glass, that is personal preference, but make sure the glass is rated to take that amount of direct heat without breaking. Typically you want a slightly heavier bottom on the jar. Stay away from anything with a thin glass bottom, and don't forget to test your glass. HTH

There is a bad batch of J223 out there....watch for holes too. I got a case of the bad batch, it burns fine and dandy but is a pain with the sinkholes while setting up. Let me say that again; the only difference is the sinkholes when setting up. Everything else with this batch is perfect. But where I could do a one pour before I'm having to heat gun to get rid of the holes now. Actually, only 1/2 my case was the bad batch. I'm into the second 1/2 now and everything is back to normal. Go figure. Whoops..forgot to add about J225. I hope IGI bought the formula along with the company. LMAO. I'm sitting on pins and needles to see if they are going to start to phase out Astrolite's products and try to replace them with their own.

Go here: http://www.candleandsoapstuff.com/Suppliers_by_State.html HTH

Since you are in Eastern Europe it might be easier to order supplies from the UK rather than the US. If you run a search on google for UK candle supplies there are lots of sites and shipping might be cheaper from England than from say Pennsylvannia...LOL. As for making your own wax, unless you filter beeswax, you are out of luck without manufacturing equipment. Soy wax is refined soy bean oil usually mixed with cottonseed oil. Paraffin wax is refined from crude oil. You can get bayberry wax, just boil the berries of the bayberry shrub, the wax will appear as a thin layer on top of the boiling water. Palm wax is also refined from palm oil from the inner pulp of the plant. My suggestion would be to search for candle supplies close to you as shipping would be cheaper and you won't have to exchange currency. If you are dead set on getting supplies from the US, here is a link for suppliers by state. I would suggest a state on the Eastern seaboard as opposed to one in the middle of the US. http://www.candleandsoapstuff.com/Suppliers_by_State.html

Don't forget all that wick testing........LOL!

Here are some helpful links, keep them in your favorites: http://www.candleandsoapstuff.com/Suppliers_by_State.html http://www.geocities.com/lwoollen_25/FragranceFinder/ http://www.geocities.com/get_scent/getanswers.htm http://www.geocities.com/get_scent/waxsection.htm http://www.candlewic.com/candle-wicks/pop-spools.asp HTH, good luck!

I know exactly which ones you are talking about. Aromatherapy and natural bug inhibitors don't work on these guys. They've about eaten through an entire leaf on my sunflowers (to say nothing of my roses, raspberries, strawberries, peppers and begonias)! There is someone in my state with an effective and expensive repulsive spray but I found that if you mix Dawn dishsoap with water (I full a 32oz spray bottle with water and add a few drops of Dawn) and spray your plants down, it cuts the japenese beetle destruction by 1/2. I think you can use any dishsoap, I just happen to like Dawn. LOL. Anyway, you want a very dilute mixture all you want to do is slighly cover the plants with a soapy film. Of course after every rain you will have to re-apply. Don't spray the flowers directly, you don't want to get rid of the bees that pollenate, just the beetles that feed on the leaves. HTH, good luck! Oh I heard somewhere that borax works too. If you have some of that.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on that one. The statement: Which scents, from where, worked well for you, and with what ratio? leads me to believe that she wants to know exactly what ratios for particular companies scents work instead of finding out on her own. I agree with Beth. This is not a get rich quick scheme, not is it an easy or cheap venture. Its a craft, not a manufacturing plant. I'm still in testing for my bath bombs..while I have recipes from various sources, I have tested and tweaked each one. And let me tell you, I've racked up a pretty penny with these bombs and that's with cheaper materials AND recipes..but they are not exactly what I want, nor would I put my label on them as they are. When I get them to what I want then I'll be satisfied and proud to sell them. Until then, they stay on my candlemaking bench, and get tested in my bathtub. I'd no more put an untested product up for sale than I would murder someone in their sleep. JMO

you need to secure all your wicks to the bottom of your containers. No matter how small the diameter or how big or if you use 2 or 3 wicks instead of 1; all of them need to be secured at the bottom, otherwise they will slide to the side of your container and either break the glass or heat the metal to the point where it will cause damage to anything underneath it.