Candybee

Welcome to the forum Ray and good luck on your candlemaking venture! I made parasoy candles for many years before I finally settled on palm. I tried lots of wick series and the ones I liked the best were zincs and cd's. I settled on zincs because they gave me the best throw, burned cooler, and had less flicker. The downside of zincs is the mushrooms they are prone to develop over long burns. But you will find that with wicks its always a compromise. Each has their pros and cons same as different wax blends. For my candles I buy a lot of my FOs from CS. I love their pumpkin souffle and their pumpkin pie and mix them 50/50%. I would say CS is where I buy the majority of my FOs with a few from other suppliers. Personally, I would refigure my FO to wax ratio. For a 6% fragrance load take the total liquid wax fill (wax + FO) that fills your jar. For example, if 14oz (wax + FO) fills your jar multiply 14x6%. That will give you .84oz of FO or approximately .85oz if you round it up. So your wax will be 13.15oz and your FO will be .85oz. This is important to consider as I assume you are interested in selling your candles at some point. So you must think about what is cost effective while still giving you the best candle you can make. FOs are not cheap and that extra amount you are using will add up real fast. The majority of today's waxes and wax blends, including 6006, work great with a 6% FO load. Good luck!

Geez.. 100 miles is nothing. I drive 230 miles one way to get to C&S then on to Candlewic about another 30 minutes drive to pick up soap and candle supplies. I make this run about 2-3 times a year. Its definitely cheaper to pay for a tank of gas then have all my wax, FOs, jars, soaping oils, etc. shipped. But its so far its a full day trip from 6 am to about 6 pm to pick up everything. (I also stop off at Fillmore Containers for jars on my way back). I am not the only one. I have met several chandlers who make the trip once a year or more. They load their cars or vans up with supplies and save a ton on shipping.

I love rosemary with lavender or spearmint. Barbara L gave me a small bottle of patchouli lime. Sounds good eh? I haven't soaped it yet because it just smells wrong somehow. Could be lovely in soap you know but I hate wasting good oils. So I am a little shy about mixing some EOs with lime.

I like the idea of an herbal like sweet basil maybe. Or sage? how about bergamot? Of course I don't have any of these except the dalmation sage which I am now afraid to use.

Doesn't Backwoods carry some Cannabis scents? Cannabis Sativa or something? Isn't that a MJ match?

I'm not mad at AH. They do have some nice oils and a whole lot of them. That's what makes me think they didn't pick up the other oils. They already have plenty. Its a shame that nobody is carrrying the TW oils as they were outstanding.

What is a mondo bomb? A giant bath bomb?

This! It works in spades this way. I have tried my shave soap with and without lanolin. With lanolin really makes that difference in a shave soap. It creates a nice skin barrier effect, helps with slip, protects the skin, and helps retain moisture. Without it its okay but doesn't have that WOW factor when lanolin is added. BTW-- I only use about 1 oz for a 2 lb batch and add it after my cook. A little goes a long way. I've tried lanolin in my regular bath soap recipes and didn't care for it. I think stuff like balms and shave soaps may be the exception.

Thanks ChrisR. I'll check them out.

Jojoba.. that was the one in the back of my mind I could not remember. I was thinking a waxy type butter or oil and this may do it. Thanks for the suggestion.

From Nature With Love carries it. https://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/product.asp?product_id=BUTCUPRFBR243 I am blown away by its description. Note how it compares to lanolin. Its pricey thou. I did a quick cost estimate and actually it could still be cost effective for me as I only use 5% or less in my recipe. Its something to consider. But I don't like that they are the only supplier I have found so far that carries it. That could be a problem if they are OOS or close up suddenly.

I use lanolin in my shave soaps and you can really tell the difference in the lovely moisture barrier anhydrous lanolin creates. Perfect for close shave and leaves the skin feeling baby soft and moist. But I want to offer a vegan choice for those allergic to wool products. So no lanolin. I am looking hard at trying out shea butter. I will be adding it after the cook as a 'superfat' oil hoping it will create a similar effect. I will also be adding a bit of liquid glycerine after the cook which also helps retain moisture and hopefully together they will simulate the lanolin. In my mind my experience with grapeseed and rice bran oils says those won't do the job. I have no experience with cupuacu butter. But I like what I am reading about it.

I am glad that there are more wax blends that can hold higher amounts of FOs. That makes me glad to know that if I do add more than my usual 6% the wax will be able to hold it without the dreaded FO seepage we used to see in the past with the older waxes. I know there are a lot of chandlers out there that think the more FO they add the stronger the hot throw will be. But that is simply not the case. In fact, it usually works the opposite. If your FO is not throwing well in your wax at 6% or less you need to test another or retest your wicking. Their are only one or two FOs in my entire line of candles that I may add more than 6% FO. In there cases I use 8%. They are the exception and not the rule. Since I sell candles I also have to look at my bottom line. Any FO that is not pulling its weight at 6% has to go. There are plenty out there to replace it and its not cost effective to use a higher % of FO for an entire line of candles.

That's right. They are only suggestions. They have no way of knowing what your candle assembly is so they offer a 'suggested' wick size for the wax and candle diameter. Its always up to you to test. I know, it can be frustrating especially when you are starting out with a new wax you haven't tried. I find it helps to buy several series of wick sampler packs. You usually have some testor wicks left over and these can be used if you change to another wax later on. You have to keep in mind too that from one supplier to the next they may have completely different waxes and wax blends they offer so their wick suggestions can be very different from one another. I will never forget how confusing that was when I first started out making candles. I am so glad I found this forum because its helped me to better test and perfect my candles.

Thats why I check several companies and compare shipping and overall costs before I buy. Sometimes you can minimize your shipping costs by adding extra supplies to your purchase. If thats not the case always compare first.

That's right! You don't need to temper parasoy. That's one of the perks of a good parasoy wax blend. It should reduce frosting and bumpy tops characteristic of soy while minimizing wet spots typical of paraffin. So you get the best of both waxes and a great H&C throw.

I may have found my own answer to this. So far what I'm finding is that cupuacu butter, grapeseed oil, shea butter, and rice bran oil offer similar properties. What I am looking for is to duplicate the same moisture barrier effect of lanolin only in with a vegan ingredient. If you have any subs you would like to share it would help. Thanks. BTW-- other subs I have found are mineral oil or petrolatum but I am not interested in using these.

Is there such a thing? I am looking for a good substitute for lanolin butter but for a vegan soap recipe. It needs to be a pretty close match. Don't care if its unsaponifiable. Neither is lanolin.

Thanks for the reviews. Will have to check them out.

Now I am glad I never tested the new ones. I kept drooling over the descriptions but fortunately didn't get any. What kills me is that AH was supposed to be the new buyer. So what happened?

I love creamy topped soy candles. Your technique sounds really good Old Glory. My technique was to add a little bit of paraffin wax and avoid tempering altogether. LOL

I've only tried the CD series. I tried them in soy, parasoy, and paraffin. I didn't care for them in soy or paraffin. They were okay in parasoy but I went with another wick, zinc. I just didn't care for the curl when it burned. That was probably because I used a jelly jar and any slightly off wick burn effected the melt pool and the jar heating up. I would suggest a larger jar for a CD. They are nice wicks in that you get great wax consumption and excellent hot throw. In the final analysis, I did not like how hot the jelly jar overheated during the burn and how the flame flickered.

A CSN wick can only be found at Candle Science. It was designed for use in glow palm wax but can also be used in 'natural' waxes or high viscous waxes. Its manufactured by Wedo which also makes the RRD wick. The RRD and CSN are almost identical and burn very similar. I use the CSN in my crystal container palm candles. In a pinch I can also use RRD's as my backup wick and have on several occasions. I'm not an expert on CDN wicks. As far as I know they are similar to CDs or are CDs but have a different prime wax coating for use in 'natural' waxes like soy and palm. From Southwest Candle Supply: "CDN wicks are flat-braid cotton and paper filament wicks specially coated to be used with NATURAL waxes. CDN wicks great for soy candles or soy blend candles and are designed to reduce the corrosive properties of conventional CD wicks."

Here's a description of the wicks from Lonestar Candle Supply: http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com/candle-making/candle-wicks/ CD Series WicksThe CD series of wicks is a favorite among many seasoned candlemakers. These wicks are flat braided with a special paper filament woven around them. This configuration is engineered to promote maximum and consistent burn while insuring a wick trimming flame posture. The CD series is used in many applications and is especially compatible with the harder-to-melt viscous waxes of both paraffin and vegetable base. ECO Series WicksThis series is designed specifically for natural waxes. The ECO series is a flat, coreless cotton wick braided with thin paper filaments interwoven for burn stability. This braiding technique also greatly improves rigidity compared to standard cotton and paper cored wicks. The specially treated paper threads provide a controlled curling of the wick making the ECO series self-trimming, which results in minimized mushrooming, soot and smoke. They have been designed to significantly reduce the "afterglow" and smoke often seen in paper cored wicks.

I try to single wick jars up to 4" in diameter. Eg.; an apothecary is a good example. Anything larger I start to double wick or more if necessary. Trappeur is right, try single wicking first or at the very least go down a couple sizes in your wicks.