Clear Black

I should have just gone this route at the start 

I say grab a tera saucer and test in a safe spot. Just be aware like Trap says that it will soak through. Doesnt hurt to at least test and see for yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-GD2011B-Electric-Griddle/dp/B00CI51RS4/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_79_bs_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JVQQEDFKS0XPVX97SZBQ

Get something like this. Turn it on while melting your wax, preheat your pots on them, and while stirring in FO keep them on this to maintain a "preheat" on your pots instead of putting them on a cold surface such as your counter top or whatnot.

6 hours ago, wthomas57 said:

Possibly, but Id test first first and see if wicking is ok. Some discoloration can be normal and doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong. However, because so many people are having issues right now... I would test asap.

 

Mine haven't been yellow at all.. just not burning the same.

Just poured 4 cans of testers. Will be testing CD-14, 16, 18 & 20. I read your review on Cs's site for 6006, well, at least I think "WT" is you lol. By reading some of those reviews I am anxious to see how these test with just straight 6006, no FO. Going back to basic and then from there.

I will also be keeping a keen eye on the tunneling issue so many are reporting from that review section of CS. I cant tell if its just random newbie errors they are having or actual issues with the wax.

Wish me luck

Just to chime in here, recently ordered two 10lb slabs of 6006 from Candlescience. There was no batch number on the wax or the packing list so I cannot tell you what batch its from. What I can tell you is that it arrived at my door looking this same yellow tint as everyone else says. Not even close to being the typical white I see with other waxes. 

Should I call them and ask about a return?

13 hours ago, wthomas57 said:

Well.. I can give you a few suggestions.

 

1) Traditionally, candles and melts were fragranced at 3%. So when you hear triple wicked, they usually mean 9 or 10% So i am guessing 5x the scent is 15%

    I am not as familiar with gel wax, but I know there are wax blends out there can hold over 12 (supposedly). Also.. since melts have no concern for wicking... they can pump as much additive they want into it to increase the FO load.

 

2) They could also be using weaker oil which is why they add a lot more

 

3) They could also just be full of SH$%

 

Regardless... waste of money. no need for that much. Thats just overwhleming IMO. 

Ya, it sounded like marketing nonsense to me which is why I was confused. Appreciate the feedback. 

The only gel Ive seen come close to that is Versagel Chp which has a max 7% FO load based off their own MSDS. Im curious what additives they would put in to bump it higher? Im not familiar with gel at all to even speculate on this

On 7/24/2017 at 5:09 PM, e911 said:

This really stinks!! I ordered everything through Peak.  I loved that their scents came in amber bottles.. Everywhere else I've tried sends them in white see throughish bottles..   This grinds my gears!  Have to redo all of the testing!  Find new scents, change the website information.. argh!

Try Fillmore's "TruScents" brand oils. Very good oils and also come in those amber bottles. Even the big 16 ouncers..I think the glass amber helps keep some life in the oils better than the plastic. Just my opinion though

Post some photos of your progress!  I would love to see how they come out

http://www.courtneyscandles.com/89085ww.html?utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=Comparison&utm_campaign=Frooglizer&gclid=Cj0KCQjwktHLBRDsARIsAFBSb6xHyx2Bc4ADf6J0T9LAplljQOnEz0otsO7lFTuGCumJDdxS6Us0WLEaAg9fEALw_wcB

Woodwick brand "SmartGel" that claims to be 5x the scent or normal wax melts. So if people normally make melts at lets say 5%, are they saying their gel is fragranced at 25%?? I am guessing they have to be using a custom gel designed for higher fragrance loads because Penreco Versagel CHP is pretty much as good as gel gets, and has a max 6-7% FO load.  

What am I missing? I was shopping this weekend and came across some of these tins and they were indeed fragranced very well. I almost purchased a few to test them but was rushed out the door and on to the next shop. Anyone use gel wax that can lend some insight maybe?

6 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Soy farming is becoming as polluted as cotton. I would like to read articles about what you have learned if you have time to post them...

 

and a high ho yes to finding alternative waxes.

What kind of alternatives you thinking TT? Only route I see is parrafin but I thought in the eyes of customers they want more soy, even though we as chandlers know something is aloof with the wax. I see this heading towards a lot of extra explaining to customers why the rapid switch to another wax was required. 

On 7/18/2017 at 9:45 AM, TallTayl said:

So 464 and 415 require wicking down and c3 up. What the heck is going on?

 

at least 464 and 415 are by the same manufacturer. 

 

Is thischamging your throw trap? My ht is pretty abysmal compared to prior years

My HT in 444 has tanked in the last 6 months TT. My 10 oz jars are basically bathroom capable only at this point. Used to fill a large room this past winter, not any more. NOTHING has changed on my end, I still order everything as usual and make them the same I always have. 

2 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Ask away it makes me think. I do use cosmetic micas.  I start with just like a quarter teaspoon or on the dry salt. Then add fo And mix them to make the colors pop

Thanks. Is there a local place that sells salts that are larger than table salt? I have an online wholesaler I can buy from but at 55lb bulk bags. I wanted to experiment without wasting a ton of money buying huge amounts of raw salt

6 hours ago, TallTayl said:

I don't mind at all! So long as the opening of the container is smaller than the clothes pin it works brilliantly. 

Indeed they are smaller, almost like your tins but not quite. Thanks TT

8 minutes ago, olives said:

I use 464 soy wax, and the one consistent issue I seem to have with my candles as they age is frosting on the tops. I keep them stored in boxes with the lids on, but the frosting happens nonetheless.

 

Otherwise, TallTayl is right...that bit of aging does seem to make the scents stronger.

I dont dye my candles so you can hardly notice the frosting if at all. The 444 melts I made 7 months ago were bright red and pink when first made, the color has all but faded out and whats left you can just see all the frosting on them. Thats when I decided to try them without color and I liked the look of the natural wax so kept going that route.

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

A well-made candle is like a fine cheese or wine. They do improve with age. 

 

As long as they are covered they tend to be just fine in my opinion.

As stated above, the ones I made a while back still smell great, maybe better. I just wasnt sure if that was normal or not so thanks TT  

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

For a starting point I would go 10% by weight. If it's a super strong powerful scent back off a little and save yourself some money.

Thanks a bunch TT. And to add to my barrage of questions, did I read you stating you color yours with micas? 

Lol, I promise thats the last one for a bit  

So lets say I have my fair coming up in November. 2 fairs actually (3 days of selling) The way I order my containers is 500, 240 and 150 respectively per container type at a time to get bulk pricing. I dont know if I should make all of each candle, because lets face it, I HIGHLY DOUBT I will sell 900 candles in 3 days lol But...lets say I have 100 candles left over and my next fair would be in mid-April. Lets say for arguments sake, those extras will be kept in my cellar which stays about 65* and lids sealed and in boxes. EDIT: They are soy 444 if it matters. 8% fo

Can I expect those to be "sellable" 5 months later? Or are they a write off if I dont sell at Thanksgiving fair.  TTIA

I ask this because Ive had tester candles I never got too or burned complety and wax tarts that I made 7 months ago and have kept sealed and in boxes and they smell better than when I first made them. Im just not sure if and when soy tends to start losing its luster if that makes sense

Im with Trap on this one. I want to know first of all, what scents were you trying and failing to sell? You can always try and start simple. Stick to the basic fragrances people know and love.  For instance, Vanilla, Apple, Blueberry, bakery types, clean typs etc etc. If you still arent selling the "popular" fragrances or "in season" scents then maybe its your packaging and marketing like TT suggests. The wax market is sooooooooooooo saturated, so if your packaging doesnt stand out from the rest it will just blend in. And blending in will not get you far. In fact, like TT said in another post, I have been through 7 different "re-branding" and packaging types to where I now feel I finally stand out from most other candle sellers. Its so beyond saturated I will never truly have a unique item I believe, but ive spent 3x the amount of time on my packaging than my actual wax and FO's to achieve some level of uniqueness.  Again, search through some of TT, Traps, Moons and Jcandles posts. They have some great info on standing out and making YOUR MARK and product stand out. They have done well for themselves and like me you can learn a lot by reading through older posts by more experienced members here. Just my 2 cents tho. Best of luck

Also, nobody here will be mean or cruel unless you deserve it 

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

Most fragrance will act similarly. I don't remember off the top of my head how much i used. I think I just kept adding until the salt was saturated. Then I added a little more salt so it wasn't drippy. How's that for specific? ??

 

once your salt is saturated and no longer looking drippy it stays stable forever almost.

 

I think once you play with a little bit you'll see how easy this will be to make for your November show.

Lol, about as specific as I was expecting  I will play with it a bit and see how it goes. Thanks TT!!!

On 6/16/2017 at 11:16 PM, TallTayl said:

Having a big melter really helps. and a ton of BIG pouring pots. And looong work tops.

 

my melter can melt enough wax for 125 or so tins on each side so I 'could' make 250 in a session.

 

Tomorrow I'll make another 200 or so (as long as I have time to wick them all and cure the silicone. then the melters will be turned over to melts. then to the little dipped beeswax tapers. finally to the big beeswax candles. It gets really warm in this shop now

TT, I was just about to order some wick holders this week when I saw these pics. Ive heard you mention your clothes pins before in other posts but nver gave myself that mental image of how they are used. My gosh is that just pure genius and if you dont mind I think I will try this method before buying other more traditional ones! 

35 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Off the top of my tired head, We tend scent the room freshening fragrant salt at a much higher rate than bath salts.

 

Bath salt makers tend to go for salt blends with different mineral properties that make people feel good about dropping a wad of $ for therapeutic benefit. 

 

bath salts usually contain emulsifiers/surfactants like polysorbates to disperse the oils in the bath water. Without surfactants the fragrance would pool.

 

and,... bath salts sometimes/often contain other oils, butters, etc. to make people feel like their skin is softened.

 

but... I have seen solar salt (the water softener salt) scented, placed in jars at craft shows and sold as bath salts. I sure would not want to sit on those chunks of salt! They take a long time to melt.

Thanks TT, especially on a tired head

If I could ask one more thing of you...In that post you linked it was mentioned by another board member they use .25o of FO per lb of salts. As Ive never done salts and would like to at least try them, does that appear correct as a ratio of FO/Salt? Or better yet, what percentage of FO would you suggest when making these fragrance salts.

Thanks a bunch TT. If I could get a few of these made up for my fair in November I could place a few bottles on the table and see how they do. 

On 6/30/2017 at 1:22 PM, TallTayl said:

Oh, and it does not take long to soak the salt with oil. I usually get away with overnight if I don't overdo it. I toss micas around to color, but liquid colors with UV protection can work well too. 

 

The the only thing that did not get along with salt was lavender. Smelled like rotten eggs. Ultramarine colorants also can react with salt and stink.

TT, so what is the difference between these fragrance salts and B&B Bath salts?  Id like to try and stay away from the BB scene as its over saturated, but "fragrance" salts to use in a car or warmers sounds interesting enough

9 hours ago, Jcandleattic said:

Yep, research for everything we do is the key to our success...

Agreed. The plus side to all the shows ive been scouting is the added time spent with my daughter. She is leaving for her first year of college in 6 weeks and all summer we have spent every weekend just the two of us driving to summer shows and festivals, then taking the long scenic route home ? Its our new favorite quality time activity

15 hours ago, Jcandleattic said:

I've known people who drive up to and beyond 6 hours to get to good shows, and then get lodging. For a show you've never done, or been too though, that might be excessive. If you can, maybe go to a few of the shows before making a commitment to actually vend there, and see how you like the feel of the show, the vibe of the customers, talk to some of the vendors about how they like vending at that particular show, ask if they know of good ones, etc.,

That will help you get a feel of how many other vendors do what you do, how the coordinators set up the vendors, etc.. Research is really key when you've not been a vendor at a show. 

I am very lucky and have great shows scattered all around me and my best shows (I actually only do 4 a year, 3 of which are at the same venue) are only about a 10 minute drive up the road from me. 

 

Lol, thats all Ive been doing every weekend is scouting all the local shows. Guess I should scout these shows that are 3 hours away when they come up this fall too. Road trip time!

Here in Maine decent shows are very few and far between.  So I got looking into what shows are out there in New Hampshire or Mass. Come to find out there are quite a few and large shows scattered over the rest of New England.  Looking further into them it would be 3.5 hours drive to the furthest of these shows with a bunch even closer to that. A few less than a 2hr drive.

So, does that seem a bit too far to travel for a weekend show? I would have to consider traveling back and forth each day or get lodging for the night. Either way would be an added expense to whatever else I would be paying like table fees and fuel. 

Thoughts?

I dont think it would hurt any Trap to make a display jar upand pitch the idea to that store. Maybe next time you order your amber jars request a sample directly from a sales person. I usually call a member of the sales team and speak with them directly, usually ending with a sample container heading my way shortly.