C Dizzle

I will let you know. I'm sure I am going to be happy with it regardless, but mainly because I get to do some tests on the emissivity of soy wax, but this model might be overkill for most. And the higher end ones are overkill for me The model appeals to the inner geek/scientist part of me rather than being something I think is necessary for candle/soap making, and I will get FAR more use out of it than these activities!

I had been using some cheapo alarm digital ones from Walmart for perhaps $15 each. While they are consistent in between themselves, sometimes I want to make batch after batch after batch, and I feel rushed having to clean them between each one. They are off a few degrees from each other too so I might be doing things 2 degrees off switching to others. So, after several hours of research, I invested in this infrared thermometer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006K3M8BK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 Full disclosure, I haven't used it yet as I've been studying the hades out of soaps, but will test it this weekend! Here is why I chose this. It's emissivity value is able to be changed to the hundredths place, and unlike most other ones that can change, I can move in increments of 0.01 rather than 0.10. Many can't change at all and are permanently set on 0.95 and while that might work fine for most people and likely is very consistent between uses, I was simply too curious and had to find out if what the emissivity of soy wax is. I'm pretty sure the value should be slightly higher or lower than 0.95 and plan to calibrate and test it extensively and publish my findings. I would imagine the emissivity value might even change with the type of wax, dye, and FO even. I could be wrong and it might just be 0.95 across the board and all this might be unnecessary, but it's worth it for me to test and pass this knowledge on. I couldn't find it anywhere, and I looked. On other features, any infrared thermometer's temperature range is going to work for candle making and soap making and will only matter for other applications. The same holds true with it's distance to spot ratio, unless you need something different for other applications. Some of these have high/low temp alarms and while that's certainly desirable, the only option for this line was triple the price and I'm just going to use my old digital therms to alert me then start monitoring with the infrared. There also is NIST certified to insure it's calibrated properly, and while that sounds nice, it was a few hundred extra $$ for every model and I think with enough testing I can just calibrate it to my liking myself, but if I had the funds it sure would have been tempting. I also found some significantly cheaper at Lowe's and I am sure they are cheaper other places too. I would imagine these would work well enough as well. http://www.lowes.com/pd_73790-56005-IRT207_1z0wcn0__?productId=3136869&pl=1 A general consensus, at least from posts I've read, is that you don't have to be absolutely precisely accurate on temps for candles nearly as strongly as you need to be consistent and the thermometer should be directionally accurate so it's best to stick with one thermometer. So lets say your thermometer measures 185 as 183, well as long as you keep mixing and testing it when yours says its 185, you are hitting the same temp and should be fine.

Yeah the triple scent seems literally impossible. Wouldn't that clog up the wick, and if you burned a wick hot enough, wouldn't that be bad for the candle/jar/fire safety? I just can't wrap my head around that even working as even in theory if you have it bind with the wax, it should have other problems that make it impossible. Anyways, I found the triple thing if you want to see. I don't want to mention the name as I don't want to feel like I'm bashing any company, but I would share the link if you want via PM if you're curious/want to warn them/etc. I also missed this line on one of their specific candles as well. See any inconsistencies here? Also isn't it unfair to call a 12.5 Oz Status jar which probably only holds about 9 Oz of wax (CS says overflow is 11.8 oz. wax, fill line 8.9 Oz) as 13 Oz? It couldn't hold 13 Oz of wax unless you have ways of bending matter and space to your will, and I would imagine one with that superpower wouldn't be using it to fill up candles slightly heavier! 13 oz. Refillable Status Jar Candle This candle will burn for a minimum of 110 hours. When your candle is done, simply return it to us and we will refill it (in your choice of fragrance - THREE TIMES - for $3.00 off) - first candle costs $19.99 and refills are just $16.99! Price: $23.00

What was your favorite ones of these?

I will definitely check that out. I figure I might as well give the scenario here, because why not? Y'all are just trying to help. The filing fee here is only $100. My only hangup is my best friend is specifically a business attorney and is going to do it for free. But, yesterday I learned he just got ill and it might be a month or three before he's recovered, caught up at the office, and able to get me in there. So my options are this. 1. File for LLC for $100, and then amend the documents later which could cost up to another $100. I could change everything to the way that suits him then, but it's an extra $100 I would have to spend. 2. Just wait the month or three before he's ready to file anything. This will only cost me $100 period. Either way, in a few months I'll be an LLC with professionally filled out documents. The real question I am wracking my brain about: is it worth the extra $100 now for the 1 to 3 months extra protection, or do I just wait? I'm heavily considering waiting as I really need to limit my expenses before I start selling, and it would be nice to start selling the candles I've thoroughly tested so I can start buying more soap/candle things to test more products. I guess the real question is: is the $100 worth the protection it may offer for up to 3 months, which is probably a very technical question I need to ask an attorney and I dare not ask him right now. As I stated before, under NO circumstance am I selling ANYTHING without insurance! Ever

This is so useful I wish it were stickied. I have bookmarked it though!

The general consensus seems to be that insurance is mandatory to sell. What about being an LLC? Do you need both? I am guessing you do, but I don't understand enough about LLCs to know, but the insurance part is pretty obvious.

Ok, good. That aligns with what I thought. I was wondering if I missed something or if they were on the crazy train, lol. But why would they only say those jars and not the others? Perhaps those are the more expensive ones? Anyways, thanks for clearing that up. I trust your judgment over random internet seller.

The rhetoric around here seemed to agree that you never reuse a jar unless its for your own testers. However, I stumbled across a soy candle shop the other day and was curious about what they said. According to them, none of their jars are reusable except status and apothecary. Those can be refilled precisely 3 times, and no more. This seemed to be very specific information. Why they felt others weren't reusable and these were wasn't explained, nor the exact limit of 3 times. But it made me wonder if I am missing anything. Any thoughts? I currently exclusively use Status 12 Oz (branching to 21 Oz soon) and I'd love to be able to reuse a jar a few times for repeat customers who I personally know and give them a discount of the jar cost itself, but is this safe?

That makes perfect sense. I've noticed a lot of recipes using the three oils you mention as well. Suppose I'll be looking for those,soon! I just wish a Costco was near.

My goat milk concern was you saying it would heat too hot for some scents. I believe I'll start with your recipe though and go from there. Do you like castor oil and if so what kind of blend do you do?

I heat to 185. Put 1/2 tsp uv inhibitor and stir 1 min. Put in dye and stir 2 min. Put fo in at 185 and stir 2 min. Take off heat. Pour around 130 to 125. I also clean jars with ammonia before I use them. I put a box over them as they cool after pour. I get minimal wet spots and frosting and when I started it was crazy how much i got. I'm about 50 50 with smooth tops but I use a heat gun to smooth them and they are good. That fo I've only ever used 2 Oz and 1.6 oz pp and both were strong. 2 was the strongest of anything I ever did. It was my first batch ever and I prob would have never done that much if I knew better. Lol. But totally worked with that. I also bought apothecary and just stuck with 12 oz status to have a one wick jar to start my line with. I'll do apothecary eventually.

Going forward though, I think I would want to stay away from palm oil once I learned soaping better and stick with coconut, olive, and castor, although I'm uncertain. Coconut and olive seem the main for sure ones, and castor's properties are just amazing Do any oils take to fragrancing better? I am sticking to water rather than milk just for what I believe is a product that will take better to more fragrances.

Interesting, thank you so much! Did you also publish the results of what happened with each additive?

What websites do you recommend getting pure oils from?

Are the oils in Wal-Mart acceptable for cold press? I live in a small town and that's all I have access to other than the internet. I had ordered a "cold press starter kit" from a reputable soap supply website, but a week after ordering it I called to ask why it hadn't even shipped yet and they said they were backed up due to the holidays and "took time off to spend with their families", but I could pay them $10 and they would expedite it and get it out today. So, I cancelled that order. So I am going to just stick with local oils, wholesale lye online, and the fragrance oils I have online. I got some lye from essential depot, I think was the website, and just wanted to try out here. Any recommended brands? From what I've read so far, I will definitely want to use coconut oil, olive oil and castor oil, and probably stick with soft water rather than goats milk like I initially thought. I'm very open to any other suggested oils, especially if I can get them locally. If I really should stick with oils online, any websites that would be good like essential depot?

I wasn't aware until recently that spy batches could be so different from each other as to have to wick it differently. How often have you seen this in GB 464? I'm obviously going to have to test at least some of every batch but was wondering what to expect.

I've done the most testing with ECO do far and dye blocks as well as dye chips. ECO 14 has worked well for many of them but of course not all

With straight 464 I have great success with CD and ECO.

Oh yeah, I use mainly the 12 Oz Status jar which I know is one of your favorites as well. I am exclusively using this until my testing is done, then will branch out into the 21 Oz status, which is the same diameter. I REALLY like that NCOM lid you posted, and if you can figure out something like that but different stained colors I would definitely check that out. So you know, woodlid.com (aka candleart.com) uses a southern yellow pine. He told me his cost would triple if he used any other wood. The grain pattern on each is wildly different, but I like that. I think people would be pleased with any ole wood, just letting you know what I heard was inexpensive.

Are you going to stain them different colors? What kind of wood are you using? And do you know if someone gets enough, what your price point might be? I ordered some from here a while back: http://www.woodlid.com/ I was both pleased and displeased with them, but my main hangup was the printjob on my logo wasn't anywhere near the quality as the sample they sent, and my graphic designer told me there's no reason they should have had any issue with the quality of file I sent. I haven't contacted them as I'm not dissatisfied, they were clear it was an experimental process at this point for them and I knew that going in. Everyone else seems to like them 100% and don't seem to notice the pixellated look, which to be fair, you have to look at very closely to even see. They stain them different colors too, and that's cool.

I am that type of thinker and more information is always appreciated. I'm a computer repair tech/network engineer by trade, and you can do the job without understanding the why, but learning the theory makes your job so much easier. I wish more detailed books on the science behind soy chandlery specifically existed, but they do not. I'm excited about all the highly detailed books on soapmaking, though! Anyways I would love to see someone do a comparison of 444 to 464, but I would find it interesting if 444 could throw better. My uneducated guess is 444 will throw certain FOs better than 464, where 464 will throw certain FOs better than 444, and there's probably some overlap where they are about the same although potentially with different % of FOs. Would love to be able to afford to test that right now.

I'm more worried if it's there when I need it, rather than the direction the roll moves

According to Lonestar, which is where I get my wooden wicks, you need to stick to Large or Extra Large. I haven't tested these out yet but ordered a lot to test. I am using soft wood wicks as what I've read seems to point they may be better, but I don't know from experience. http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com/candle-making/candle-wicks/

I'm new as well, and ordered GB 464. I chose it as it based on information I read and videos I had watched at Candle Science and GB's manufacturer (AAK). I have found that LoneStarCandles is much closer to me, and thus, the shipping is considerably cheaper. I initially wanted to try a few waxes out, but it's been expensive enough testing this one. I will eventually branch out into 444, especially to figure out something for summer heats as I hear glass container candles with GB 464 can melt inside, but there may be a way around it by putting it in styrofoam? I don't know, but I do know the summer is months away! I have seen the most information on here about 464. Most sites say that GB 464 is their most popular container wax too, so I would imagine the most resources can be found in general online but I have come to trust these forums more than anywhere else for candle/soap making, due to the expertise, experience, and helpfulness of many of the members If 444 has a higher scent throw, that's CRAZY to me. 464's scent throw is far superior than anything I've encountered with paraffin my whole life when I get it to work right. When I don't there's 0 hot throw, but it's usually a wick issue. Using Candle Science's Red Hot Cinnamon, the scent throw is so ridiculously strong, I can't wrap my head around something being stronger. I would be curious if anyone's done side by side comparisons of 464 and 444 for scent throw specifically. What they are saying doesn't appear to necessarily mean it's a stronger scent. It can hold more fragrance oil, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a stronger scent throw. In my testing, sometimes more FO = less scent. Everyone on here will tell you that too, which is how I was sure that was right. Perhaps one more experienced here will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see the higher melt point yielding a stronger scent across the board, at best only specific FOs in that specific wax (if at all). It might even clog up the wick and produce much less scent. Below I have linked the manufacturer of Golden Wax, AAK, and their information on the subject. Both 464 and 444 are 98% soy, and the other 2% is a Universal Soy Additive. IMO I would be adding this anyways if I went with pure soy, so it's as close as I need to pure soy. FO load of 464 is 7% to 9% (although you'll see people on here often use 6%, I've even seen 5% for certain oils. FO load of 444 is 9% to 11%. I could be way off here but I fear that 444 might need the higher FO to get equal scent (please correct me if I'm wrong). I will say I prefer using less FO, and many of my results so far have had such a high scent throw that I can't fathom a need for more. http://www.aak.com/en/ProductsSolutions/Technical-products-and-feed/Goldenwax/Golden-Wax-Products/