Kerven

Lily, gardenia, most lavender, mango, low quality and "budget" vanilla*, whiskey/bourbon. * - if they have the plastic/tar-like, chemical note or the nauseating powdery note (like a bathroom freshener).

I wonder how many pounds it took to conduct burn tests. About two years ago I wandered into a YC store around Christmas and saw a massive candle. Had to have been 12lbs or more. That was one large apothecary jar.

Email Threat Information Credit Card Threat Q & A After getting everyone's questions and feedback I wanted to summarize what seems to be the most asked or talked about questions. This is way more detailed. We are very very sorry we are in way associated with this and have fixed the issue and will take even more precautions that something like this doesn't happen again. Q. What is/was the threat A. An email address we no longer used was compromised. Upon placing an order on our site an was CC'ed to this address. The hacker then had both access to send an email from this account and the customers email and was sending malware. We are only able to see the bounce back messages, but it is very clear that malware was being sent. Q. Has this been fixed A. Yes, we have changed the credentials for this domain and it appears to have stopped the problem although we are still closely monitoring it. Upon changing them we had an attempt to login from Korea with was declined and the hacker no longer has access Q. What do I need to do? A. First, do not open any emails from buywax.com. We do not use this email and especially do not click to allow a picture to be downloaded or any link. Most virus protections will run scans daily or so... most likely it has been removed already if you computer is up to date, but we do highly recommend running a full scan and making sure your virus protection is up to date. Q. How long has this been happening? A. For at least 6 months or so if not more. This first came to our attention in November, but it could have been before that. Q. Why could you not find this sooner? A. We don't use this email address and the folder of junk mail it collected was full. Not till we moved our emails to our new server that our new site will be on did we get the bounce back messages or even think to check it. Q. Is your site secure? A. Yes, we have had all kinds of scans run on it and daily code reviews. We have even had visa check the reports to assure all is ok. If you are still not comfortable using your CC on our site I totally understand. You are welcome to use paypal and using this method your information is never entered (except the first time) or transmitted at all. Q. Why does the lock icon and https not appear in the URL A. It does once you get to a page where you are transmitting sensitive information like the login screen or once you start the checkout process. Q. What if my card was stolen after shopping in person or using paypal. A. This threat is only related to online purchases using credit cards. If you were hacked after paying using one of these methods it was taken a different way. I'm sure there are people who have had their information taken other ways as 46% of Americans have had their credit card information stolen in the past 5 years. Q. Why does it seem like this is happening more and more frequently A. Basically because it works. Programs that are designed to record you key strokes are very effective as there is no encryption to break. All they have to do is get you to click a link, click to allow a photo, download a file, connect to a hotspot... and they see everything you type Q. Can you not do something more about this? A. We have been trying our best to find the problem. Had several different firms scan the site and install everything possible to make the site the most secure and up to date that is available. Upon not being able to find anything we started the process of completely ditching the old site and starting new. This is a fairly long process as our site is a little more complicated than some and hope to have the new site done in June of this year. The new site is being built by a new company with all US employees paid very well, on a new server (Nexcess.net) that should be much faster than the current Amazon server it is hosted on, and a new process if at all possible. (we haven't gotten to this point yet, but that is the plan). The new site should be much more mobile friendly, user friendly, quicker, and offer more features to make shopping, better, faster, and easier. Again we a very sorry that we had any part in this! I wish we would have been able to find the problem when first mentioned, but we were just looking in the wrong place. We greatly value all our loyal customers and please use paypal if you still do not trust we have fixed the problem until the new site is finished. 1-800-369-5357 | Fax 615-538-2062 | Email | Website

They sent out another email Wed. with a Q&A about the incident.

ECO 4 and ECO 6 sound about right for a 2.5" jar of the -new- 464. I used ECO 8's in a similarly sized danube status jar of the old 464 and probably could have got away with an ECO 6. 2 weeks minimum for curing 464.

Had this happen in December and January. Apparently, someone in Florida bought airline tickets and shopped at a convenience store and toy store during the holidays. The first few charges weren't caught, then it happened again in January and the account was flagged and I was notified. The only purchases during Nov. and Dec. on my part were from Amazon and a few candle suppliers. Fortunately, whoever did it used their actual name for those airline tickets. Creditor sent new cards with next day delivery.

@moonshine That's why I've almost sworn off soy for good. If I find a fix for it now, who is to say the next order of wax isn't going to set me back again. Lately, my focus has been coming up with something that contains no soy wax; soy additives - sure, hydrogenated soy - nope. Sadly, the options for consumer-available, no-paraffin, plant-derived waxes in the US are limited. I do want to look into priming waxes for wicks to see how much those affect burn temps.

"Triple scented" and "double scented" candles sometimes contain as much as 12% FO. Additives such as vybar can be used to bind the extra FO and keep it from sweating out. But then there's sooting and such to be concerned with. Candlewic's March En-Light-ener newsletter lightly touches on the topic. One important variable with hot throw is the melt pool temperature. Many of us are having to wick down due to the recent soy waxes burning more easily than before. Unfortunately, those smaller wicks aren't producing enough heat. I'll admit that I once tried to make 464 melts with a 12% FO load. That was a mistake. Not only did they stick to the clamshell but months later they had a crumbly yet moist texture. Definitely not doing that again.

I'm in the same boat. My setback started with the soy wax issues. I had the product and processing figured out and was ready to start brainstorming business name, structure, labeling, etc.... and then I was put back at square one as if learning how to make candles all over again. Since then, everything has been on hold while I test, rewick, test, reformulate, test, etc. etc. Casual researching and testing until I find something I like and can stick with.

I like the CS Apple Harvest and CS Macintosh Apple as well. CS Blueberry Cobbler is nice. It's a little lacking on the cobbler,IMO, so blending with a bakery scent like CS Snickerdoodle, Cake, or Lemon Pound Cake might be interesting. I saw an apple butter FO somewhere but can't remember where. That would be nice for both the apple festival and Thanksgiving themes. Now that I think about it, there is an apple and pumpkin FO out there somewhere... RE Apple & Pumpkin Strudel, all the apple pumpkin Yankee dupes, NG Apple Pumpkin Butter.

@Tokoo Have you taken a look at Candlewic's waxes? They're in PA with shipping rates that aren't too terribly high, IMO. I think they're the largest supplier of coconut wax blends on the East Coast, if you're interested in giving coconut wax a try. Shipping transit times are very similar to Candlescience's (maybe better) - all states, except MS and WI, east of the Mississippi are in one or two day UPS zones.

Looks good! CB#9... A Calwax wax, maybe? Might try asking them about the paraffin content, if so.

Frosting and wet spots are very difficult to avoid with soy wax, and even if you don't have any right now there is no guarantee they aren't going to show up eventually. For me, dye chips seemed to cause more frosting than liquid dyes. Browns, dark greens (like hunter green), oranges, and blue were always an issue. Brown was the worse by far. One lesson I learned about touching up a soy candle: never ever use a hairdryer. The frosting is always (at least) twice as worse once it sets up.

First thing that came to mind for an Easter fragrance was coconut cake. Like the bunny cakes. NG has a jelly beans FO that looks interesting. The jelly beans would be interesting I would think. There's a coconut cream or creme somewhere isn't there? Coconut was always in our Easter baskets along with plenty of chocolate choices.

@TallTayl I had that problem with tin tests. Had to either remelt the entire thing, top it off, or toss it. Would have been much easier if they didn't have those curled rims so that I could pop the wax out, rather than melt, and reuse the container.

I recently switched to this method. It saves a ton of time. Before, I had to cure at least a week prior to testing a new wick. Now, it's as simple as swapping out the wick.

@TallTayl A bit off topic but since you mentioned engineered soybeans... I have wondered if some of the pesticides and herbicides applied to them might find their way into soy waxes, since the oils destined for hydrogenation aren't going into the food industry (as much as before). Maybe that has something to do with the performance issues we're seeing? Monsanto released a double resistant soybean in 2016. 2017 saw approximately 20 million acres planted. 2018 is estimated to be at least 40 million acres. The plant is resistant to both glyphosate and dicamba. It just so happens that dicamba is volatile but a less volatile version was developed and approved in 2016. That's around the same time we started seeing burn and throw issues with soy wax. Coincidence?

Address labels. They sometimes come loose on the ends after a hot pour but they're not meant to stay forever. Used to put them on the bottoms then quickly realized how much of a mistake that was when taking notes during a burn test.

That's around the time I got a horrible shipment of wax as well. Problems started for me sometime around September when I ran out of some older wax I had from Peak and Candlewic and had to order more. It was from Candlewic and didn't perform quite as well but @birdcharm 's fix remedied that. Ran out of wax again a week or two before Christmas and ordered from Candlescience, which put me right back at square one during a vital time. Still a little bitter about that.

Hate to say it but I've just about given up on soy as well. The rest of my soy is probably going to be hardened and used for melts. Every single time I find a fix for the soy issues the next shipment of wax puts me back where I started. It has been more trouble than it needs to/should be. Even though the coconut waxes are beasts to wick at least they're consistent. Have there been issues with non-big-brand soy waxes?

GW415 -> Akosoy 5715-00-77 GW416 -> Akosoy 5716-00-04 GW444 -> Akosoy 5715-02-02 GW402 -> Akosoy 5702-00-77 GW464 -> Akosoy 5702-02-02 GW435 -> Akosoy C5835-00-77 5715-94-02 is the tart blend.

I keep them in their original bags then toss every bag into a drawer in my supplies cabinet. I think I'm going to have to free up another drawer sometime soon...

Candlewic has a coconut wax that doesn't appear to have any paraffin in it. Their SDS lists the ingredients. I'm guessing it's a proprietary blend they make at their facilities. Haven't tried it yet - it's a bit pricey. Their coco-apricot blend is nice and works well with soy, although, it does have paraffin in it and is as difficult (maybe a little more) to wick as coco83.

I'm searching for an additive for general wax use. An alternative to petrolatum. I've been working with various blends containing either palm, soy, or coconut. Unfortunately, all of them seem to be missing one thing that binds it all together. The differences in melt points and hardness are causing a few issues, so I figure I need something that's somewhere between the two extremes. Castor's ability to congeal a mixture is an added plus when working with a very thin blends. I guess I could make my own "jelly" with stearic and an oil but I'm not certain how well that would hold after remelting and blending with wax. From what I've read, the jellies are formed by constant agitation while cooling, and that's not in the cards for making candles... Well, I guess it could be, since soy is often brought to a gel phase before pouring, but palm wax, a major component in my blends, refuses (for me, at least) to gel or go below its melt point without crystallizing and floating to the top. That's also why I'm searching for an effective congealer that can suspend the palm to keep it from migrating as it rapidly crystallizes. I asked in the cosmetics section because castor is a cosmetics/bath/body product. Probably should have asked over in the candles. Rice bran wax is amazing, from what I've read. Terribly costly, unfortunately. Haven't tried it yet. Still hunting for a decently priced source that sells by the lb or two. I am curious to see how it compares to castor and palm waxes in structure and heat tolerance. My palm blends that use either palm kernel flakes or co92 tend to be finicky when handled (some of them melt just enough to become greasy), so temperature still affects the lower melt point ingredients despite being held in a higher melt point crystalline structure. I wonder if the same holds true for rice bran wax. I'm also curious to see whether or not rice bran candles turn mushy when containing high percentages of low melt point ingredients and exposed to temperatures much lower than rice bran's melt point but higher than the other ingredients'.

Hmm. That ingredient is new to me. Looks comparable to what I'm searching for. Not sure about the foaming. Maybe an antifoaming agent... dimethicone?