Beth-VT

Your candles should be labeled to reflect the net weight of the product.

I have the MyWeigh i500 from OldWill....love it!! It does the fine measurement you mentioned (.XX5oz/.Xg) and I could never go without it. Like you pointed out, there's a BIG difference between .13 and .17...so this works great for making small batches of anything. Think it was around $79. It has a smaller overall capacity (only 17oz. I think) but I only use it for additives, oils and such. I just use a cheaper large capacity scale for weighing wax and other heavier stuff.

You won't regret spending the extra $$ for the finer measurements. HTH.

Candles And Supplies sells them with either glass hats OR the black metal ones with the star cut-outs. HTH.

I think it was

It really depends on the oil itself. Some are weak and may require a higher percentage....some won't blend completely at higher percentages. My Very Vanilla won't blend AT ALL .

I have a couple that are knock your socks off strong at 10% (9:1) , so you'll have to test each oil.

no Michi....your math (lol) would be the equivalant of 12.5%.

For an 8oz. container using Michelle's %'s, it would be:

95% Cyclo = 7.6 oz

5% Fragrance Oil = .4oz.

ooo....we've had this discussion lots (unfortunately)...seems to be a reoccuring issue. Try a search on the archives any maybe you can find the link in which this was discussed at some length.

In brief, I'd bet money that the problem is not your design or your software or the printer, it's the die cut of the labels.

Planetlabel, and all the other off brand producers are not 100% accurate and consistent on the die-cuts from batch to batch. The cheap labels are great but this is one of the drawbacks. You may find differences from 100pk. to 100pk., or 10pk to 10pk, even sheet to sheet sometimes. It's probably not noticeable to the eye, but all it takes is a side or top margin (or even spacing) to be off by less than 1/32" to screw things up when the pattern is repeated in rows/columns.

The only thing you can do is accurately measure (with calipers preferably) your margins and seperate your sheets, then you must alter your templates to match. If your software does not allow custom label templates you're pretty much screwed and at the mercy of each sheet

Oh, I have a laser printer, and it makes no difference (well, it's more consistent that an ink-jet, yes) but it does not solve th problem.

Nope. The wax increases, when you break them down per oz, are really pretty minimal. I manage to get 4-5x cost for retail, so I've no need to increase prices.

However I wonder if it would be generally OK to charge the standard retail price for a product and simply say that YOU are paying the sales tax. I'm thinking more in the context of web sales here than shows.

Funny you should mention that. That is one thing that is very explicitly explained in my state tax guidelines. The retailer is strictly forbidden from paying sales tax for the customer. Hope that helps some.....lol.

You must check with your state requirements because it does vary.

Here, we are allowed to do it ONLY if the breakdown is clearly listed for the public to see, and sales tax must be on it's own line on any receipts handed out.

Example: I sell a certain candle for $13.50 retail. Including sales tax (6%) the sale price would be $14.31. For shows I generally round up to the nearest quarter for ease of transactions. Like Trish said, it's so much easier if you don't have to do anything but add up the total for the items.

I advertise the candle as $14.50 ea. Tax Included, and on the price sheet it lists price $13.67/tax $0.83. It's not quite in that format but the numbers are the same.

I admit actuall sale price of $13.67 looks a bit odd, but most peeps don't really look at that, they just look at the final cost, and I have to do it that way to be legal. Just remember then that the sales tax to be remitted to the state is what you actually charged at the show (the $0.83), not what is normally charged on retail sales ($0.81). HTH.

You've got me wondering now.....what is the advantage of Stamps. com vs Click-n-Ship. Before C&S came out, there was a definite advantage, but now, what do you gain by using Stamps.com? It can't be worth $170/yr jsut to print postage for letters, so what am I missing?

Help, I'm confused. How can you weigh FO on a scale? I thought that liquids are measured in mls or fluid ounces not weight ounces - will someone please explain!

Whenever you measure FO's you should always go by weight. Oz/ml's represent volume and are not consistent from oil to oil. Some are heavier per lb. than others.

The only way to be truly consistent and accurate is to weigh. Put a container to hold your FO on the scale and press the tare button if you have it. If not, put container on scale and turn it on, should zero out. Then add your oil to the desired weight.

The same thing holds true for additives, IMO. I always weigh. A tsp. of this or a tbsp. of that is not accurate, and is subjective from person to person. The form of the additives themselves can also vary from vendor to vendor, one may supply something in pellet form, another is granular form. In that case, volume and weight will not be equal, and you'll have an inconsistent recipe.

Do NOT NOT NOT use ink-jet transfers in a laser!!! Unless you want a big huge mess and possibly void your warranty.....ask me how I know .

Really, Common Scents may have just lucked out but I wouldn't try it.

Laser transfer papers are hard to find, local places do not carry them (Costco, Staples, etc), they are a specialty product. I was going to recommend QLT but see you already have the link.

The difference is, laser printers run extremely hot. Inkjet transfers are not designed to take the heat at all. If you run an incompatible transfer sheet through, chances are it well melt and gum all up in your heat rollers (again...ask me how I know ).

Even then, not all laser transfers are the same, not compatible with all printers. You need to know the temp that your printer rus at, check your documentation. I believe the sheets from QLT are rated for 170°....my printer runs hotter than that (wanna ask me how I know ). Ended up sending it back...their customer service was great by the way.

After my little mess (which luckily did no damage but was a royal PITA to clean out) I called Minolta and my model does not support ANY laser transfer papers.

I was sooooo bummed, cuz I reeeeeeeely have a need for transfers done on my laser, but I"m OOL. I would highly recommend checking with your printer manufacturer before you spend too much time or money looking, it might just be a waste. HTH.

Holy Smokes...that's cheap!! But the word 'clearance' scares me at WW. Wonder if that means they have the intent to stop carrying them?

It's illegal to use the graphics (images, borders, backgrounds, etc) included with PrintShop, PaintShop and the others on any item that you sell. It's OK to use them for your biz promotion (brochures, biz cards, etc) but not in a logo or on any retail item. Course', that doesn't mean it's not done , just FYI.

I have the newest version of Print Shop and love it. It has a really good Advanced graphics editor that lets you manipulate almost any existing graphics file, or create your own from scratch.

It's take a bit to learn, but it's very handy.

Mnhorsemom: You should be able to get to at least a 4pt. font. Highlight the text you want to change, then click in the box on the menu bar for pt. size (don't click the arrow, you want to highlight the font pitch itself), then type in 4 and hit enter. It should change for you. You can do this with larger fonts too, like if you want a 30pt but it goes from 28 to 32. HTH.

I have two...a larger capacity that reads down to .X oz/X.g for wax, and a smaller capacity that reads .xx5oz/X.Xg that I use for FO's and additives.

Got the smaller one at OldWillKnot as well and love it!! I can't imagine not having the finer increments, makes it sooooo easy to do small batches of anything, especiallyy B&B stuff.

Decide what your use will be, how small you want to read, and OldWillKnot will have exactly what you need at a good price. HTH.

I have to agree. I think you've recently posted questions about pillars, gels, and now containers. My best suggestion is to slow down.....pick one of those, do lots of research in the library/bookstore/message boards/etc., and familiarize yourself with the terms used. Once you do that, you'll understand what sinking is and how to avoid it, or remedy it. You'll learn how to center your wicks, what wick tabs are for, etc.

Then read up on the different types of waxes for your application, additives and what they do, wicks, etc. Choose a wax based on it's performance and what you want from it. Then test test test. Once you're comfortable with the process and can make a great, safe product, then go on to another type and start all over again.

Once you have a better understanding of what you're doing, you'll be much happier with your results.

I used to have them years ago, back when it was free. Loved the convenience, never had any troubles, but once they started charging a monthly fee for lower volumes I ditched it. Wasn't worth it.

As of this date, I will no longer be responsible for debt incurred by anyone other than myself, lol!!!

Mine is the Minolta QMS Magicolor 2300 DL and it's almost 2 years old. Paid $650 for it at Sams back then, they have since come down to less than $400 if you can find them. They have the new 2400 series out now which is just the newer model, basically the same thing (think the res is a bit better now) and they are about $400 at Staples plus a $100 rebate , so it's only $300!!

I don't have the high capacity tray, nor the duplexer (don't have the need) but they are available. The 2400W is the model, the DL is identical except it gives you upgradeable memory and is network ready.

One reason I like these is that for the money, the DPI on the Minolta's blows the HP's away ...HTH.

Here's a link to compare:

http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=10886&catalogId=10051&firstlevelCategoryId=10093&secondlevelCatName=Laser+Printers&prodCatType=1&langId=-1&pCategoryId=11768&secondlevelCategoryId=11768&storeId=10001&firstlevelCatName=Printers+%26+All-in-Ones&currentpagenumber=2&checkedCompParams=

It really depends on how much color you use on what you print, and what you expect. I'm the odball here...I have a color laser and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. My ink-jet has been gathering dust for almost 2 years.

I print all my lables in full color and one particular line uses photos on it (2 labels per page) so coverage is about 75%. On my ink-jets, it was taking about 2-1/2 minutes to print and would only get about 125 sheets out of a set of cartridges (at $50 per set).

My color sheets now print in about 15 seconds (all black in about 3) and my ink is waaaaaaaaaayyyyyy cheaper now. Sure the toner costs more, but lasts about 10-15 times as long. And you only replace the colors as you need them instead of the whole set so if you tend to use more of cyan than the rest, you're not wasting the others. I've printed over 4000 copies and have only replaced 3 cartridges, you can do the math and see the savings.

Quality is excellent IMO. Sure, it's not 9600dpi photo quality, but I get 2800 dpi and it's more than enough for labels and stuff. 4pt. text is excellent, graphics are crisp and excellent, colors are excellent, etc.

If you want a printer for photo quality images, the ink-jets are the way to go no doubt. But for anything less than that I think lasers are so worth it.

The time that I save in printing and the $$ saved in ink has paid for itself. You can get a great Minolta color laser for $400 and it's probably more than most of us will need.

There are other advantages as well, like your ink doesn't run . I do hang tags, invoices, envelopes, container labels, and don't have to treat them or spray them or cover with clear labels, which in the long run also saves time and money. I use frosted labels, crystal clear ones, glossy whites (those look so fantastic!), matte whites, even silver foils and love the results on all. Even photos' printed on laser photo paper look wonderful.

My point is, you need to decide what your needs are and what you want the printer to do before you decide on the type. Lasers can't handle very small or very long (usually no more than 14") papers, so if you do banners they wouldn't work. Jot down your needs, and pro's and con's of both and see what you think.

Oh, did I mention that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my laser????

Remember that 6:1 means 7 parts total...now it's test time, lol

Thanks for doing this coop Beth. You do realize that if these things sell we will be on your case to do another coop. LOL

............

I saw those square ones there the other day. I personally don't care for the look of those compared to the ones we got in the co-op (and Sharyl is testing). These at Spec. Bottle just look "klunky" to me for lack of a better term. Also note the red notice they've included about the production mark 1/2 way down the tin. Yuck.

They are cheaper, but I guess there's a reason.....JMO.

The height generally should not alter the results. Using different FO's or formulas, however, will. Was this one different from the others?

how do you asure the wick is centered throughout the candle?

Wick Pins.

Even if you're not using pins, if your wick is secured at the top of your mold when you pour, it shouldn't be hard to keep it centered.