ErronB

If the shortage problems keep happening then yeah that’s probably the way to go about it. I actually tried some of Calwax’s latest lot of Ceda Serica, I’m impressed. The annoying thing is they just raised their price again to suppliers. I don’t know if it’s quite worth it.

If you're comparing 464 to EC26, then EC26 blows it out the park in every way possible, but you're really paying for it cost-wise. I don't think the hot throw is anything to write home about but it's still decent and burns pretty clean, it doesn't need a long cure time and it pours very nice with no effort. Wicking it I used to use Eco and CD. Some of the small sizes, not even close to what 464 uses. It does have a small amount of food grade paraffin, and so does the other calwax blend the Ceda Serica (coconut apricot). I would say try some Coco83 or something if you had to go all natural but after seeing some batches lately I'd be scared of getting some crap wax, it's not cheap. Coconut is definitely a world worth venturing into with the state of soy right now, especially 464, it's downright terrible. I tried a small bag from CandleScience not long ago just to see if it's any different lately but it was just as bad as when it first turned crappy a few years back.

They are starting to come back in stock frequently which is good, but I would avoid any that are from Arkansas Glass. I’ve received hundreds the last couple months from CandleScience and recently Aztec, they were all from there. 20-25% of them have horrible defects. All kinds of weird cracking, pitting, serious warping, they’re just utter crap. And it’s not from shipping damage. I’ve used jelly jars for years and not had problems this bad before. The fact that the problems are consistent in every box from all the different orders I have of them tell me there’s some serious ongoing QC issues at this Arkansas Glass place. I know suppliers don’t share where they buy supplies from, but if you explain that you want to avoid that glass company then they should at least tell you that. just a heads up.

Just wait til after this weekend when the stimulus checks hit, there will be another wave of noobs starting candle businesses and wiping out the suppliers again completely. As far as the boat stuff goes, that is true, the ports are backed up to all hell right now.

I could be typing all night to explain all of the reasons behind it, but really if you insist on using the 8oz tins then I'd stick to the Problend 600. I've used it before in those and it won't give you as much of a hard time as 6006 will because it's not as tough to burn or wick. Problend 600 has a lot more soy so it's more tame. 6006 has some very specific quirks with it that aren't newbie friendly so I'd not put too much time and effort into that just yet until you have built up some good knowledge from experience. Talltayl wrote a lot of good points about the tins above, it's good to keep those in mind when you're making your candles as that kind of stuff is important for safety.

There's a ton of great advice here already. Good stuff. If you're into crafts and things like that then making candles can be fun with other people, nothing stressful, learn some stuff along the way, have a good time with friends and family. But then you have the other side, if you're thinking of doing it as a business then you're entering a lion's den bigger than you could ever imagine. Of course, everyone's situation is different, if you really believe there is a market for what you want to offer and want to put your sanity on the line and spend a lot of time and money testing then by all means go for it. I despise making candles but I have no choice due to the work I'm involved in, if it was up to me personally I'd love to avoid them at all costs, the inconsistency in supplies is enough to drive even the most stable-minded people insane.

8oz tins are literally the worst container for parasoy waxes to wick for newbies, if you're starting out then you should learn to wick something with a smaller diameter like 6oz tins or 8oz jelly jars. Pro-Blend 600 is easier to work with than 6006 because it has a lower melt point, isn't as finnicky with the temps to add FO, and generally works pretty decent with a variety of wicks like Eco, CD, HTP (which is good because right now getting hold of specific wicks can be a pain). 6006 has a better hot throw and is better for shipping in hot weather, but it requires a bit of knowledge to understand it properly, it's not as newbie friendly. Wicking and fragrance load is a completely different story for everyone, it's all personal opinion. My suggestion is try as many wick families as you can and get to know how each one burns, it's very useful knowledge to have and people tend to quickly find their favorites. When it comes to fragrance load, don't just do the maximum load that the wax can handle because maximum fragrance doesn't automatically mean maximum throw. Try to stick to 8% or less and make sure you give the candles a chance to cure before judging the throw, at least a few days for parasoy.. The only thing I'd tell you to ignore is the same thing bfroberts mentioned above. The whole 'full melt pool' thing on the first burn is just ridiculous. If you're shooting for that then you're guaranteed to have a overwicked candle. Especially in tins, they get so hot burning near the bottom.

The same 1oz to 1lb rule as most people do. It’s not mathematically correct as a fragrance load percentage, but it’s ‘the norm’ for candle making. If you’re not getting at least a middle of the road hot throw from 6006 and you’ve added the fragrance at 190 or above and stirred for 2 minutes then I’d try a new thermometer, and if that doesn’t work then you probably have some bad wax. I could put any wick in a 6006 candle and at least smell it, doesn’t mean it is the right size for the container but at least I know the candle is made right. It’s not a common thing to have a batch of 6006 that has no hot throw so I would check everything else you’re doing first before coming to a conclusion.

The same as bfroberts, it is easy to use and wick but the hot throw isn't as good as 6006. I still like it, though. Everyone has different experiences so you might get along with it better, you can always buy small amounts to test from The Flaming Candle.

They will be back in stock soon almost everywhere, it's just been a rough few months.

Essential oils are a bad idea for candles. The big box stores will say their candles contain essential oils but they have been infused into the fragrance oils properly in a lab so they have been tested safe to burn they're not just added to it all. I don't think that most of these people that sell candles scented with essential oils really understand how bad it can be. Some essential oils are toxic when burned, they will say 'oh but I use them in my oil warmer and it's fine', but there's a big difference between 'warming' and 'burning' them. BBW use very specific groups of fragrances that have strong throw, it's not their wax blend being superior over anything else. You can easily fill a room with a small jar with fragrances like macintosh apple, or even some of the BBW dupe fragrances like vanilla pumpkin marshmallow, they're very strong. Of course, there's more to it than that, but that's providing your candle is made ideal in the first place. 6006 you want to add the fragrance at 190 these days to make sure it binds, it's not the case with all fragrances, some will throw when it's added lower but you run that risk of having a crap hot throw. 6006 is going through a tough time right now, the batches look nice, but after testing every wick series in 2 new lots I didn't find anything that would burn clean, you have to trim the wicks properly. And in that case, like bfroberts already mentioned, the Eco wicks burn well. They aren't self trimming worth a crap these days, but the performance is good, decent hot throw.

I would try some stuff from The Flaming Candle, I’ve got nothing but good things to say about them.

It's like the others already said, things keep changing too much, and they will leave you high and dry if you get truly unusable batches of wax. They will in so many words just treat you like a noob and tell you it's you doing something wrong and refuse to even take it further. Even if you're a very experienced chandler they will just link you to their troubleshooting guide which is a joke to be honest. Not that it happens to me often, but when I have to throw $100 down the drain on each bad case of 6006 it leaves me feeling very salty. On the flipside, if you get broken cases of jars they will usually send you out a whole new case with no issues.

I thought I ‘had it just right’ on so many occasions, then I’d make more exactly the same and it would all go to hell again. It was the most depressing candle testing experience I ever had. Even worse than when I was a noob with 6006 and wondering why my candles weren’t great after following Jeff Standley’s videos, I thought that was bad, but this was just something else.

I was looking on my phone earlier and the tab wasn't there. Gonna give them a shot and see how it goes, thanks!

Ive never heard of this place before, are they a decent supplier? I can’t find a email to contact them to ask how many they have in stock. That’s very nice of you to offer, thank you, but I’m needing at least a few hundred of each size.

I'm looking for some LX-10's (and LX-8) at least 4 inches long, I usually get them from Northstar but they're out and I can't find any anywhere. I would use a small CSN for a substitute but they're not even made anymore, ughhhh.... really stuck right now!

I have no idea what they were made from, they were interesting for sure. The only logical explanation I can think of as to why they completely disappeared from the market is The WW Co probably threatened them with their patents. It might not even be true, but I can't think of any other reason that something so superior would just vanish.

That’s 129? Wow. In candles I would pour that stuff at like 190 to get the nice glass adhesion, then do a top-off later. I would expect to see a big dip from shrinkage, but that just looks odd to me. In fact it reminds me of someone posting their melts a while ago which sort of looked like that and it ended up being a batch of wax made wrong. Id try pouring it very hot at 190 and see what it looks like, if it’s the same then I’d say it’s dodgy wax, but don’t expect to get much help from Candlewic they’ve screwed me big time with crap wax, as well as many others.

Yep I know that story too well, I tried literally everything for over a whole year to make the wooden wick co stuff burn consistent and nothing came of it, it’s hot garbage. I really miss those old ones, it was very rare that I’d have a problem with them.

Welcome to wooden wicks. There is nothing I can tell you that will fix it because they are all totally unpredictable, but the 0.02 will always be the worst of the bunch. Try either the .02 booster or .03 in slimmer widths.

This is how it is with most places right now, very annoying. I hate CandleScience with a passion but I’ve been giving them some money lately because I can get orders very fast when I need generic stuff in a hurry.

If it’s over wicked then upping the FO will make the flame a bit smaller so it might fix that problem. Of course, that comes with its own set of issues like being more prone to a dirtier burn with more mushrooming etc, but only way to know for sure is to give it a go and see.

I never found any online but I tried it myself once. I dipped the wicks in some heavily black dyed wax and it still looked dark grey, but even if I got the color right by adding even more dye I didn't like how they burned anyway, they mushroomed a lot more. I like a clean burn so it wasn't for me, but I can see why some people like the look of it.

I don't know why, but the only wax that works for my citrus scents is 6006. I wick down and it's not uber strong, but just about passable for me without going into the fuel smell realm.as long as I don't go over 8% FO or it smells like butthole. I also noticed that different wick series helps too. For me, HTP is the least offensive fuel smeller with citrus.