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sawyer's moon

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Posts posted by sawyer's moon

    Would you...?

    in Vegetable Wax & Beeswax Candle Making

    Posted

    My boyfriend (and 'business' partner) would only buy colored candles, he says white is boring. So I guess maybe I have to just learn to deal with the fact that I won't be able to please all people all the time. I hate the frosting, he hates the lack of color, what's a girl to do?

    And see I think colored candles are tacky and the creamy white of uncolored is classic and upmarket. Go figure. We're all different!

    Jen

    Repost of unanswered question in another thread...roll-on help

    in Bath, Body & Cosmetics

    Posted

    yes, you can use any suppliers skin-safe fragrance oils.

    FCO is a great oil to use with a very long shelf life.

    You wanted to add a 3rd ingredient: cyclomethicone is VERY poplular. It is an oil that once rolled or sprayed on, becomes dry(dry oil sprays, dry oil roll ons, etc). If you choose to use FO, FCO & Cyclo, there have been alot of threads on this one....I should know, I've asked alot about this. Here is what I've gathered(& used myself, after much experimenting):

    7:1 ratio or 6:1 ratio, broken down into "parts"(ok, here is where it used to confuse the heck out of me...the "parts".

    Another confusing thing is that these %'s are for larger than 1/3 oz size. I have yet to figure that out. The only thing that has worked for me, is to make at least a 2 ouncer & then pour that into rolller bottles. My problem is that most of the time, I just need to make ONE 1/3 bottle in a particular scent. So if I make 2 ounces, just to get the measurements right, I have a ton of leftover/waste after pouring it into the ONE 1/3 roller bottle I needed. )

    Ok, back to the %'s: 7:1 ratio or 6:1 ratio, broken down into "parts"

    (let me cut & paste from a source):

    some people use less or more, but here is the standard recipe:

    1 part fragrance oil to 6 parts cyclomethicone

    it depends on the size...whatever it is, break it down to 7 parts.

    example : for a 2 ounce total weight - 2.0 divide by 7 = approx .28 per part.

    so you would use .28 fo and the rest is cyclo.

    2 oz dry oil spray - .28 oz fo

    4 oz dry oil spray - .57 oz fo

    6 oz dry oil spray- .85 oz fo

    8 oz dry oil spray - 1.14 oz fo

    IF you are adding FCO, just substitute one of the cyclo "parts" with FCO.

    I truly don't know what the proportions would be to use only FCO & FO. But since you said you were looking into adding a 3rd ingredient, I think Cyclo would be great. (sold at aromahaven, bittercreek, wsp, the sage, etc.. HTH But there are a few threads on this subject here....search around under FCO, roller bottles, etc....

    re the % being for larger amounts...not true.

    A 1/3 oz roller bottle will contain .33oz (or so)

    Lets say I'm doing 75% fco and 25% fo

    .33 * 75% = .2475 oz

    .33 * 25% = .0825 oz

    .2475 + .0825 = .33 oz

    The nice thing about working in percentages is you can size your recipe up or down very easily!

    Jen

    Problem mixing fo into wax....just don't get it!

    in General Candle Making Discussions

    Posted

    Thanks you guys! I typically use 7.5% fo load with J50. I know, I know..but I've tested J50 a ton and have tested all my faves from 6%, 7.5%, to 9% and am always disappointed at 6% (throw - again - fo dependent) and very happy at 7.5% so 7.5% is my norm to begin testing an fo (9% was way back when - don't ever go that high anymore (with J50)).

    Had a helpful pm that mentioned holding my wax at a higher temp longer (which is in keeping with what you're saying) and I do agree that the Pyrex is cooling down too quick so will try my metal pour pot (like being able to see the wax which is why I've used Pyrex to this point). I've also heard of switching to coffee pots and warming on a griddle - makes sense as I can still see the wax and the glass is thinner so shouldn't cool as quickly as the Pyrex. Or - just do as most and use the metal pour pots :D .

    And thanks for the J50 vs parasoy blend info - I was befuddled on that one.

    Again grrr....of the hundreds of fos tested over the past two years (and most in J50), this is the worst run I've had. I tend to lean towards heavy vanillas and spicy scents so am quite surprised that I haven't had this happen before but hey - that's what testing is all about!

    Thank you! Jen

    Problem mixing fo into wax....just don't get it!

    in General Candle Making Discussions

    Posted

    Grrrrrr.

    I poured some J50 testers last night (haven't poured J50 in awhile) and had a tough time incorporating some of the fos into the wax. First ran into a problem with TCS Warm Orange Gingerbread (or whatever it is) - it's a heavy orange fo and it continued from there. I poured mostly TCS fos last night (Cinnamon Frosting, etc) which was my first experience with them (but I don't think that's necessarily the problem). I also had problems with NG's Hot Orange Danish and RE's Celtic Moonspice. I just couldn't get things to incorporate!

    My procedure is to heat wax in Presto and decant into warmed (in an 180 degree oven) Pyrex cups. The temp once decanted is about 198. Normally, I add my fo at 185, stir to incorporate, and pour into heated jars at 165. Ran into the first problem so then tried incorporating at 190 - still had problems, and tried at 195 and STILL had problems. This is the first time in two years that I've run into a problem like this and I've poured many a heavy vanilla and/or spicy fo.

    I could chalk it up to fos I haven't tested before but I have poured Celtic Moonspice before, albeit in GL 70/30, and have not experienced a problem.

    So - any suggestions? I'm kind of confused on this one... Looked at the jars this morning and fo is definitely not incorporated. I'm going to try one of my tried and true later today and see if I have problems but this kind of sucks right now :grin2: .

    Any help appreciated!

    Thanks - Jen

    Igi 4627

    in General Candle Making Discussions

    Posted

    It's interesting to hear people having good luck with zinc. You would think those might mushroom badly in a blend like this.

    This wax has a lot of an ingredient that makes it hard to burn. If you've noticed how thick it is when melted, same ingredient accounts that and also how well it sticks to the container.

    Theoretically the high flame temperature of HTP gets you the most complete combustion, which I suppose is why the manufacturer recommends them.

    When I was using this wax, I tested ecos, htps, cds, and zinc (and maybe a few others - notes are at home) and found that everything smoked and mushroomed horribly for me except the zincs so that became my wick of choice for this wax.

    Jen

    BCN's FO's

    in Fragrance Discussion

    Posted

    You know...I've tried to get Vanilla Velvet to throw in various waxes and can't. So - I bought some candles from people that I *know* use Vanilla Velvet (and rave about their throw) and they have no scent throw either.

    I do like some of BCN's scents...just not Vanilla Velvet. Now - the Autumn Spice CO? I put that sucker in EZ Soy and lit it a couple of hours after setting up and it was throwing all over the house.

    jen

    Good lemony scents??

    in Fragrance Discussion

    Posted

    I don't *get* BCN Lemon Pucker. To me it smells like 7-up gone bad :grin2: .

    I love SW LLC and BCS Lemon Pound Cake (need to try Peak's next!). To my nose, LLC is a lighter version of LPC (not in terms of throw but in terms of foodiness...if that makes sense!).

    Jen

    Almost heaven

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    And she has time to partcipate in plenty of swaps (often doubling up for the month) on a swapping Yahoo group! I left the group because it just sickened me that she was able to do that but completely screw her customers over time and again.

    Jen

    how much soy?

    in Vegetable Wax & Beeswax Candle Making

    Posted

    It's much easier to think in percentages. Here's how I do it.

    I know that my container (says its 9oz but it holds 6.8 oz)

    If I want to use a 6.25% fo load (1oz fo ppw) I calculate like this:

    100 - 6.25 = 93.75% (<==this is my percentage of wax)

    93.75% (wax) + 6.25% (fo) = 100% (candle)

    So I know that to make my candle, I need 93.75% wax and 6.25% fo which calculates like this:

    6.8 * 93.75% = 6.375 oz wax

    6.8 * 6.25% = .425 oz fo

    6.375 + .425 = 6.8

    Now - if I want to make a bunch of candles, I can use my *formula* to increase the amount of wax and fo I need to make the batch.

    I have another container that holds 7.5 (it's an 11oz container). Since I already have my formula (from above) the calculation looks like this:

    7.5 * 93.75% = 7.03 oz wax

    7.5 * 6.25% = .47 oz wax

    7.03 + .47 = 7.5

    Hopefully that make sense. Since I make soap and other B&B items, I have to think in percentages so I do this for candles as well and it makes it soooo much easier!

    Jen

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