Candybee

check with Tall Tayl, she may have a few to spare if she has that size.

So I used coconut milk powder today in 3 of my soap batches. Each one seized. It was the first time using coconut milk powder in soapmaking. I have always used fresh coconut milk, Silk, mostly. I should have guessed from the get go that it was gonna be problematic when it wouldn't fully dissolve in the water even when made to instructions on the box. Had to heat the water a bit and then use my SB to mix it all together. It still had to be periodically stirred to keep it blended. I would not have guessed that any milk powder would cause soap batter to seize. Just a heads up. Could be the brand too. Was trying to save money by switching from fresh to powder. Well its not a total disaster. I was able to get all the soap batter into the molds and tamp em down pretty good. Plus the milk powder will be used instead for making coconut milk bath. It dissolves in warm water so it should be okay for the bath. Sigh.... I was gonna save myself some money but it didn't turn out. Figures, right?!!!

There is an allspice essential oil that I use in soap but have not tried it in candles. I too second Fillmore's nutmeg ginger. Its got the nutmeg and ginger, cinnamon. Not sure if I detect clove but its very spicy. Reminds me of spicy pumpkin pie spice but with a note of buttery creaminess.

This. This is what I had in mind was to put a statement on the invoice or bill of sale. I want something that states I am purchasing the logo along with copyright. I also want the designer to retain the rights to use their work for their portfolio or promote their artwork but that I have all legal rights to use the logo for my business. I want to have the ability to trademark the logo if I want. I won't legally be able to do that if the designer retains copyright.

Thanks for the read. Very interesting and informational.

I have an artist working on a set of logos for me. She does amazing artwork but has never done or sold logos before and I have never purchased a logo before so we are both newbies at this. So my question is, what kind of paperwork do I need from her that gives me legal permission to use those logos for my biz. Is a simple statement on the bill of sale enough? Does she retain copyright as the work is hers? I just want legal permission to use the logos and not sure I need copyrights. Its her work afterall so she should be able to use it. I just don't want anyone else using it. Some insight please as I am not sure where to find info on this particular question and want to avoid any legal battles over its use anytime in the future. Thanks for any insight.

BTW TT-- that is one cool colored organizer set of boxes. YOu gonna put your wicks in there?

LOL, I wouldn't call myself an expert. I just worked hard on creating the best candle that I know how. I know a lot about palm wax now and precious little about the new soy and parasoy waxes on the marktet. One day I want to play around with mottling paraffin wax for containers. Means when I do I have to do what all newbies due and learn how to work with a new wax just like everyone else!! So no, I don't think I am a candle expert!😉

Wow TT you sure have a buttload of wicks there!🤣 They are nicely boxed though and easy to see what's on hand. I love stackable boxes and big labels. I even put labels on my soap racks. At some point when you have so much shtuff you start buying stuff because you don't remember you already had something you are way behind time to organize. This has happened to me a few times especially this past year because of all the bottle shortages. Now I have boxes full of various jars, tops, bottles, caps, and they need organizing badly. Problem is, I have no space at this time to store them until I can find time to organize my supplies. Its a vicious cycle!

I posted that over 10 yrs ago and the waxes I used back then no longer exist. I switched to palm many years ago and no longer make a parasoy blend or use any soy or paraffin wax. I can tell you that I preferred a 50/50% blend because of the nice glass adhesion, creamy consistency, and excellent hot throw I got. I can't vouch for today's soy or paraffin waxes as I don't use them. Plus I am not sure which wicks I used. Even a perfect blend can burn like crap if you don't have the right wick. I think I used zincs back then but I don't remember for sure. The best thing you can do is know the characteristics of each of the waxes you use individually. If you know the waxes inside and out and have become an expert on them then you can decide what characteristics you want to retain in your candle and which you want to soften. Focus on those characteristics and that will be how you learn to put together your blend percentage.

I just realized this thread is 12 yrs old! 🤣

Interesting. I can see the appeal of that combo, or using it for other colors too. But it also makes me wonder what if you left your wax uncolored and just primed the wick with color? Would the wick color bleed into the wax when it burns and what kind of visual would that create? Something pretty or something ugly or muddy looking? And what if you could prime the wick every few milimeters with a new color? or simply use one color but deeper shades along the wick as it burns towards the bottom?

Maybe I need to let them cure longer than a week and test again. This right here could be your problem. When I was making soy and parasoy candles I always let them cure a minimum of 2-3 weeks and with some FOs 4 weeks or more. Think of soy wax like wine, the older it gets the better throw. IMO one week is not nearly a long enough cure time for soy or soy blend waxes. The second biggest culprit it the wick IMO. All waxes can be finicky when it comes to wicking. Some wicks will make the candle burn like a dream but produce absolutely no hot throw. Took me a couple years of testing to get a good soy blend candle but 4 years to make a great one. Patience and lots of testing is key. BTW, big candle companies can afford to have their own proprietary blend of wax so you won't find it anywhere at any suppliers so I would just give up on that and concentrate on perfecting the candle system you want with the wax of your choice, Continually changing waxes is not key, learning everything about the wax you are using is.

I have never used this wax but I do have experience using palm. I would definite try several wick series to test out starting with CSN, RRD, CD, and Cotton Core. Palm gets rock hard and that's normal. It also burns different than other waxes so you need a wick that can handle palm. Don't be fooled by the hardness thinking you don't need to cure. Palm needs several days to cure otherwise it won't burn properly or scent as well uncured. I cure my palm candles for a minimum of 3 days to a week. Most FOs work great in palm and some I can even lower the fragrance load % from 6 to 5 or even 3% for some strong scents. One year I didn't have enough palm so I mixed it with soy to be able to get all my candles done. The palm/soy blend worked out quite nice but I found even 5% soy mixed with palm will kill the beautiful crystal pattern but still make a strong scented hard wax candle that burned similar to straight palm. I even used the same wicks, CSNs. I prefer the beautiful crystal patterns my glass glow palm makes so I stick with that. I only did the palm/soy blend the year I lost my job and couldn't afford to buy enough palm so mixed it with some soy wax I had. Worked out fine that year. Beautiful wax to work with, scents nicely and burns great with the right wick.

Thanks Sponiebr. I still have my tussah silk I bought years ago. I bought a quarter of a lb and it has lasted me for years and tons and tons of soap batches. It is finally starting to run low so that got me to thinking of where to buy my silk and if I should try the mulberry silk. I probably have enough tussah to last me another couple of years but one of these days I want to try out the mulberry and see if I like it. So it helps to hear from someone who has used it. I add my sugar to my milk and dissolve it with the milk I use before adding to the soap batter. My lye solution is where I add my silk fibers so I don't have to worry about incorporating sugar in it. I always split my liquid like water/milk, aloe juice/milk, aloe juice/beer, etc. so I mix in the lye with either water or aloe juice and if I am using silk it always gets mixed in with the liquid part I am using for the lye solution. Sugar or honey gets mixed in with the milk or beer which is the other half of the liquid that I pour directly into the batter. Hope that makes sense.

Thank you. I did google it and that's how I found it at Muddy Soap co., Amazon, and others. What I am asking is if you have used it, how you like it, how much do you use, and where you prefer to buy it from.

Anybody use Mulberry silk in their soaping? I heard it dissolves so much easier in lye than Tussah and that is also leaves a nice sheen. If you do, how do you like it, how much do you use PPO, and where do you buy it? I found some at Muddy Soap co. but looking for other options. Thanks.

I just love this cute pom pom ribbon. But I don't know what I could use it for. Any ideas? I need an excuse to buy this! LOL Pom Pom Ribbon

Naw.. I'm done pouring for the year. I just wish palm pillars were better sellers thou. If they were I would be pouring a butt load of them now!! I miss the beauty of them but can barely give them away. They are expensive to make and that tends to make them too pricey in my area. People buy container candles and want container candle prices. Sigh!!

Frankly I don't know the equivalent RRD size as it's been several years since I've used RRD's. I've used them as back up wicks when I can't get CSN's. Plus I used a different size jar back then so whatever wick I used would not be the correct size. Sorry I am no help. What I would do is read the info on the suppliers site about which size fits which jar, and buy that size plus one smaller and one larger at the very least. I find that even with the RRD's the smallest size that works for the jar is the better fit rather than the larger. Just something quirky about palm I guess. Less is definitely more.

One of the things that has helped me with repeat business is my knowledge of my product and the fact that I stand behind it. (No pun intended.) Since I do most of my sales face to face I try to help new customers and or doubtful ones by giving them information about the product and how it can help them. I also guarantee it by explaining to them if they really don't like it bring it back and I will exchange it. I mean that too. In the 15 yrs of selling I have had maybe 2 customers that did took me up on that. And they became steady repeat customers because they were so thankful how I treated them. One was a cancer patient and needed a milder soap and the other somewhat similar in that she needed one of my neem oil soaps for her problem skin type. I find being knowledgeable about your product is what sells it and that last bit of insurance I give my customers letting them know if they don't like it they may exchange it works for me. But as I mentioned I do sales in person which is quite different than handling issues on an internet sale. I don't do a ton of website sales. Frankly, I hate website sales cause packaging and bookkeeping for them is way too time consuming as far as I am concerned. So my point is I don't really get any business much on my website cause I don't advertise. The majority of my sales are my craft fair and market customers and they already know me personally and my products so I can't recall any problems with a sale or its shipping that ever came up. But I do have a shipping and return policy on my website that lays out what I will or will not do. That was years in the making as the only time I can remember any internet sale problems occurred only when selling on ebay years ago when I was new to the business and didn't know any better. Regarding discounting. Frankly, if a customer has the balls to ask me for a discount and it sounds reasonable to me I will often go ahead and do it. I have often seen these type customers come back and become repeat customers. On the other hand I turn some down and explain that how it is already a deal for them and they are saving money anyway. That is my go to for those customers that set off my hackles or my inner ripoff alarm. I can usually get them to buy the product anyway by pointing out their savings and toting it's quality and selling points to them. But if my hackels are up no way am I going to discount. Every now and again you just know you are dealing with a total jerk and no matter how hard they try to sucker me or make me feel guilty about my set price they are dealing with the wrong person. So I think if you use your good judgement, business acumen, and common sense you tend to know instinctively which ones to give a break to and which ones to stand firm with.

Have you tried RRD's? They are also made by Wedo and came before CSNs were invented. They work almost identical to CSNs and are perfect for palm waxes. They other thing is you might get a better fit in wick size with an RRD. It's worth a test shot. I believe CW carries a few sizes of RRDs. I think C&S carries more but I have to check their website to be sure I am remembering that correctly.

Right now I am using CSN9's on 12oz jars. If you are wicking jelly jars or similar size I would go with the 7. Make sure you do your test burn all the way to the very end of the candle. With palm you always want to test with the smallest possible wick for the jar to get the best burn. You will get a much better hot throw and it will burn slower to. A plus that! Same thing with FO. Whatever you think is the best amount, try a smaller %. Example, if you are currently using 6% fragrance oil load go down to 3-5%. Test each % as the lesser amount will actually give you a better throw. I am using 5% for the majority and 3-4% on stronger oils like pines. With palm, less is always more.

I've been making and selling palm wax container candles made with Glass Glow or Crystal palm for many years now. I had started out with paraffin but when soy came along everyone wanted soy so I had to switch cause no one was buying paraffin back then. I had to quit using soy because I got horrible skin rashes from working with it so looked to try another wax and that's when I discovered and started working with palm. It was fairly new on the market back then. It was nice to not have to deal with no more rashes either so I stuck with it. I really fell in love with palm and my customers eventually excepted the palm and now are just as big a fan of it as I am and keep coming back every year to buy their candles from me. But that also has to do with making a good product, marketing, and a solid customer base that took years in the making. That can be done with any wax product. So for me switching to palm was due to lack of sales with paraffin and the health issues I endured using soy. Ending with palm is because I just love the ease of making candles with it compared to say soy. Just about any FO I test it in throws like crazy. But there are and have been big and little issues with palm wax consistency and availability over the years. It does not have a good steady track record of either. It is still iffy during peak times whether its available or not so you have to learn to get it when you can and buy extra so you don't run out during the season. Honestly my all time favorite wax is the old Honeywell J container paraffin waxes J233 and J50. They are still available under IGI. Boy I miss those old waxes. They threw like the dickens and the way the FOs smelled was so natural. I find paraffin is the best for florals and fruits while soy is excellent with bakery while palm is good with woods, pines, resins, and earthy types. Lately I have been thinking of starting with another wax and working with mottling wax. I want to make paraffin container candles that are mottled. But for now I will stick with the palm as my customers expect it.

I haven't noticed any difference when used as directed. I use CSN wicks so if you are using something different you may have a different experience than me.