Hopie

The larger jar was an Eco 12. I'm finding that the smaller jars are way overwicked, so I poured a few new ones with Eco 4 to test them. They're currently curing.

Yes, the red sure is beautiful in the square Christmas candles I made, but dang, that dye is murder to get completely out of the molds! Yesterday, after making a red Frank n' Myrrh candle, I decided to make a stark white square vanilla candle....when I went to unmold it this morning....RED on the corners and down one side of my beautiful stark white candle! Uggggh! So, I carved out the red streaks, scrubbed that mold with a q-tip in every nook n' cranny, then remelted that white one and repoured it. I hope I got all that red out this time. Grrrrr! I will know in the morning.

I want to make myself a candle with multiple layers, sort of a "frankencandle" with different scents of scrap wax. How do I get the red from bleeding into the white? Is it a temperature issue, or a dye issue? I'm using diamond chips for color in paraffin wax.

I mixed coffee and fudge from Lone Star, to make "coffee mocha", then topped it off with creamy vanilla, also from Lone Star. You could try it by omitting the touch of fudge I added to it for a coffee/vanilla combo. It smelled really good, but my wicks were wrong for the wax I used at the time. I haven't revisited it yet.

Forgive me for being a little off topic here, but I can't help but notice that ginormous candle on the right with multiple wicks. How many ounces is that container? How many wicks are in it? Most of all, how does it burn?

Well, dang, knock my nose off, that's one heck of a scent throw! Lemme' see now...51Z...yep, I've got a bag of 'em. Maybe I'll pour one with that wick. Thanks for the info.

I think everyone on this site can relate to this post, lol! Yep, it's what we all want. It can get so frustrating, you will start to leak brain fluid Sometimes, you just have to take a step away from it for a few days, weeks or months then come back to it fresh again, and with a refill of brain fluid. Sometimes, we just have to dump certain waxes or scents. I personally dumped the C3 soy wax some months ago. I literally tossed almost a full bag of it in the trash can. I'm now playing with the ProBlend and two paraffin waxes. Personally, I prefer paraffin waxes. Old school, perhaps, but so much easier to wick, in my humble opinion. I will play with this ProBlend 600 until I am out of it. Just poured a cappuccino and a patchouli yesterday. They both look and smell simply divine. Gorgeous wax, indeed. I'll let them cure and see what comes of it. Then, I'll move on to playing with container paraffins, I sure to love to make pillars with it, and am looking forward to doing candle jars with it. The pillars and molded candles I've made have had wonderful scent throw and I haven't burned this place down yet. Breathe in, breathe out and enjoy the journey.

I think I have a few zinc wicks under some dust bunnies in here...what size worked for you? I have a 9 oz status. I'd love to know.

Aw, just hangin' out all over Arizona, lol. Went up to Williams near the Grand Canyon, then to Camp Verde where we stayed on the Apache Nation rez for two months, now back in Lake Havasu for the entire winter. Our summer was too hot for candle making, so I hadn't been working on candle making. Just broke out the "candle factory" in here again, the air has cooled here in the low desert Fun to be back on here, I miss this place.

What in the trailer park is this?

When I make pillars, and I've repoured twice....I figure I'm done. Small shrinkage or not, I don't stay up late to do a repour. Next morning, I carve it with a small exacto knife to somewhat level it. That's the beauty of handmade, it doesn't have to be perfect if it's lovely, interesting, burns beautifully and has a great scent.

I have one word for this skull, Mr. Dan...BADASS! I love this, and the way it burns is wicked cool! Great job on this one!

So now, I'm testing this 9 oz status jar with the Problend 600 wax using an Eco 4 wick. We shall see! I love the look of this wax, but darned if I can find the proper wick for it.

Way cool, Mr. Dan!

Really cool, Mr. Dan!

Congratulations, your first hand made mold! I like the leaf, too, nice! I'm jealous, haven't been pouring lately, but I'll get back to it this week. Temps are going down here in AZ so it's time to fire up the mini candle factory! Keep them coming, and I hope you're having a ton of fun with the waxes! Lookin' good, Mr. Dan. Seems that you like the bees wax a lot, they're really cool.

Love them both, Mr. Dan! Was the dragon a silicone mold? Can't wait to see your first handmade mold creations! I can only imagine what you'll come up with...

So...um...the dirty socks comment...suuuure went into a twisted issue. EUUUUWWWWW! DisGUSTing! Gross! It's a sick world out there. Our "candle addiction madness" is really not so bad, huh? I feel sooooo much better now. Speaking of odd...my first job in Las Vegas was selling club wear to the tourists. We were open until 10 p.m. So, at about 9 p.m., this man comes in, peruses the dress rack...chooses a few then disappears into the dressing room. He emerged wearing a VERY tight purple spandex type of dress...looking at himself proudly in the mirror...I mean, he looked like a bratwurst about to split and burst on the BBQ grill...and...it...took...everything...in...my...very...FIBER...not to ROTFLMAO! Oh, how DID I contain myself? I was so grateful when I got my first food n' beverage job

So, I'll soon be able to start melting more wax...I bought some Vybar and UV absorb, since all of our sales are at outdoor venues...but there are no instructions on how much I should use, they just came in bags with no instructions. How much of each should I use, say in 1 lb of wax, without "locking up the scent"?

I can relate...I once commented that a candle I was smelling in a store smelled....like...dirty socks! I got an odd look, then she laughed!

This looks really cool, and yes, I see lips! Is it feathered palm wax?

I just LOVE this post! I nevah' laugh so HARD! I remember having way too many candles when we had the house on 2 acres, and I had candles everywhere! Now that we're in the motor home, I have to limit them by FORCE! My rule is that if I buy something that's going INTO the RV...then something has to come OUT of the RV, or we would burst at the seems! However...those.little.sample.oils.don't.take.much.space...right? sniff, sniff...ahhhhhh!

Yes, the blank punks that are made of wood and not charcoal. I've had people mention to me that they didn't want to burn charcoal in their house, and I don't blame them after I test burned some charcoal ones myself. I didn't like 'em. I posted two links in my last post so you can see what they are. I don't even buy the ones that have colored sticks, they aren't necessary since I label the scents anyways. Same method to make them as my post above in this thread.

Exactly the vibe I wanted, too..."old school, premium incense". You'll start to develop a following after they buy some and try them out. People rave about them because "no one seems to make them any more", and the ones you buy in a store are all dried out and smell like a burning stick, no real SCENT. These are the sticks I get....you can and should research prices, depending where you are located, I buy them 10,000 at a time to maximize my profit/minimize my cost: https://www.thecommonscents.com/Unscented-Incense-Sticks-119.htm I do know that http://www.saveonscents.com/product_info.php?cPath=4_385_6&products_id=202496 also sells them. You can also do a search for "wholesale incense punks" and see what comes up in regards to prices/shipping rates to your area. We travel and vend full time, year round at outdoor marketplaces, events and fairs and sell them there. I did list several on ebay at one time, not a great response because this is something people want to smell, but I did sell some there, and on Amazon. Another idea I had was to take them to local shops and boutiques that sell things that may appeal to incense lovers...i.e., a candle shop, a head or cigarette store, small gift stores, that sort of thing. HEY, now that I think about it...could try to sell them at the local legal pot dispensary, right? Now that's a thought, huh?

Did someone call my name? I heard you all the way out to the swimmin' pool...yep, I was goofing off . I only use the natural bamboo/wood sticks to make my incense. I used to sell some of the charcoal sticks made by HEM (when I first started selling incense)...but as I burned several for myself, I truly didn't like the scents or the soot they produced. I guess when I thought about it, would I burn charcoal briquettes in my house? Umm...no. So, I went with the wood base sticks only for my homemade incense. I was really after the "old school" incense I used to buy at swap meets and hippie shops. I use 16 oz DPG with 16 oz FO for my mix (I do, at times, dilute the scent a bit more, depending on the scent). I use long cake pans that come with plastic covers (to contain the many different scents, and they're stackable for when I do a lot of scents at once), got the pans at Dollar General. I soak 500 sticks at a time. I always soak them at least 24 hours, usually longer (it depends on what else I may be busy with at the time). In order for the incense to be nice and strong, I drain them using old flower vases...the bigger ones....for about a half hour. I always retain the drained oil by pouring it into the soaking pan. Then, I lay them flat on cookie sheets that I wrap in cheap foil (easy clean up, just toss foil when dry)...as if I were soaking them...never upright, because too much of your oil will drain out and give you a weaker scent. I let them dry about 36-48 hours, depending on current humidity/wind conditions outside. I have dried them indoors in a back room when weather was bad. Then I count and bag 'em in bundles of 50. Each bundle is one scent only...by doing it this way, people will sometimes buy 4 bags at a time to have a variety of scents. I don't let them "mix n' match" bundles.