birdcharm

So, here I go again with more questions, information (or half-information!), concerns, whatever! My main objective here is to investigate this enough to inform myself about the safest practices, and those are not necessarily what you always see promoted or how some people choose to go about things. I did a search about candle warmer safety and read a few blogs & websites. I've seen it noted that "some waxes" are not specifically safe for use for warmers. I've yet to find what waxes those are, however. One of my searches offered this thread on reddit -- Candle Lamp Safety ... and it says that Yankee Candles has received some negative reports in regard to use of candle warmers. A few issues were discussed in the thread, which I find interesting. After some of my reading, I guess adding "not for use with a candle warmer" might be a consideration on some types of candles. My guess is that to make a safe wickless candle for a warmer, harder waxes are better. I have some cute containers that I think would make nice candle warmer candles, but it would be good to know what I'm doing first. I'll keep reading.

As a follow up to this, I did a little more research (I know, I'm late to the party!), and I've found a couple of things I thought I'd share here. One is that I see that some candle makers have added a warning in their safety guidelines in regard to candle warmers, noting not to burn a candle while placing it on a warmer. Another is that some posters here a long time ago said that tins (in their opinion) were fine for warmers, but they didn't like to idea of placing a glass candle on one (the type that warms from the bottom). My thought is that I think it's an absolute waste to place a wicked candle on a warmer! Do these people have any idea what it takes to wick a candle? 🤪 On a more serious note, wickless candles would be better, imo, I think some may have more scent in them too. Who knows, maybe I'll make some wickless tins some day! I guess I would use a higher percentage of fragrance, any tips would be appreciated!

Thanks ... I can see that now, good to know. I guess the thought of warmers is a bit concerning because I read an article where someone's candle flared up and it seemed as though it had been placed under what looked to be halogen lamps. This would naturally make a candle much hotter than it is supposed to get. Since I'm not familiar with using a candle warmer, it makes me wonder about various candle sizes and types of wax and if they are as safe with a warmer versus being burned. I know it sounds backwards!

I don't own one, but candle warmers seem to be becoming popular. So, I've got a question ... are they unsafe to use with a candle when the candle is lit? It would seem so, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be something someone would do, not thinking that it could make the wax too hot. What are your thoughts about this? Here's an example of why I'm asking ... does it look as though this candle is lit? photo on a reddit thread

Just curious ... what is the preservative you're using? (I'm also wondering if it's necessary.) Edit to add: It could be the shea butter (see TallTayl's comment in this thread.)

So funny, I've thought that exact same thing before! Too many people out there not knowing what they're doing and then going out and trying to advise others! There are so many experienced crafters here that something like that couldn't happen at any time, there would always be someone to step in to straighten things out. Glad you're picking things back up, it's a wonderful craft that is always fun.

I don't know if they'll still offer it, but it used to be that you could e-mail them to tell them what you'd like to order and they could arrange for a Flat Rate box. You might try that to see if they'll do that for you. It seems the shopping carts only calculate things one way and it's not always the best!

For me, these types of charts help me organize my thoughts. I have some similar type of notes on a Windows notepad that I refer to often. If I have a wick that's just a little too large or a little too small, it helps to see what other types are just a little smaller or larger to try to adjust the fit.

How about making those stripes go vertically with a bit of smudge to them? That might work better. Try a small one without scent so you don't waste your limited amount of fragrance oil. Pour in white (don't fill entirely) and let it set up, poke vertical holes down against the glass and take a little stick with some dye on it, tunnel the stick into each hole (applying more dye each time), then over pour in white ... see what happens. I think this might form some vertical lines in red against the glass.

I think that red dye is one of those colors that seems hard to control, and you may end up with pink and red if you attempt to layer it in a traditional way. You might try making some "crumbs" in a tray that are red, maybe add a little something to make the red wax a little harder wax than the white, then pour it like a chunk candle by pouring the white over the red pieces. You might be able to do this in segments to get stripes, but I'd use a heat gun each time to get the glass warmed, as wet spots and lines between the layers could present themselves otherwise.

I love that idea about the cardboard rolls! Another way to recycle some cardboard for those who need to insulate jars ... reuse cylinder containers by cutting off the tops to size them down to the height you need, punch a hole in the center of the bottom, then turn it upside down to use it to cover your cooling candle, with the wick through the hole. (Two canister style containers that come to mind are from oatmeal and salt.)

I've recently "invented" (probably not) a couple of methods of doing things that I hadn't done before or never had a chance to read about, so I'm going to share them. If you have some of your own, please feel free to comment! 🙂 I make some jar candles that do well with a certain size wick that I purchased pre-tabbed, so there is leftover wick after it's been clipped. I save all my leftover wick remnants and wrap a little paper around them with the size for any future use in a shorter jar that might require the same size wick. Last night, I was making a candle in a shorter jar that was a bit on the wide side that could use one of the leftovers from a taller jar, but the leftover was just a bit too short for pouring (only came to the top of the jar, no way to secure). So I looked around and found a tube from a spray bottle that was pretty small in diameter, like a thin straw ... it fit right over the end of the wick. With a little piece of tape, I was able to insert about 1/4"+ of the tip of the wick into the tube, which temporarily "lengthened" the wick, then secured it into place to pour the candle. Now I can clip the wick down to size and I got to use a leftover.

I work in what I would call "fragmented spaces" -- there are various things in different areas due to a lack of space for everything in one place. It's hard to describe, but trying to have it all in one area was too cramped and that gets old really fast. The peg board is a great way to make more space, similar to shelves, even small ones, now I want a peg board! I don't know what those wire racks are called that go over your shower head, but they also have other uses, such as on a wall in a craft area -- there's a shelf for a few bottles and a couple of hooks for hanging stuff, they help to organize a little, although not a common sight -- well, none of my area is what anyone would refer to as a common sight! 😅

The county in which you live is where you would apply for a basic business license. As for taxes, any customers within your state will have to pay a sales tax, which you will hold. Your state sales tax office are the ones you'll pay that to, and you'll find some of that out when you apply for your license, your tax ID number will come from your state office.

I'm starting to get the feeling that we're told that because they want us to buy new, lol. I have many that are a few years old and they smell the same out of the bottle as they did when I got them, and perform just fine. It's probably a matter of how they're stored or maybe what types they are, maybe certain ones fade more rapidly than others. Also, I have some samples from years ago, I mean YEARS, and they may be a little weaker, but the scent is still there, would just need some kind of blending or boosting to do anything with it, but works fine mixed and can still be used for room sprays.

I saw that Mill Creek offers an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, but I've never tried it, just thought I'd mention it as I see some posters here have offered good reviews on some of the scents.

It seems to have something to do with the scent for the most part. Some scents will linger longer because they have been created in layers, with attention given to the middle and bottom notes, rather than just a top note that you pick up on right away, but doesn't seem to accumulate in the atmosphere. Some fragrance oils out there do not incorporate several aromas blended together to make a deep, multi-layered fragrance, they are simple formulas that smell fairly basic. I hardly have any oils that I can use out of the bottle without adding something to it to make it fuller and more vibrant.

I would go down to four small wicks and make sure the spacing is tight.

I've never tried them myself and for some reason, I don't seem to have much interest in them, although can't exactly say for what reasons. It could just be because I don't wish to invest the time in learning about them, or that I've heard that they can discolor wax (don't know if that's true or not), or that I simply like fiber wicks!

I've only tried CDs and RRDs with it. I prefer the CD wicks, but with some size containers, the RRD didn't do too badly.

It has to do with what you want to see happen, I guess ... what you'd like to see yourself working on and what creative things do you want to share with others. That keeps me motivated ... if you're not doing something that you can give or leave for others, it kind of seems to all be a waste. As for throwing things out, I always try to either repurpose, sell, or give away. I don't like to see useful things thrown out, there's got to be someone who can use it. I've been working on a group of scents for about a year now and am completing testing each one; it's frustrating sometimes if one doesn't seem to work out as you thought it would ... just keep going! It seems to take me forever to find those magic combinations, and when I least expect them, they can show up! That never happens if you give up!!

I've had little to no issue with this even with metal tabs that I've had around for years & years. But, I recently saw this mentioned and can't help but wonder where those wick tabs are coming from and I'm curious if anyone has ever had this issue. I keep my tabbed wicks in sealed bags and loose tabs in a sealed container, the only time I've ever noticed a few go bad were on very old tabs that weren't sealed properly, not new ones!

(sorry, took me a minute to figure out how to edit)

It just took me way too long to get around to ordering more samples from them. At least I did order a couple of larger sizes, but it was the Floating Driftwood that I took a liking to, along with South Pacific Waters (2:1), those two seem to go well together for some reason ... on their own they were okay, but together, very nice!

Do you think they would be offended if I asked them where a couple of their scents were from?