Dorothy Mantooth

13 hours ago, Forrest said:

that was back when I thought making candles would be easy. 

Gospel. Truth. Broken hearts and tears. Dear candle, I love you. I hate you. I love you. 

Holy crud what just happened? I only come here to read how you and TT answer other people’s questions. If you don’t know the answer I’m screwed.

Hi everyone. I'm back and looking at giving wax melts a shot.  I've really enjoyed all the tarts from the fall tart swap. It's been a lot of fun switching out scents.

I have a question about packaging. Do you think a wax tart placed on cardstock will cause the FO to be sucked out of the wax at a rate that would cause the tart to be ineffective? The thinking is using cardstock pressed against the flat of a tart and then shrinkwrapped. I know some FO will leach to the paper, which I'm fine with. I just don't want the scent of the tarts to be disappointing if they've been stored for months before purchased. And for this discussion say the cardstock is the same size as the tart - example a 2" square bar with a 2" square cardstock.

Munchkin looks to fully understand the struggle of soy wax. 

Apologies. I had tried searching a bunch and came up empty. I just realized I was searching “balsalm”. I’ll go back and search now for balsam and probably find 600 posts.

I tried Filmore Christmas tree after hearing @Trappeur exclaim it’s virtues. It smells great! However, I can’t get it strong enough for what I want. I tried 6% in 464, 10% in NW Elite 200 soy, and 10% in 4630. I don’t get enough scent from any of them. If I have six testers going all at once for three hours I can smell it, but just one small candle gives me nothing. And CT is very faint. I’m a little candle maker, so I know it’s a tough job to expect 4oz to fill an open room, but I’ve had other scents perform better. I see CS Frasier mentioned as sharper and filmore Christmas as softer. Maybe I’m expecting it to be sharp. I’m looking for a throat punch of Christmas tree!  Any besides CS Fraiser I should try, or something I should mix to make it more punchy? I also tried Christmas Hearth and didn’t care for it. I love smelling it straight from the bottle!

I think they might have removed it from their main page. It was posted 10 hours ago and I don’t find it any more. I see a post from 9 hours and 11 hours. I found the video still on their page. 

https://www.facebook.com/HGTV/videos/10155440360139213/

I spy the smiling face of a craft server star while reading through all the comments on that post. 

On October 14, 2017 at 9:05 AM, GailC said:

But I may have finally found a straight coffee that doesn't stink at The Candlemaker's Store. 

Haha!! I'd buy it for sure if it had "doesn't stink" in its description. 

This forum is so great! I'm finally trying 4630 with fragrance and I totally forgot about this post I made and all the great comments. Luckily I ended up choosing a couple wicks discussed in this post. Crossing my fingers I get one that tests well. 

On October 30, 2017 at 12:44 PM, CatCatCandles said:

 

Hey Dorothy, have you burned the 464/4630 blends yet? How did it go ?

 

Hi.  I didn't like this blend. I probably didn't test strong enough wicks.  My notes say it didn't perform well and I gave up testing it three burn seassions. Mine discolored when burned. I was also testing Christmas hearth, which I didn't care for. Overall I might have been in a bad mood over candle testing when I tried this blend. Sorry I know this wasn't much help. Does the blend work for you?

I think I purchased this same jar from Filmore. 

I read folks here pouring without wicks so I started testing like this. I like it for initial testing. I can pour wax and wait until cure is done before I have to decide what wicks to test. Then if a wick is a dud, you just pull it out and pop in a different one. It doesn’t work well one the melt pool gets deep or near the bottom of the container. The wick can easily tilt. I lost a bunch of wicks at the end of a test this way. I think if they were secured not all of them would have failed. Also easier to clean out jars for retesting. 

On 10/12/2017 at 3:11 AM, Sponiebr said:

You poor people... 

I'm just curious, because the insanity of these "alternative waxes" seems rather insurmountable given the manufactures' refusal/inability/give-a-damn to produce consistent product, what was the specific reason to dump paraffin? I mean if this is just a consumer fad wouldn't a simple explanation like "I dropped the soy because my test candles consistently turned into firebombs and I didn't think my customers would care for that..."

I mean LORD KNOWS I like to push the envelope of reality but when even I'm going "Damn... that's just crazy! Nuh-uh... NOOOOO Thank YOU."  and I run away screaming in terror...  

I's just wondering...  

Anywho... I'll be watching from WAY OVER THERE and standing by at the ready for y'all with the fire extinguisher and Valium. 

Sponiebr 
The Executor of Bad Ideas, actually, they seem like pretty sane Ideas at the moment.   

 

Isn’t it time for you to do some candle testing with us? 

I saw bramble has an espresso but it’s not in its new category. Have you tried this one? I’ve never ordered from bramble but it looks like the smallest is 2oz for $6.95. That’s a lot to waste if it smells horrible. 

I swear I think I saw a new Espresso fo somewhere this week. Anyone know where this was from? I can’t find where I saw it.  @GailC?

24 minutes ago, Moonstar said:

I just now went to check out the specs, not sure why Ive never seen this wax ? Can you tell me a little bit about your experience thus far . Is the wax picky at pouring

temp - does it need a 14 day cure and how do the tops look after they cool, are they smooth or lumpy some some soy waxes ? Have you only tried Fillmore FO's

Any Fo's from Fillmore that perform really well + not so well ? Thanks for bringing this wax up, I might just try a sample box - thank you  

Their handling sheet says to cure 12 hours   that seems like doody to me. I typically try to go a week before testing. I usually end up at 5 days. I’ve kept some candles 56 days before testing. It has no lumpy cottage cheese tops like other soy I tried. It’s always smooth. Im a beginner to all candlemaking, so don’t take my advice as any expert opinion. I’m on here to listen to what TT, trap,moonshine,etc has to say! Wthomas pointed out it says “complete pull away” but I haven’t had issues with it in tins. I heat it to 190, take it off heat, add fo and stir and pour immediately. I haven’t had any fo not have good ct. I’ve had a time trying to find the perfect wick, but I am trying to wick 4oz tin, which appears to be a tough size. He wax seems thick to me so it needs a pretty hot burner. 

Apparently I’m the only dolt using it.

check it out at http://www.fillmorecontainer.com/NatureWax-Elite-200-Soy-Container-Wax-60-Case-P192.aspx?c=12

some members from 2010 I think posted about I and I’ve posted several times talking about it. 

Im hoping someone else will loose their mind and jump in the boat with me. 

Its made from the same company that makes c3. 

My testing with RRD is that they look good initially then about 1-2 hours in it looks like the candle is struggling and wick gets a big mushroom. I’m testing several wick types in 4oz tin, 6% Christmas tree fo, and I’m using soy nw Elite 200. It’s very thick and cools really quick. My tests show cd4, eco 1 and lx8 burn the best. I’m not trimming in between burns. The rrd and Cotten core I have to remove mushroom. I don’t know which wick is creating the scent, but my home is thick with good smells. I’ve almost ruled out rrd for my setup. I need to burn just the cd4 to see if it throws well. 

I did one batch of 4630 - without fragrance, testing wicks.  I only let it cure two days before testing.

My notes don't appear to be great, but I've marked down some good and bad. I don't have listed what made them good or bad to me, but normally if the wick dies out I mark it as bad.

Overall I wasn't sold on the look of the wax. it wasn't the creamy soy that I've been working with.

My intention was to test the "good" wicks with FO.  (I know the debate here of testing without FO.)

I have some 464/4630 blend I haven't burned yet.

Hopes this helps some.

GOOD

8oz tin - CD10

8oz tin - HTP 83

4oz tin -  CD8

BAD

8oz tin - 36-24

8oz tin - 44-33-18

8oz tin - CD12

8oz tin - CD8

8oz tin - HTP 41

8oz tin - HTP 62

4oz tin - 34-40

4oz tin - HTP 41

Very nice. 

48 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Hey forum folks, I could use some hive imagination. We have been wanting to redesign and rebrand craftserver for a very long time. As I sit and stare at fonts, colors and logo choices I get sort of paralyzed and put the project aside for another day. I don't want to wait any more.... that to do list item stares at me every time I sit at my desk. 

 

Who wants to help design a new logo and tagline for CraftServer? 

 

I tend to lean toward non-serif fonts and simple graphics that can easily be scaled up and down with colors that work well displayed in color or black and white. 

 

Once we figure out the first bit, we can update the forum skin and banner along with a reorganization of the forums to make it all easier to use and navigate. But let's not think about that just yet, winter is coming, we will have time.

 

if we can come up with something by mid-November there will be time to make CraftServer ornaments for your holiday decor. 

 

Are you up for it?

I'd love to help.

I've been a graphic designer for 20 years and know a lot more about design/marketing than I do about candles!

I'm also one who loves more simplistic designs.

I designed and maintain three websites for my current company so I understand the challenges of making things look right online.

Let me know if you want my help and how you want to proceed.

6 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

I had to blend C3 with 415 this year to get a half way decent burn. I use 6.1 oz of wax and 6-8% FO load per tin. I can get upwards of 40 hours when wicked and burned text book style using a cd12 or cd16 depending on the fragrance. I am not in love with the cd series like I used to be when C3 performed better, and have begun testing of RRD 40 and RRD 47 in the same tins and fragrances. 

do you burn 4 hour periods until the end? have you tested the elite 200 or the S-113? I've got RRD coming this week to test.

3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Tins definitely burn different from glass jars. Comparing burn times between the two is comparing apples and coconuts. Plus, eco8 in an 8 oz tin can be very large IME in my soy wax blends. From the 5.1 oz noted above I am guessing you are using a 6 oz tin?

 

I would wick down a size or two (possibly three) and compare. A wick that snuffs itself out, I have found, is one that is too large, causing the melt pool to get warm enough to melt the priming wax on the wick. That causes the wick to slump/sag giving the appearance that it is too small instead of being much too big. 

 

 I only use eco in one scent that is otherwise impossible to burn.  

 

Thanks for TallTayl.

I wasn't meaning to compare jars to tins, but apples and coconuts sounds like an interesting mix for FO.

Originally I was wondering what is realistic in a 8oz tin that holds 5oz of soy. I know there are a ton of variables, but if I have eight people say they get 60 hours and my burn times during testing are in the 20hr range then I'm either doing something wrong, or I need to be a good marketeer to sell mine.

When I saw that Yankee candle my jaw dropped, and when Jcandleattic says 200+ for her large candles, I didn't have any more jaw left to drop.

It did help to post here and find that large candles really do last that long. ..and not compare my small tins to a large jar.

You use C3? I've been using C3's ugly cousin, elite 200. They are made by the same mfg, so I'm guessing they are at least more similar to me trying to compare elite 200 to others like 464.

I choose the elite 200 because I thought my tops looked weird on C3 and filmores description of elite 200 says "It goes beyond the C-Series waxes by allowing for even higher fragrance loads without syneresis. ... No fat bloom upon cooling, burning, or hot/cold testing. "

With a strong fo at 10%, what wick do you use in 8oz tin?  So far eco 6 has been the winner more than others, but I'm not a fan of eco. I end up breaking off the wick during trimming and that would frustrate me as a consumer. And for a 5oz tin, I'm getting best results from eco1.

honestly, I just want to make a good candle.

my intentions in this pursuit is to raise money for charities by selling candles.

So far, I would have been better off giving $1,000 directly to our food pantry.

I truly appreciate everyone's comments and willingness to share knowledge.