Peggy T

I knew I had seen a bubble glass-type candle! https://northernlightscandles.com/collections/artisan/products/windward-coconut-husk This is gorgeous! So....now I don't know what to think.

That was my worry too. Bummer. I'm on the hunt for unique candle jars with a higher-end, but minimalistic vibe (no electroplating, concrete, marble etc....) Luxury Candles in Australia has some interesting ones....but I'm not in Australia. 🙃

Has anyone ever used a jar like this for a candle? I like the look (though not this particular color) but am not sure how it would hold up. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Old-Fashioned-Bubble-Glasses-Blue-Bubble_599253666.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normalList.97.26674313LeUtnW Thanks!

Oops, my bad. I totally read that wrong. I thought you were saying Northwood had the same wicks for less. But either way, it never occurred to me that other supply companies would have their wicks. I've never understood the whole patent thing but whatever...I do put a sticker on the bottom of my candle box with whatever the message is that they say you have to include.

This is true. My spout drips a bit so I usually put a piece of paper towel on the floor below it. Still it's worth it for overall ease of use.

Same. I will say that adding the spout ended up being a lot more work than I anticipated because it required a non-standard bit so that I could drill a hole large enough for the spout. Next time I might look to buy one that someone has already converted. But, all in all, I love my Presto pot so so much. I generally just add my FO straight to the PP, stir, then use the spout to fill a funnel neck pitcher and pour into the containers. Because the PP has a non-stick coating all the wax comes out and then I just wipe it out when I'm finished.

Wait, wait wait. The wood wicks at Northwoods are the same as Wooden Wick Co?? Which wicks do you use? I've never primed mine, nor have I ordered from Northwoods, but now I'm thinking I should consider both. LOL

I agree that they look under wicked. I found some larger wood wicks so I think I am going to try some of those as well as adjusting some of the variables I mentioned earlier. As I said, I still have this wax sitting around and I reuse my test jars so I'll keep giving it a go until I run out of wax. But I'm not a fan of how their appearance looks before and after burning. The HT has been pretty good so far and that combined with the ease of getting it is making me want to persist a bit longer. However, in the end, I need something that has good HT, a pleasing appearance, an affordable cost and also be plant-based. I know, good luck with that!! 🤣This is not a hobby, it's my business. I've been making soap for 20 years and candles for about 6 years and I won't sell something sub-par. If all else fails I will go back to my old formula, which isn't perfect but is pretty solid all around. Candles are so much more complicated than soap. 🙃

Well, that stinks! I was thinking of writing to Cargill's customer service for advice. I did find this document and I thought I would try some things based on the info in it (for example, pouring at a hotter temp, warming my jars etc). I figure I have the wax so I may as well try. https://www.cargill.com/doc/1432078141913/naturewax-c-3-and-c-6-product-handling.pdf

Hi Sarah. I think it’s soy and coconut but I’m not 100% sure and I don’t know the %s of each. Do you think a longer cure would make a difference in how it burns (in other words, beyond hot throw)? What I’ve noticed as I’ve continued to burn these is a pretty substantial residue on the side of the jars. I think there’s one size larger of this wood wick (5/8” vs 1/2”). Maybe that would help. But as it stands, with all the residue, I’m not impressed especially since I know people won’t burn them in the most ideal manner.

Hi folks, I thought I’d share my experience thus far with C-6. For several years I’ve been using a 95-5 blend of 464 and coconut 83. However the ht isn’t as great as I’d like and shipping costs/availability of coconut 83 is problematic. I live near the Flaming Candle so I’d like to find a vegetable wax blend that I can get from them. I got a 10# slab of c-6 recently to test. So far I’ve tested it with 4 fragrances, all at 8%. My jars are 12 oz ask with a 3” diameter. I use a 1/2” booster wood wick with a thinkness of 0.04”. Below are my observations thus far. 1. I did a few initial tests with only 4 oz of wax in the jars. I didn’t want to pour full jars only to find out I hate it. When I poured (around 165) these I noticed the wax seemed soft, even though the slab itself is pretty brittle. The surface wasn’t perfectly smooth either. These first few were scented with Black Tea from TFC and the HT was amazing but it seemed like it could tunnel if you weren’t careful. It took quite a while for the melt pool to reach the sides. There was also more residue on the sides than I’d like. 2. For a second round I poured full jars at 8% fo. I heated the wax to approx 185-190 and added fo. However I poured all of them at different temps. One I poured at 165, one at 148 and the last at 133. One thing I noticed right away was then as the wax cooled, it didn’t solidify from the bottom up as my 464/coconut blend used to. In fact, you can see really clearly in one of the pics that it crystallized from the outside in. 🤷‍♀️ The ambient temp in my house was 68° and the jars were that temp too. 3. As the candles finished setting up, the top of one of them (poured at 133°) sort of caved in. It wasn’t like a sink hole (I’ve had plenty of those before). It was like it was tunneling even before it was lit and the texture was almost like dried out cake icing. Really weird. The other candle (I think it was the o e poured at 148) had a small sink hole but nothing major. The one poured at the hottest temp had the best surface though it wasn’t perfect. They all looked better after I hit them with the heat gun. 4. I did a test burn with one of them the next day. The HT was underwhelming but it had barely been 24 hours and it’s an fo that is usually a lighter scent. So who knows about that. I decided to burn it like a consumer might (ie—not ideally) so the first time I lit it I only burned it for about an hour. Subsequently it started to tunnel even though the next burn was quite long (6 + hours). Im going to keep testing by trying to burn the next one after a longer cure and under super ideal circumstances (1st burn until mp reaches the sides). I’m also going write Cargill (mfgr) for advice. But so far I’m not super psyched.

I am pouring some more today. I'm going to try three full jars (12 oz capacity) with three different scents. Maybe I can try diff pouring temps too. Will let you know. I REALLY REALLY want to find a way to make this work. The hot throw was so much better than 464 and I can easily drive to pick it up. Crossing my fingers.....

I mix with peppermint rosemary and spearmint. Everyone says it smells like the Aveda shampoo.

I personally don't care about frosting. I don't dye my candles so I think that makes it less noticeable in general but I'' have to take that into account. I lit one of these a few hours ago and the HT is very strong. It did look like it might be tunneling so I just lit another one and took it upstairs to see about the scent and possible tunneling. But the HT...wow.

I ordered some C-6 recently and just poured a day ago. I'm using wood wicks (1/2" booster 0.04") and 8% FO. I'm going to test one at 24 hours and then the two others after a few days/week. I heated to around 190 and poured around 135-140. The tops weren't super smooth but weren't terrible either. I used to pour my custom blended 464/CW wax at a much higher temp (around 165) and got very smooth tops but since I wasn't sure how much coconut the C-6 has I opted to pour cooler. My main concern was the wax seemed softer than I would have expected after pouring and setting up overnight. My house is around 68-70F. I worry what it might be like in the summer. If this test comes out OK in terms of HT then I will experiment with pouring temps to see if that makes the tops better. I'm not sure what to think/do about the softness though....and, it's weird bc the wax out of the bag was fairly hard and a bit brittle. I really hope this will work because TFC is within driving distance and this is the only coconut wax they carry.

PS I'm in Georgia too.

Something's not right. I'm going to guess something with lye. The only times I've had issues with a loaf breaking is when it was lye heavy. Did you do a zap test on the one that broke?

Thank you! Happy to be here.

Thanks NightLight. Will do. Trappeur, what a small world!!! I miss that place she had but it was super tiny and once the 5th grandchild rolled around there was no way we could all go there. 😂

Thanks. I live about 6 miles east of downtown Atlanta. Blue Ridge is lovely. My mom used to have a place in Cherry Log so I've spent a lot of time there. Now she has a place outside of Franklin NC so we still get our mountain fix as much as possible. I love it there. I usually wait to order from TFC until I need several cases and a bunch of FO but they're a great supplier. I can pretty much place an order then drive to their warehouse and it's ready for pick up. I do wish they had a wider selection of plant waxes but I agree that it makes sense to get as much as I can there. If anyone has tried C-6 wax, let me know.

I've just found this forum. Yay! I have been making candles for about 5+ years. I have a soap and candle company and try to use only plant products (and no palm) but it can be challenging. I make a wood wick soy & coconut wax candle which is lovely but prone to being finicky (weak flame if you don't trim, sometimes leaves wax residue on the sides of the jar). I use 95% 464 with 5% coconut 83, wood wick (3" ssj with a 1/2" .04 booster wick from WWC) and 12% (!) FO. Previously I used a lower % FO but the HT was weak. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with wood wicks and the Wooden Wick Co. They're so expensive (both the wicks and the company, in general) but my customers like them a lot. I've found that I have to be pretty scrupulous about trimming the wick, otherwise, the flame tends to get weak. Now I'm in the process of creating a new candle and am thinking I should use this opportunity to rethink the whole process. I'd love to come up with something that's a bit more consistent, with good HT. I would be happy to stop using 464 but I have 200# sitting around and live near The Flaming Candle so it's tempting to stay with a supplier where you don't have to pay for shipping. 😎 I've been reading here and online about different coconut wax options. I have to admit, I'm totally confused by the whole coconut wax shortage AND the fact that suppliers are not super clear about what they blend their coconut with. The lack of complete information about blending coconut makes it really hard to compare apples to apples, as I try to come up with a good wax blend. I've been getting my coconut wax from Cal Candle but the shipping is super high since I'm on the east coast. I'm mulling over some different wax ratios and would be grateful for any feedback. Option #1. 50% 464 and 50% coconut with a lower FO (maybe 8%?). I'm hoping the increased coconut will help with HT and I'd love to decrease my FO use because it's expensive. However, I am worried that 50% coconut will be too soft in the summer, especially since I live in Georgia. Option #2 a combination of 464, coconut and a little beeswax to help harden the candle. I haven't decided % yet. Option #3 ditch 464 altogether and go with coconut and beeswax. This would be a lot more expensive but if I could get my FO down to 8% then maybe that would be OK. Another question: what are folks thoughts on Nature Wax C-6? Since TFC carries C6, that might be a possibility. I was curious too about the coconut container blend from C&S. I read somewhere it has beeswax but then I didn't see that listed on the product description. Obviously, I'll be testing all of these out so I hope this doesn't look like I'm asking for folks to tell me what they use. Even though I've been making candles for a number of years, it's still challenging with so many variables. Anyway, hi from Georgia and I look forward to learning from y'all and sharing what I've learned over the years. Peggy

Hi everyone, I'm pretty excited to find this forum. I've been making candles for about 5 years. I live in Georgia and am looking forward to learning more from folks! Peggy