jerry

15 hours ago, Faerywren said:

When I packaged my bars in tins I've set them on wax paper before. Now I pour directly into souffle cups. Voila! Molds and packaging in one.

Thanks, @Faerywren! Google has let me to plastic condiment like cups - hopefully those are the ones you are referring to. Good idea for future bars.

Thanks, @Candybee!

@Sponiebr holy smokes - no pun intended - may I never experience the volcano. So good to know though. And those glycerin rivers do sound cool. I am just excited to be trying a third color and trying hanger swirls, lol. Thank you very much for the info, Sponiebr!!

7 hours ago, Sponiebr said:

TD HEATS SOAP UP A LOT. So if you are dealing with a naturally hot soap during cure TD MAY push it over the top... I'm just say'n, BE aware of this. 

Being very new - heats it up as in accelerates trace or I'm not sure I know what happens to soap getting hot during curing (again, newbie). I'm off to google. Thanks for both TD tips, @Sponiebr!

This is very helpful - I was just struggling with micro lumps of TD in my soap tonight.

I hope to be that OCD some day! Looks beautiful!

@Candybee I know you've told us, but I forget - where did you get your nifty wick centering tool? I use bars and they move around so much for me.

Thank you, @Laura C! It's been fun, and always an exciting learning curve I greatly appreciate how much wisdom is shared by everyone here.

@Shari thanks very much for your thoughts. I can certainly see why making a lotion bar in a tube is preferable I will have to go cruise thru our local Dollar Store and see what they have - thanks for the tip!

@Laura C Thanks for your reply and brainstorming. Because they are lotion bars, they are a bit moist, so I thought waxed paper just to avoid too much oil absorption into the paper. I may just go with some pretty crinkle paper or your idea of a bit of loofah...I love the idea of bath salts or seashells, but they will likely be a pain because the bar will go in and out of the tin. Ideally, I would have a sorter tin, but I'm trying to use what I have on hand. 

I have made some lotion bars for family gifts this season. They are about 1" tall with an embossed bee on top of the bar (that's probably not appropriately described, but hopefully you get the picture). I have 4 oz gold tins to put them in. Unfortunately, the tins leave a lot of head room with just one bar inside. One suggestion was to give two bars per tin, but I am looking for suggestions of what I may put in the bottom of the tin for some lift? All I can think of is wax paper, but do any of you have other ideas that will work with a lotion bar - it's olive oil, shea butter, beeswax and honey fragrance. Thanks very much!

Make sure your record keeping on the two is strong - I got some C3 after my frustrations with 464, and now I confuse the two sometimes. Good notes are your friend :). But I'm still new at this, so there may be that too, lol.

Love you labels, jars, and all the kitties, Trapp. Outstanding!

On 10/24/2018 at 1:05 PM, iansmommaya said:

I like the second one because the font in the first one that says Outfitters etc. irritates me.

Agreed!

The third one is nice too, but I think I prefer the second one.

Trapp, I hope you're feeling better and it wasn't too serious! 

Hopefully your tent is OK, @Candybee, and I'm glad you  didn't lose any inventory - what a sad day.

So true, @Scented! Thanks for the warm welcome

I thought I would formally introduce myself. I have been making container candles since January and have really appreciated this forum - the wealth of knowledge and people's willingness to help one another is amazing. I will say the soy changes and then citral shortage was discouraging, so I took some time off this summer, but I'm back at it. I have been testing both C3 and 464, and given Sarah S's passion for CBL 125 - I am considering testing that for a stronger HT that may be better suited to larger, open plan spaces, which I have. I am also new to soap making, and  have been enjoying that. I find waiting for candles and soap to cure feels like an eternity... Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

On 5/20/2018 at 6:58 PM, Sarah S said:

 

Hey coachtom! As you know, I use the CBL 125, so I can't help much with your Clarus wax. But when I pour my wax, I definitely don't heat my containers. I get wet spots, but unless my wax is colored very brightly it's not that noticeable. I certainly don't care about them, and no one has ever said anything to me about them. 

I cool my candles on the counter. No rack. I don't cover them, but I do bunch them all together like sweet little baby chicks. Baby chicks that smell awesome. Sometimes I get little tunnels when the wax is done cooling, I just use the heat gun to fill them, they're never very big. It's pretty random, sometimes the ones in the middle get them, sometimes the edge one, sometimes none. Happens when the house is hot, cold, raining or sunny, so I don't worry too much about preventing it. I pour pretty hot, about 170ish, so maybe if I waited it might make a difference. If I made a ton of candles at once I might care more, but generally I only make a dozen or so at a time, so I don't get too worked up about running the heat gun over the tops.

@TallTayl had a brilliant thread with her usual detailed but easy to understand method of cooling and theories on what worked and why. Maybe do a forum search on "cooling process"? It was a very cool conversation that made me feel like a slacker for sure, lol.

Hi Sarah. I am curious, how long do you have to cure your CBL 125 candles?

Impressive! I look forward to your progress!

16 minutes ago, c_gills said:

Any ways, I contacted Candle Science and they are going to switch out my 7 cases of Lot 07/07/18 with a new one (they said they believe that Lot was problematic).

I have not see that video - lunch break viewing is now scheduled. It seems everyone on this board is certainly aware of the huge soy problems of 2017 - they have been so frustrating. That is great that CS is going to replace your 7 cases.

9 hours ago, Pam W said:

Yeah, like when '''smell and sniff'' will be invented....:-)

I look forward to that day!

So pretty! I wish I could smell it.

@MilosCandles sweet studio! Bummer about the debris.

I just ordered some Pumpkin Chai and am just coming to the conclusion that the souffle needs to be wicked up. I look forward to testing the Pumpkin Chai. I also got some Cinnamon Chai for comparison

Hi Trapp. I got side tracked myself - very busy work week. We are finally having some cooler weather, so I hope to close the windows and get burning on Friday. The CT is great. I am testing 9 oz straight sided jars. I'll keep you posted.

I am in the midst of testing it, I use 464, and can't tell if I suddenly have mid-life allergies or if, indeed, I am irritated by the scent. Today - day 3 of burning two different wick sizes of it - I'm less irritated, but it's been a lovely, all windows and doors open kind of day, so I also haven't smelled it a lot, if you know what I mean  So none of that is helpful, a month after you asked, but I'd be curious to know what you thought after your testing @Trappeur? PS - CT is good.