Jcandleattic

On 2/15/2019 at 10:13 PM, Trappeur said:

My oh my!   Totally beautiful as usual!

What scents are they in?

 

Trappeur

The top one (orange and green mostly) is a mix of Lime EO, Bergamot EO, and Fruit Slices FO. 

The bottom one (teal purple and pink) is scented Mango Papaya. I'm hoping the scent comes back, because it morphed. It's still nice, and has a fruit scent to it, but it's not what it was. 

Also, the candies bled but not too bad, and I'll be able to cut it out after a cure. 

2 hours ago, Belinda said:

I love those! One day I want to try my hand at soap making.

Thank you! When you're ready, let us know. IMO it was a much easier and faster craft to perfect than candlemaking was. 

29 minutes ago, Laura C said:

 I guess that other stuff is mica?

? other stuff? 

There are several different types of candies on the purple/teal/pink one, with glitter and yes, the soap itself is colored with mica, and the green/yellow/pink/orange one just has normal sprinkles, glitter and micas to color the soap batter. 

But thank you, they were very fun to make. 

Apparently I'm in a sprinkles mood today. They both smell so good... 

4 hours ago, Laura C said:

 

Rose Bouquet from Peak must be good and popular for Valentine's Day, it's currently out of stock.

https://peakfragrances.com/products/rose-bouquet

 

Peak only says on their website that their FO are "Premium fragrance oils for professional crafters and artisans.". Do you consider their FOs to be "concentrated"?

Yes, I did consider their FO's to be concentrated, strong and very good, but for reasons you can find on the forum in other posts, I just won't purchase from Peak anymore. With that said, I am not saying anybody else shouldn't. 

The handle of a wooden spoon. I've been using the same one for the whole 20 years I've been making candles. 

I guess what I meant was if I need to change a jar to get the scent to throw, then I would dump it because that is something I personally am unwilling to do. 

28 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Sometimes I can just change the wick or the container style.  A tall, narrow container often does the trick I find. The chimney effect can make a light scent powerful. 

If making for yourself or a friend this would be an acceptable alternative, however for me, even for personal use if it doesn't fit within my candle line I dump it. 

1 minute ago, lovelyscents said:

I definitely am going to test for myself as it's so variable, but I would appreciate that

Well, I know for sure my z wicks did not work in palm, but I think it was due to how it burned, not necessarily throw. CSN's were close to CD's and I know a lot of people use them for their palm and get good results, but I could never find a good fit with the CSN's.

Which series/size wicks do you use? 

1 hour ago, Paintguru said:

So I'm in the process of testing the seemingly endless supply of FO samples that I have to see how they perform in my candle system.  Some of them I like a great deal, but don't throw as well as others.  If you stumble across a great scent, but its throw is less than stellar, what do you usually do?  Up the FO content, thereby adding cost?  Just bail on it and find other, better throwing FOs?  Just curious if most just give up, if they somehow try to make it better, or if you just produce the candle and accept that the throw may not fill a whole house.  

If a scent doesn't throw for me, in the % I use in my candles, no matter how much I love it/like it/want it - I consider it a dud and move on. There are way too many suppliers, and too many other great scents that I can get to throw in my applications at the % I use to keep trying on one that just does not work. 

18 minutes ago, kfintoni said:

I tried the 4 x and I just cannot get $20 for a 16 oz candle around here. There are so many other candle makers around me. I also personally would not pay $20 for a 16 oz myself though I see so many people charging that for an 8 oz jelly jar candle and it blows my mind. Maybe in some kind of custom fancy jar/vessel but not a jelly jar.

 

Karen in MA

It really does depend on the market you are selling in and what they will accept. 

My market accepts a price of $22 for a 16oz apothecary jar, and I sell out more often than not in my markets at that prices, so that's what I sell them at. I could probably even get away with $25, but why push it? I don't want to feel like I am price gouging. 

Would *I* pay $22 or $25 for a 16oz candle?

If I didn't make them, and that's what the market average was, yeah, probably I would. But again, it's what the market in my area dictates the price should be for that sized candle. 

22 hours ago, lovelyscents said:

Actually, I asked to help decide on quantity of palm vs paraffin to order.  Very new to palm, but not paraffin.  I'm glad you feel bakery does well in palm as I love everything else about it.  I noticed you use CD wicks.  Maybe the wick plays a part on bakery throw 🤔

Probably. I don't use CD's in my paraffin, just my palm. The other wicks I tried in palm just didn't work for whatever the reason. I'd have to be home to look at my notes on which wicks I used and why I decided against them. 

Beautiful! 

Gorgeous!! Glad you are doing something for yourself!! I like the mica on the wax. It's beautiful! 

1 hour ago, lovelyscents said:

Even vanilla or bakery type oils throw this well for you?

Yep. The melt pool discolors the wax in these type of scents after it hardens again, but not significantly and not unslightly. 

I can't think of a scent I've used that hasn't thrown very well in my palm wax. Where is your palm from? Maybe you got a bad batch? Sorry I can't be of more help. 

Try Uline, but if they are expensive on Amazon, they may be expensive at Uline also. 

On 1/29/2019 at 2:51 PM, Sarah S said:

So I charge $12 for a 16oz Palm candle and $15 for a 16oz paraffin candle. Keep in mind though, my 16oz jars only hold about 12oz of wax.

Also, my jars are very basic, my labels are super basic, and I don't maintain a website or online store. I would charge more like $20 - $25 if I was using (for example) a Status jar, with fancy Zazzle labels a la Trappeur, and I had more overhead to worry about.

I use 16oz Apothecary jars - I switched to palm wax, and my jars will hold a full 16oz of wax mixed with anywhere from 3-6% FO. 

On 1/29/2019 at 2:20 PM, GoldieMN said:

Yes, first time I tried, it didn't work as I didn't vote in all three categories.  Now it worked for me.  I use 16 oz. jars but they only hold 12 oz.  Are yours 16 oz. of wax?  

GoldieMN

16oz wax with 3-6% FO 

I just upped my pricing to $22 for my 16oz palm containers. Nobody batted an eye or questioned it, not even my repeat customers. 

3 hours ago, GoldieMN said:

Great poll, thanks!  Are vote totals suppose to show up after voting?  

GoldieMN

You have to hit the "submit vote" button after voting to see the vote totals. 

7 hours ago, kandlekrazy said:

(Is it a little crazy that I kept it that long?)

No. I still have candles that I made a year or 2 after starting in 1997, so well over the 10 year mark (more like 20) and I agree, the HT is f'ing fantastic!! 

I think it's just like in soapmaking. There is nothing but time that will hasten a good cure. 

I so very rarely get asked what my candles are made of, I would have to say no, my customers don't care. I get more 
do you make these yourself?" than "what is this made of" 

If you are getting blow outs you probably need to use a smaller wick. It's easier to manipulate a wick size to make a candle burn right, than to change the whole composition of how a wax is supposed to behave. 

I remember before I started making candles, I would always form the tops by "hugging" them. I used to buy from party-lite, and one of their selling points for their pillar candles was "do you love your candles? then hug them" and then they would show you how to hug your pillars after each burn. 

21 hours ago, ruralers said:

Thanks for your replies!  I was wondering if curing candles had anything to do with evaporation.  A lidded candle would obviously decrease evaporation and I am wondering if that is a good or bad thing.  I am probably over thinking it, but wow there is so much to think about when making candles.  

Since candles are made with wax and fragrance, there is nothing to evaporate, so no, it has nothing to do with evaporation. I think you are thinking of a scent fading. And the cold throw may fade a very tiny bit without a lid on it for the very short time it's curing, however, not enough to probably even detect. And the hot throw shouldn't be affected at all with or without a lid during cure. 

Along with what moonshine has already said, I have found in my applications that I just cannot get a hot throw in candles/wax using EO. So that is something to consider as well. 

First and foremost, it looks like your wicks are way too big. Try wicking down, and/or single wicking that jar. The melt pool should only be about 1/4" deep.  It could be the vybar making that look, however, once you address the wick issue you could end up with a better looking melt pool.