Arch Rock

Do you guys get these at Fillmore? Good job, Gail.

Nice.

YB - what did you study in grad school? I started cnalde-making in 1999, ran the business for five years and then got bored with manufacturing so got my M.S. in Psych. I've been in private practice for five years and now miss being creative so I'm pouring again. It's the five year itch I guess.

This is so exciting! Great suggestions from Candybee, as usual, but it sounds like you're prepared. The only thing I would add is a small fishing tackle box filled with pens, paper clips, extension cord, double-sided tape, scissors, wire, Advil, a tampon, breath mints, Xacto knife, hand sanitizer, Kleenex, etc, etc. I took my tackle box to every show and can't tell you how many times I turned to it in times of strife. As you branch out and go to bigger shows, you never know what you're going to get when you reach your booth no matter how many times you read the small print on the application forms. At the Philly Gift Show, I ended up having to hang background drapes with zip ties! Try not to sit too much either. Be on your feet as much as possible. You'll need a bubble bath when you get home.

I know, Sarah and Belinda! Now mind you, I'm very consistent with testing. 6%, same temp, same containers and CD14s. First burn in a 400 square-foot room. If I get HT, I move the sample to 800 Square feet. If I can still smell it at the front of the house, it's a keeper. Not very scientific but I do the same song and dance for every fragrance I test. The only thing I can figure is that this latest shipment of wax seems to have more vybar than usual - I can see the ripples on top of the slabs. And yet, why did I get such good results with Fragrance Buddy with the same wax shipment? By no means am I giving up on CW. I've got a bunch of Fillmore samples coming too so we'll see. Thanks for the honest feedback.

Lonestar does great vanillas. Sugared Cronut is awesome - I renamed mine French Toast. Mandarin-Cranberry is fantastic too but I couldn't get it to burn without a flame-thrower. I used Hot Apple Pie for years until I got it duped. Vanilla Cotton is great too but was tough to wick. I renamed this Sweet Snow.

Google the Department of State for registering the fictitious name. Here in PA it costs $70. Merry Christmas. It's not a copyright per se but it gives you standing in court if someone else comes up with that awesome name. You should probably do Quentin Doing Business As Pillar 7. IRS.gov for the EIN#. No charge for this because their benevolence is repaid ten-fold once you start making money and filing income taxes on your biz. Can't make your mark flying under the radar.

I like it too. Spoiler alert: better get your fictitious name registered in Mississippi and get an EIN # but you probably already knew that.

I use a paraffin based container blend similar to CBL 125. Fragrance Buddy: Cinnamon Bun - Good but not the best Cucumber Melon - Very nice. Not sticky sweet like some. More cucumber than melon with dry base notes. Filled the house with HT Vanilla Ice Cream - My new vanilla. This will replace Lonestar's Creamy Vanilla it's that good. Lavender Sage - Very nice and spot-on. Will be adding this for spring. Apple Jack 'n Peel - Just as good as BC Brown Sugar & Fig - Really nice. Good CT and HT and perfectly balanced. Pumpkin-Pecan-Waffle - OMG. This is bound to be a best-seller. Phenomenal. Pumpkin Perfect - Not so perfect to my nose - weak in my wax. Pumpkin Cheesecake - Can't get HT even after wicking up the sample. Bourbon Barrel - Disappointing. Absolutely no HT. Weak OOB Frosted Carrot Cake - Just ok. Not good enough to add to my repertoire. Twisted Peppermint - Fuel smell even after wicking down. I don't think this FO likes my wax. Candlewic: First, let me say that maybe I'm doing too much testing or maybe too many tests of similar scents, but this grouping of CW oils were very non-descript and indistinct. They all started smelling the same. Merry Mint - This is a best-seller for CW, but to me it's nothing to write home about. Pumpkin Pancake - Really nice but no comparison to FB's pumpkin pecan waffle. Hot Buttered Rum - Also nice but I'm looking for something stronger. Agave Nectar - Just ok. Lots of citrus and floral top notes. Black Tea, Orange & Almond - Gail C is going to find this hard to believe, but I wasn't overly impressed. Butterscotch Pudding - Nice, but didn't blow the roof off. Jack Frost - No CT and very little HT Peppermint Cypress - Weak Gingerbread Spice - Non-descript. I swear, I smelled some Hot Buttered Rum. Like I said, maybe my nose is worn out. Coastal Kale - Nice, but weak Snow Flake - No way close to the name. This smells like my old boyfriend's house and he used those Glade Lavender oil plug-ins if that gives you any idea. Vetyver - Weak and too flowery. Also thought I smelled some Agave Nectar in this. Onward and upward!

Bless your little candle-makin' heart.

I agree completely. Baseline testing of "bare naked" wax and wicks should not be considered proprietary. Anyone can melt wax and stick 30 different wicks in it and record the results. Things get interesting when a specific fragrance oil from a specific manufacturer is added. Now it's proprietary. My biz used to be in a big warehouse and we had a retail store attached to the front. Once a week or so, a retail customer would ask to see our production area and 9 out of 10 times I would kindly deny them, citing safety concerns. On the few occasions that I did allow a competitor to tour our operation, I have to admit that I draped the shelves holding the gallons of fragrance oil with fabric, covering them up. Blood, sweat, and tears to customize our fragrances I wasn't about to share with anyone.

The Scientific Method never fails. If I get a new child client with ADHD, I encourage parents not to start him/her on a medication until I treat them with therapeutic play for six weeks. If they start the medication at the same time they enter play therapy, we'll never know if it was the medication or the therapy that decreased symptoms of impulsivity and lack of focus.

I think you're right about the straight sided jars. Do the crimps in other jars create a chimney effect that's missing with our straight sides?

CD10s are nice, but as TT has pointed out, sometimes, you'll get similar FMPs with 10, 12, and even 14 and I've found this perplexing. I also think for those of us who use straight-sided jars, it's easy to underestimate the impact that a straight-sided jar can have on wicking. I've had one heck of a time switching from a 16 oz country comfort jar to a 16 oz straight sided. That crimp in the neck of the country comfort jar may look innocent, but it has a huge impact.

BF, did I see in an archive that you had been experimenting with RRDs? I see you've settled on zinc.

Thanks for the input Clear Black but I've been doing this for many years - just re-started my biz after a long hiatus. I always balance flame height and melt pool but do expect 1/4" of FMP within 4 hours but am fine with some cling. There's a gal in town here who makes soy candles in soup cans. It's pretty scary how horribly hot and sooty these burn. I'm afraid she's going to burn someone's house down.

I use a paraffin-based container blend. I hear you about not worrying about a FMP on the first burn. And WOW a 24 oz. jar! I could see cottonwoods working. They are hard workers. Kudos for that burn time.

We're all psychiatric patients to some degree Quentin. Before I went to grad school, I was in the candle biz for five years and will tell you that the most consistent product I manufactured was due to having a 300 pound water-jacketed wax melter, using wax from an international company in business for generations, and working with large scent manufacturers like French and IFT. On the down side, mass production takes the joy out of the "art and craft" and I eventually got bored with it and wanted to pursue something more cerebral. I will tell you that your medium - making pillars - is one of the most difficult to master consistently. It's extremely difficult to get hot throw from pillars because you need so much vybar to make the thing stand alone and vybar "locks" scent and doesn't release it like container blends. That said, I've gotten some kick-butt hot throw from votives. Once again, as everyone else has suggested, keep it as consistent as possible and don't over-think the small stuff.

Exactly.

Thanks BF!

Any supplier working on Scentsy dupes? Great fragrances, but it's easy to make wax melts, in my opinion. MUCH harder to make scents throw in wax with a wick attached!

Sorry, haven't tried those but let us know how you make out.

Not getting the results I'd hoped for. I know TT is also testing these. I'm finding initial big tunneling, which is not what Atkins & Pierce advertised. It took double-time (up to 4 hours) to reach side-to-side jar and I think most of my customers would give up by then and label my candle as tunneling, which irks me so much, no educational hand-out could convince them otherwise. These are crazy-hot burners too, which defies the tunneling. Strange wick but glad I tried it.

My goodness you guys . . . IMHO, you're making this more difficult than it has to be. I'm a psychotherapist. If I give someone a psych test, there's a Bell curve that helps delineate "normal" from "abnormal" and the difference between can be anywhere between 5 or 15 points, depending upon the test. I have to take this into consideration when analyzing the results. Same goes for candle-making. Most waxes and fragrance oils and wicks are very forgiving and provide chandlers a pretty decent variance. That said, my CD-10 wick will perform very differently in my vanilla compared to my Apple Jack 'n Peel. I wonder if Quentin might be too focused on wax pour temp instead of the biggest variable - scent oil and supplier. The same-referenced CD-10 will perform differently with different vanillas from different manufacturers. My advice would be to dial-in the fragrance itself. If your pouring temp and wax remain the same, the only other independent variable is your fragrance oil (assuming your jar has remained the same).

Thanks so much.