Stella1952

leashaann, what an organized way to go about this! At least for primary and seconday colors, you made yourself a valuable resource. I think it's supposed to be a rainy day here tomorrow... NOW I have a PROJECT! Thanks for sharing your tip!

Some soy waxes contract more than do others... if it is objectionable, you could do a second pour.

What a fantastic accident! There are just other WORLDS of stuff goin' on in those candles! You can hide those accidents at my house. No one will look for them here.

Color wheels and theory are also available online... http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory http://www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Color/ColorTheory/index.html

I like the CDN wicks from JBN very much. Try one of their samplers and see how you think they burn for you. A #8 or #10 CDN should work pretty well for a 2" diameter container. They have suggested sizes and charts on their order page. HTH

WOW!! I think I'm in LOVE!! Any chance of a picture with it lit?

Lighteningbug, are you using wick assemblies (wicks with metal safety wick tabs) or just a plain wick? I don't see how it could fall over using a wick tab...

Ah-soy, could you explain the difference? I am not sure what components make a 100% soy wax unsuitable for cosmetic purposes... Thanks!

CDN wicks work very well for us in C-3. We buy ours from Just By Nature. All of the 100% soy waxes we have researched have "secret" ingredients like stabilizers, emulsifiers and other stuff in them to enhance the product and NONE of the manufacturers are going to tell you exactly what is in them... your best bet is to request a MSDS for the product and make that information available to your customers. Same goes for the fragrance oil and any other additive, like dye, stearic and UV stabilizers... Not sure which one you think is which... The shape of the 16 oz. container will dictate whether it needs to be double wicked. A tall, narrow container would require less wick than a short, wide container as the glass walls hold in the heat. A larger surface area would keep the temperature down and therefore require more wicking. The EOs you are using will have a strong effect on how the candle burns. Each EO will not behave the same when burned as the next one... that's the nature of things. I think I would use a smaller size container for testing until I got everything worked out and standardized. The squat, widemouth 8 oz. masons are good as are 5 oz. tins for testing purposes. Good luck!

Here's the link that Barb referred to above... http://www.essentialoils.org/

High temperature is rough on FOs. We add FO JUST before pouring... Candle Nose is a HUGE problem! After pouring candles, my nose is blown for DAYS! It helps, when in doubt about scent throw, to have a friend who doesn't live with you to smell and test your candles! Time after time, when I am SURE my candles are not throwing well, my testers will report how STRONG they are!:rolleyes2 A heavy scent will also make one's nose totally ignore a lighter fragrance... recently my partner poured some peppermint scented pillars and some strawberry rose pillars. If one sniffs the strawberry rose first, I PROMISE you'll NEVER be able to smell much peppermint! Same with any of the more subtle, light scents... But, sitting in the same room with those candles... sometimes I get strong whiffs of the strawberry rose; other times, I get whiffs of the peppermint. I have a very good nose for scents, but after blowing it out by pouring, there is nothing but time and getting the curing candles out of my immediate environment to fix my nose. Obviously, if you have allergies or a cold, or any nasal congestion, you can forget being able to accurately judge scents.

Love the all-American measurement "smidge." I assume you are talking about soy candles. Coloring palm wax is a little dicier as the test drip will NOT look like the finished candle by several shades... the smaller the dot, the lighter the color appears. Regarding soy, I don't know what to suggest to you other than to keep a record of what you do. We record how many drops of dye we use for each batch so that if we really love a color, we can replicate it. If you are concerned about ruining an entire 5# batch, why not only color 1# at a time? As for how much dye - our rule of thumb is to use as LITTLE as possible to get our colors. Knowing to use darker value colors (or lighter value ones) can make a big difference in how much dye goes into a batch (value=relative darkness or lightness, as on a greyscale). Having a color wheel around helps to know which colors to combine to get another color... We start with what we THINK is close, then test on the bottom of a soft-drink can (nice reflective surface and always have at least one or two empties lying around...). We tend to stick to one thing - either liquid dye or chips - we don't mix them in a batch. Erring on the side of too light leaves one the option of remelting and darkening if the color turns out too pastel. Biggest problem my partner has had with coloring is using too much to begin with... Sometimes to darken a color, all you need is a drop or two of black, or very dark brown. So a bright sky blue can be toned down to a dusty blue with the addition of a drop or two of black. A bright orange changes to a nice rust with a drop or two of dark brown. Hope this helps.

We did not care for that one, nor the Strawberry Jam, but their Strawberries & Champagne is wonderful and a permanent addition to our list of fragrances. Nice folks - good service.

I think both of you have hit on my biggest insecurity: what customers will do to a candle after it leaves here! One can give excellent instructions, but there is no guarantee that someone will even read them, let alone follow them! I am continually appalled at how little common sense some folks possess and how entitled they feel to blame someone else for their difficulties! I honestly laugh at warnings like "product will be hot after heating" but HEY!! Apparently there are folks who NEED to be told this, ignore it and STILL get mad when they burn their fingers! Go figger...:rolleyes2

I think the blue will have an edge, although choosing between them is very difficult because both projects are so well-rendered.

Searching the forum sometimes turns up a LOT of information... here's a thread that addresses your question: http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41317&highlight=wet+spots

citygrl707, you sound discouraged. Sometimes it takes some trial and error, testing and patience to come up with what works perfectly for you. First, if the melt pool is too large, then the wick is too big. There is no "right wick" nor "right amount" of FO. We start with suggested sizes and amounts, but each different FO (and colorant) can change how the candle burns from one made with a different FO and color. I would suggest you try wicking down one size and see if that helps.

I have never had any problems with the plastic cups for tealights, even when they have been powerburned; it has always worried me, however, that they are made from a substance that melts...

Scentedgrace, because the larger pouring pitchers feel unwieldy to us, we pour from clean veggie cans that are slightly squeezed to make a spout - refill as needed. We put the container on our scale, tare, then pour until the weight is right, then move on to the next one. If one is organized and nimble, it goes quickly and most all are right on the money. HTH

So, are you keeping track of how long each burn lasts, etc.? I was a little confused on the "blew out in less than 2 hours on the 5th burn" part...

Cleanglow, I am surprised. If those are 3" pillars, a 10 should have worked fine! In fact, it should have been underwicked... Typically, we use 14s for our 3" pillars and usually, they leave a shell if we turn them carefully while burning. Interesting... How long was that candle burning before it blew out? How high was the flame and was the wick trimmed? Did you turn the candles during the testing time? Were they burning in a completely still environment? Are those 100% palm wax? Did you use any palm stearic? Now my interest is piqued!

Well, that would assume that you knew the wick size to underwick from! There are no guarantees against blowouts! If people burn candles without the wick properly trimmed, in drafty conditions, fail to turn a candle while it is burning to ensure an even burn, leave the candle unattended, etc., stuff WILL happen! One does the best one can to wick candles carefully, but the rest is up to the customer. If they choose to burn the candle and ignore instructions, common sense and safety warnings, whose fault is that? I have no sympathy for people who do stupid things then expect others to listen to their complaints and feel responsible! I was taught years and years ago that when a candle develops a FULL melt pool, it's time to blow it out and allow it to cool before relighting. That REALLY ISN'T a hard rule to follow! As added insurance when burning candles (I get brain fade as often as the next person...), I pay attention to the flame height, where the candle is placed, the grouping of the candles if I am burning more than one, etc. The last time I "forgot" a candle burning was one placed above my eye level on a speaker. I looked at it when I blew out the others around it, but I did not look INTO it (the flame was low and the candle wall was opaque). I now remember to LOOK all the way into each candle in case there is no outward glow! Overnight, it burned slowly - cheerfully dripped out of the saucer, all over the speaker, down the side, onto the desk, down the leg of the desk and onto the floor! WHADDA MESS! The good part was having hardwood floors so at least I didn't have to get any wax out of a carpet! The BEST part was NOT having my house burn down because I screwed up! After that one, to guard against blowouts I burn palm pillars in pretty flat bottomed glass bowls. The pillars seldomly blowout, but when they do, it saves me from a messy cleanup. Bottom line is that anyone can make a mistake and one should always guard against those Mr. Murphy moments in life... it ain't nobody else's fault if ya don't!

This looks like unevenly embedded embeds. Could you take a sharp knife and shave some of the excess off the areas where it is too thick, then heatgun to smooth it? I wouldn't think it would be saleable, but you might could improve it some for your own tastes that way... I also wonder if those embeds will show up better once the candle is burned and the flame lights it from within...

Try CDN wicks. We use them for almost all of our soy and palm wax candles. They seem to work pretty well for us.

Haven't had any problem with these wicks leaning in a liquid melt pool any more than any other wick would. If the candle is liquid all the way down to the wicktab, any wick might lean or collapse if bumped. I don't find that the melted soy wax is ever exactly thin, especially in a melt pool. Always seems kinda viscous to me, but thick or thin, the CDN wicks don't lean during a burn from what I have observed. We use CDN wicks almost exclusively both for palm and soy candles (only exception are our molded palm wax novelty candles).