Paintguru

Pam, what is your starting point for how much patch to add to a second scent? I'm thinking < 25% since it is meant to compliment more than take over the scent.

OOB, I love this scent. I haven't tested it in a candle yet though.

Yeah I may try a Eco 4/6. I've liked Eco thus far and wouldn't mind continuing to use them. I can't find paper cores at my regular suppliers (or I'm too stupid to know what to look for)....what and where does one order when using paper cores?

I went off the recommendations from the supplier and chose the smallest and middle of the road one. I almost thought the Eco 8 was a bit underpowered with the residual wax on the side until it melted it at the end.

I can't seem to post in the official wick test subforum, so if someone wants to move this, feel free. I ordered a bunch of wick samples and tried a few with my 2.75" diameter tins. I didn't do any measurements, and I burned them as I feel a typical user would...randomly. Sometimes I had them run long, other times, they were short burns. Attached is the progression of each of the samples, along with the wick ID. No fragrance was used. Initial burn. The zinc 34-40 was clearly underpowered for this candle setup. The other zinc mushroomed pretty quickly off the bat. . Burn #2. The CDs seem to burn pretty hot, with a big flame. Even the small zinc mushroomed a bit. I prefer the burn pattern and flame size of the two Prems, HTP73, and the Eco8. Burn #3: Same story (IMO). Two Prems, along with the HTP73 and the Eco have left a little wax on the edge, but that is melting slowly but surely. CD's are fully melted, with the HTP93 almost completely melted as well. Zinc 44-24-8 seems like the right power, but still significant mushrooming. Final Result: CDs showing minor mushrooming as well, along with the zinc. I feel like the Eco8, the Prems, and the HTPs did pretty well, however the Prems and the HTPs left some residual soot on the edge of the tin that the Eco did not seem to leave.

Not that I deny something happens, but from a pure physics standpoint, I have a hard time figuring out what could possibly happen during curing. Once the wax solidifies, there shouldn't be any additional molecular motion. I could see something happening to the FO before I can see something happening to the wax itself. I did find some papers and the referenced dissertation on the crystallization of waxes, but again, this should all change during the primary cooling process, not the "aging" process. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=6139&context=etd

I just ordered a ton of wick samplers to see what works for the 4630 (HTP, CD, Premier 700, already have Eco). I'll keep you updated with my results (even though I'm sure results already exist from other folks).

Totally understand. Just in my case as a not-yet-seller, I have C3 hanging around and just want to experiment. I'll likely try it blended and unblended and see which one I like better.

Understood. I actually have had reasonable luck with C3 thus far, but I wanted to see if the blend improved anything. May end up switching to 100% 4630 if it blows me away on its own.

I just ordered a 10 lb sample of 4630. My plan is to blend it with my C3 and see how that works out. I'm hoping its benefits transfer over to the C3 and make it more stable with enhanced HT.

Yeah the Elite 200 sounds interesting as a non-paraffin alternative, especially if it boosts consistency and HT over 100% soy.

So from what people are hearing, are parasoy waxes having the same batch to batch issues that straight soy wax is having? I may jump on whatever wax is suggested for Trappeur :).

Hmm, this is an interesting topic. I've just started with all my testing of C3, and have had what I consider to be good results. However, as others have been posting, this could all go in the crapper with my next batch. As I haven't established a customer base yet, I wonder if I should switch over to a paraffin blend or even straight paraffin (heaven forbid!!). I feel like half of candle buyers just want a nice smelling candle and the other half are focused on the wax makeup.

I'm in the same boat, and I assume most new candle sellers are. The hard part (IMO) is covering the cost of insurance and business licensing (varies by state). If insurance is $400 and I'm making say $4-8 profit per candle, that is 50-100 candles per year sold just to cover that!!

Yeah that is where I was as well. 3 oz. is fine, but the bulk pricing isn't the greatest. May be stuck with malibus.

Has anyone solved this riddle yet? I've been looking for these tubes as well with little luck beyond what is shown above. The SKS malibu tubes are a great deal, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Besides the marshmallow, I did see in another thread someone suggest adding a little to tobacco. I thought of adding it to a leaves fragrance in the hopes it would smell like burning leaves. Good luck!

Glad I'm not the only one with this issue!

Right...but you only need one product on the soap/cosmetic side for them to also cover candles. Seems like the way to go.

Understood, and I agree that much of the expense tied up in supplies is really in the fragrance oils and how many one chooses to carry. Like I said, perhaps the way to go is to start small on the # of fragrances (3-5 scents in 4-5 categories) and then adjust/add as the market seems to dictate. Have 3-5 of each scent and size in stock and make additional ones as others sell. Wax, wicks, and containers are fragrance agnostic, and can be aided by economy of scale. Until the business get's off the ground, everything else is played by ear (I think).

Ah perfect. Yeah I haven't even gotten into planning any sort of craft fair display yet. I can imagine soaps and candles are the same way where you don't want too few or too many scents. My thought is that one has a full lineup on their website that they can make "on demand" (not really possible in the soap making world), and then if/when I do a show, I would bring a subset of those scents with and display what makes sense. It is all just new and slightly anxiety inducing, that is all :).

Good points. Now have you reduced your scent selection for both live shows and your web sales or just for the live shows? I'm testing a choosing my fragrances as we speak, and it will be hard to figure out my final number of scent choices. Plus, I guess there is no rule that you can't add more scents later once sales start to increase!!

I have a sample of it, but haven't tried it in candle yet.

The Flaming Candle has a good pipe tobacco. I have yet to find a good coffee.

I really like Apple Ginger Crust from The Flaming Candle.