Jcandleattic

That right there is the best advice you can give yourself or that anyone else can give you.. These are very generic questions, so the answers may be vague at best.. What type of wax you need really depends on what kind of pillars you want to make, i.e. plain, mottled, textured, rustic, cold pour.. etc.. Certain waxes work better for certain techniques, then of course you can try your hand at a straight paraffin and use different additives to get different desired affects.. Wicking is also another variable, as it will be determined by wax, scent, technique, and personal preference on how you would like your pillar to burn.. i.e. totally consumed, or with a slight shell that you hug.. The temp to add scent depends on the type of wax also, but probably typical pillar wax is about 175-180 and lastly no, you don't really want to add scent when the wax is cool or else it will not incorporate very well at all, and could have scent pockets that very well could be dangerous. I know there are other people here that can be of more help and are more articulate than I am.. Good luck, and most of all, have fun.. This is a great hobby, but there is TONS to learn.. I've been making candles going on 5 years now on a daily basis, and I'm STILL learning new stuff almost weekly!! BTW~welcome to the board.

I like the "look" of the layered one, but I LOVE that wire bail jar sooo much better!! I just really think it would "fit" better in more bathrooms, which is where people will be putting these. Oh, I see the question was "mix the colors or stripe them?" Umm stripe them and put them in the wire bail jar.. lol

Okay, guess nobody has.. The reason I asked was I did make some (a reverse blind swirl) a couple days ago, but it seized.. BUT I wasn't sure if it was the fo, the recipe I used or a combo of both.. I know I should know better than to try a new recipe AND a new FO at the same time... lol I'll try it with my tried and true recipe and let you guys know..

Has anyone soaped Peaks Vanilla Passion? And if you have, is it an accelorator? I wouldn't think it would be, but would like some opinions from anyone that might have soaped this one. Thanks!!

LOL That's actually a good idea.. I think I'm gonna try it!! lol

Mine too. I was thinking Caberet or Merlot... ORRRRRRRR you could name him, Pepe Le Pew!! LMAO jk

Nope.. They make terrible molds. Too porous to be used. YOu can try, but I did thinking they might work, and it was a disaster.. Not only did the wax not want to release (hard straight paraffin) but I ruined my ceramic mold, which sucked.. lol I wouldn't do it unless you don't care about the mold you want to pour in.. This has been my experience with it though..

spritz rubbing alcohol on them, then wipe gently with a very soft cloth.

RBO for me. I HATE OO. I'm with Robin, it stinks, it discolors the soap, and I just do not like it. (of course, the expense is a big factor for me also, cause it isn't cheap either!) I get my RBO at riceland, at a fairly decent price, and it's food grade so I cook with it as well. I can go through the 6 gallons I get within about 2-3 months or so, cooking with it and making soap..

The best answer you will probably get on this question is, figure your costs, as it varies with everyone depending on where they get their product, shipping prices, and market value... Standard is: cost x 4 = retail coxt x 2 = wholesale HTH

That's about the temp I pour at too. I don't get the dip by the wick. I use wick pins though, not sure if that makes a difference. and I pour my top-off at the same temp as what I poured my votives at. never had a problem with them seperating or anything. With the 4794 I use a 36 wick.. everything else I've found is too big.

I got the 4761 to be a one-pour for me, but it makes an U-G-L-Y!! votive.. I would have to mix it with J50 to get it to look good, but then it would consume really fast.. Just not worth it when the 4794 makes such an AWESOME votive (IMO of course). I'm sticking with the 4794 until Peaks comes out with thier votive wax and I can test it and see how it compares. Hopefully it will, because I really don't want to have just one wax shipped in, and I sell a LOT of votives!

For containers I tried about 3, for pillars I tried about 5.. I'm happy with what I use right now for sale, and have everything wicked and down pat, but I STILL continue to test/mix different waxes to find that PERFECT blend.. It really is a never ending process.

Depending on the recipe, anywhere from 3-10 minutes.. Never had one take longer than 10 minutes, and have had a couple that have reached trace in as little as 3.. HTH

I wait 3 days max before testing a candle. If it isn't gonna throw after 3 days, then most likely I wont use that scent. HTH Oh and I put the lid on the next day after pouring.

Oh they are gonna have a votive blend??? PERFECT!! I thought they were just gonna have the pillar blend be used for both.. That's good to hear that they will have a seperate one!! YAY I got their straight paraffin wax also, but haven't started playing with it yet. The only thing I really used to use the 1343 for was carving, so that's mainly what I bought this for. But I think I do want to try some rustics with it. I used to use the 4625 for my rustics and never had a problem.. But not sure if this new pillar blend will be able to make a rustic, so am gonna try with the straight paraffin.. LOL was that a mouthful or what?? lol

Since we have a thread on the container blend I thought I'd ask/post about reviews for the Pillar Blend.. I've made one batch of candy corn pillars (cone size 7 oz each final product) and a batch of votives with the left over wax from the pillars. I haven't burned the pillars yet, but the finished candle is very smooth (no additives added at all) and the cold throw is VERY GOOD.. I just love the way it looks!! The votives-well, those are something else. I made I think I ended up with 7 of them total, and even though I was doing layers, when it came to the final layer, I STILL had to do 2 top-off repours, and after looking closer at them this morning (made them yesterday) you can see a rigid jump line where the final pour was.. I'm burning one of the votives this morning, and the scent throw is AWESOME, but a 36 (what I normally use with 4794) is too small, so I'm gonna have to go up to a 44 next. I think I'm gonna LOVE it for my pillars (after testing wicks) but not so much for votives. I don't know. I may just need to work with it some more with votives. HTH someone wondering about it.

LOL Actually I kinda do get one, because I'm local I don't pay shipping. So that right there is a good enough discount for me.. However they have started charging a penny to come pick your stuff up!! lol (I think I can sacrafice a cent though!! lmao) I don't use the 1945, but did test it when it first came out, and I would say that the wicking is probably not the same, because it wasn't for me comparing the J50 and 1945. BUT I didn't extensively test the 1945, so that's the only opinion I can give on that..

And wanted to say Sorry to diamondk for kinda stealing this thread.. Hope you don't mind my input.

I've done LoveSpell, Christmas Splendor and a blend I've namedd Romantic (LS + Strawberry = yummy!! lol) All have been testing exactly like my J50 as far as wicking, scenting, throwing and burning. As I've mentioned, the colors are a little more vibrant, but other than that, no difference so far. I'm really really liking it so far!!

Don't know how much FO you use, I normally use 1 ounce per lb, but for testing purposes I used 1.5 ounce per lb with absolutely no problems at all. I use J50 (have never used J223-but have heard they are very similar) and this new container wax is actually wick testing exactly the same as my J50 so far. Only difference that I can tell so far, is that the color is more vibrant than my J50.. The cold throw was about the same, and hot throw is really good. HTH

I NEVER heat my jars. I used to when I first started, but quit doing that about 3 years ago. I just see no difference in a candle that was poured in a heated jar and one that wasn't a month down the road.. I didn't get any more or any less wetspots by doing this, so I've just learned to live with the wetspots.. Just a fact of the candlemaking life. Oh and I didn't heat my jars using Peaks new container wax Tuesday night and as of this morning, still no wetspots, but that's not to say they wont show up.. lol

I got a case of each of Peaks new waxes, so I'll be doing containers, pillars, votives, carvings, rustics and maybe I'll fit some soap in there somewhere too. That will be all on Sunday. On Sat. none of my burners will be on because we are heading up the mountain to check out the turning of the leaves.

To add to this list, I would say a good stainless steel bowl (or glass) and a good stainless steel spoon. Other than that, that about covers it. Some good tips are RESPECT your lye. Don't be afraid of it, but do respect it, and just pay attention to what you're doing, and you'll be fine. HTH

Peaks has a cone shaped mold also that I use as my candy corn mold.. Just pour in 3 layers. Holds about 7 oz of wax.. Perfect size. I love mine, and have some candy corns in them as we speak actually.. lol