SJM

Thank you

Any advice?

Well I made my first pillar candle today, which was pretty fun LOL. But I did notice when I took my candle out that it had all of those lines on the side. Is this from too low of a poor attempt? And I did study about making relief holes into the waxes which definitely did help. And it prevented my candle from cracking which is awesome. But when you do the second pour, when do you do it? I did it when I thought my candle was mostly set in the middle and I did it to fill the relief holes in. And how do you get the bottom of your candles flat again?

That does make sense. For my yellow beeswac I get from the same bee farmer in ohio. And I've heard stories of people receiving the white wax and it Snelling like wood smoke. What would make it like this? I wouldn't want my wax to make a stinky candle lol and I just now realized that they say to trim you wick to 1/4 inch. I've been trimming to 1/8 of an inch, so now I know my tests and the measurements of the melt pool need to be retested smh silly error. But thank you for the advice. If I'm not confident yet with my candles by the time the festival comes around then I guess I will wait until next year. What state do you live in? If you don't mind me asking. Does the weather play a roll in candle making and wax setting up?

Well i definitely appreciate all the advice I really only have time 2 days a week to make candles. I just bought some pillar candle moulds, metal. Some 3in, some 4in. I do have questions about wicking. There are a million different charts for square cotton wick candle sizes. You had said use a number 5 in a 3in pillar candle though the charts say #3 for that. So I don' trust the charts. Is it after it has cured that it will work the best? Maybe that is why my container candles didn't work as well. I didn't let them cure for more than a day or 2 before testing them out. I'm confident in making them, but it's the wicking part lol. Since you are experienced would you mind parting some wisdom? 3" pillar calls for #5 you said. How about 4in? Candle sticks? I would love to make the floating flower candles. I'm really not doing this to make money though it would be a plus lol its a way to have a hobby, keep me sane lol I'm a stay at home mom with 2 kids, 4 years and 1 year. My husband's business provides for us really well and I happen to know all about liability, compensation insurances, etc I'm the secretary to his business in a sense lol. And when you say refined wax, what does that intail? I get blocks if organic beeswax, I still have to filter it once. Is the white organic beeswax pellets, naturally bleached (no chemicals) then refined? Or it that mainly for soy, parrifin?

Do you work with more than just beeswax candles then? And do you use mold release spray? I've decided to just work with beeswax. I know I've goT lots of learning to do lol I think of I do fragrant candles then it's just be the container candles if I can get them to work. But I think it best to just get some pillar molds and work with them until I get that down. Then maybe try some silicone molds be design candles. Though those I will use dye with.

And when you say summer Faire, do you bring your candles to a place like how I describe my festival our town has? Or do you actually set up your own candle faire?

I've been trying to do as much research online as possible but it seems that people mainly work with soy wax. There's actually the danish festival each year in my home town. Hoping to get a booth this year and sell candles. It's in August so I have time to get my technique down. I'm most nervous about identifying sink holes. Mine would form under the surface but wouldn't bubble to the top. I had to kinda fish for them and fill them in. On average, how long does it take you to create a sellable candle? It's still chilly hear I'm michigan. And let's say you break a candle or the molding process goes wrong. Can you then just reuse the wax and start over?

And do you have to worry about the wax cracking or getting sink holes? I had that all the time with the container candles no matter what I did to slow the Cooling process down. Sorry for all the questions. I have a curious mind

And what type of molds are best? Sylicone, metal?

Do you have a website where you sell your candles? I would love to see your work and what it all looks like.

I've seen the most beautiful taper candles, like the spiral ones. I've come to the conclusion the I can still use beeswax but will have to mix coconut oil in it to make a cantainer candle. Do you think it would be the FO causing the smoke then? Cuz I would still like to make scented ones. What size pillars would you suggest making for a #3 or #4 wick cotton braided? I have tons of wicks to use up. Will using just plain beeswax and no FO cause the flame to still smoke and dance around, let's say if the wick was too large? Thanks for your suggestion about the tapers. Now, with tapers, do those drip down the candle?

Hello all, new here. I started making my own candles a few months ago. And I decided I wanted to start with beeswax because to me that is the most natural wax. And I wanted my candles to be scented, but with fragrance oils rather than essential oils. I am doing container candles because those are the candles that I like best, and if I buy a candle I would like it to scent the room very nicely. I am using mason jars with lids. Diameter is 2.75" 4 oz jar. I'm using cotton braided wicks #4 by premium crafts. All the materials I'm using are made in the USA, which is a must for my candles, if and when I start to sell them. I prime my own wicks, 5 minutes in beeswax. The #4 wicks diameter only went maybe 2" after 3 hours. So i must need a bigger wick? I've done many candles with a blend of beeswax and coconut oil. 50/50, or 75/25. Kinda just deciding on all beeswax, maybe 10% coconut oil at most. I add fragrance to my candles. But I'm afraid maybe it's the FO making my candles smoke after 1.5 hours, which the flame becomes bigger and thinner up top. I know the wick is not too long and having to trim the wick every hours is just annoying to get it to stop smoking. So, my question is, has anyone used fragrance oils in theirs beeswax candles and if so, what brand? Mine is FRAGRANCES AND MORE. I used LA PALM before and that was a waste of money. Didn't mix at all. The one I use now mixes completely, and the scent throw is amazing at 8-10%. I like stronger smelling candles. But then it stays flickering and smoking at around the 1.5-2 hour mark. Any opinions? Should I just switch FO brands? I had the candle in a room with no drafts, and the melt pool depth by the 3 hour mark was just under 1/2 an inch. Seemed perfect to me. It's just the darn flickering and smoking too much.