birdcharm

LOL ... actually, if you drink too much of it, I believe it can!

If you're making candles in a small space, it would be best to keep a couple of windows at least slightly open so you can get a air flow across the area you're working in. My working area is very small and I typically only pour one, two, or three candles at a time, so it's not really an issue for me -- but, if I was making several candles and doing it all day, then it would be better to have some air flow. In regard to essential oils, they are all different and each one holds unique properties -- hardly any of them, for instance, should be directly applied to the skin and caution should be used when handling them. For scents both natural or synthetic, by themselves they could be hazardous if not handled correctly. For instance, you should never pour candle scent down the drain for several reasons, some of them environmental. In a finished product, you have diluted the liquid and have incorporated it into wax or whatever else you might be making with it, so it's no longer the same type of potent material since it's then part of something else. Think of a spice ... let's say cinnamon ... by itself it's pretty nasty stuff and I wouldn't swallow a teaspoon of it ... but sprinkled on something else, it's just fine.

All fragrances are poison prior to being made into something. This is why they are to be handled with care and regard for the instructions for use. It doesn't matter if it's a synthetic scent or a natural scent (i.e., essential oil), they are potent chemicals -- no need to fear them as long as you handle them properly -- but if they are not handled properly, they can be a hazard. Just as with most crafts that include using ingredients of one sort or another, such as glue, paint, lacquer, etc. Candle making is a science and we use chemicals! I've always referred to the guidelines that come with any particular wax as to the amount of scent that is safe to use, with the exception of highly concentrated scents, in which case, I would use less than the recommended amount. So, as long as you have read all of the precautions and follow the instructions, there is very little to worry about -- it's better to be overly cautious and take heed of all precautions than to not understand what you're dealing with and be careless with your ingredients. Regarding phthalate-free ... check with your supplier, they can tell you ... some are and some aren't, depending on how they were mixed. However, in our modern world, you're never going to get away from phthalates!

I'm not an expert at either quilting or crochet, but I do both, lol. My recent projects in crochet have been with a very large hook and strips of fabric for accent rugs; "quilting" -- if you can call it that, lol, has been some reversible vests for winter, which actually didn't turn out too badly. As for the rugs, I've made many so far as I had some boxes of old clothes stored, so I went right to work ... knits really work nicely, but just about any fabrics in a color scheme that goes well together makes an interesting pattern.

Although I had previously seen orangutans at zoos, I first learned about their plight from a magazine and then learned more on the Internet. The passion of Dr. Mary Galdikas is what really caught my attention. I'd like to share at least one page about her and anyone with an interest can take it from there: Orangutans & Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas This is Dr. Mary's Twitter Page For myself, if I were to try palm oil, I would make sure it was at least from a sustainable source and I would make sure that was on my label. Although, the sustainable farms were once rainforests full of trees, rare orchids, birds, butterflies and other wonderful things and are now monocultures without any diversity or life with the exception of palm trees, at least the products from those plantations are from working plantations that did not partake in further habitat destruction.

There seems to be a lot of things about the place that could put you to sleep, imo. It starts from when you first walk up and gets worse from there. I don't think it's simply because you're in the "basement," but there are so many other "impression" things that are missing that I feel in order for you and your table designs to even start to compensate for it, you'd have to drape layers of wonderful fabric all around the place to perk it up, signs, advertising (what? "meet me in the basement??") ... not worth it. There's got to be a better set up than that unless you really like it there and want to draw people into your corner somehow.

I have an update on this bar of soap made with a no-sweat m/p. When making this, I made one with the addition of the clam shell and one plain, then tested both of them. The plain bar is fine! The one with the clam shell attached was fine until the bar wore down and the clam came off -- then there was a pebbly feeling to the top of the bar where the clam shell had been ... not good! I'm wondering if it had to do with attaching the clam soap with rubbing alcohol. I think that might be what caused the fine grainy feel after the clam soap detached.

Yes ... I will certainly do that. It's been awhile since I've made them, but I've been wanting to get back into it. I might need to order some straight sided glasses or jars if I want to try to do some with embeds pressed up against the glass; but then I'd also have to order some high meltpoint wax, so I might just stick with plain or clear-colored marbles. I've also got shells and sand, so I might decide to do some seascapes. It's kind of nice when you've put something down for awhile because when you start to get back into it, you've already got the experience, so it's fun to start anew with some of your mistakes already behind you!

Well, for starters ... OMG, are these people serious? I was bouncing around ebay and I always see very poor examples of gel candles. Some of the weak points are usually clouded gel, tilted wicks, curly wicks, very long wicks, flammable embeds ... but these, where do I begin? (This example is from a foreign ebay seller.)

After taking a break from gel candles for a couple of years, I've decided to buy some gel soon and start to think about some fall and winter designs this year. Anyway, that's my plan for this fall and winter. I'll still do some soy candles, but for gifts and some home candles, I'm going back to gel for now -- I'm even starting to get my supplies organized, little by little!

I've used very fine glitter in embed molds before, but I've never tried mica. One thing is that too much fine glitter can sometimes clog wicks, where larger glitters typically move away from the wick, but small amounts are okay. It does look pretty, maybe as though it was gone over with a dry brush, but then I don't know how it would stick, so perhaps it was brushed into the mold.

Those are beautiful ... the graduated coloring looks very appealing!!

From my notes ... Golden Wax has two pure soy waxes that contain no additives and are both FDA approved and Kosher-certified. They blend well with beeswax, paraffin, slack wax, and microcrystalline waxes. GW402: Has a lower melt point which helps with the burn and gives better glass adhesion producing less wet spots. Pour Temp: 90-100 I Melt Point: 115-120 I FO Load: 6%-8% Source

I haven't experimented with this much. But, just as a note ... you need to be sure your soy wax is compatible. I had this tucked away in my folder (for instance with GW waxes): GW415 - Blends with other waxes, such as paraffin or beeswax // GW464 - Does not mix well with beeswax, but mixes with paraffin.

I've been meaning to get back to this thread ... I had mentioned Sweet Rain as reminding me of a vintage soap, but when I checked later, it's Sweetgrass that has that scent. I do enjoy the Sweet Rain though, and, I forgot to mention that I used to use Ocean and Sea Breeze, but recently tried Sea Spray and it's nice too. Some of the ones I didn't find suitable for me have been French Vanilla, White Chocolate, Snickerdoodle, Jasmine Powder, Cranberry Woods, Chestnut & Clove. There are some others I would not buy again based on past experience, but I don't have a list of them at the moment. I forgot to mention that I like their Sunflower and Orchid.

Of the scents I enjoy from them, I've found them to be very true to their name. Some of them remind me of vintage scents or soaps, such as Sweet Rain ... I think there were little flower hand soaps that my mom had once that smelled like this. Some that I enjoy are Cucumber, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, African Rain, Mango, Pink Grapefruit, Gardenia, Sandalwood, Oatmeal, Christmas Morning, Honeysuckle (almost a dupe for Avon's old version) ... anyway, those are a few. If I can think of some others, I'll post ... also, if I can think of the ones that I did not like, I'll try to post those. I've used both manufacturing grade and premium in soy -- can't really tell the difference on some of them. (They say to only use the premium in soy.) They recently discontinued two scents that I really liked, Lettuce and Bluebonnet ... I'm down to 1/4-oz. each, darn.

There has recently been a talcum powder lawsuit against J&J ... maybe this has given baby powder a bad name. I can't believe what was awarded, btw ... just do a search for recent articles.

I've tested many of their scents, first using some of them quite a number of years ago. Some are very good, imo, and unique, while others are flops, and some (I have read or heard about) do not perform in CP soap.

As a follow up in my m/p experiments - I've been mixing the white with the no sweat at close to 50/50. Our weather is humid just now, and I'm not seeing any sweating. I like it because they come out a little more white. I'm starting to use the rectangle mold I just received ... I've got a few bubbles in there, but for now, I wasn't concerned with them, as a matter of fact, I'm wondering if I actually like them. I used Bartlett Pear f/o mixed with some lavender e/o. Anyway, this is what I've got now ...

Although I don't use your type of wax, or make melts, I'm wondering if for that particular scent if you should use a little less. It's just a guess, but fragrance oils dissolve plastic on their own, so maybe just a little too much of it in wax in a plastic mold gets it to adhere ...?

I don't think I'll be doing many more purposeful browns, but I'm going to order some herbal powders for colorants. The little rectangle silicone mold I ordered got here yesterday, so now I can fool with it, rather than the other mold I ordered sometime ago. In the meantime, I was stuck with that particular mold and thought I'd at least try to experiment a little more; trying to see if I can get a marbling type of effect without having a thermometer -- I'm not awfully impressed with my result, but I know I've got to do such things before I can come up with something better or more professional looking. I think the soap itself isn't too bad for m/p, however, so I'm going to keep playing with it. I know that experienced m/p-ers are amused, so I'll try to keep posting.

It would be interesting to know when these candles were topped ... I'd top them again, it looks like there is still a little room ... or, use a heat gun to smooth them out. I typically top off the next morning or afternoon if I poured the night before.

I've been using the same wax and have not been adding anything to it. There are a couple of different vybars, but I don't know if the one that would be considered useful for a low melt point wax would be suitable or do anything for soy wax; I've read that it does not affect it and that it's a waste to try, so I have not. If I were using a Parasoy, however, depending on the wax, I might consider using it, as I've commonly used it in other types of candles than the container candles I've been making now with soy wax. My notes say: Vybar-103 "is intended for waxes with a melt point above 130dF. and Vybar-260 for below 130dF." ... helps with uniform dye dispersion and a reduction in surface flaws. The same thing, imo, with stearic acid ... in other types of waxes, I use it to make the wax more opaque. I believe it also increases the melt point, so I don't use it with soy container wax -- the reason I switched from 444 to 464 was for the lower melt point -- I'm still testing the differences in the two waxes to see which one I truly prefer.

Looks good ... and I see you left some room at the top in case you need to top up a little ... I bet they'll be fine!

I think this is great advice, I'd never heard about this before reading it here once before. I don't twist the wicks I've used (zinc, HTP, square braid), and they have all performed fine for me over the years. However, I recently tested my first CD wick (a "self-trimming" wick) and it did lean to one side -- so the next time I test this one, I'm going to try twisting (not me "twisting" ... the wick that is!)