birdcharm

That's a good idea, thanks! I've been in the habit of switching into other bottles that I can pour from, the wide-mouth offers me too many opportunities for down the side drips, I try to be careful, but it's just one of those things I guess.

It seems that every supplier I've ever ordered fragrance oils from uses a different type of bottle. I'm not sure if this would be of interest to anyone, or if it matters to some, but I thought I'd throw it out here just in case. I've read posts in the past that commented on the bottling, so I think it may have some influence upon buying decisions when it gets down to the finer points. I'll start with some that I know of and if anyone is interested, please add your comments! Excuse me for not exactly knowing what the bottles are called. Here's a couple off the top of my head, I'll think of more later ... Wholesale Supply Plus (WSP) - It came as a big surprise to me when I first ordered from this company when I found out that they "bottle" in amber glass, but they're like little jars, not bottles. They're good for storage, but pouring from them is a pain, even with a mini funnel and it takes too long to use a dropper, so I always have to rebottle for what I wish to use. Note: I've only ordered 2-oz. & 4-oz. from this company, other sizes may be different, but most likely a large amber glass "pill bottle" ... if someone could verify, it might be helpful for some. Lonestar - amber plastic (HDPE - hard plastic) (I only ordered 1-ounce samples so far) ... to be continued

So now I'm distrustful of etsy. Several years ago, I created a shop and figured I'd get back to it at a later date. At that time, you could sell something and your buyer could send their payment to your Paypal account. Recently I learned that in order to sell there, you must sign onto etsy payments and in order to do so, they need all of your bank account information, plus last four digits of your SS. So how secure is their system to have all of this personal data on their files? To read now about this glitch makes me ask myself that question over again. I guess I won't be opening up an etsy shop, must be meant to do something else.

I think this is really annoying ... lol, the more I think of it, the more annoying it gets. I mean, okay, just how many melting pots have you heard of blowing up when scented oil was added to it? I've been reading candle boards for quite a while now, and I never once heard of this happening.

How would the flashpoint be figured out of the entire melting pot after the scent is added to the wax? It seems that the high f/p of the wax will more than compensate for any lower f/p of fragrance oil at 6-10% added to it ... wouldn't it?

What do they mean when they say it's important to "never heat your fragrance beyond that temperature" (flashpoint), that would mean that some f/o's with a low flashpoint shouldn't even be used to make a candle. I don't think they understood your question. ("How do those vapors escape when they're mixed into another medium (melted wax, for instance)?")

I think it probably has more to do with incorporating a liquid into a liquid, with the melted wax in a state that puts it in a welcoming atmosphere to the fragrance oil. It seems if you add scent to wax chunks or flakes, some of that oil is going to flow down to the bottom of the pot where it's going to get pretty hot. As for vanilla and other flavorings or spices, there are many that linger in the substance if they're added last, such as garlic; and, with vanilla, since it's an extract, it probably does burn off, whereas fragrance oil is much less likely to do that as it's made for being able to withstand some heat. I've always allowed my wax to cool somewhat before adding scent, but I honestly feel that the best way to make sure it's mingled with the wax is to gently stir along the way, and definitely just before pouring. I see many people say "stir for X-amount of minutes" ... but if they're not giving it a stir again prior to pouring, I'm not sure it matters as much ... it's probably better to stir for a minute+ and then stir again later than it is to stir-stir-stir only one time, that's just my opinion, off-topic as it may be!

So, are these two companies related? ...Candle Science and Just Scents ...? If not, one of them has certainly copied the other on this subject of flashpoint. Anyway, there's so much bad information out there, esp. on youtube, that it's mind boggling, you've always got to check things out to make sure the "expert" who presented something really knew what they were doing. (Oh, and if they're wearing a lab coat, bib, overalls, etc., check them out even more!!)

I'm sure there are a lot of reasons why candle making recipes have typically always called for melting the wax first and then upon cool-down, adding scent. It's kind of like dessert recipes that always tell you to add the flavoring last, there are reasons for these things.

Are you discussing this with your customer in the ebay resolution center? That's where you should be anyway so you can discuss this on the ebay site. You might be able to then send a refund for what they feel is fair, I'm not sure how that works. But at least you can keep on good terms with the customer and you won't get negative feedback.

I've never used that wax, but I've read some threads about it since there seem to be a lot of people who use it. If you do a search here, you may find more information on both the wax & the preferred wicks.

Yes! ... an update on this would be wonderful! Personally, I don't think it's fair to say a wax is not stable when it's been mixed with another wax, maybe the two simply do not mix well ...?? Or, maybe the fragrance load with the two of them mixed varies. I hope it all worked out!

Yes, I have done that, at about 5% ... I think it did help a little, although I prefer not to add any paraffin to a soy container candle, so now I've switched over to C-3 and although I've found it to have its own set of rules, I like it better.

They're your taxes! For this year, if I were you, I'd create a cost sheet for the candles I make ... not only will that help you to figure how much to sell them for, but at the end of the year, you'll know exactly what you spent to make them and your work will be done!

It's not a wax I've used, but I'm pretty familiar with HTP wicks (they're not always my choice, however) ... I did a quick search on the board here for your wax and I see there have been a lot of threads about it ... I just glanced through the search result page and see that someone commented that this wax should cure for at least a couple of weeks. So, I'm wondering if your candles cured for a period of time before your testing.

It's "yes" as long as you create a list of inventory for the products you didn't use to create your candles. If you aren't going to subtract those expenses through an inventory list, then you can't write them off if you didn't use them. For instance, if you spend $100 on supplies and use $25 of it to make some candles, you can't deduct the entire $100. The only way you can do that would be to place $75 of those supplies into inventory, as that would be subtracted from your expenses and when you use those supplies in the future, then you can take them out.

Uh-oh! That could be why you were being asked to create an inventory list, it would, in some ways, make an adjustment for your previous expense lists. If it's only small amounts, I wouldn't worry about it, but otherwise, you might wish to consider claiming it as inventory, that would help set things right. They really should have explained it all to you a little better from the beginning, but, as with many things, live & learn seems to be the way. It might make you feel better to explain this to your new tax person to make sure they know what happened and see what they think. Paperwork isn't one of my favorite things to do either!

I'm gathering that this means to add up what you've spent to make the candles you've sold, not everything you've spent, which makes sense to me. It would not make sense to me if it was to add up everything you've spent without taking out what you haven't used in the form of inventory, because you can't write off all of your supplies, just what you've used to make your products, at least that's how I've always understood it. The thing about doing the inventory is that it follows from year to year.

I think she's asking for a list of everything you have that is something that you might use in order to make products with for sale. The best thing, imo, would be to make candles with those supplies and see how much of it you can sell before the year is out so you don't have so much in your stock. 🙂 If there are scents you want to personally use only, just treat them as something personal and don't include them on anything, either the expense list or the inventory.

I'm not in the business of selling candles, but I do know a little about inventory. Your molds, melting pots, packaging materials, and other equipment would be items that are considered expenses, not a material that you sell. So, then what you have would be any materials (wax, containers, etc.) that you bought that you can still use which you've set aside for making/selling.

Last year, I decided I would do an experiment of my own just to see what I thought of adding some e/o to my f/o. My thought was to make a fir f/o a little more natural smelling, so I bought some Scotch Pine and Pine Needle e/o's and added a little of both to my fir f/o. I used C3 at 6% with RRD cotton wick ... I'll use it for other things, but it was not impressive. Of course, this is just my one little try at it, and maybe if I had added the f/o at one temp. and the e/o at a lower temp. it may have made a difference ...? ... don't know, but I'll stick to f/o's for candles from now on and only use e/o's in other ways. I should have known this anyway, but my thought was that maybe the e/o could give my f/o a new direction, which it did, just not for my candle in that instance.

I have a feeling that if there are essential oils in the fragrance oil, then the lower temp method probably does better. I was thinking that if I add any e/o's to my f/o's that maybe I'd try adding the f/o at a higher temp and the e/o at a lower temp, but I haven't taken the time to do that yet to experiment, as I really don't think e/o's have much place in candles.

As long as you don't use the lightweight gel, it would encase firmly. If you wanted the entire design to be a candle, you can make the flowers or other design out of a high melt point paraffin wax and work with those, although the method for pouring would be entirely different.

I'm not understanding the "gritty" description ... everything I've ever read about it says it has a silky feel to it, which is why I thought of it. I wasn't trying to steer you wrong, I promise!! 🙂 I was curious to at least do a search for it and see that Nature's Garden carries it, but I didn't look any further. Here's what they say about it: Cornsilk powder is used in natural cosmetics, skincare, and soap for its ability to soften the skin. Cornsilk used in body powders provides a silky feel. Cornsilk can be used in soap as a natural brown coloring. Cornsilk adds silkiness and glide to these recipes. Cornsilk can be used in the formulation of facial masks to provide skin softening. Cornsilk can be used in body powder formulas since it provides a silky feel. Cornsilk can be added to soap recipes for gentle exfoliation. ( source ) In some ways, with natural skin care products, I think people are more open to products having tint to them due to the natural ingredients, i.e., powder not being white-white.

I'd like to try cornsilk powder one day ... have you tried that as part of your recipe?