olives

@TallTayl - have you stopped selling candles until you figure this whole wax thing out? I'm still running my business while testing other waxes/blends frantically on the side. It's a nightmare.

I know a few of the vendors who do this show, and many of my wholesale accounts buy from this show. You can walk the show for free as a potential vendor, which is what my husband and I did last year. It was absolutely a great learning experience, and I would highly recommend doing that next year even if you're not quite ready to commit yet - especially since it's so close to you! It's great to see all of the vendors in action, get a sense of how things work, and see the vendor displays. From what I've heard from other vendors: your booth location plays a big part in your success (many first year vendors get less than ideal spots), and you really need to do the show for 2-3 years before you break even, as buyers become familiar with you and trust that you're a viable business who can fulfill their orders. It is definitely on my radar once I am able to get a bigger production space and get myself in a position to expand my wholesale reach.

I used Legal Zoom to set up my LLC...very straightforward!

I tried it with 464 and it definitely made it too soft...and so far I'm not noticing much of a difference in hot or cold throw with adding it to 444.

I recently upped my 14 oz candles to $22 each retail (so, $11 wholesale). I could probably go a smidge higher, and maybe will next year, but right now this was the most conservative jump I could make without shutting out certain longtime customers. Luckily, most of my wholesale accounts have been supportive, and two of them had actually told me last year that I needed to raise my prices. So - don't undervalue your work. 16 oz is a hefty candle and if you're targeting the right customer (one who will pay for quality ingredients and something that's locally, artisan made) and you're branding in a way that conveys the value of your brand, I would personally have no issue with paying $28 - $30 for a good candle that size. Again - the key is targeting the right customers who will be fine with paying that price for a candle. Not everyone will be, and that's fine - they're not your customer. And yes - definitely try to get that cost per candle down. That's something that all of us small makers struggle with, since most of us don't buy in huge bulk. I just got an order of 3,000 jars delivered to me last week - on 2 pallets - which are currently stacked in my living room and front hallway. So for me it's not only trying to be careful about cash outlay, but I also have serious space issues!

@ellajoan @Moonstar I'm sorry...I should have clarified that! co92 is actually coconut oil, with a 92-degree melt point (there is also a 76-degree melt point version).

That is really interesting, and thank you for that tip...I'm going to order a small bag to test. I should quit making candles and become a professional tester.

I have burned these particular lots using the same wicks before, but blended with 25% of the coconut slab wax from C&S. In those cases, the burn was much faster... I don't know whether I'm coming or going anymore with these changes to soy!!

I know that @TallTayl, @Clear Black, and @ComfortandJoy have all been testing blends of co92 with soy wax, and so I jumped on the wagon to give it a go myself. I did 2 blends - 20% co92 with 444 and 20% with 464, and after about a 10-12 day cure I'm burning the 2 tests this morning. It really seems like the co92 is slowing the burn of both of my tester jars, especially with the 444 blend. Not a bad thing, but I have no idea why or how that would be the case. Each jar is wicked with my usual ECO wicks. Would love to hear input/results/experiences from anyone who has blended co92 with soy.

I was just eyeing the EZ wick setter, but your trick sounds genius...I'm going to give it a try!

I use 8% as well, and ECO wicks which do tend to burn hotter...so I would definitely try wicking up!

Oh bummer! This is one I really wanted to try. I use 464 so maybe it will perform differently, but I'll stick to the sample size to test first.

Green clover and aloe was absolutely strong for me in 464, and vanilla champagne was also great and a good seller for me. I ordered fresh basil with low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I use it as a mixer and have been happy with it!

I agree with @Trappeur, there are so many variables involved in shows that there's really no right answer. But the info you just provided is super helpful to at least throw a few suggestions out there.... First, I would say that my main piece of advice would be to bring enough stock so that your table is filled up the entire time. Depending on how you're setting up your space and the number of products that you offer, the quantity that makes up a "fully stocked space" will vary for everyone, but if you can bring 300, I certainly would. The important thing is, as soon as there are empty spaces, reach down under your table (or wherever your extra stock is) and fill them in. A table full of product is truly appealing and inviting to customers and I have found in my experience that this makes a difference for me sales-wise. As for number of scents...there are probably a couple of schools of thought on this, but like you, I tend to offer a lot of scent choices at my shows. I've found the same thing - people tend to linger and stay longer to smell all the scents, and it almost becomes like a challenge for them to choose their favorites. Just make sure that you're grouping the same scents together in an organized way, otherwise they'll get overwhelmed. I hope you do GREAT!

I have the Rosemary Mint and personally I like Flaming's much better...the one from Just Scent is too minty for my nose and I can't smell any rosemary at all. I haven't tried the Aveda Rosemary Mint Type yet, so maybe that one is more balanced. The Shampure Aveda Type smells exactly like Aveda's Shampure and is very strong. I can't really come up with a good description for it, but I can't see it as a candle scent, but more of a bath and body scent. The other one on your list that I have tried is the Avocado and Sea Salt, and used that in 464 wax last year. It's a clean, spa-like scent but for me wasn't a strong one. I might give it a try it again.

@TallTayl Not yet, but I'm going to test that out. When I'm pouring for production (wholesale orders/shows), I'm pouring between 70 - 100 a day, sometimes more, so I was trying to figure out the logistics of insulating each candle with the space I have. I definitely need to figure something out!

Coincidentally, I've started to have those exact tiny bubble issues with my 464/coconut blend. I'm pouring around 120 to try to help eliminate air cavities under the surface (which, frankly, is not helping...but at least this time the cavities are visible at the surface so I can at least see them and know they're there & fix), but at this lower temp the air bubbles are ridiculous and on every. single. candle. Heat gunning sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Repours do help, but having to re-pour each candle is putting a real kink in my production.

As @Trappeur says, 3 days is not enough cure time. 2 weeks should give you a much better result. Also, I think your wick is way too large for that jar...I wouldn't use anything bigger than an ECO 8 for that jar.

I first would try adjusting the temps when you add fragrance and pour. Try adding fragrance between 180F - 185F (which is 82C - 85C). Pouring at 70C is about 158F, which has proved to be way too hot in my tests. When I pour around 140F (60C), I get mostly smooth tops. However - lately I've been having trouble with air cavities inside my candles. The tops look great, but test burns reveal craters under the surface that cause the wick to tunnel and extinguish itself. Because of this, I've lowered my pouring temp quite a bit. I'm still testing, but pouring around 110F (43C) seems to have solved the issue. Unfortunately, lower pouring temps for me have always resulted in rough tops, so I have had to correct that with a heat gun after the candles have set. 464 is a finicky wax. I hope you find the right sweet spot for your pouring temps...I know how frustrating it can be!

I use 1/2 tsp per pound. The UV does seem to buy my candles more time before they start turning in shops, but I agree...any vanillin present will eventually rear its ugly head if they're exposed to the lighting long enough. I've always done wick testing with UV added to my wax, so I'm not sure exactly how much it affects wicking, but I have to assume it does. I'd be interested to hear feedback on that.

Craters, sinkholes, and cavities are my biggest nemesis by far! I've drastically lowered my pouring temp, which causes extra work to smooth out the tops after they set, but seems to have helped... I'd prefer to pour hot (no wait time!) so I'll try doing that into warmed containers, which I don't normally do...not totally feasible in my setup...but curious to see how it works!

@TallTayl, do you find that once you nail down the right pour temp for 444, that it's worth it to stick with it? Or do the flares/tunneling tend to be issues that pop up no matter what?

I've got a couple of questions for my fellow soy/coconut wax blend-testing peeps. 1) For those of you blending coconut wax with 464 or 444...which has been your preference so far? I normally work with straight 464, but was worried that the addition of coconut wax (I'm only adding about 25%) would soften it too much. I was intrigued by 444, mainly because it's a harder wax, but my testing has been problematic due to terrible tunneling during test burns due to air cavities I didn't see that were under the surface. I'm now realizing this is a common issue with 444. Significantly lowering my pour temp has helped, but I'm wondering if working with 444 is worth it. What's interesting is that I've also been testing 464/coconut wax, and the normal pour temps of 140-145 I do for straight 464 ALSO seemed to cause the same tunneling/air cavity issue in my coconut blend tests. Pouring at about 120 seemed to eliminate those in my recent test batch, too. 2) Which leads me to my next question. Could the addition of coconut wax be contributing to these air cavities? I'm using the slabs from C&S, and they recommend pouring hot (between 160-200), quite a bit higher than my original pour temps of 140-145...

Just back with an update...I'm doing a test burn as I type this with my 444/coconut wax blend which I poured at about 120, using the same sized wicks that I was testing before. The tops did not look as nice and smooth as they did with the hotter pour, but there's NO tunneling this time. Looks like a lower-temp pour is the key with 444. Thanks for all of your input!

I completely agree! Things have changed so much that so much of the old advice no longer applies...it's really crazy.