NattyCat

Update: Eco 12 still leaves hang-up and scent throw is much weaker than with the RRD. Next wick - ECO 14 and CD 14.

presto pots work a treat. However, you need a power transformer to be able to run it, and it has to be a POWERFUL transformer - which can cope with up to 1,500 watts. These are £80 minimum. I have 5 presto pots and a transformer for each. I already blew up a presto pot trying to use an underpowered transformer. You can find the transformer on www.beststuff.co.uk look under voltage convertors, and the one you need is Power Bright VC1500. If you want to make candles seriously, you need equipment like this as you have complete control over the temperatures - I personally would melt my wax over direct heat or in a double boiler as you have to stand over it constantly with a thermometer - if you're not careful with temperatures your candles won't smell if you add the scent too cool or too hot. I love my presto - i stick the wax on, leave it to melt and use it - never a thermometer in sight after the initial tests and a dab of nail varnish on the dial for the perfect temps. Nat

This is exactly what I did with a picture I found on a website that didn't mention any copyright detail. I now have a $4,000 fine from Getty Images and an impending court case. They own the copyright of the picture, not the website that was using it - and because I hadn't paid for it, and didn't even know it was copyrighted - i now have a big fine. Ignorance is NOT an excuse - you are still liable. Do NOT take pictures from other people's websites whether there are copyright notices or not. There is a software company in Israel who have developed software that scans the internet with image recognition software catching out people using copyrighted images - this is how I got stung.

Is that the super large hemp? I tried extra large and it didn't work out - or it might have been large +, i'll need to check my notes. I think the only one I have left in the hemp to try is the super large - and I use that in my soy candles in jars that are 4" and it gives me a full meltpool - it seems this 70/30 soy paraffin blend is just being a royal pain in the butt.

OK so here's an update. the RRD 55 aint doing it! It is so frustratingly close - but there is a very thin hang up on the tumbler and the candle is burnt 1/2 of the way down. I checked with the customer (this is a HUGE wholesale order worth $5000 for the first order alone, so I gotta get it right) and they definately want a full meltpool on the first 3 hour burn and don't want "ugly" hang up whilst the candle burns down. So i've tried every RRD in the range. the flame on the 55 is BIG but it's just not hot enough. So what next? I want a straight burning wick as I don't like the ones that curl. perhaps a super-large hemp? How do LX wicks do - i have a ton of those pre-waxed and tabbed. Also have some eco in every size as well as CD 12, 14, 16 18, 20 and 22! God, i don't want to have to try all these - time is of the essence! Please...anyone know a good starting point on the wicks I've mentioned so I can cut out those that just won't work? Here's some photos: Nat

oh don't start THAT debate! jaffa cakes are CAKES...not biscuits

do you have any left of the stuff I sent you to compare? the flakes on container tend to be larger - and there is in no way any crack or snap. The pillar flakes tend to be smaller and grabbing a handful and squeezing will give a definate crunch - container doesn't do that at all. The last test would be to pour a votive candle and let it set fully. If it comes out easy - it's pillar, if you have to scoop it out with a teaspoon, it's container.

this post seems to have been hijacked by a discussion on USA insurance. We're in the UK so that link doesn't help at all - but it may be useful for north american candle and soap makers - so here's a bump to get it up to the top. Bump!

feel the wax. if it is hard, crunchy and brittle it's pillar. If it's soft, sticky and squeezable, it's container. The pillar feels like a handful of cornflakes.

it probably wasn't your intention, but this post makes me think that you believe i've been lying to you when I say that insurance is the most important thing you can have if you wish to sell products that can potentially destroy a persons home. if 10 people replied that they didn't have insurance, and only 2 people replied that they did - would you go ahead and sell without insurance under the assumption that "if it's ok for them, it's OK for me?" Personally for me, it's not a matter of doing it wrong if others are doing it wrong - it's a moral issue and a professionalism issue. If you DID get a lawsuit slapped against you - the argument "so and so doesn't have insurance, so I chose not to get any either" won't help. But in any case, I won't post on this issue with you any more as it seems you don't trust my responses. I don't wish to spoil a nice online friendship with arguments, so this is me signing off this topic. My last word would be "do what's right, do what's professional and do it asap before it turns round and bites you in the arse".

Rrd29

http://www.craftinsurance.co.uk/ http://www.thmarch.co.uk I'm with the first one. Perhaps you could get a policy for 2 million to start with, as most craft fairs require between 2 and 5 million. Nat

I'm in the UK - so our insurance wouldn't be the right one for you - but I'm sure if you post in the business section, you will get plenty of replies.

it applies to everything you sell hun, whether it be in person, on the net, through a friend, via a catalogue or whatever. Sorry. If you go to your sisters party, and sell a packet of votives to a friend of hers - she may be as friendly as pie, but what if your candle (which you've hardly really tested) burnt in a strange way or she carelessly burnt her house down - she wouldn't be so friendly after that and a lawsuit totalling thousands of pounds will land on your doorstep. And yes, websites DO have disclaimers, but I bet they also have insurance, and if they don't - then they are fools. Safety labels go some way to telling people HOW to burn a candle, but what if one of your candles or wax melts had an airpocket in it that you didn't know about - as soon as the flame hits the air pocket, it could cause the candle to "fart" quite drastically. What if it splattered wax all over someone's brand new cream rug which cost £2,000? Can you afford to replace that if it happened? Could you afford the £300 professional cleaning bill? Could you afford to go to court to prove that she dropped the candle and it wasn't your candle splattering and spluttering? It's not always due to people burning their houses down, it is necessary to cover your butt in ANY eventuality. Should one of your candles have an airpocket, if the wick decided to explode, if the wax caught fire and burnt a customers brand new curtains down - you simply DO NOT KNOW if your candles or wax melts have any unseen imperfections, and therefore you would be fully liable in the event of any catastrophe - and that would either be legal costs, or repair/replacement costs. I'm not being harsh here - but from day one (which was only a couple of months ago) you have been desperate to sell, so I am pretty sure that no matter what anyone says, you'll go ahead and do it if you want to. But I'm just trying to help you see just why you need to have ALL your ducks in a row. If you cannot afford to run a business selling your products with all the ESSENTIAL safety nets in place (and insurance is the most important thing you MUST have) then you shouldn't be in business at all - that includes selling a few votives or melts at a friends party. If you have no insurance, you should GIVE them away as testers and get feedback from "potential" customers and see what they say about your items. I realise money is very tight for you - which must be a huge incentive for you to want to sell asap - but seriously, you must have insurance and if you can't afford it, don't sell.

They are not ready to sell if you don't have insurance. Stump up the £100 for insurance and you're covered. If some idiot burns their house down with your candle, you have to prove your candle was not at fault, even if they lit it underneath a curtain they'd covered in petrol - you still have to fight your corner - and you can't do that if you have no insurance, unless you want to sell your house to get the funds. you need craft insurance with public liability up to 5million.

thanks all - I'll try the 55 and see what happens.

I'll give that a go - thanks!

yes, that's what I thought - it's pretty unbelievable. so much so that I went and blended a whole new batch of wax just in case I'd made a mistake. I burned for 3 x 3 hours mostly - and some I left power burning for about 6 hours and I have about 2cms of wax still stuck to the glass - it's ALMOST there but I am extremely reluctant to go to an RRD 55 as that is just gonna be a flame thrower! The client wants a clean burning candle that gets to the edge within the first couple of burns, so i can't really let the candle burn half way down and then hope that the top of the flame melts the cling-on at the top of the tumbler. strange indeed.

I've been test burning a new style tumbler, which is just a smidge under 3 inches with no taper. I tried RRD 34, 37, 40, 47 and 50 - and none reached the edges after 3 x 3 hour burns. Surely this can't take an RRD 55? That's just ridiculous! So i am trying a hemp, Extra Large - which is one size down from the largest you can get (i use super large in 4 inch containers and they work fine!!) yet it's still not getting to the edge. I am using a 70% soy 30% paraffin blend with 1.5oz of FO and no dye. Anyone have any recommendations? I have CD and LX but wanted to get it right with an RRD or hemp. Nat