Gypsyjen

Very nice, Landa! :highfive: I haven't tried HP yet, but would love to be able to unmold my soaps that quickly...

Tonight I was fixing a container with a blow dryer (still haven't gotten around to getting a heat gun) and blew hot wax into my right eye! :embarasse I hope my eyesight returns to normal eventually, LOL

Be careful out there, folks!

The Jar Store seems great...I see that they have a picture of a jar with the wooden lid on it, but cannot find it on their website. Do you know where I can get apoth jars, but with wooden lids?

I've ordered apoth jars from Lonestar (www.lonestarcandlesupply.com) and they do carry the wooden lids.

I've never ordered from them, but from reading all the posts I can see that this supplier has a terrible track record. I'd rather pay more for a good product from a supplier I can depend on than pay less for a great product from someone who's going to let me down 50% of the time. I won't even attempt to order anything from Candlewic after reading this thread.

JMO

I agree with Bruce...I would think that the thinner jars would dissipate heat while the thicker ones would hold it in and break. I've started ordering jars from www.jarstore.com, they have fabulous jars which are specially manufactured for candles.

You would replace part of the water with the hydrosol, before mixing in your lye. I don't know that you would get any of it's fragrance in your final product, however.

Thanks for the responses!

Can anyone tell me what is in this wax?? Is this a soy/veggie blend or what? Their website tells me nothing.

I poured a test candle last night. Straight 444 with 8% JS Hearth & Home, no color, heated to 175 and poured at 130. Poured into 16oz apothecary (jar not preheated) and single wicked with HTP 105. Jar had towel wrapped around it for insulation. Results this morning: Slight "flakiness" at top, no cracks, no dips, no wet spots, no frosting. A heat gun could fix the top without requiring a repour. Cold throw is great.

Brambleberry has a bunch of molds...check them out at www.brambleberry.com.

The link Grumpy Girl sent you is for Sunfeather's 7 pound kit. They also have several 2 pound kits for $25. Just FYI Brambleberry also has a kit with some molds included, but no lye or olive oil. It does include a book on soapmaking.

I started out like Grumpy Girl - just went to my local stores & bought everything I needed. I had a book on soapmaking as a guide.

Good luck & enjoy!

Sunfeather Soap Company has a lot of fun looking soaps and they also sell different cold process soap kits for $25-$50. You can find them at www.sunfeather.com.

Have fun!

In my all-natural soaps with EO's, I use herb colorants (kelp powder, paprika, turmeric, parsley powder, etc.). In my other soaps I use skin-safe ultramarines & oxide powders. I get mine at www.from-nature-with-love.com.

Good luck!

I have been itching to try soy for a long time and this will be a good opportunity for me to give it a whirl. I e-mailed for samples of the 444,430 and 402 ( one is a palm which is what I currently use so I'm anxious to give that one a try also ) Now I just need to read as much as I can on this forum and the archives. Expect some questions from me for all you soy gurus:tongue2:

From reading the brochure Jason included with my wax samples, it appears that the LP430 is a palm stearine, not a palm wax. They do not appear to carry any palm waxes.

I buy mine at Lowe's here in Nashville, but it's not Red Devil. It's called Roebic Crystal Drain Opener. And it's much cheaper than the Red Devil I used to buy (and can't find anywhere anymore)!

I second daniedb! Sweetcakes and The Scent Works have a lot of complexity in their fragrances you don't usually find with candle FO, because their FO's are oriented towards soap & body care products.

What sort of container is that?

Hey Top,

It's a 16oz apothecary that's 4" diameter X 3.5" tall. I'm going to try the ECO-12's when I place my next candle supply order.

Hi Annie,

It sounds like your customer wants real essential oils, not fragrance oils. I would be sure to ask her, since some people are very picky about that sort of thing. Since essential oils are so much more expensive than fragrance oils, I would let her know there would be a big price difference. For example, I bought a 1/16oz vial of Jasmine absolute for almost $25. That equals about 20 drops of liquid. Plus I've heard that EO's don't burn very well in candles, and you would need a lot for a decent cold/hot throw. Hopefully she won't care and you'll be able to use fragrance oils. Personally, I would ONLY consider using EO's for personal perfumes, lotions, and maybe soap. Otherwise, you might end up investing entirely too much money in one candle!!

Wow, I use the ECO 14's for my 16oz container candles and that's actually too big for them. I get a melt pool that's an inch deep!!

www.lonestarcandlesupply.com

is where I get my ECO wicks. They also have a sample pack, as stated above.

Absolutely. I've been paying close attention to other's comments on this board about FO suppliers and who's good and who's not. From my research, I've concluded that the best candle FO suppliers are:

Peak's www.peakcandle.com

Just Scent www.justscent.com

Fragrance Oil Heaven www.fragranceoilheaven.com

There are many other great suppliers, but these are the most popular.

Good Luck!

The Scent Works has one that I was going to try (haven't yet). Here is their description:

Sangre de Grado is a type of South American Herb. A medium-large sized tree that grows in height from 30 to 60 feet, it is found throughout the tropical and Amazon regions of South America, and the resin has been used for numerous health conditions by native healers.

Paying homage to the resin of this plant in name only, this fragrance is a heady mix of incense, vanilla, patchouli and woody base notes, touched with amber and myrrh.

http://store.scent-works.com/dragonsblood.html

Gypsyjen, I'm actually very glad you asked this last night, as I just got my first case of this wax...I don't believe it is 100% soy, as the company claims. I think it is closer to the Ecosoya CB's, in that it has a few extra goodies thrown into it for performance, appearance, etc.

I was wondering about the pouring temp as well. I'm going to try your method...heat to 180, add dye, FO at 175, stir like crazy, and then pour around 130-140...I'll post how it works for me. I don't plan to pre-warm my jars, as that doesn't seem necessary for soy. I also wonder if doing a repour layer over the cratery layer would fix the slight cracking thing, as I don't have a heat gun at the moment. I will also be using CD 12's in my 8 oz. jj's to start with, and CD 22's for my 16 oz. mason jars, although this will probably give me a blow-torch effect. Oh well...the joy of testing.

Hey Wookie,

I have learned that my repours set up best when the candle is barely warm. If I repour when the candle is cold, I get a frost line. If I repour when the candle has barely set up, I get a slight sinking in some areas (I think poke holes might alleviate this?). Anyway just a heads-up. Good luck!

Trisha,

You might be burning the candle too soon after pour. Give the candle some more time to cure, and it will probably mellow the FO.