wthomas57

I have given serious consideration to trying 4630 for container candles. I hadn't really considered it for melts, but I presume that is why you add 4625 to it. That looks to be a good combo to try, although I thought 4625 only holds 6% which could be an issue. I typically use 8-9%. Do you have a hardtime deciding on an FO load the wax will hold when you combine waxes like that with different max fragrance loads?

I been there as well... and candle making is all about the details and testing. Frustrating but fun. I wish I knew others around my location that made candles but I feel like I am the only one. So, forums help bridge that gap. Im in Kansas City, MO area and youd think in a city this size, I would have run into someone fairly close who makes candles, ha! -Wade

So I have a really good tip for you...If possible... its good to use some material under your candles that doesn't draw out heat too quickly. For example, wood isn't good as it will suck our the heat faster than normal and that can cause shrinkage. Counters probably not near as much. Ideally...metal is great. What I have done since my pouring tables are a wood finish, is I have this padding that keeps heat in (sort of if you are going to bring a hot dish to a party and need to keep it hot during travel). I have lined my tables with that and it helps. The truth is having any solid surface under your candles is going to pull heat out faster than if there was no surface underneath. Well, since we can't pour and cure candles in mid-air you have to find the best alternative. To me... its either the material I use or metal shelving. Also (now this is to combat wetspots more than shrinkage around the wicks...but still helps) is I wrap my candles while cooling. I made some custom wraps that I can quickly slap around each candle (super fast and easy) and it keeps the heat in the candle better as well. It also keeps the cooling more uniform. I cant tell you how much it helps, but it does seem to help. Cookie sheets aren't bad as they are metal, but they are rarely completely level. I am pretty OCD and anal about my candles and anything that is even a little off about them drives me nuts. Not being completely level would kill me. If you have any that you can check with a level to be sure, than Id assume they would work fine. One other tip...lol, sorry.... is once they have settled enough that you can move them without wax moving around, I move mine as batch into a confined area. I have big Husky containers that I put them in sometimes, and I even use and old file cabinet and store them in the drawers to cool even more slowly. Or a cabinet, pantry, and so on. Really... all that isn't completely necessary but again, if I have time and doing bigger batches that are harder to watch and control each candle.. then I dont want to have to go back and "fix" the top of tons of candles. Sometimes, extra work in the beginning can save you a lot more work at the end.

Exactly! Lol. Anyway, yah I'd get a space heather and try to keep closer to 72 or 73. I have better luck that way. Id also increase your pour temp a bit and see if that helps at all? Just a few degrees really. Also, when I was asking about environment, I really should have been much more specific, I was curious about temperature which you mentioned, but also about pouring table (what type of material are the candles sitting on -- wood, glass--plastic, etc), airflow, and so on. I do not use pure soy currently, but soy shrinks and contracts less than blends and less than parrafin do. So you should be able to get this resolved pretty easily. Not to mention, a heat gun to fix it would solve the problem as well.

i have to admit, thats a bit shocking to me. I haven't heard of many people having better success with HTPs than CD when it comes to soy. Parrafin, yes. Soy... not so much. One issue i always had with the HTP (as well as other wicks) was the discoloration to top of the wax it caused.

I doubt you are pulling it "too tight". Honestly, if you pull it too tight, it pulls right out of he wick tab, lol. I would just make sure you are pulling it tight either before poor or right after you poor. If you do it later in the process once wax begins to cool a bit, you may cause some cracking and/or separation when pulling the wick tight again. One thing that has always annoyed me by some bigger name candle companies is when they say, "we continue to straighten and pull our wicks tight through out the cooling process". Why? Haha. Get it straight, pull it tight, and then it should be fine throughout. You'r only asking for trouble if you keep jacking with the wick throughout the cooling. Use a bowtie clip or something and just make it taught from the beginning. Then you should be fine. What type of wax is it by the way that you were using? And what kind of environment are you pooring and letting your candles setup in?

both wicks look to big in my opinion. I get great scent throw in my container candles and i never have near that melt pool size after 5 hours. What type of wax is it? If its straight parrafin, I'd worry a little less about it and just wick down a size. If that is soy or a parasoy, it should be burning much slower than that and I would come down at least 2 sizes if not 3 or 4 and see what happens. Also depends on what type of wick you are using. If I read correctly that its CD, Id come down 3 sizes and see how it works. Hope that helps.

Its not going to affect the candle so I wouldn't worry about it too much. The easiest solution is heat gun it on low heat. Also, poking relief holes around the wick can help as well, but I personally dont do that. Also, are you using some sort of wick centering device and pulling your wick tight throughout the cooling process? Not having your wick pulled tight the entire time it cools can cause that as well.. GL

That's all true. And I guess I shouldn't have asked for "best" wax. I was really just curious what others had liked and used successfully. Ill dig through some older posts but sometimes I am hesitant doing that since things change and so do ingredients. I am glad you mentioned newspaper for wrapping. I was going to ask what is common packing material to use for insulation during shipping to help protect against heat. I have bubble wrap and packing peanuts. Not sure if those help or not to keep excess heat out. Any idea? Do you get bulk newspaper from a supplier by chance or just use local scraps? Not real sure where to get a lot of it (for nothing or for little cost). As far as shipping days.. I currently only ship Monday and Tuesdays during spring and summer. And then Monday through Thursday during fall and winter, so thats not a big problem for me. And I always use 2 day priority shipping through usps currently (unless they pay for 1 day shipping)

ive been trying to use cotton core with IGI6006 parasoy. It burns nicely but doesn't get a great pool. In a 11.5oz tumbler with a 3.5" diamater, I am using a C80 and its still not big enough to get a complete melt pool. Needless to say, that is the complain Ive had with the cotton cores. I have to wick up like crazy to get a good MP, by then i have a huge flame and start getting mushrooming. I really REALLY struggle finding a really good wick solution for IGI6006.

Is there a go to favorite for many as far as ideal wax consistency and excellent HT? Don't care if its parrafin, soy, or a blend. Thanks again

Hey everyone, Ive been using 6006 for wax melts when I sell locally because everyone really likes the throw and longevity of it. Its also convenient because its my favorite wax for my container candles currently) The only problem is I cant ship these very well because of the softness. I want to experiment with new wax for melts and looking for suggestions on what you all think is the best as far as usability and scent throw. I am looking for both parrafin and soy suggestions. I prefer soy but if there aren't any soy waxes for melts that have a good throw, then Id rather use parrafin if that is the case. thanks everyone

I haven't had issues with 6006 in wax melts. I mean, you can't really ship them, but my customers love the 6006 in wax melts because of the throw, and doesn't take forever to start making a good melt pool. Regarding CD wicks.... let me know how those turn out. For me, CD wicks have been ALL over the place for me in terms of performance. Not to mention, I absolutely CANNOT stand how they fall over and wont stay centered during burning. That is why I always end up going back to zincs and premier, although I cant stand the mushrooming either. I always worry about customers who power burn (which is unfortunately most of them). I mean, with zincs and premiers, while they are the best burning wicks in my opinion (*plus they dont discolor wax as much as other wicks have for me), the mushrooms start getting huge. Wicking is going to be the death of me. I really like the flame on the cotton cores, but I cant get a good enough melt pool or scent throw with them. Anyone have a clue as to what wicks yankee uses in their 22oz jars? Those suckers can burn for a day without getting a mushroom, and perfect melt pool. Its quite impressive but its really frustrating as well.

So for me I think the cotton cores from peak look the best when burning. The flame looks perfect.. but I have to use large sizes to get a complete melkt pool (using parasoy IGI 6006). And by the time i wick up enough, i start getting smoke and mushrooms. But other than that the flame looks the best. Just wish I could get a better melt pool out of them. I cant figure out why I cant since they supposedly burn hotter than other wicks. Currently, I am testing a papercore wick that I hear is similar to the cotton core but with more rigidity. It also goes up higher in size than I could get for the cotton core. Hopefully I get some descent results.

Hey everyone, I heard from Peak and they said they haven't had that issue reported to them by anyone else. They are looking into it but it would be very helpful if others who had this issue sent them a quick email as well letting them know of the issue. Just tell them its the flat tumber lids and it has a terrible odor that affects the candles and they will probably be able to cross-reference pretty easy with the ticket I have open with them. Their email is info@peakcandle.com Thanks

Still waiting to speak to them about it. Has anyone found the same lids from another supplier?

Yah I mentioned that I contacted them. Still waiting on a response. Hopefully it's something they can fix asap. It's really bad. I'm just going to find a suitable alternative. In the meantime I am trying various ways to clean them to get rid of the smell from the manufacturing process of them. I'm assuming that's what it is..b or perhaps where and how peak stores them.

Did you find a suitable alternative?

I found the problem to an odor on my container candles Ive been troubleshooting for some time now. Its a line I actually had to pull form my line while I troubleshot it. I made a previous post and strangely enough, after 6 months of dealing with this issue, I JUST discovered the cause. The problem was a foul, almost body odor type smell. Strangely though, from the same batch.... my wax melts would smell perfect, samples perfect, tea lights perfect... but my tumbler candles smelled not so good after a couple days. I experimented with EVERYTHING I could to figure out the issue... my wicks, the wax, FO, dyes, process, etc. And I always thoroughly wash my containers so that wasn't an issue. Turns out... it was these damn tuber lids I was using! Unbelievable! These lids have a rubber seal that holds them snugly on the jars. Pretty standard really.. but why in the world these smelled like an armpit baffles me. I discovered it on accident (because honestly, who is going to blame a lid for their candle smelling bad). But, its 100% the cause. you can smell it directly from the lid.... and I have candles with the lids and without and ONLY the lids ones smell. It was such a hard smell to explain... but you smell the lid directly and its absoutely the same smell. Ive already contacted Peak about them and waiting on a response. But, I wanted to first warn everyone on here about this issue. Its been frustrating the heck out of me for half a year! I am relieved I know the cause now and that the candles themselves were completely fine just like they were before these lids. But... I also am hoping others on here can help by providing alternatives to these lids or a place they get these same lids WITHOUT the smell. I love the lids other than the odor. Here is a link to the lids and the size. Thanks all! http://www.peakcandle.com/products/Black-Metal-Lid-855x10mm-6-Pk__L1004.aspx

disregard. I just saw the sticky for this.

I am based in Kansas City, MO. Looking suppliers close enough worth driving for purchases. Trying to avoid the crazy shipping. Anyone know of any? Thanks

I HATE the cotton cores. Worst by far in my opinion. go with Zinc Core or Premiers 100% of the time. Best throw, best burn, and they stay centered as a plus.

Havent tried the melon scents, but never have problems with HT in 6006. What wicks are you using?

Thought I would help here. I also was ordering from CS but shipping is ridiculous. Peak has both ridiculous pricing and shipping costs. Take a look at lonestar candle supply. Their price is about the same as CS for the wax but shipping is over $10 cheaper per case. Its about $25 instead of $39. Yes, with CS you can get the discount after I think its 3 or 4 cases, but I think Lonestar still comes out cheaper. Also, its still IGI not EAP HTH

You all using zincs ever notice the wicks themselves smell horrible? Have they ever affected the smell of your finished candle. Zincs are my wick of choice still overall but I have concerns about it. Thanks