LilFirecracker

Hi Ana and welcome!! I just got started about 9 months ago with melts and still in the testing phase. So there are a few newbies around here. If you are willing to take it all in and research this forum as much as you can, you will learn so much! If you run into problems, you more than likely will be able to research the same problem here and troubleshoot. I swear if I hadn't found this forum in the beginning stages of my testing, I'd probably still be working with the same wax and oils wondering either why I can't get any hot throw or why the scent doesn't last long. Then if you stick around, you'll find yourself helping someone also. It's a wonderful, drama-free place to be!

On 1/4/2022 at 11:23 PM, kepoore said:

I volunteer to organize everyone’s work spaces for free 😜 

What's the catch? Oh wait...no catch! You just get to immerse yourself in the aromas that are awaiting your sniffer!! I can just imagine how long it would take to sniff thru all of Candybee's & Belinda's oils!! My family would end up putting out a missing persons report!🤣

You would not wanna organize mine. Actually, I don't have a room - most of my things are in a kitchen island cabinet that I claimed as my own. Waxes and things that aren't used that often is kept in a small space in a spare room that I was suppose to start working on to turn it into mine. Hard to do when you don't have a shed to store things. So I was just gonna pack things up and move it to the back bedroom - another "dump it here" room. Then my daughter has to move back here all of a sudden and now it's "Oops - there goes my work room!" And also to my daughter "Oops - baby girl your room doesn't exist anymore so just put your things wherever...hang it from the ceiling if you have to!" LOL! But now I have some help, so we can tackle it all together. My twisted up back can't handle all that by myself, so she does the heavy work for me. 

Did I run off-topic a little? I think I did.....

Bump...

Actually, once you get the hang of it, it's not that bad. I bought my molds off of Amazon. The holes are about a half-inch diameter. The depth is just a hair less. I use a dropper and work in 4oz or less batches. Depending on the wax, sometimes I might have to pop it in the microwave for 1 minute toward the end if it starts getting too thick/hardening. 

It can be frustrating and a real PITA when you first start doing it, but after a while you can find a rhythm and I'm a lot better/faster than I was when I started. If you're not selling by the truckload, it's not bad. If it gets to the point where I start selling a lot in the future, I'm sure I'll be rethinking these. Like everyone else said, it's just not cost-effective. It's really time-consuming. 

When labeling a sample for sale, as opposed to giving away, does the net weight still need to be there since it is a sample size? I would think yes since it's being sold, but I wanted to see how it's really suppose to be done. 

On 1/5/2022 at 5:37 PM, Belinda said:

Their sugar cookie is great! I think that's the only one I can think of that I've used in wax so far. 

I can't wait to order! Sugar Cookie is one on my list! You know, ever since I made candles so many years ago, I was always searching for a real Eucalyptus - like the leaves you get in a floral arrangement. I've never been able to find one that wasn't so camphor scented. Well...doing reading and more reading on this forum has paid off. I just happened to run into a post about Eucalyptus and someone mentioned that the one from Sweetcakes is the one I'm looking for!! I'm soooo giddy right now because I already have that one in my cart!!😍😍😍

I've read enough about Maple Street to stay away. I think next on my list after Pure will be Sweetcakes, Candle Cocoon, and The Chemistry Store. They all have a different variety, so it'll be interesting! I already have my cart ready for the first 3 lol. After I hit those up, I'll re-evaluate and go from there after I see how many keepers I end up with. I'd like to have at least 20-25 amazing scents to go with before I open for business. I got my wax order in from Lone Star today, and the 4633 I got was the same as the original one I had got - not the soft one I got from Aztec. I'm VERY happy about that! But I know now that in the future it can still change. 

1 hour ago, Belinda said:

I've never ordered from them but was just wondering who all you've ordered from so far? 

Just 2 so far. Lone Star and Aztec. So far the first 5 that I've tested from Aztec were all duds for me. Idk if it's the oils or the new wax so I made the same ones in the old wax I had left. 

5 hours ago, ShelleyF said:

I use some of their fragrances and I don't think there's a difference. I have bought some second hand out of all the strengths and they all seem just as strong. Some of their fragrances are weak though.  I love their coffee Italy, fresh Coste Hotel, fruit punch, apple cinnamon cider, and more. They also offer free shipping when you spend $100 on fragrance oils.

Yeah, I'm a little leary of ordering after reading a bit. I'm having so much trouble finding oils that'll last in my melts. My next order will be from Pure Fragrance Oils I think. 

Thanks so much Barbara and TT! I think I'm gonna jump in head first and order samples from them next time. I'm wanting, at the very least, 24 hours out of my melts. 

15 minutes ago, barbaranj said:

I use them for candles and wax melts…usually

1oz per pound. 

Great! As of now, I'm doing wax melts only. Once I get enough scents to throw like I want, I'll be selling. If you don't mind me asking...on average, how long do those scents last in your melts?

40 minutes ago, barbaranj said:

I have only ordered from them once  (so far just to test them out) and I was very impressed with all 7 of them.  Each one smelled so good OOB and even better in wax.  Very true to their  descriptions.  And pure is a good way to describe how “clean” they smell OOB if you know what I mean!  I will definitely order more from them and this was my first go round:

Orange You Sweet, Vanilla Cream, Bohemian Raspberry, Witches Brew, Lemon Sugar, Fresh Picked Plum, and Cinnamon Apple Peach. 
 

You use them for candles? 

I've been reading old post and there were a lot of great reviews on their oils. I was wondering if anyone here still uses them and if their oils are still good and strong. I wish I could just go straight to AFI or Lebermuth, but I can't afford those minimums. So I'm wanting to skip the usual retailers and go to the next best thing to a lab. Any other recommendations would be great! I'm already looking at WSP but dread their shipping delays. Also looking at FB, JS, SOS, & CC. 

Well, I used the new wax in my blend. Actually I tested 4 different percentages in case I had to drop down. The consistency is almost the same with all. They all come out of the portion cup easy. They all come out of the dish clean with just a few nudges on the edge with a butter knife. So I'm happy about that. I'm sure the throw will be fine. I hope. I know the cold throw was better with the old 4633 compared to 4630. I even gave it to my bf for a sniff test and the one with the 4633 was stronger to him too. I'm getting ready to put a few new oils in it. I only have a couple out of my other oils that's worthy of keeping. I'll retest those again to make sure they still throw long enough. Glad I'm experiencing this closer to the beginning of my venture so I can be better prepared in the future when it happens again with something. 

3 hours ago, bfroberts said:

You really can’t judge the oils OOB. I have some that are light OOB but powerhouse performers and vice versa. As for the wax, it may be fine. 4630 can vary in hardness, opacity and color from batch to batch without any notable performance issues. I imagine it can be the same for 4633.  Good luck!

Thank you!! That makes me feel better. I was thinking... Hoping.... That maybe that was the case and they might still be good in the wax! I was comparing again side by side the old and the new. I have a little bit left of the old. Really the only difference is it's softer. So I'm gonna try my regular mix and also other percentages to hopefully find the same consistency. I'm just so frustrated because I went from testing over 80 different combos and percentages to narrow it down to 24. Then I picked 3 and then the best out of that. Finally had it. I don't feel like messing with it today so I'll start tomorrow to see what I get. 

Anyone ever used Save on Scents for oils in wax melts? I was wondering about their Ultra and Extreme - is it worth the price? 

2 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

You wouldn’t have known otherwise, so use it and learn from it. 
 

in the good old days (a few short years ago) we could buy a box of wax from nearly any supplier and be reasonably sure it would be within a decent range of “similar enough”.
 

Then manufacturers and retailers realized we end users had ZERO recourse for bad supplies and started selling us all crappy junk with no remorse. Enter new waxes, like coconut waxes that caused an industry frenzy. Coconut wax went through the same pains as soy, paraffin, etc. 

 

then supplies became scarce and people would buy anything just to have it. People bought more and more from different suppliers to try to find “something/anything” to keep candles on the shelves (decent or not) happily paying top dollar. Seems most don’t  bother to test anything and were none the wiser. 
 

palm has been the only one to pretty much stay static between lots, but the soy industry had already poisoned Palm in consumer minds, so…

All I can say is GRRRRR....🤬 I'll still play with it. I might find that it throws better. Who knows? Gotta try. It just sucks since I finally had my formula down. I know everyone goes thru this. If I have to I'll just ditch this one and order from Lone Star again hoping to get the same one I had before. I'm not giving in. I'll figure it out!

5 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

You might get some useful items. The goal will, of course, be repeatability. When your eye is on a business, being able to repeat a successful candle/melt/etc. over time is key. 
 

the supply variability from wicks, to wax, to fragrance has been the #1 problem for so long it is exhausting. This is why A) we test every new lot and B ) we buy as large of a lot of the same exact material as reasonably possible so we don’t need to test so often. 

Yeah my mistake with the wax. I wanted to try different FO's, and I needed more 4633. They had it so I figured I'd get it. Live and learn! This one will totally change the texture of my melts. The other was pliable and I could smash it and stretch it. This one just smashes and looks like mashed potatoes when I'm done with it LMAO!!! I wish I knew which one is the REAL usual quality/texture of 4633. 

4 hours ago, Cross-stitch said:

Oh the joys of ordering supplies!!  Sure is frustrating having to wait to finally get your items when things get messed up.  Hope you're able to work with those even though they aren't exactly what you were hoping for...

I'm sure gonna give it a shot! Might end up being a couple I can use. Then again they might surprise me. My Black Cherry from LS was super strong OOB and had a really strong cold throw. It was a flop with hot throw. Tried it in 3 different warmers and a couple of different wax combos. Same with a couple of others I had. So fingers crossed these might work in the opposite way lol. 

5 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Welcome to the wonderful games of Supply Roulette. 
may the odds be ever in your favor.

Yeah....I think I'm gonna raise the stakes on my next order and do better. Thought I'd give it a shot. Might still get a couple of useful ones out of it. Maybe. 

Yikes!! I just cut into the 4633 and boy is it different than what I had!!! Much softer. It's even softer than the 4630 I have. Now I'm worried about all the testing I did.... It's super easy to cut. I don't have to strain at all to get the butter knife thru it. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be better?? I think I'll have to adjust my percentages for this one. Ugh!!!!! 😡

I just did a sniff test on all of them. I'm a little disappointed. They don't smell as strong as Lone Star's oils and I couldn't get most of them to go as long as I wanted. I'll still try them and see what happens. Next stop is gonna be Candle Cocoon! I needed more 4633 and wanted to try the Palm. Since they had the 5lb bag, I said what the hell...and got all these oils! Lots of testing ahead...

Just wanted to show what I'll be testing the next few weeks/months, however long it takes! This was shipped last Tuesday and I was suppose to get it Thursday. It made a detour from TN to CA!! I just finally got it today. The only time it would show movement on tracking is when I'd call and they would send out an inquiry. I was soooo mad!!! Thank God the box was in good shape. I was worried. I guess some idiot at the FedEx hub in TN saw LA for Louisiana but thought "oh LA - Los Angeles, this goes to California!" The slab of 4633 is a lot whiter than the one I had from Lone Star. I also have 5lbs of Feather Palm to try and 39 oils. I made out good with 2 sample packs since most of the ones I wanted to try was in there anyway. Plus the 5 for $5. That amounts to 12 free had I paid full price for all. Not bad!!!😃

This is something I'm a little confused about. I know stearic acid acts as a mold release agent at a certain percentage. Some suppliers also carry mold release powder. Are they one in the same, or are these 2 completely different products. Using a mold release spray is not an option as I'm about to explain why I'm asking about the powder form. 

This might sound way out there (or maybe not!) If you use stearic or mold release powder in your wax formulation for wax melts, would it help to release the wax from the warmer dish once the melt is finished? It seems like it would when you think about it - this dish is like a mold. Has anyone ever tried it? I've never seen anyone talk about using it. 

Thank you for any info you can give me! I'd like to hear from a few people before I buy some. Not to mention, know the difference between stearic and mold release powder. 

On 12/13/2021 at 5:26 PM, Candybee said:

You know there is another use for that if you have the right molds. You could do the palm vybar as the outer candle shell with the candle inside for burning. All you would need to do is put a finished candle inside a slightly larger mold and pour around it. As the candle burns down you would want the outer 'shell' to stay intake. It would create a beautiful luminescent glowing candle as it burned as the glow of the candle goes through the shell.

Great idea! I'd love to see what that looks like!