Holly

After all my wax testing I ended up finding that I like soy the best. But, for a paraffin wax I chose JS-123. I had/have my problems with this paraffin wax too but found that as long as I use it in the proper jars it works really well. It is an easy wax to use and it throws most fragrance oils really well. I use it in jars that do not curve over the top and are wide mouthed and also not narrow at the bottom. I also like J-223 or J-223 with J-50 added and think they are more versitile in different jars (burns cleaner in the soot collecting jars) but it was harder to wick for me. I always got weak flames and then if I went up in size I got smoke off the wick (I double wick). This is just my experience though and may not be the same for you. The Harmony Blend 4630 is nice too (after they helped out the soot problem) but it burns too fast for me with double wicking in my jars. For my main jars, I use soy and currently use Calsoy CB-3. I love soy! It does have its quirks but I rather put up with the soy quirks than sooted jars. I like the look of soy too. I wanted to keep my style of jars so soy works the best for me. I also LOVE the cold throw with soy (depends on the soy) and the hot throw is GREAT too. I find that the Calsoy CB-3 is very easy to wick. Everyone has diffferent wants and needs, so what has worked or has not worked for me may not be the case for you, but I hope my response helps you a bit. ~Holly

I sent you a private message.

Thanks you guys. That helps.

I think I already know the answer to this, but want to make sure. Does FO keep better/longer when in wax or can it keep just as well/long out of wax? I believe I remember reading somewhere that once the FO gets in the wax it has a longer shelf life. TIA ~Holly

If you scroll down on the home page, you will see a tab that says "access the archives". Click on that and it will bring you there.

I let my test candles burn to the end too. Deanna, you may also have a few old test candles with a certain wax or wax combo that you have decided against that have a nice enough scent throw but does not have good burning qualities for your situation/liking or whatever else. For these, I dig out the wax and keep it. I have a friend that I give the scented wax to and she uses it in her melters. I will never use it in my melters, because I have to burn so many candles right now for testing.

Thank you for everyone's helpful responses. I may not even bother testing the high melt glue. Sounds like the stickums have worked really well for many of you. They are much easier to use too and not messy. I will continue to use the stickums and see how consistent they are.

Good point Meridith. If I had customers that said the same, I would do the same. I have only had one friend so far try my soy candles and she just received them and none of them are older than 4 days old -- had to give them to her when I did. I will have to put the cure thing to the test with my friends. It is too hard for me to tell for sure since my nose is constantly smelling oils.

This is one reason why I posted this thread....I would rather not take up valuable shelf space. But, if I had to let them cure, I would sacrifice time in advance and shelf space. I agree with this 100%. Thanks for your input Chad.

Thanks Cathy and Elizabeth, I enjoyed your posts. I too came to a pretty solid conclusion with paraffin that it is candlenose and not cure time. But of course, that is just my opinion. Now for the soy, I am not as familiar with soy as paraffin at this point and have read so much on the boards where people really do believe that cure time helps and it is not candlenose. I have also noticed that a lot of the people that don't see that cure time is an issue with paraffin are sure of it with the soy. So, I am thinking maybe there is something to this cure thing with the soy and maybe my candles will smell better over time. So far, I am not noticing anything drastically different, but then again I can't depend on my nose lately because I have been making several candles in the last few weeks.

Kitkat, lol Yep, tried that one time and got the wick instead. I do heat my jars before I pour so that may help with the tabs. I will see how it goes and how consistent. You are probably right...both may come loose from time to time, but the "all three temps in one glue" came loose too many times. Not a good thing. Thanks for your response and great sense of humor!

Thanks Meridith for your input/help.

Thanks you guys for your input. It looks like for many of you the stickums have worked really well. This is good to know. Mine are from BC too. I would actually perfer to use the stickems for the ease of use, but the reason why I may need to use the glue gun (high melt point glue) is because I double wick and the wicks of course are not in the dead center of the glass. There is a little unevenness in the glass outside the dead center and with the stickums there are times where a small part of the tab edge cannot adhere all the way to the glass. I notice that after the wax is poured a little can seep under. I do not seem to notice this happening with the glue and would perfer it not to seep under it. I just started to use the stickums again and have not yet tested the "high melt point" glue and was curious as to others' success or unsuccess with both of these methods. RealMarcha and Kaybee, I saw those at JoAnn's when I bought the high melt glue. I almost got those instead, but was unsure. It does sound a lot easier to use than the glue gun. Thanks again.

In the beginning of my candle venture, I used wick stickums and then heard some negative things and switched to the glue gun. I was at Michaels and I did not see just straight "high melting point" glue sticks but the ones that said low, med, high. The worker said it can work for all heat levels. So, I used them and found that the wicks would slide when the wax got near the bottom. So, I retested some of the candles I had with the stickums and burned them way down and they did not budge. I just recently went to another store and found the "high melt" point glue sticks - not three temps in one. I have not tested them yet, but is this what you all use with success? I have been using the stickums lately but would rather use the glue sticks if I know for sure they will STICK. Thanks.

Hi, I have read where some soy waxes do not take as long to cure as others. I have not tested many soy waxes so I can't really compare. I have only tested CB-3 Calsoy and Ecosoya 120 (I had on hand from last year as an additive for other paraffin waxes). I was wondering if most of you make several soy candles to stock up so they are well cured before people purchase them or if you pour on demand and wait a few days to send. Also, maybe you pour them on demand and can send them right away knowing the scent throw will be up to par. I never did feel that curing time helped with paraffin and most candlers believe that it is mainly candlenose and not the lack of curing time. Is it really different with soy? Does something really happen chemistry wise with the soy candle? I am not sure yet if I notice a lot of difference with the CB-3 Calsoy with a longer cure time. I usually test them after 48 hours and sometimes only 24 hours and they to me seem to have a really good throw, but maybe they could be better with a longer cure time. When testing so much it is really hard to judge the scent throw at times. TIA ~Holly

Hi and welcome to the board. I use Calsoy CB-3 and use between 8-9 percent (depending on the FO) and sometimes 10 but only on one scent so far (vanilla scent). I get a really good throw between 8-9 percent with most oils that I have tried. I have been adding the FO at around 165 and pouring between 125-130 depending on the texture. I am not sure if I should add the FO at a higher temp or not. I was always afraid that it may burn off more from what a lot of people have said but then I have also heard with soy that a higher temp can help blend in the FO with the soy. I am unsure how low is too low.

Hey Trish, I know what you mean -- that dreadful shipping. The CB-3 is working really well. It is just that, "what if one produces less frosting and just as good of a throw" thought. Then I think, is the shipping worth the less frosting. I brought ten candles to a friend yesterday and she said that the one candle that I had the most frosting looked cool. Some do not have hardly any which is no big deal to me but the one that I thought had a little more than I liked she thought looked fine and I know that she meant it -- she would tell me otherwise. So, that made me feel so much better. It is that fear of first starting to sell and not knowing how happy people will be, and so on. I have only sold candles to a few friends, but I am getting close to getting confident to sell to others. I still have some testing to do, but I am getting close. The fact that the soy does not leave any soot residue on my "soot collecting" jars is wonderful! I really have found that I am a soy girl.

I voted other. I use CB-3 Calsoy (can get it in my state and really love it) as my main wax, but also use JS-123 (paraffin) for some scents in my tureen jars until I use it up. I may end up just offering the soy later. I would like to try the Ecosoya 135 and the Ecosoya Pure soy to have something to compare the CB-3 with, but I am afraid that if one of those is better, then I am back to getting wax in another state other than the state I live in and that means the horrible shipping prices.

I did test the EcoSoya 120 that I have had for awhile here as just a soy to add to other waxes. It did not hardly frost at all. However, I like the cold and hot throw better with the CB-3 (Calsoy). I have not tried the Eco Soya 135 or the Advanced yet. I really do love the CB-3 (Calsoy). It has a really good cold and hot throw, is easy to wick, and I can get it in my state! I just want to get the best procedures down so I can make the best of this wax cosmetic wise. I will someday try the Eco 135 and the new advanced just to see the difference. The fact that I can order the CB-3 Calsoy in my state is a good thing. Everything else I get comes from further away and the shipping eats me alive -- especially glass! Thanks again for your input. You have given the board a lot of helpful information. ~Holly

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I believe that a company by the name of Keystone took over. They may have the same scent. I am not totally sure on this, but I think I remember seeing the name "Keystone" as the one that took over. I am not sure what the web address is but it may come up on a search. HTH ~Holly

I remember reading on the old board that some do recommend powder dye for soy but then a lot also use the liquid. I buy the liquid dye from a place that sells the non-smelling type and is suppose to be good with soy. I will read the info you posted and I may give the powdered dye a try with the soy. I just made a Blueberry Verbena candle with a little less dye this time (total of 5 drops which was less than the last one I made) and it still frosted more than a lot of my other candles with a different color, different FO and amount of dye. Maybe not quite as bad. They are faint frost lines from the top to the bottom of the candle -- too consistent. I can accept it because of how many positive benefits this soy wax has to offer, but I hope it will not bug the customers. It is not ugly, but just looks like an imperfection. It could be the fragrance on this one. I will test some more and see if using only two drops with the same oil produces the same amount of frost lines. Thanks again for the info. I will check it out. ~Holly

That is why I am not absolutely positive it is the amount of dye and that it could be the different oils. I guess the only way to tell would be to make 1 candle with the same FO, same amount of FO, DARK color, pour at the same temp and then make one with the same FO, same amount of FO, LIGHT color, same pour temp and see what happens. Sometimes, the difference in room temps can make a difference and how the room temps fluctuate. However, I sometimes make a batch of candles at the same time with some light ones and some darker ones and the lighter ones always seem to come out the best. Thanks again.

Hi Everyone, From all the testing I have been doing it appears that when I have to use more liquid dye to produce a deeper shade it frosts more than when I make candles with a light shade. I was wondering if it is true that the more dye used the more frosting can appear. It seems to be the case so far, but I am not absolutely postitive. I never go over the recommended amount. Most of the time I don't need to go over 10 drops total (different colors together to get a specific tone). It seems like the candles that only need 1-3 or maybe 4 drops always come out looking the best. Several of my scents only reguire 1-2 drops. I don't mind some frosting and can embrace it, but there are times when it is more than I would like -- actually what I think a customer would like. I have heard from many on here that customers do not seem to mind. But, I do not have anything to compare them with -- how much frosting, etc.? Do most of you who make soy candles just keep the shades lighter than you would paraffin? I know that even the darker shades in soy are always going to be lighter than the dark shades in paraffin. For example, Blackberry Tea, I would normally make this a deep shade. Would you just keep it a lighter shade? I guess my dilemma is --> deep colors when needed with more frosting or lighter shades with less frosting. I guess that since I do not sell yet, it is hard to say what the customers would prefer in my neck of the woods, and I am not sure even what I prefer at this point. lol I guess I could go either way for me. I assume that when I do start to sell, I will find these things out. I have a friend that loves deep colors. I am suppose to bring her some candles on Wednesday. I will ask what she prefers. That would be a start. I look forward to any input. Thanks! ~Holly