Stella1952

Because there are so many choices, I think it would be a good idea to call or email the company with your question. They will recommend the right stuff for your application. PS If you need more sources (other than SmoothOn), why not google "silicon mold making material" http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=silicon+mold+making+material&btnG=Google+Search Plenty of material there to give you a selection of suppliers from which to choose. Good luck

We use CDN 12s in 6 oz tins. The tins get warm but never hot, even when powerburned.

Oh yeah! Those are LOVELY!!

Try the CDNs from JBN (or anyone else that has them). We use them in our C-3 and have found them to be very reliable in both C-3 and Palm wax. We use scents from Wellington, JBN, Peak, SOS, CS, etc. with liquid pigment. As far as we are concerned, CDNs are da bomb. We have begun to wick one size smaller than we really think will work because we have found with containers that it frequently takes less wick than one might initially think and that once the container gets goin', the initial overhang (if any) will disappear. If we go for the immediate big melt pool on the first burn, many times, the container ends up being overwicked with mushrooming and black buildup on the wick. HTH

The fragrance load of the wax you use should determine this for you.

GOOD fragrance oils ain't cheap! Sample sizes will always cost more per unit volume - can you imagine what a PITA it is to put 1 oz of a bunch of fragrances in all those little bottles, label them, etc.? Buying in larger quantities is always more economical, but first ya gotta know what you are buying... Personally, I find that Peak's quality and prices overall are very good. Visit more sites!

Yellow with a bit of green and orange:wink2:

V1 is a tempermental wax. I think I tamed mine by adding a couple of tablespoonfuls of beeswax. We'll see when I test burn one later today. Excessive frosting can come from the particular color or FO you are using... My supplier consulted with his NatureWax rep and was told to try pouring at very low temps (like down to 125°) would alleviate the frosting and cracking. Cooling slowly with good circulation all around the candle (especially the top) helps a lot also.

Depending on the pour temp and the amount and type of crystals, you may see some bloom that looks like scum. I am surprised you could not polish it off, though. Palm wax "crushes" easily, but if you are careful, you can polish one to a high gloss. You can also use a more coarsely woven cloth to finely "sand" the candle surface, then polish with an old tee shirt.

Most of the online suppliers for soy wax have instructions on their sites on how to make different types of candles (container, votive, pillar, etc.) using that type of wax. The instructions will vary some from supplier to supplier depending on the wax manufacturer and the specs of the particular wax, but the information is quite similar and frequently contains great tips on candlemaking in general. Good luck! PS Whoops! I just saw the word "body" in your question... be sure you use materials that are body-safe in that type of candle.

Here's the link to the NatureWax distributor map... http://www.naturewax.com/distributors.html HTH

It only took a few hours exposure to filtered sunlight UNDER the shade of a screened canopy to fade containers and pillars and votives without UV Inhibitor (we call it sunscreen ). We learned and now, no matter WHAT we add or don't add to wax, we ALWAYS add UV "Sunscreen."

A good way to answer this question for yourself is to order some soy candles, some palm candles, and some paraffin candles and see which YOU like best. There is no "best" wax for everyone. Good luck!

A quick Google netted this site http://www.weddingthings.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WeddingThings&Product_Code=MT888 If you enter "buy plain white matchbooks" there are many more sources.

I can heartily second sisterkaren's remarks about Tuscan Nights from Peak's. Wonderful scent and a favorite of ours!

Looks like it cooled too quickly. You did not mention what kind of votive wax you are using, so I have no idea what to suggest...

Just By Nature is in the Dallas area... dunno if their prices are much different from those I see most places, but the shipping shouldn't be as much...

We'd all have to take a mea culpa on that one! ROTFL

The problem there is the "automatically assumes" part... Both by those who create the inference that leads to the (incorrect) assumption and by those who so willingly do the assuming... Let's look at the term "all natural" or "100% natural" - what IS "natural" anyway? http://www.thefreedictionary.com/natural There is no such thing as a 100% Natural Soy Candle because: 1. candles do not occur in nature 2. soy wax does not occur in nature 3. soy wax candles are not made from soy - they are made from soy WAX (which is derived from soybeans). If the word "wax" doesn't immediately follow the word "soy," I automatically think the manufacturer is either an imbecile or a weasel trying to mislead me. Tofu is 100% soy, too, but I will bet the farm it won't burn worth a flip! Not to mention the throw...:rolleyes2 Half of the problem is that the general public is as poor a consumer of information as they are fast food. They do not bother to READ nor to UNDERSTAND nor to THINK. The other half is that many manufacturers have no personal ethical prohibitions against selling their products by the use of deception, however subtle. As long as the bucks end up in the register, they don't mind telling the customers whatever they wanna hear. We won't advertise our candles as 100% soy because they aren't - they are primarily soy WAX, and also have other stuff in them, like stearic acid (from vegetable sources), fragrance oil (god only knows what's in that stuff...) and colorants. Because of private labelling/branding and no REQUIREMENTS to list ingredients EXACTLY, most of us really do not know what IS in our candles for sure! We also don't advertise them as "all-natural" in ANY percentage because that is a totally meaningless BS term used by both honest people of great personal integrity and conscience who are attempting to describe the purity of their products and by weasels with no ethics whatsoever who simply will tell customers ANYTHING to get the dollars - all at the same time on the same shelf. I would not have purchased that candle BECAUSE of the claims on the label - it is OBVIOUS that the company is deliberately trying to mislead and they don't get my dollars. That "100% all-natural soy" from which the wax was made could easily have been grown with mega fertilizers and pesticides - is that what you thought you were getting? Fragrance oils are not "natural" by any stretch of the imagination... many contain no essential oils or anything that actually comes from the substance itself - like your cucumber. If it doesn't smell like a cucumber, didn't come from a cucumber, then it can't be construed as "all-natural"! Sorry to get on a rant, but insufficient, missing or deceptive labelling is one of my pet peeves. I mean no offense to people who never thought about this stuff either as a purchaser or a seller, but I hope everyone thinks about these issues before they buy or sell! And I hope suppliers will endeavor to LABEL their products accurately whether they are required to do so by law or not!

This is a characteristic of palm wax. Tapping the table around where the candles are setting will help dislodge air bubbles and allow them to surface; however, the surface has to be clear (unset) for the bubbles to break. Allowing palm wax to cool verrrrrry slowly helps.

The warning label required would be the same, but you may want to offer a fact sheet or info tag, etc. if you want to explain more about the peculiarities of palm wax (or soy, for that matter).

Did anyone ever find a source for shrink wrap that doesn't smell like plastic? I recently bought a system and the shrink wrap that came with it is just AWFUL! What's worse is that the supplier is also a candle manufacturer! Seems like they wouldn't carry a product that is totally unsuitable for candle wrapping! I wrapped a very strongly scented votive in it and I could barely smell the fragrance, but the "plastic" smell was HORRIBLE! I unwrapped all the ones I had wrapped and unless I can find some shrink wrap that doesn't smell bad, I am stuck with a buncha stuff I will never use!

THANKS!! Although I have a need for a size larger than the 22 CDN now, I ALSO didn't know they made sizes SMALLER than 8! Bought some little 4 oz. jelly jars recently and the 8s are too big!! Hot dang - more colors in the crayon box! Gotta love it!

C-3 is so soft at normal room temp (never MIND about higher temps...), I cannot imagine wanting it SOFTER! It's ooze out of the container! Have you used the C-3 yet? Try it without any Universal Soy additive or anything else but FO and see what you think...

If you see the tiny bubbles as you are pouring, be sure to take the filled contaner and rap it on the table a few times or, if that's not possible, use a rubber mallet to thump on the table all around the container to release those pesky bubbles. Did you clean the glass carefully before using? Even new glass has stuff on it leftover from its making, some p[ieces more than others... The idea is to give bubbles NOTHING on which to cling... I use Parson's Sudsy ammonia and very hot water, rinse in very hot water then paper towel dry and finish drying upside down in the oven. Cleans glass better than anything and it's very inexpensive! What temperature did you pour? If you are pouring on the cool side, the bubbles get caught in the hardening wax before they can migrate to the surface and pop... THat's all I can think of - HTH