harley1231

Has anyone here used the fragrance oils from the jar store?

(I'm using C3 soy wax so anyone that has had sucess with these and other Companies and certain FO's please chime in.)

I can vouch for that! LOL Over time, your gel candle will turn yellow! YIKES:(

do you mean over time it will turn yellow because of the UV additive?

I got mine from greenleaf candle supply. its in TX.

You can also try to google candle supplies evo dye

Do no-dye gel candles discolor or yellow if no UV additive is used?

I didnt know if any of you found it helpful to add the UV even

in unscented, no-dye gel candles?

Midnight Pomegranate is a new scent. I doubt any supplier would have this. check with RA or IFT....they seem to created the new scents rather quick!

Please describe the B&BW MIdnight Pomegranate? sounds interesting.

peace.

what is IFT?

I love the colors! Very calming and vibrant at the same time!

What kind of pillar wax is that?

Natural herb & vegetable dyes for candle wax? Is there such a thing and if so.. where do you get it? This site claims to color their torch candles naturally with herb & vegetable dyes and no synthetic additives? Their pillars are beautiful!

http://www.torchcandles.com/ click on the pillars.. Torch Naturals

Thanks for sharing your testing pics! I thought I remember reading somewhere that the wood wick candles producers had some kind of patent or something making them impossible for others to sell? So, are they difficult to trim or is this going to need a special tool? I wonder if dipping them in a slightly higher melt point wax would help with the discoloration your experiencing?

Thanks for the replys!

For those of you that put the shells in mineral oil, do you put the shells in a strainer or something before putting them into a jar? I cant wait until next payday to get the gel and some other supplies to start playing!

considering venturing into gel.. I love candle making as a hobby, started with hurricanes, then paraffin, para-soy, and my latest venture soy.

Ive always loved the looks of the gel candles with the natural and wax embeds. I've been reading thru some of the posts and see that many of you soak the seashells in mineral oil? I'm still not completely clear as to why this is done, and does the mineral oil affect the gel in anyway negative ways such as in how it sits up or how it looks over time? Or do you clean off the mineral oil before pouring the gel over them? Do you do this with all of the natural embeds such as the sand too?

I know that on the board others have mentioned using dixie cups for making wax votives and then peel away the paper dixie cup. Dont know if they would work with gel though? If your gonna give it a try, I'd probably set the dixi cups into another pan to catch any seepage when pouring just in case it didnt work. btw.. I've been considering playing with gel.. where can you find CHP gel? whoops,.. never mind found the chp at bitter creek.

like the clear labels on that jar and the style font. I agree with the others about the pic... and I would probably up the size on your font or 'Bold' it to make it stand out!

Not selling.. but of those I've made for friends and family... the men seem to like Bergamot, ocean, asian spice, and a hot cinnamon. Overall clean and citrus type scents seem to be the favs.

Great looking canes!! Of all things that is the first type of wax I started out playing with dried pressed flowers. I never did get the pic thing down so I started playing with container blends. Your very creative! Keep the pictures coming!

Sending prayers for your grandson!

very nice!! love the decal and the decorated base too!!

It looks like a beautiful piece of art!! How on earth did you achieve that shine! Beautiful and Unique!!

First post ever on any site....right away you have my heart. I sometimes wish there was an orientation that people could go through before they start posting so they wouldn't wind up feeling the way you are feeling after your post... with the responses you have received.

southern...people here are just concerned for the craft as a whole, public perception (we are all in this together believe it or not) and public safety etc.

There are many people here that know, from experience, what goes into making an excellent product...and those same people see some of the dangerous, poorly crafted candles that are being sold all over the country. It hurts us all...it really does.

I am sorry you were caught up into that your first post.. People are just a wee bit suspicious and cynical of people wanting to sell..until the important standards and criteria have been met.

I personally do not know you or your situation....whether you have a family to protect or property such as a home...bank accounts, cars etc.

As a member here (and I like to think, a nice guy) I will share with you this very important bit of advise. You can do with it as you will. DO NOT sell one single candle until you have purchased your Insurance. All it would take is one mishap, or one "sue happy" person to wipe you out. Seriously...before you sell one candle...even to "friends".

Figure it in as part of your start up costs. It is as important as the wax and wicks.

BTW....Trish is a well respected professional on our board. She is a wealth of knowledge. I think she was trying to be helpful to you.

Good luck to you and your new venture.

Do it right!:highfive:

What he said!

After a year and several mistakes, I still only make candles for myself, family, & friends as I find I'm still not ready for selling a Quality candle worthy of selling with my name on it. You will find after repeated testing with each FO (fragrance Oil) and different %'s , as well as the wicks, each candle will burn and scent differently. which is why the wicks and the amount of FO may need to be adjusted from candle to candle. One of the most important things I've found in making safe, consistent, and great smelling candles is to get a good set of digital scales for measuring every ingredient that you plan to use and keep NOTES. Start with a well known wax manufacturer, quality FO, and a sample pack of different size wicks, then test, test, test each and every candle from beginning to end. Keep Notes, but also label each jar with the name & manufacturer of each FO , percentage, and what size wick! You will want to do this to be sure you have a 'safe' and well scented candle where the flame doesn't smoke or get too high or extinguish its self when it is half way down the jar. Different wicks and their sizes work differently in different types of waxes and fragrance oil. Even then you will need insurance to protect yourself when selling to the public. Everyone is concerned that you test,test, test because there are soo many variables with jars, wax, wicks, and each and every FO as well as from supplier to supplier. An example would be if I make a candle with blueberry pie FO I may need to use an LX 14 Wick(6 inch) and one with an apple pie FO will only need an LX 12 Wick(6 inch). After testing I've discovered with some fragance oils the hot throw (the scent while burning) will be too weak or too strong and I have't to adjust the amount of Fragrance Oil and or the size of the wick and then re-test again. If you are ordering a new batch of wax for making the 100 candles you will likely want to re-test with the new batch of wax as it too can vary from batch to batch. I learned that the hard way! I always test each scented candle first to make sure they are burning safely, cleanly, and completely..,.Then I let my friends and family pick one scent to take home provided they let me know what they honestly think of the 'scent throw' and how well it burns. Please dont be put off by some of the remarks. Everyone just wants to make sure your candles are going to burn safely for your benefit as well as others. And you just may find that your quality scented tested candles will exceed anything your competition is trying to sell. Different waxes perform differntly and so you may want to do a search here on the brand of paraffin, parasoy, or soy (which ever you plan to use) and see what others testing results were to give a starting point with differnt FO's and wicks. Good Luck!

Is your husband an algebra teacher by any chance?

Thank-You ALL for the responses and explanations!! Its funny how some people can grasp one persons explanation of a math problem and not another's. But once one of them made sense to my pea-brain the others were easier to grasp as well!! Geek you should teach elementary math ! I had an ''ahhh-haaa'' moment after reading your response ! Georgia thank you so much for the notes you sent!! I'm going to copy and paste all of the responses and print them out and put them in my new handy-dandy notes folder for later reference! Thanks again everyone!!

I'm even more confused.:undecided

anyone else wanna give it a try or vote between the two ?

Thank-You Thank-You!!!!

I have a 1oz fo sample and I would like to make soy candle containing 9% FO.

Can someone help the math challenged newbie and tell me how much wax I should use? Please?

I love this scent!! I found curve at natures garden for my daughter and her boyfriend. They both said they liked the candle I made with it.. but neither thought it was true to the cologne. Let me know where you found yours and what you think of it.

After Valentine's 2007 I will be able to produce small quanties of them, for you. All I will need is the container sent to me, so I can make it fit.

That is sooo generous of you to offer! Do you work doing that type of production?

BTW...I had to laugh when I read your last sentence! I remember a TV commercial from quite aways back...where there are two little boys trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole.. and one hold up the little wooden hammer and says to the other...."I'll Make It Fit!!'' Then the commercial jumps ahead and its the same two kids.. now grown-up mechanics ...and they are trying to put a battery into a car.. and the one mechanic holds up a hammer and says ...'Ill MAKE IT FIT''!!

So the first thing that came to my mind was....My poor poor candle glass!

I hadn't stopped by their site in quite awhile! I'll have't to see what other surprises they've got added to their site now!!

Thank You Soooo Verryyy much!!