Bernadette

I have watched 1hour and 2 hour programs of Slatkin Candles on QVC. After watching with my jaw dropped, I would never buy one! They have these huge flames, very deep meltpools, and lots of smoke that you can see as you watch them burn. Now...it's possible that they light all the candles up hours before they are on, so they're ready, but I highly doubt it. I have always thought that they overwick all their candles. The larger plastic tealight cups that are about twice the diameter of our normal ones are called mega tealights. Alot of manufactures mistakenly think you have to wick up on these because of increased diameter, but you get a perfectly descent flame from a regular tealight wick, and up to 20 hours of burn time.:tiptoe:

Yeah...and I forgot to mention...I have periodically placed trial orders on my site when I see this happening, just to make sure the link to PayPal is operating correctly and it is, so it's a legitimate backout by the buyer. I must say, I'm glad too, but it happened so suddenly, I can't help but wonder....

For those reading this that don't know, I sell almost exclusively on the web. In the past three months, I haven't gotten one PayPal order:shocked2:. This month has been exceedingly busy, and in checking my hidden counters, I've noticed quite a few people started processing their orders, than started over and used their credit/debit cards instead. I wonder what's going on. As a seller, I don't prefer PayPal, but I've never seen buyers not prefer it...and it's been 15 years.:tiptoe:

This link is just to show you a picture of what they look like: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=plastic+pipettes&hl=en&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4ACGW_enUS298US298&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&ion=1&biw=1280&bih=531&wrapid=tlif132182228382210&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7105403087276269826&sa=X&ei=d2jJTtCOA6GesQKmmNUj&ved=0CGIQ8wIwAQ# You can purchase at several candle supply websites, as well as ebay. If you fill them with lukewarm water after using, you can remove any fragrance smell and reuse.

I do alot of onesy, twosy type candles, so I have a set of chemistry glass test tubes and rack. I tare the tube on the scale, either squirt or pipette the fragrance weight into the tube, and then replace in the rack and pour when needed for the project I'm working on.

Because: 1)you have no understanding about how to make a safe candle,in general, to say nothing about gel, 2)you want your scene in the middle and can't put a wick thru rock!()3) you're hoping to make a quick, big buck($36.00 usd!). Of all the types of wax candles out there, gel is still the one where you can see the most flagrant unsafe techniques. :lipsrseal

Me too, but since this thread is over a year old, I'm hoping this year's show was just as good, if not better....:tiptoe:

Lots of testing with different wax formulation.

Wow...I had Corey make me the exact same custom mold after sending her an original over a year and a half ago....:tiptoe: I experimented and can have the whole thing burn, but the way they sell best is I found a way to wick them vertically so that the outside layers of the top point stay, and when it gets down to the body, I have mini tealights that fit right in the burn hole. They are mini in size, but burn the same length of time as a normal tealight, and the whole leaf glows from inside out. That's the way I do it that sells best.

Not pouring any scents but making TONS of football floaters and votives for a party planner doing a Steelers party, and lots of turkey floaters and votives for another customer. Since they're all unscented, I'm guessing they're for food parties.

If you asked them if they were connected, Cathy, I can understand why they might have said no. If they had a dropship relationship with these companies, their agreement might have kept them from revealing that. Just a thought.:tiptoe:

I received an informational flyer in yesterday's mail from The CandleMakers Store. In it, they state that from April, 2010 through July 22, 2011 the CandleMakers Store supplied all the products for and dropshipped ALL of the orders for Midwest Candle Supply, Creative Illuminations and Brighter Scents. They went on to say that they shipped the order within 24 hours of receipt of the orders, but normally were sent the orders one to two weeks after the orders were received by Midwest Candle Supply, Creative Illuminations and Brighter Scents. I was flabbergasted! I have dealt directly with the CandleMakers Store directly and have nothing but praise for them. They are always responsive, and have called me back in a very timely manner when I've had to leave a message. I also get several email notifications concerning what stage my order is in. The biggest plus is their prices for the products I purchase are very competitive. I've used two of the three suppliers they mentioned as recently as 3 years ago, and felt it was a crap shoot as to when if ever I would receive them, plus they were more expensive. I know many on here have complained about these 3 suppliers, and now that Midwest Candle Supply has once again secretly changed their name to escape their F BBB rating, thought you would like to know that you can still purchase their products from the CandleMakers Store at a more competitive price with great service to boot.:tiptoe:

....I saw this person on Etsy yesterday selling drink and pie candles at unbelieveable prices! A plain martini with an olive was priced at $28.95! 5" pies were priced at $32.95 and 9" pies were priced at $48.95! She didn't mention what density gel she was using. And there was the cost of shipping to add on besides. Of course, she hasn't sold any yet, but still...:tiptoe:

I don't know about the first picture, but the second picture...only the pumpkins on the left and the middle are made from wax. The pumpkins on the right is the item they made the mold from. It's plastic or ceramic/resin of some kind. The wax ones are all one color.:tiptoe:

This happens quite a bit online, as well as the person who says, "I can get the exact same thing for $5.00 each. Will you match the price?(as an example)" It's either a ploy or they just don't know that candles are different(i.e. waxes, wicks, etc.) I just give them my pat answer that the price is what is and if they want to order over X amount, I will give them an X discount.

It's the same no matter where you buy them these days.:lipsrseal There have been several threads on the crappy quality of store bought tealights this year. When we went on vacation, I didn't have time to make some for myself for our second home, so I bought 2 of the bargain bags. Well, I had some with no wicks, some that fell right out of the tin cups, and the cups were so thin and cheesy, you could dent them with your finger! The cups were one small step up from tinfoil! I make and sell tons of tealights because of it. I get 7 hours burn time on my plain ones, 10 hours on my blended ones. Still, I get some people that have been spoiled with the cheapies and just can't understand why quality tealights cost more.:tiptoe:

That's usually my experience too, but what surprised me here was to mail something an hour before they closed on a Saturday, and then to have it be all the way across country on Monday morning. In the 15 years I've been shipping, I've never had a Saturday shipment go all the way across country to it's destination and be there Monday morning. Tuesday, yes; Monday, no.

Since this thread is nearly 1 1/2 years old, I'm sure lisasoaps handled it. Hope she sees it and lets us know how it worked out....:tiptoe:

I mailed an order from the desert southwest to Maine on Saturday at 12:30pm my time, and I just got a notification from the post office that it was delivered at 10:27am TODAY, their time. Talk fast... I guess there are some changes going on in that organization...:tiptoe:

I'm hoping one of the professional moldmaker members will see this and respond. I'm a silicone mold user and have been for over 9 years. I have over 1000 silicone molds. Obviously, I don't use some for long periods of time, and when I do take them out to use, some are oily. I have molds from many, many makers, and my opinion would be that the type of silicone used is what causes some to be oily and others not. Some are so bad when I take them out that the only way I can carry them is to have one of my hands on the bottom; otherwise, they'd slip right out of my hands! Those are oily inside and out. I remove the excess by blotting with paper towels. They don't have to be bone dry of oil, and the small amount of oil that's left on hasn't done anything to the candles that come out. Pouring temps, which range depending on the effect wanted(i.e. mottled vs. regular) have never given me white lines. Now...there are some molds I have, touted as silicone that look like the concrete/ceramic molds you see. I'm sure they do have some kind of silicone in them, but something else has to be there because they are so heavy. These I have to clean extremely well, scrubbing with the green, no scratch side of a sponge, drying, and spraying with silicone spray right before pouring OR I will get lines. And I have to pour these quite hot. Can take days for these to set up, too, as they are very dense and hold between 8 ozs. to 10 lbs. of wax.

I'm glad to hear you won't be using the "real thing". I never sell candles with real food in/on them, but I have a friend that bought 5 cupcake candles about eight months ago that had real sprinkles on them. She didn't want to burn them because she was afraid she couldn't get anymore. Then I told her I made them so she decided to burn them, on the plate, on her kitchen counter when she was having a family party. As soon as she got a big enough meltpool and the sprinkles were in it, one of the kids started shouting, "Aunt Kathy! Your counter's on fire!". Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at the cupcakes. The tops were totally on fire, and since they were all on the same plate, it looked really bad plus I guess they had quite a time putting it out. She's real glad I make them with candle glitter instead...buys them by the dozen! Now that's the kind of "just like the real thing" that I like!

Is that real cupcake sprinkles or candle glitter? I've made food candles for years now, and I can tell you that with all the testing I do, I've had some with real sprinkles that have caught fire. Now that's just my experience, but I would never use real food toppings or non candle glitter on a candle because of it. I'd light one of those up and test for that first.:tiptoe: Some people love the glitter, others don't. Other than that, I think they look great.

jeanie, then perhaps if you put this in the fragrance forum instead of the gel candle forum, you might get more responses...just saying.:tiptoe:

...for general candlemaking, or specifically gel candlemaking?

I have shrinkwrap bags that I've purchased in different sizes, from three different sources. I use them quite a bit as I ship everything, and they really assist products from getting "bruised" during shipping. I never noticed until recently how bad these things smell! Terrible chemical type smell. So a couple of months ago, I shrinkwrapped a couple of great smelling products and left them until a couple of days ago. After shrinkwrapping, all you could smell is the chemical smell. Taking the shrinkwrap off, letting them sit for less than 1/2 hour - they smelled wonderful again, thank god. Although no customer has ever complained about it, I hate to think of someone getting their package, opening it, picking up the product for a whiff, and smelling that icky chemical smell. Does anyone else use these? Do they have an odor before,during, and after shrinking? Does anyone have a supplier who's shrink bags don't have this odor? TIA:tiptoe: