Janette

This thread has been the most fun I've yet to find on this forum. Keep typing Leesters.

Janette

Why do the more interesting shaped candles not sell as well? I would go for those over round eveytime. I love square and octagonal and pyramid and sphere's ohh and heart

Anjie,x.

I think many customers see unique shapes as something they would never burn, "it's too pretty to burn". This makes it harder to justify the purchase for some.

Janette

If you are talking pillars....I say start with 3" diameter round (variety of heights).

Janette

I call BS on the "moving" -- if you're moving you don't have your phone disconnected, and you certainly don't keep it a secret on your site -- especially if you aren't processing orders.

My uneducated guess?

Mike was pretty young. I have to think that he, along with his family must have had a bit of money -- bought Pourette, Barker, etal. Once his father died, there is much more money -- so he just walked away. And judging by the lack of "nice" they had when you ordered, I would guess they didn't exactly like working the place...

so in the end... that is my totally uneducated guess.

I have to agree....I doubt this is a move of location. If Pourette was simply moving they would still be answering the phone and I think there would be a notice on their site, perhaps advertising their new location.

I always received good service from them, although I see not everyone did. At any rate, I will miss this supplier....they had several items that were the best deal I could find.

Janette

I am sad to see Pourette end in such a way. They were one of my first suppliers and always served me well. Although I haven't ordered in almost a year, I was about to do so. I will miss Pourette for several items. I hope if their core gets bought up by another supplier that we will all hear of it.

Janette

Wow...you really have your work cut out for you with the deadline.

I think it was CandleMan (a member here) who posted that his floaters last 8 hours. You might want to PM him. If you need 400 you might be able to work out a deal with him.

Good luck and congradulations on the weddings.

Janette

What about combining Vicky's idea with water. Glue the votive holders to the jars and fill water to just under the rim of the votive holder. You should get a similar effect to the floaters and the water will help dissipate the heat and protect the jars. You could easily get the required time out of a votive. HTH

Janette

PS- How long do you have to get your project done?

Hi Lee and welcome.

Looking forward to reading about your journey. I like your writing style already.

Janette

People can be allergic to both FO and EO. I am sensitive to many FO's. I think that less people are allergic to EO's that are steam distilled, but some may still be. Often it is the solvents that cause trouble. Steam distilled EO's have no solvents and I think this is the reason that they cause less problems for people. Absolutes are EO's, but are solvent extracted not steam distilled. I find Absolutes give me a splitting headache and can't work with them (same as many FO's). Hope that is clearer than mud.

Janette

Hello Debra, you should not need to "max out" your fragrance load if your using quality frags that work with your applications. Many fragrances in our stock are used at 3% and we achieve a fantastic throw. Adding more is not the answer and definately not cost effective. We have a few that if used at the max % smell downright nasty, overpowering the nose.

I would play around and test a few more frags, perhaps from a few different suppliers and see what you can come up with before just adding more.

HTH

Wendy

I agree completely. It is actually possible to diminish throw with excessive FO load.

Janette

About once a year I round up all my bits of left over wax and make fuglies for the Salvation Army or other charity shops. I can't bare the thought of throwing it in the landfill. And this way they get a couple of $ for each candle. Folks aren't picky about style or colour when they are shopping at the charity stores. It is a win/win situation and I just spend one day to do this. HTH

Janette

I'm sorry to hear of all the troubles with Pourette. I haven't ordered from them in almost a year but they used to be very good. I hope they are able to overcome whatever is happening and get back to being good with customer service. They were always very helpful to me in the past.

Janette

I haven't ordered from them recently but have a lot in the past. Never had any trouble getting them on the phone....but maybe things have changed. Keep trying on the phone. Good luck.

Janette

Those are sharp. I wonder if they might be machine made. Someone once told me about a machine that pressed semi solid wax together to make candles. Perhaps this is something similar.

Janette

PS- Sabrina, how much do they cost?

I think there may be some confusion about the size of your candle. My conversion of 6.5 cm puts it at approx. 2.5" diameter. I think a LX-28 is going to be too big. Especially if you aren't loading up the stearic. The stearic has a tendency to clog the wick when it is up around 10%, causing a need for a larger wick. From my experience with a 3" pillar with vybar rather than stearic, the LX-21 did the job, and the LX-28 in the same recipe was way too big...huge flame and smokey. I agree that the LX-12 is likely too small but the LX-21 may also be too big depending on your recipe. What additives are you using?

Janette

I would try the LX 12 first. It may be on the small side, or not. The LX 21 should be too big. Although this will depend on additives and FO load. I have seen posts on the board that vary greatly with the size needed in the LX's. Some use a Lx-28 for a 3" (8cm) and some use a LX-21 for the same size.

Janette

3" diameter seems to be the most common. I find that customers often buy 3 different hights of the same diameter.

Janette

Everything looks beautiful..colours, finishes, and staging. I'm not usually a fan of figurine type candles, but I love your pine cones. Thanks for posting.

Janette

Well isn't that odd? I bet you can't do it again.

Janette

Good for you FHG. Brave of you to apologize.

Janette

You might want to try canning jars to start out. They are inexpensive, available and reliable. Also, if you stick with one container you will find testing easier. If you use different containers each time you won't learn much from container to container.

Janette

http://www.candlewic.com/store/Product.aspx?q=cWick+Spools,p603

Looks like LX-30 is the largest they have. HTH

Janette

Like Donita said...stick with a larger diameter, 5" or bigger and just use a tea light rather than a votive. If you don't make your cane too tall you should find that it works just fine (6" tall or less). Tea lights throw very little heat and even a 140 melt point will hold up with tea lights. You can at least get your feet wet this way until you can get a higher melt point wax or suitable additive. To keep the bottom of the cane safe you can put sand in the bottom to diffuse the heat. HTH

Janette

I use the same method as Donita. You can may loads in no time with enough pans.

Janette

I'm not familar with that wax, but if it is a blend then it will already have the additives in it, you won't want to add more. The FO will not disappear at 180/185. You won't be having at that temp for long, just until you get it well stirred in. Give it a try and see if it helps. I have repoured candles that were ugly and not lost the scent. It takes a long time to cook out scent. HTH

Janette