birdcharm

I know I'm replying to an old post, but I went on a little reading adventure with "embeds" as my search to see what opinions have been about them.

I'm about to do some embeds or embellishments ... maybe some of the cookie stuff I've done before, I'm not sure yet.  I'm about to go exploring in my candle supply dungeon once I get up the courage to look for my molds.  But now I'm at the same place where you were a little time ago, maybe a little different, but similar in ways as to the wax to use, to scent or not, etc.  I know a lot of people do not scent them and some comments in another old thread advised against it, but they do sit on top of the candle, so I'm torn about that part.  Well, I'm just chatting here, trying to get up my motivation to pull out those trays & figure out some designs.

You might be able to blend some of those old ones to make something new with them ...?  If you decide to dispose of the ones you don't like, just make sure you take them to the proper facility for that, as they're chemicals.  I bet you could work with some of those, I've made some "bad" ones smell pretty good with a little scent work.

11 hours ago, Candybee said:

 

It's even funnier and tragic when you see 50 followup posts saying "that's beautiful" or "great candle". My jaw always drops as I'm thinking are you all blind or are you kidding me? you're proud of that hideous fire hazard waiting to happen?!!!!🤣

It is tragic in a sense.  I saw a thread on reddit a while back and I had to quit reading, it was truly a case of blind leading the blind and as I was reading it, it seemed to be getting worse by the moment, I was almost getting a headache, so I moved on!  I think there is a rather large number of new crafters who have not taken the time to read about what they're doing, they're just jumping into it.  I don't think experienced hobbyists can save them from themselves, nor do we necessarily have an obligation to do so ... part of me always wants to try to steer them in the right direction, but there's too many of them, so we've just got to let it go; but the concern is that they are flooding the market with inferior products and the candle buyers don't know until after they've spent their money.

It seems that there must be a book out entitled, "Learn How To Make Candles in One Day" ... because I think that's a bit of what we're seeing.  I am one of those people who distrust Facebook, so I've never signed on, but I can imagine that it could become annoying to see too many people posting photos with "look what I just made" type of stuff and in the photo there is a candle with a huge wick, off-center, that's been cut with a pair of pinking shears.  I think this rant is funny, although I know it was born out of frustration, we've got to be able to laugh at this stuff.  Yes, we can try to help those who actually want help and are thankful for it, but I've seen where new crafters appear insulted by the help, so then there's that!

In thinking about this, it is probably not an issue.  The only thing is that there seems to have been a rash of articles about citrus scents a few years back ( which I've been completely unaware of ) and it could be that consumers might ask about the safety of certain citrus scents.  I really don't think it's an issue, as I said, but thought I'd share it here just to see if anyone else has read anything about it.

I've been doing some reading about citrus scents and came across some things I wasn't expecting having to do with lemons.  Maybe someone who knows more about this can help me out here.  For instance, when a scent, such as one of the Meyer Lemon scents suggested above has an ingredient called out as "lemon oil terpenes" ... is that the same as Limonene?  I was browsing a misc. supply site and saw Limonene on one of the product lists and recalled that it was mentioned on this forum some time ago as something handy to use, but I knew I also saw it as an ingredient in a fragrance oil before, so I had to then go researching.  Why I choose such paths, I do not know!!  Anyway, yes, I had spotted it as a minor ingredient in a Pine scent, as well as some citrus scents and this is where I got into trouble.  In wanting to learn more about it, I found reports that said there is an issue with this ingredient when used in candles.  I don't know if it's true or not, or if it's even anything to be concerned about, but there is an indoor air quality concern that has been raised about this ingredient.  It was something about it changing when meeting up with ozone and forming formaldehyde.  So, now I'm wondering about some of the scents that I see that contain Limonene and I wonder if "lemon oil terpenes" is another word for Limonene ...?  Maybe someone here can shine some light on this for me, as from what I can tell, it is used in some of the citrusy scents we use, and for some, that may a concern of sorts. 

What type of wick are you using?

Once when they were having a special sale on Midnight Pomegranate-type, I bought a small bottle, I liked it, but it's overpriced, imo.  BUT, it mixes very well and stretches out wonderfully!  In other words, similar to how a Twigs 'n' Berries can be added to a cranberry scent, etc. and it pretty much still smells like T&B, so does this one ... it can mix with a berry scent and really perk it up, retaining some of its unique quality.

Out of curiosity, what is the scent?  Or, is this happening with several scents?  If so, what are they?

I think for people who are familiar with soy candles, they understand the rather rustic aspects of what they're buying ... that is, in part, why they are buying it.  Anyone who burns candles know that soy candles may have frosted areas, might develop frosted areas over time, or may frost after burning, simply the nature of the material.

I'm on a desktop ... it looks good!

I only dabble in creams, haven't progressed to lotions since I think they're a little more involved than I've been able to have the time to learn.  So, all I can offer is that I'd try increasing the amount of emulsifier just a little bit.  I don't know if that's the right thing though.  Also, does it matter how you add the oil phase into the water phase?  I know that with the creams I make, it has to be a slow stream of one to the other.

If anyone here does any reading at the candle making sub on reddit, I see there is a thread there today about this company, some of it having to do with their license agreement and what it entails if you should use their wicks to sell your candles.  Also, it appears that patent infringement claims are active, although I don't know if they are legitimate claims or not, but I see that they are highly involved.  It's interesting reading, but it's a bit scary, as there are some good, long-time suppliers that seem to have themselves involved all because they've offered for sale these particular wicks as well as other brands, a nice legal mess that doesn't seem fair, I think Lone Star Candle is one of those mentioned.

I think the background must be dirt bikers or paint gunners, I can't be sure, but if you look at the bottom of the front page, there is a part of an image there, I'm not sure what that's about.  How frustrating, sorry it's giving you troubles.

I thought about this a little more, and I really think that cooking aroma chemicals most likely has some sort of effect on those substances, but maybe not immediately.  For instance, for some of the chemical components, would you lose some notes to the fragrance that you possibly can't tell at first?  Do some of the aroma chemicals that the fragrance oil is made up of break down faster from being heated for a period of time?  Would the melting pot emit more fumes while the entire batch (wax and scent) are being heated?  I'm not so sure it's proper material handling really, and it's not just because I'm "old-fashioned" either.

Some places simply do not care to use the post office because they want their orders to be picked up.  There are suppliers who will send small packages USPS, I always seek them out myself as UPS can't always find my place and one time delivered my package somewhere else hoping I'd find it myself.  I did.  🤪

It could be that the old-fashioned way has more to do with the handling of the materials than the direct results.  When making a candle, it's typical to think of it as melting wax over heat while reserving the chemicals to when the temperature of the wax is on the down-swing versus on the upward.  What you are describing says that it's probable that most fragrance oils hold their potency throughout the entire melting & high temperature process.  Obviously, especially with the chemicals you are working with, this must be true if you have evaluated them (i.e. tested one method against the other for scent throw, duration of scent in the finished products, etc.), but there will be those fragrance oils that could possibly not hold up as well using such a method since all aroma chemicals are not alike and each have their own properties.  It does all depend on what we're using and as you say, "what works for you."

Where do you usually get your scents from?  Sometimes I need to order other things, so I'll order from WSP, although I don't order many scents from there.  But, I will say that if you're looking for a unisex type of scent that doesn't cost too much, maybe you could try their Sandalwood Incense.  It's not a usual Sandalwood scent and if you add some vanilla or buttercream, etc. to it, it really mellows it out and is a very nice scent, imo.

So, I'm not sure where you're headed here ... but have you ever thought of incorporating some candle gel into your designs as well as some wax figures?  For instance, if you had wax trees, you could put a pond (thin layer of gel) in the middle of this with trees around it, making it a miniature scene of sorts.

13 hours ago, fearfulsymmetri said:

Yes. It just becomes a separate layer of wax that doesn't stick to the rest of the candle properly.

What temperature are you at for pouring your second layer?  I think you should be at around 180dF for that second pour, if I'm wrong, someone will probably correct me, but I think it needs to be at least that hot.

I like pear with clove, there's just something about it.

Are you saying that there is a sink hole and when you try to fill it in and top it up that the entire repour does not melt with the candle? 

6 hours ago, Lizzy said:

This is exactly why I closed my Etsy shop when they implemented the Etsy payments!! PayPal has my bank info already.

Yes.  I have a feeling others will do the same.  I closed what I had started several years back with intentions to get back to over this weekend, sending the following attached message:

"Being forced to use the etsy payment program is not suitable for me.  When I first signed up, it looked as though if I were to consider a little shop in the future, that I could have the payments sent to my Paypal account, as that is how the program worked.  So, at the current time, I was working on setting up shop, and the payment program has changed so that I have to receive payments to my bank account, which doesn't work for me.  Thank you."

I know I didn't complain about the fact that they want to gather my personal info, including birth date too (I neglected to add that in a previous post), but I didn't want to start ranting. 🥰

Some people like a candle to last longer, I'm not sure they care or even pay attention to how fast a melt pool forms.

I couldn't think of the name of the type of replacement cap I've used with the cylinder type bottles before ... now I've got it, it's called a "turret" dispensing cap.