pughaus

I haven't had luck with ecos in my coco blends even with up to 50% soy in the blend.  HTPS are one of my faves in cocosoy; I find they self trim nicely in it (I don't trim at all in my testing) and IMO the throw is much better than I get with ecos.  There's very little difference between a 72 and 73 though, so maybe pick one of those and keep an eco in the test so you can see for yourself.  

Of course, this being candle making, your results may differ wildly from mine   

@Bambi if you have any smaller htps- like 72s-73s you may want to add them into your coco/soy testing too. 

Soo @Quentin  Did you try pouring some at the 145-150 range?  Did it work??

Just now, Mamabear said:

Or "made with hated...a gift for your wife when she's been a Bellatrix" lol!

Wicked with reckless abandon!

There are so many candles out there that are "made with love"- at this point someone could really set themselves apart by using the tagline "poured with indifference"  😏

53 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

I don't know any.one who sprays the water before they go. Every room/poo spray ect., I've seen or used is a room spray you spray after you go and before you leave the room. 

Why would you spray the water before you go? Not sure that would help with anything to be truthful. 

Poopourri "just spray the water before you go and no one else will ever know" is very effective. It does create a kind of stink barrier in the water   

13 hours ago, TallTayl said:

By the look in the product photo and the description I’d swear that is the same was sold as easybeads by candles and supplies.ne

But wow is that Northwood wax expensive compared to Easybeads!

4 hours ago, Jenni Wix said:

And @pughaus, I hear you on priorities, when seeing  popular retail candles being questionable.  😌  Then I try to remember that my customers (potential future) will want the best and try to muster up some of the confidence of @Jcandleattic, which I suppose comes with time and practice.  

 

@ScentedPleasurez. I love all of those graphics.  Especially geometric deer.

I've been questioning my testing standards lately.  I burn commercial candles daily and virtually all of them, if I made them.. well, I'd still be looking for the right wick.   As a result I'm not making much progress.

On 10/18/2018 at 10:15 PM, ScentedPleasurez said:

They burned great, however halfway down the container was extremely hot, and by the time it was finished it was a decent amount of sooting which I'm sure some came from me tilting to blow out. Lol.

 

I'm puzzled about this review because to me an extremely hot container and decent amount of soot  would = a failed test.  Makes me wonder about my priorities...

4 hours ago, strugglebrother said:

I'm also allergic to wet spots... If there is a lot of them I DO think the customers care as they buy with their eyes.

I've honestly never had a single buyer mention them, not in 20 yrs of selling candles at wholesale.  I'm literally sitting in a showroom of candles made from:  paraffin/ soy/ soy blends/ apricot wax - any candle in a clear container has a visible wet spot..or many.

On 9/17/2018 at 5:01 PM, ScentedPleasurez said:

Are you also watching the mukbangs,or how about the ASMR?

LOL  I'm such a sucker for the ASMR vids-- I can happily spend an hour watching someone turn pages in a magazine! 

these just popped up at Calcandlesupply in case anyone is looking for a double wicker with a nice wood lid

http://calcandlesupply.com/16-oz-cali-jar/

1 hour ago, Laura C said:

Hi @pughaus. Yes, I see what you are saying. Here's the thing, the Flame Height and ROC can vary depending on the wax, wax blend, scent, etc. used. The Yield of the wick stays the same no matter what. 

I get that but I am just re-posting their (A&P) test results which I have to assume is with the same wax in the same  test conditions.   But if this statement from the vendor is true: "The higher the yield, the smaller the wick and the flame and the resulting heat generated"  then the flame heights and ROC numbers should increase as you go down that chart I posted.  Instead they are all over the place.  What does it all mean???  😵

On 8/18/2018 at 2:53 PM, Laura C said:

Yes, the wick information and wick charts on Wicks Unlimited's website is great. I recently called them and talked to the guy that does their candle and wick testing. He said the main thing to look at on their charts is the "Yield" column, which was what I had been doing. The Yield is very helpful for knowing which size to go to next for either wicking up or down. Per their site, "The higher the yield, the smaller the wick and the flame and the resulting heat generated." I printed their wick charts out and popped them in my different wick bags.  http://wicksunlimited.com/wicks/atkins-pearce-candle-wicks/atkins-pearce-performa-wicks/

 

Another great source for wick information and charts is Atkins & Pearce http://www.atkinsandpearce.com/

Here's the performa chart reorganized by Yield, from small to large.  I'm confused by their statement :  "The higher the yield, the smaller the wick and the flame and the resulting heat generated"  The flame height and rate of consumption data on their chart for several wicks below does not jive with that.

I did test SC21 briefly and found it to be almost identical to coco83 re; wicking and appearance.  It didn't have the whiteness of the IGI 6570.  

Fabulous!  Can I move in ??

33 minutes ago, Laura C said:

Thanks @pughaus, good to know. I tested Christmas Hearth and Bourbon Butterscotch, both from The Flaming Candle.

Bourbon butterscotch sounds delicious!  As a candle and a cocktail 🍹

@Laura C   Honestly, I didn't test the wax with fragrance enough to say much about the throw.  But I have found that in general in my cocowax tests; throw and burn quality tends to improve after 1 week+.  Ideally I (try) to let mine cure 10 days or more.  Also, if you are using an htp 105; I'd say try some testers with an 83 or even a 73... I suspect that 105 is going to get very hot n smoky as you get down the burn.  A wick down + longer cure may improve your throw.  

What FOs are you testing in this?

8 hours ago, Laura C said:

 

Then pour

Will the hotter temps improve cold & hot scent throw and eliminate jump lines?

How long did yours cure?  

I didn't get jump lines in that wax but I did get sinkholes and wet spots in the few testers I poured..

@Laura C for gauging the MP diameter on the pan tests- I found it helpful, at the very start, to just take my glass, hold it upside down a press it into the wax around each wick. That gave me a nice indented circle that perfectly mirrored my container diameter.

re: melt pool depth- I don't know how much you can assess in an "open space" test like a pan test. The container is such a factor in MP depth.  I suppose you can try and compare consumption by looking at the depths in the pan, but IMO the pan test is really useful as a diameter test and to give a basic idea of wick performance in a new wax: flame heights, mushrooms, etc..

What tries to kill me every time I use it is my stainless steel appliance cleaner- that stuff seems to be made of a WD40 and silicon and no matter how careful I am, some always ends up on my floor just waiting for me to walk across the kitchen and slide on my butt.   It's like a banana peel in a can!

something else is going on there.  The wax is not traveling throughout your house.

the down side of neverending sales or marking up so you can mark down is that you train your customers to wait for a sale and never pay full price.  I'm not a fan of that approach and while it's a common pricing strategy in dept stores, it's also true that the very dept stores that use that strategy are pretty much failing across the board.  Also, crafters aren't mega retailers and have very different business models and appeal.

I don't mind rare sales for say, closing out a collection that's being discontinued, moving out some excess seasonal goods, or for very limited times- like a one day 20% off flash sale for your VIP buyers only-  but personally, I wouldn't use mark downs as a regular marketing strategy; especially not for handmade, small production goods whose appeal should not be low pricing but rather, quality, limited qtys, uniqueness...
 

I do like incentives that encourage people to buy more or add on: like a buy 3 get this free or buy 4 get free shipping type of thing.  I especially like targeted marketing and keeping your loyal customers with you by offering them 1st dibs at a new fragrance, exclusive candle of the month specials.. etc.   IOW discounts + perks should be reserved for your best customers with the goal of keeping those customers loyal and not necessarily for luring in new accounts.  (full disclosure: I'm a Dir. of Marketing )

love the graphic design work on that! perfect font and artwork for the concept 

21 minutes ago, Laura C said:

All this stuff is good to know, thanks @pughaus. And I'm glad to know that the soot/black smoke issue with the coconut waxes isn't just me. I thought I was maybe making a big deal out of nothing.

It's not you. It's the coconut wax.  I will even go out on a limb and say, there is no "right wick" out there that will make it less so.  I have tested so many wicks in coconut waxes in the last year- from the common to the obscure only- available- spooled and unprepped in bulk and my conclusion is:coco wax alone burns too easily and soots like hell.  If anyone would like to disprove that with a clean burning off the shelf coconut wax blend or all coco wax candle I will gladly pay freight and test burn their coco wax candle and document the results.  I love the idea of an all or mostly

coconut wax candle but the reality, for me, has been ..not so good.