Forrest

My bedroom is 65 at night, with an osculating fan, a ceiling fan, and the fan on my wife's bedside table. I feel like I'm sleeping in a wind tunnel.

My problem is I can't seem to let go of the old samples that I'm never going to use. If I could do that I would have room for some new samples.

I am so proud of myself! I managed to get through the Candlescience 99 cent sale without ordering a thing. My therapist was happy too, he said maybe now they won’t have to put me in inpatient care. The only downside is I may have missed my chance to be featured on the TV show Hoarders.

I’ve always been interested in marketing and what makes people buy the things that they buy, but recently I’ve started thing about marketing as it relates to candles. So I downloaded the audio book The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy (And Why They Don't) by Sean D'Souza. The book mostly contained advice for people who were selling big ticket items or perhaps building a website to sell online. But the one topic that would apply to any of the products people on this board make had to do with uniqueness. The point was to find the thing that makes your products unique and focus on that. He further stated that if your product wasn’t unique you need to change it to make it unique. I saw one example of unique in a little shop in Blue Ridge, GA. It seems like ever shop in Blue Ridge carries soy candles, but these were different simply because the containers were unlike anything I had seen. Of course they were Trap’s candles, but that was a perfect example of uniqueness. Another perfect example can be seen in the thread on this board “TT’s 2018 Faire Days”. You really can’t get more unique than that. So, what makes your products unique?

My guess is that for the most part they make their own. I was in a small shop in a small town recently and the woman who owned it made her own FOs.

Well I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, then again I do live in a drawer full of razor sharp cutlery, but I am smart enough to always pay attention to what you tell me. So I went out on the web to learn how to do this and got zero. Still unsure of what I was doing I got a 4oz tin and put enough salt in it to cover the bottom. I then added a few drops of the FO that I had already tested and it worked like a charm. I even tried a blend with that and another FO, the blend didn’t work, but the process did. My question is what else do I need to know? Is my process OK and do I need to change the salt out between test?

I test my new FOs in melts before I test them in candles. But 6006 is too soft for melts so I use that rock hard paraffin. I was thinking that what I could do is mix my FO in about 1 ½ ounces of 6006 and pour it into a tin. I could test it on the candle warmer. Would that give me a better idea how the FO would work in my wax? My other question is if melted some wax and poured it into a container, then melted it again to get it out of the container, could I melt that wax again to make a candle? I’m pretty sure this is OK, but I thought I should check.

The cure time does improve the throw, but the candle will burn differently. On page 2 of the General Candle Making Discussions forum there is a thread titled Somewhat surprising cure test results. There is a little bit on what curing can do.

Right now I love all the fragrances that are in the box from NG that will be arriving at my house today. That will probably change once I smell them, but right now they are all perfect.

I have found it to be very easy to work with, but I think it would be too soft for clams. No additives needed, great adhesion and great throw. The only thing I don't like is that it requires cure time.

I don't think the heat of the candle changes the ink, but I haven't tested that yet. The ink is somewhat transparent so wax really makes it pop. Without wax the colors look dull and washed out. I ink the candles after I pour them because you can't tell what they are going to look like with the wax behind them. As they are burning the light from the flame coming through the glass is pretty, but once the wax gets low the part without wax behind it looks dull. I haven’t burned one a home since I got my wicking straight and in the old ones there was so much soot that they looked bad. One thing that concerns me is that chemically speaking there isn’t much difference between wax and alcohol, so I have to be careful not to let the wax touch the ink. You can get the inks at your local Hobby Lobby for not too much, they are fun to play with, but wear gloves if you don’t want to color your fingers.

I spent the first half of this year testing to get my wicks right and lately I've just been testing FOs. I mostly do tureens with 6006, wicking those things is a bear. Below is one I made for my granddaughter in Jelly doughnut. I ink the containers using alcohol ink.

Welcome, you have come to the right place. I too am an amateur who just wanted to make candles I could be proud of, and thanks to all the great advice I got on this board I can.

Thank you everyone for all these great recommendations! I anticipated that some would come in late so I only ordered 8oz of the FO I wanted. The big order will come when I have tested the samples I ordered and I'll get the rest of the samples then. Really ordering samples just implies that your going to place another order, and as longs as you are placing an order you should try some more samples, which just implies that your going to place another order.

I do use 6006. The best description would be an 8 1/2 oz mason jar. I have good test data with tins for CD6, CD8, and 51Z, so I should probably start a CD6 and a 51Z. I was hopping to make some fall candles in these for my daughters, but I I don't see how I'm going to run two sets of test and be ready on time. I could put the fall FOs in Tins and use the jars for Christmas candles. If I've learned anything here it is to test and not cut corners.

I have some 8 ½ ounce glass containers that are approximately the same diameter as the standard 8 ounce tins. These are new to me so I’m going to do a wick test, but I’m looking for a starting point. Would an equivalent glass container generally use a larger or smaller wick?

Wow! They named a FO after me:)

It is alcohol ink, I just apply it to the jar with felt. It looks much better with the wax as a background, so burning the candle sort of ruins the effect. It also come off on your fingers if you are using any lotions with alcohol or having a glass of wine. I haven’t found a good sealer for it, but I like that I can take a paper towel and some rubbing alcohol to wipe it clean and start over.

Yes that was the one. You could have been nice when I ask where you got it and told me to go tale a long walk on a short pier, but you had to be mean and a answer my question. What is worse is my wife loves that little jar and thinks I should get them to use for all my candles, but none of the suppliers I use carry them. Thanks for the recommendations, I need a good pear so I'll put that one at the top of my list.

Due to circumstances beyond my control I have to place an order with Nature’s Garden, It’s all Trap’s fault, but let’s not go into that. As long as I’m paying shipping for one FO I might as well try some samples, especially since I can order them with no guilt at all. So if anyone has recommendations for their FOs that work well in candles I would love to hear them.

Yes I have, but sadly I must give it away. My daughter wants it, and as she is pregnant with my grandson I probably should let her have it.

I’m not proud of the container, it is not my best work, but thanks to all the help and advice I’ve received on this board I made a candle that I would walk into a store and buy. It took a year and a half and a lot of money to get here, but it was worth it. I made this with Lebermuth White Tea & Ginger, it is wicked properly and both the cold and hot throw are excellent. It is a testament to what you can achieve through proper testing. I’ve come a long way from “candle making is easy”. A special thanks to the people who keep this board up and running, I couldn’t have done it without you.

I put mine in various sections of three different notebooks, but I'm trying to do better.

The wizard of Wax has spoken, and provided visual aids. So I Googled Polymorphic wax and it looks like there is some really good stuff on the internet, should make for interesting reading this weekend. What I'm still not understanding is why my burn rate was higher. For now I'm going with the wick length theory. More testing to come, by February I should be able to write a paper on the effects of time, temperature, and wick length in candles made with 6006 wax. No doubt they will discontinue making it next spring.

Well you get an A+ in candle making, which is really just applied chemistry, and art.