BusyBee

I only know one in Germany other than many in U.K. https://www.kerzenkiste.de/ It was kind of hard to locate them in Europe. Maybe because I did search in English. You might want to contact here to locate suppliers & manufacturers in European countries. https://europecandles.org/who-we-are

If you are trying to resell FOs, then have you thought about how you would deal with SDS (Safety Data Sheet)? You will have to disclose your supplier source on your SDS unless you spend a lot of money to create your own and maintain that SDS to hide your source. If you have figured that part out, then AFI would be good place to start. I am very small part time candle maker, but I would cut off the middlemen and go directly to the source as much as possible. All those four you have mentioned has their price open to anyone to look at. I would not buy from FO supplier when I know the price of direct source. I see some FO suppliers charge 3 to 4 times of their FO costs, and I was able to figure that out because of their SDS. If you want to become a FO supplier, then you would have to look into a lot bigger companies that do not deal with public or small candle or soap makers. Because even small (and part time) guys like me are capable of dealing with bigger company than AFI or Lebermuth. There are so many of them, so it is hard to mention just a few. Big companies are mostly located in New Jersey and have sales office or headquarters in New York City.

It's probably because Palo Santo is one of Le Labo's best selling candles. Quite a few top celebrities use Le Labo Palo Santo 14 & Santal 26 candles. Many people just buys what Rich and Famous people buys, and it turns into a trend. We would need to follow the trends. But wouldn't it be better if we can become the trend setter instead of follower?

Not so fast! Lumetique does not own wooden wick patent. What they own is the patent for "Planar Wick", and they are applying for new patents every 2 to 3 years to block others from making wooden wicks. The wooden wick patents that we get to see are patents owned by other companies collaborating with Lumetique's "Planar Wick" patent. One of their patents might be expire in a couple years, but there are many other patents that will block others from making wooden wicks for long time. And they are filing for extensions of their patents, too. Only way to fight them is to go against them "Head On"! Create one that does not infringe their patent rights!

Well, we cannot say it is unacceptable because best selling candle(Yankxx) in the world produce tons of soot. And I see many other name brand candles producing lots of soot, too. It seems like the consumers do not care about that at all. Candle would produce soot if one of two things are not working right. This means that the wick does not match certain wax & FO combo. 1. Too much fuel is delivered to end of wick: When the wick is too big. Sometimes, using long type of wick design can be cause of soot. Some wicks are designed for paraffin, and some are designed for soy, etc. 2. When the wick is not self trimming, and the wick becomes too long. Consumption rate of wax & FO is faster than wick burning off rate. We will need to look carefully about ROC & yield of the wick. I would like to say that finding the right wick, which would not produce soot and produce great HT, for certain wax & FO combo is the art of candle making. I am pretty sure that a lot of small artisan candle makers have succeeded solving this problem. *If you get it right, then it won't even produce soot in heavy drafts.

In case no CraftServer member has them, I guess you would need to get them from here. It looks like they have in stock, but it is offered in 100/pk only. https://www.aaacandlesupply.com/collections/lx/products/lx-10-votive-tealight-length-2-75-base-20-mm-x-neck-3-8-mm

There are so many different ways for art works or photography that I am not going to able to cover all of them. But here are some... 1. Some artists are giving away some of their art works for free. *There are many trademarks (Trademarks are another story to art works.) out there that can be used without paying loyalty also. We will still need approval and agreement from the owners for both. 2. Some artists sell whole art work with copyright included to the buyer. 3. Some artists sell art work without copyright included. In this case, most of time the artists just want to be recognized for the their work, and the buyer is the rightful owner of the work. 4. Yearly subscription of art works with production limitation.: This is great program for small start up companies. I think I have paid $99 yearly subscription for my first candles to shutterstock.com for photography usage. Some are free. 5. Paying loyalty: There are many different ways to structure loyalty agreement. 6. When you hire an artist as company employee, then art work belongs to the company. etc. etc. Here are some photography & some art works that I have paid $99 yearly (total for all of them in the picture) subscription fee.

Logo is usually designed for one company usage because two different company should not use the same logo, and the designer should know that. Designers should be selling their logo art work to one company only, and price should be based on that fact. It should be nice to put some statement in invoice or contract specifying what you are buying. Art works for product labels or designs are totally different story.

Melt pool temperature drops down 5F to 123F when I use this wick while I get 128F melt pool temperature using regular wicks for GB 464. Air current from this wick is weaker than traditional wicks. But somehow, I get faster and wider melt pool using this wick with cooler temperature. Maybe it is due to wider flame? This is I have been keep on saying "wider but cooler flame" in other posts. It is self trimming only while it is burning. Once it is lit up, I would not have to worry about trimming. But wick must to be trimmed for re-lighting (Wax shrinks down when melted wax hardens.). I found that different waxes need different paper layers. I only have 4 layer wick. I am hoping that different layers for different waxes [3 for coconut, 3 for paraffin, 7 for soy, & 4 for soy blend (*All except 6006)] would solve this issue. Or I might have to adjust thickness of each paper for better result. Above 4 layer wick is 100% self trimming in WoodWick Candle only, and I hope to achieve same thing for other waxes. I have been burning many types of woods, papers & fabrics to burning test of odor, ignition, burning rate, and after glow. And I find that this paper is one of the best. It is paper hand made by using old paper making technic invented 1600 to 1800 years ago (no chemical). That is why it is so expensive. I would have never imagined that I would need to research on paper history for candle making. Finding odorless natural glue to put these papers together was another thing. I have to say candle making is full of surprises.

Papers are made out of trees, and they burn better than any other materials in candles. 1st picture is cardboard box paper, 2nd is regular copy paper & 3rd one is cereal box. Biggest problem with these? They will produce strong paper burning smell when they burn. Then there are soot and terrible after glow issues to deal with. Is there odorless burning paper on earth? Yes, there is! This is paper wick is made out of odorless burning paper. This is one of the way to make wooden wick better (getting the fibers out of tree), and I am very confident that there are other ways too.

There aren't that much articles regarding this, and I have not mastered on this subject (Well, not only this but many other aspects of candle making). So, I cannot speak with 100% confidence. One of candle supplier told me that ideal melt pool temperature for soy wax would be 130F. Below is from one of the article that I read. And, I have been asking other people about this, and I met one candle maker getting similar readings like you (around 180F) using coconut wax blend. I am measuring temperatures using digital and non-digital meat thermometers. (Digital one gets 2F higher reading.) I use these because I want to check the temperature between 1/8" to 1/4" below the surface. I am suspecting that readings could be little higher on the surface area due to radiation from the flame. No matter whichever method is correct one, one thing for sure is that there is a sweet spot for optimal performance of each wax using this kind of measurement. 1. Wick: 400°C (750°F). 2. Blue/white outer edge of the flame (and also the blue cone underneath flame where the oxygen enters): 1400°C (2550°F). 3. Yellow central region of the brightest part of the flame: 1200°C (2190°F). 4. Dark brown/red inner part of the flame: 1000°C (1830°F). 5. Red/orange inner part of the flame: 800°C (1470°F). 6. Body of the candle: 40–50°C (104–122°F). 7. Melted pool of wax on top of the candle: 60°C (140°F). At one point, I thought about buying a J-type thermocouples to measure all of the above, but the ones with measuring capability higher than 1800F are too expensive. So, I am just sticking with melt pool temperature readings for now. Good luck with you on candle developing!

When you have your own custom wax blend, then you are on your own because no one can guess what you have. There are so many different beeswax, soy, & coconut waxes out there that will perform differently. Even all beeswax is not the same. On top of that, 5% more or less can totally change the wax characteristics. So, you are the only one who knows your wax, and I would not have any clue how your wax is going to perform. It would be impossible for anyone to give you any wick suggestion. But, I can point something about your melt pool temperature. Ideal melt pool temperature is 140F per candle testing labs or university research groups. Your 185F is way too high. Or it could be because your measurement method might be different. My measurement is about 1" away from the wick using digital meat thermometer. Outer edge was about 5 to 6F lower for 3.6" diameter container. Mainly, I use GB 464, and it has melt pool temperature of 123F to 135F depending on the wicks used. I get the best result (great burn with optimal HT) when my melt pool temperature is 123F. But when I blend 464 with 5% of other wax, then I get the best performance at 129F. *Many people think that soy wax need hotter burning wick, but melt pool temperature tells different story. For Coconut 83, I get the best performance at 138F. For melt point 130 base paraffin wax, I get the best performance at 138F. *Once again, you will need to figure out the optimal temperature for your own wax blend. Candle container temperature should not exceed 170F per ASTM Standard. And candle makers' goal is to achieve container temperature comfortable to touch at any time. When you have 10% beeswax in your blend, this would be very hard to achieve (I think).

Paraffin would not soot more than any vegetable waxes. Any wax will soot if there is incomplete combustion and only way to prevent soot is to have right wick for your wax & FO combo. You would need to find a wick that will deliver right amount of fuel to the end of wick. No excessive incomplete combusted fuel released (cause of soot) into the air would be the key for soot less candle. Adding any other type of waxes to problematic wax can can control this capillary action. Adding soy wax is not to solve soot problem. But it might work because it can have an effect on capillary action.

Accu-Blend Corporation in Perris CA is the manufacturer. They require 1 pallet minimum order. I am one of those who think it is made using coconut, soy, palm & beeswax. Has anyone find difference of coconut 83 in slab form vs bead form? They have production problem for slab form going on for a while, and they are only offering in bead form at the moment. One of the unknown supplier, who had slab in stock while all others were out of stock, is finally out of stock now and only has it in bead form.

Can I have one if you ever end up making one of those? 😊 It's a company in Korea. Making scented wax tablets, scented clay figurines & scented candles are very popular hobbies over there in Korea. They have tons of nice molds for all of those. https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=왁스타블렛&eq=왁스&etslf=7100&term_meta[]=왁스타블렛|autocomplete|3 https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=석고 방향제&eq=석고 방&etslf=10185&term_meta[]=석고|autocomplete|0&term_meta[]=방향제|autocomplete|0 I bought some molds for clay figurines from Korea, and I made these. These are a lot easier to make than soaps.

@Gladys I was thinking the same thing when I was playing with wooden wicks. That is why I showed you how WoodWick Candle Company is doing with their candles. Don't ever totally give it up on wooden wicks. I had the best HT using wooden wicks on my GW 464 wax candle. All other wicks cannot produce HT like wooden wick did in GW 464. And one of the best candle I have ever seen was WoodWick Candle, that is if it stayed lit (see picture below). I have pulled that wick out and tried it in my 464 candle. It was a beautiful candle also. So, keep your eyes on them for someday when someone might come out with very reliable one! If you are new to candle making, then you might want to go to Atkins & Pearce's (wick manufacturer) website. They show pictures of their wick structures. That should give you idea how a wick is structured. By looking at those, you can kind of imagine on how wooden wick structure would be. When you think about wick structure, then it will give you the answer to why wooden wicks are unreliable. *For me, learning about wicks were the hardest part of candle developing. Have fun on your candle making journey and be creative! Wish you a best!

Many candle makers have failed with wooden wick experiment including myself. So, let's not talk about what we can do and/or not with that wick. Let's take a look at the most successful candle company that is using wooden wicks, which would be WoodWick Candle. Many of their candles would burn great, but they have a lot of problems also. Below pictures are the ones with problems. 1. This one would not lit up from the start. 2. This one is dying out when it burned down to middle of container. 3. Flare up from the start 4. Burning good, but excessive soot. (soot build up on container) 5. Melt pool is too deep. Container will be too hot. 6. I have no idea what had happened to this one. 7. This one has nothing to do with wooden wick. This one show problem of shipping candles during hot summer days. Even company as big as WoodWick Candle has not figured out wooden wick reliability issue & candle melting in hot weather. If they can even figure this out, then how could a small guys like us? But it shows that you can build your candle empire as big as them using wooden wicks without having a perfect products. Not only that, it shows it is okay to have lots of defected wicks like them and be successful. *You might argue that this is different wooden wick. Trust us! We have tried every wooden wicks out there. Many even tried to make their own wooden wicks using different woods. They all behave in similar way. Good luck with your wooden wick experiment! Just don't expect perfection from that wick. Let us know if you ever find the best solution!

I am only able to get the best HT out of soy wax candles using wooden wicks. That is if the wooden wick stays lit. There are so many of them that would not lit up or stay lit. Testing wooden wicks in soy wax candle is a must. It will show you how good HT of soy wax can be. But my advise would be not to use that in your product line unless they can come up with good reliable wooden wicks.

I use Uline tins, and they are great in quality. It will last forever without discoloring or rust. Even if your FO has high vanillin content, I think it should be okay without modpodge.

You might want to keep your eyes on this one too. https://cloud9vessels.com/ They don't have matte finish ceramic vessel right now, but their vessels might interest you. It's quite pricey, but they are located in Orlando(Winter Park) FL. So, you might be able to save on some shipping cost.

They are located in Concord which is 30 miles NE of San Fran. It is kind of new company (little over 1 year), and owner name is Vanessa McGee. There are few members here who bought "Monaco" container from her, and it seems like they are happy with the quality and their service. Its price is including the lid, so price does not seem so bad.

The container will never get hot with taper wick design and provide full melt pool from top to bottom. It will also provide less dancing flame bottom of jar. (Right amount of convection at the bottom!) Be creative with candle making!😉

Figuring out coating materials is not hard. Anything that burns well without burning odor would work nicely as coatings such as cotton, wood saw dust, special fibers, fabric without fire resistant treatment or chemical treatments, etc. But finding a glue that can hold coatings on the surface of wood would not be an easy task. It has to be one of natural glue that is odorless and un-harmful when it burns. That would be trade secret. *If you ever figure out the glue, then you will come to a conclusion that you can actually make a wick out of special materials better than wooden wick instead of coating it. See picture! Can you pull out your wick in that picture and try to do this? Pull that wick out and try to make cutting lines with a sharp pointed knife. You don't want to make deep cuts, and lines do not have to go all the way down. Just try to scratch many lines as possible (15 to 20) to make some gab lines on the surface. Those little gab lines will make enough spaces to provide better capillary action.

Sorry! There would not be any solution for wooden wick. Problem of candle wick made out of a wood is the density of wood. Different part of a tree can have totally different wood density due to part of a tree growing in rainy season, dry season, winter, summer, night or daytime, etc. Tight density means no capillary action which translates into no(or weak) flame. One wooden wick can burn beautifully from start to finish. Another wooden wick might not even lit up from the start. One wooden wick can start burning beautifully but the flame will die down when it is hitting tight density part of wick. There is no solution to solve this problem that I know of. Booster wooden wick was created to increase capillary action between wood pieces, and it works to certain stage but it is not enough. If wood is used as core and coated with some other better burning material that can provide better capillary(exterior or interior) action, then wood can be an excellent material to use as a wick.

It's not just one company (Lumetique/Wood Wick Company) that holds patent on wooden wicks. There are 3 companies that hold wooden wick patents, but Lumetique is not the one. What Lumetique holds is patent for "Planar Wick" and bunch of others. Basically, Lumetique is blocking everyone from creating a wick that has any kind of planar shapes (*They got patents for all kinds of shape.) including wooden wicks. It looks like all 3 other wooden wick patent companies are paying loyalties to Lumetique for their wooden wick patents having planar shape. Wood wick & wood wick with booster utility patents: Delcotto IP, LLC Plus wooden wick utility patent: Smith Mountain Industries, Inc. (WoodWick Candle/Yankee) Cross wooden wick design patent: Sichen Xing, Chinese Planar wick utility & bunch of design patents (planar, s shape, wave, cross & bunch of others): Lumetique (Wooden Wick Company/Dayna Decker) Lumetique does not have intention to make good wooden wicks. They just want to block everyone from make good ones. We all know how to make better wooden wicks than theirs ("composite wood materials"). Why don't they? Even in Canada, they have better wooden wicks than US. And I have this! I know that they are going to sue me someday. Hey! I should hide my company address just like Wooden Wick Company is doing (no phone & bogus address on business filings with city & state), so they cannot deliver lawsuit documents. But they are not going to stop me from having this in US with funny Planar Wick Patents. *Patent is to protect someone's invention (idea & product). Lumetique has bunch of patents, but they don't have working products for so long. So, which means that they have no product to protect.