Jane42

Thanks for the replies....I KNEW I should have researched before I bought!!! But I am MUCH better than I was when I started in this business!! lol

I was on the Candles and Supplies website and saw the most adorable ceramic frog that I thought would be great for citronella candles. Of course, I have never made citronella candles and I usually try to investigate containers before I go ahead and buy! Has anyone used these containers for citronella candles? I need to order wicks also - any clue what size wick I would need if using Harmony 4630 wax? Do you believe the container is safe for this? I realize it is on a candle making site, but I trust Candletech members to know if it is REALLY safe! Jane

I love them!

We store our wax in a Rubbermaid tub. With the hard wax, I just keep setting slabs at angles and hit with a hammer. A great job for teenagers with anger issues....lol With the soft wax, we buy the metal kitchen "scrapers" and cut through it. Works pretty good with the wax and my business partner used that tool with the melt and pour soap.

Good point about making myself liable if I put a warning label on it. I had forgotten that Levine's actually shows a wicked candle in the warmer. I know many feel that these should not be used with glass, especially a wicked glass candle, but that is how they are advertised and I would hope that they have done testing to ensure that THEY are selling a safe product! I think you are right about me being over-worried about it - I didn't manufacturer either the warmer nor the candle that shattered, so I am going to put this behind me as far as my liability. I did sell it, and I do feel that if someone wants to sue, they will sue and I will have to defend myself, which will cost money, (of which, we haven't made...lol), but that is the nature of this business. I have insurance, so hopefully my worries should be limited. :rolleyes2 I have not contacted Levine's yet - I need to find out what warmer it was. When I do, I will contact them and let them know and see what their response is. Will update when I have heard from them.

We have decided to put a label on all the warmers we sell indicating that only wickless candles should be used with them. Since I don't know of any local sources that sell wickless, hopefully they will only use our wickless candles, which we have not had any problems with.

We have done the same, Carole, without any problems at all. When my wicked candles have burned down to nothing, I pop the jar in the warmer to clean it out. If it was going to crack due to the wick tabs conducting heat, I would think that it would have happened to me at least once - but it hasn't.

I totally understand that tins would be safer to use in these warmers than glass, but if I sell the warmer and they choose to put a glass candle jar in it, what would my responsibility be for any damage done due to the glass breaking? When you see these warmers being displayed, they do not have tins in them...they have glass...so you would think that that is what they are designed for. Even if I did not think I was responsible, if I were sued, I would still have to hire an attorney...that is the part that scares me.....

I would never have thought of this!

Thanks for the advice, friends Stella - I understand you using only tins - less to worry about - but if you sell the warmers, you really don't have any control over what they put in it. We have used our jars in these warmers for years with no problem, but I realize that we wouldn't know if a case of jars was dropped, then sold to us with tiny fractures that wouldn't be detected by us. I do want to check out a Yankee warning, though. Don't you find it hard to believe that they would state right on their warning that if the candle is not burned appropriately, it could crack. Maybe we all should have that warning - not that I believe it would progect me from everything! :rolleyes2

One of my customers just called me and told me that she had given a couple of her friends the cachepot warmers that she had bought from me. Her friend put a Yankee jar candle in it and it shattered and spewed wax all over her kitchen counter! After looking at another Yankee jar in the store, my friend told me that the Yankee candle does not say it can be used in a warmer AND it says something about following the directions on how to burn it due to the fact that the glass may break if not burned correctly. We have really pushed the warmers and the wickless jars for years and have a lot of faithful customers. Should I put some kind of warning on the warmers stating not to put a Yankee candle in it? I don't like the way that sounds....maybe to only use our wickless candles?? I was going to be speaking with the manager of the book store in the college I work in about carrying the warmers, since they were having problems with students having candles in the dorms - but now, I am nervous about that....

Thanks, all!

I am looking for ideas on how to wrap our oval melt and pour soaps. Right now we use a type of saran wrap to wrap our soaps and then seal them with a clear oval label with the scent, our information, weight, etc. The wrap just doesn't seem to hold up and it doesn't really protect the soap well. We like the idea of the clear wrap but wondered if there was anything out there that worked better and came in precut sheets. Thanks for any ideas you may have! Jane

How exciting!!! GOOD LUCK!

We use left over wax to make fire-starters - just take old potpourri, cedar shavings, etc, add some tiny pinecones - pour tinto a muffin tin in the paper muffin holder, add a couple wicks and you are done! If you are not into making those, the free for cost of shipping in the classies is a great idea - gives someone else a chance to test.

Thanks for the reminder re suppliers in each state. I have periodically gone on and checked to see if I am able to get items closer to home to save on shipping. No luck with wax but our soap base that we use and order from Cierra is more expensive at Symphony Scents in NY BUT the shipping is a flat $7.95, so we still save money!!

1) Organize candles so inventory is not such a pain! 2) Find more consignment/wholesale opportunities. Had a bit of a scare a couple weeks ago after hauling a glass order to the basement. After some twinges in my chest and dizziness, I went to the doctor to be told I need to see a cardiologist. Dr asked "well, didn't you notice it was difficult to breath - I said sure I did, but I am 20 lbs overweight and smoke :rolleyes2 Sorry about going on about this - apparently I am a bit more unnerved by this than I thought. I must be one of the few that cannot stand doing craft shows - and it is not just the hauling and setting up - never went to these before and really don't care to waste my time sitting around all day - I would rather be in the shop making candles!! Anyway - since it looks like lifting will be at a minimum for a little while, I need to reorganize....will be using the search on this site to scope it out. I know I have done this before and been amazed at how organized some people are - hoping to learn from them!

Beautiful!!

We used to do home shows, but carrying all those candles in and out of houses has just become too much for us. We still do two - one at the place we make candles and the other at my daughter-in-law's. I think next year I will try to find a place to hold it that will not require us to carry the candles up stairs....:tiptoe: I am just getting too old for that! Congratulations on the very successful open house~!

We use glass pour pots, but we heat them before pouring. Since we heat our jars, we just put them all in together so everything is warm. If I forget to put the pour pot in, I run into the same problem you are having. Since we work in the basement, where there is no oven, we have a turkey roaster in the candle area that works great for this. Helps keep cleanup a breeze! HTH

We also packaged tiny christmas tree and snowmen melts in organza bags - some were in holiday coffee cups, some were just bagged. We haven't sold many. As usual, our melts and votives sell well. Our jars (8 oz apothecary with handle) have sold better this year than any other year, due to repeat customers. If they are new customers, they are buying melts and votives to test the scents. We made 42 gift baskets this year and still have approximately 10 left. Those usually do well at the home shows - not so well at the craft shows. The remainder were put in two shops and if they don't sell, we will just take apart and return the stock.

Excellent customer service - they were certainly on top of that! Doesn't make it any easier for those that use that jar, but they did all they could!

My business partner and I were just discussing this tonight! Even though it is definitely an over-nighter for us to go to PA to pick up wax, we may take a "road trip" and treat ourselves! It is definitely not the cheapest way to go, but it is more fun. I wish we had our wax supplier closer - I hate paying shipping on that stuff!! But at least our glass supplier is within an hours drive....

I am so glad you posted - I am out of bags and was about to go through my invoices. I need to compile an excel sheet with all my suppliers and their contact info. Doesn't seem like a big deal until you get so busy!! Thanks again - Packco is where I had ordered previously!

We started with paraffin and then added soy when people started asking for it. Soy never really took off and I guess I am the only person that does not like working with it. Since nothing goes down the sink, I wipe my pots with a paper towel - and I find the soy greasy and messy. I also do not have to heat up, then wait for it to cool down to pour. FO's seem more vibrant in the paraffin and, last but not least, our soy votives and jars started taking on a life of their own if they were not sold within 6 months - but our paraffin votives and jars looked exactly the same a year later as they did the day we made them. We have been using soy for small shower and wedding candles, but if someone wants a certain color to match the color shades they have picked out, paraffin is much easier for us to match than soy. Luckily, in our area, people don't care one way or the other....