athousandvoices

Yes I've seen that post! I didn't even consider the wax lot issue—I'm only making candles for myself and occasionally friends at the moment, so I don't go through wax very quickly. I've had the same box sitting in my basement for a pretty decent amount of time 😂 The throw on these was great! It just seemed to need a bigger wick size than it did two and a half months ago. Not so bad that it extinguished itself, but the flame was pretty small and dim with a little mushrooming. Was just wondering whether that's something others have dealt with and found a workaround for, but it makes sense that waiting that long would end up meaning you use the rest of that wax lot in the meantime

Hi everyone! I know soy cure times have been discussed on this forum again and again, but I'm bringing it back for a little more! Just wondering what's the longest you routinely wait to test a candle—is there a point at which the candle stops maturing/developing, and the burn remain the same? I poured a few container candles (70/30 415 and CBL-125, 7% FO) about three months ago with a wick size that has worked well for me (for this particular wax and scent blend) after a standard 1- or 2-week cure time. Just pulled them out of the cabinet, and the first couple burns have me thinking that I'll need to wick up! It had me wondering how you all test your fragrances—I guess I'm going to start making sure I test everything both at a 2-week cure time and a few months down the line. Is there a point when you test a candle (three months, six months, three years, etc down the line) and can "call it," so to speak? Or is this just another one of those "have to find what works" things? Lol.

Okay, thank you so much! That all makes sense. I'll definitely try the salt trick! Do you think it's rushing the gun to try a blend in wax when I haven't tested the FOs in wax by themselves? My gut is telling me yes... but my heart is telling me no...

I'm interested in blending FOs but was hoping to get some input from more seasoned candlemakers! I'm relatively new to this, and I've found a naked wax/wick/jar combo I'm comfortable with and liking. I've tested one or two FOs (without blending) and am just about settled with those as well. Because I'm awful at taking things slow (lol) I've been messing around with blending scents for a while (just using the qtip test). I've found some blends I like, but I'm a little conflicted about how to proceed! I've been keeping track of the blends, obviously, but how would I translate that to actually mixing the oils? For instance, say I have a 1:1 (50-50) blend of Oil A and Oil B. If I measure by weight, would that throw the blend off? Since (I'm assuming) a qtip 1:1 would most likely be a volume 1:1, not a weight 1:1? Or am I overthinking this? Also, since all FOs are different weights, would blending ahead of time and keeping it in, say, a bottle or jar be okay? If it separates, there wouldn't really be any way to know if I actually got the "blend" vs. mostly getting stuff off the top (like when salad dressing doesn't totally mix, and you just get a lot of oil). And testing!! I've seen a few people saying to make melts, either of the blend or of straight scents and mix in the melter, but I've only been working with container candles 😕. Is there any easy alternative for container wax? I haven't tested some (most...) of the oils I'm blending by themselves in wax yet, so is it a bad idea to jump right into trying a blend? I know candlemaking is a long, intense process, but I can't help but think how much time it would take to test all the components of each blend separately, then try a blend (which... I'm sure is the correct answer... I'm just so excited and impatient 😂)

Hi everyone! This is probably a stupid question, but how on earth do you manage to pour slushy? I've been experimenting with gw 415 wax (mixed 80/20 with IGI 4630), and since I got sinkholes pouring at higher temps, I decided to try pouring at the recommended temp of 95. I actually ended up pouring at 115, because even at that temp I was struggling! It was like trying to pour frosting; I ended up scooping a lot of the wax out like cake batter, and even then a decent amount ended up stuck in my pour pot. Also, tried tapping the jars gently (I'm working with 3 in. diameter glass tumblers) to get the wax to settle, but it's not uniformly settled against the jar (again, kind of like if you scooped frosting into a jar), and the tops are a mess! Is there something I'm missing? Maybe my thermometer's bunk or something? I don't know, but I'm feeling a bit dumb at the moment.