ubure

maybe it is for containers, but it shrinks quite a bit in the jar...anyway, I need the candles tomorrow so have to figure it out today (closing my business and selling the rest of my stuff - and then pouring candles only for fun and friends!!)

Hi there, there are several pounds of palm wax from CS lying around in my workshop, I don't even know if it is for pillars (I think so but I cannot remember why the hell I have ordered pillar wax if I don't make any pillars at all....anyway: is there a chance I can put this stuff in containers? Maybe adding some coconut oil etc. to make it softer? Or just pour it cooler so it has a better adhesion? Please tell me I can use it, please, please, please (I'm already on my knees, can you see it?)!

Hi there, a customer asked me for an FO smelling like books. I've seen that SOS has one, also Indigo Fragrance (never heard of them) and another shop called "The Candle Lab" (also never heard of). Has any of you tested one of these or from another supplier? Thank you!

Yes, exactly. I feel the same. It is complicated as well, somebody always pretends not having known this or that, blaming the others etc. I'm quite fed up even though this is the most lucrative business I ever had.

Having a bit of experience with wholesale I can only tell you - as the others have told you as well - to charge a decent sum for your work. I always used to charge much too less money only to sell a few more candles. Never again. I always have businesses asking me for wholesale but when I tell them my conditions they are always tell me things like "I can only buy 3 candles of one scent and 2 of the other, please sell for 40% or 50% of your retail price, I need to make a profit as well ....blablabla...." This makes no sense at all so I say no. My candles, my rules. On the other hand I do have two wholesale accounts but theses are custom made candles - not made with fragrance oil but their signature perfume (told here before in another thread) for two luxury brands and they charge obscenely high prices for these candles, BUT I have charged really enough to make a good profit for myself. If they can sell a candle for about $ 180,-, why not? I don't see how something like a candle can be charged that much, but hey, if their customers pay for it, it is not my problem. But I also have to say that this kind of work isn't that much fun. Me as the candlemaker, I am nothing more than that for them, a candle maker, and they often let me feel exactly that way (one of the two business owners doesn't even communicate with me, only via the perfumer who created the fragrances. Rich people war weird sometimes. So money is not everything and I have decided not to be their candle maker anymore when they order the second batch.

Yes, I have thought of Etsy, just wanted to see if anybody has a special rec for me. These are great, aren't they? So different from the mass, and so - again - fresh!

Hi there, I'm planning on a new logo and candle labels and while searching for inspiration I stumbled across this candle company: http://producecandles.com/ I just love their labels, they are so fresh, clean, uplifting.....they remind me of the beach somehow (well, at the moment everything reminds me of the beach, I even dreamt I were at the ocean and cried and cried because I had to leave again...talk about being ready for a holiday :-)) Can you recommend any graphic designer who can do something similar for me? I want the colours of the sea in my labels, all the turquoise and seafoam greem and teal and mint and the corresponding summer colours like apricot and white and a soft yellow....and even though I know that quality has its price I'd appreciate somebody who doesn't charge a fortune for logo design. Any ideas? Thank you!

Okay, once again back to this special customer. He had ordered his 100 wicks last week and today started a PayPal conflict because he hasn't received his wicks yet. Again: why do I put delivery times etc. on my website? It also says I only ship once a week and besides this he is still within normal delivery time. He says he is hard pressured for time...he has probably sold some candles without even having tried the kind of wicks he ordered from me. So I answered and told him that I would do him - and his business - a favour and cancel the order and also refund his money. I also told him to order several different wick sizes and start testing before ordering larger amounts (and I don't suppose he will order from me!) and then slow down a bit, for his candles' sake. I know, not an objective and neutral or professional answer, but I'm fed up with people like him and I won't kiss anybody's a...anymore just to sell something.

kind of OT fromt he original post, but I'm angry today: still waiting for my money from both invoices from last week. Okay, one week waiting time is not much, but all that time that is wasted for me with all the emails they sent asking for this and that info after I sent my invoice and no they still wait with the payment. The perfumer is miffed, I suppose, and doesn't pay my invoice as well. He normally pays immediately. I hate this business with too many people involved. I'm clearly the one who needs her money the most (regarding sales and profit) and they let me wait. Tomorrow I will send a reminder.

well said. I was really surprised about what he told me and I guess I somehow told him that, but I was careful anyway. He is a customer and who am I to teach him if he knows better? Had another customer yesterday with almost the same situation, but at least they don't have started selling because they have seen that it is not so easy to make a candle smell.

Just what I think! Way too expensive but it is a luxury clothing company (cashmere etc) and they just have to charge that much, also because that candle's costs are that high! Packaging alone costs a fortune. I'm still in the process of figuring it all out, as well as the perfumer is - we both never had projects this big, and we both have learned a lot so far. Which I am grateful for. And my hubby reminded me of my daddy who had a builder company. He also had to justify each and every turn of the hand. people are like that: they order and order and then they are surprised that it all costs money.

Is there some professional way to do this for more wicks? I don't mind crimping 50-100 wicks at one time but I often need much more than this and I also think of making my own instead of buying the tabbed wicks.

I have to say that it is not as easy as it sounds, even if it is a highly prestigious project and of course important for me. Just today I had to justifiy my new invoice for the candle company and my new invoice for the perfumer. When it comes to payment they all search for mistakes etc., especially the perfumer is always suspicious about the amounts of perfume I need for the candles (maybe he thinks I'm using it as snuff or whatever). Seems I am the weakest part in that project, the stupid little candlemaker, but I don't care. I just don't like justifying myself for writing invoices for the work I have done. Maybe I should offer my own candles for 80 bucks :-) and work on my own again.

yes, it is strange how some people deal with something. About those 80 bucks: I'm working on a project right now, together with a professional perfumer. He created several perfumes for a high-end clothing company and then I helped getting those fragrances candle compatible, so to say. He is making the perfumes and the candle fragrances, I make the candles. There are absolutley gorgeous round candle boxes, custom made, of course, a small flyer which comes with the candle inside the candle box, and beautiful labels for the candle and the boxes. These are real professionals and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work with these people - can use all my knowledge now and still learn so much with every batch I pour. And: they charge about the same as this customer does. Only this is professional quality work from 5 different sources ( the ordering company, the perfumer, the label company, the box company and me). So again, this is ridiculous.

Yes, you are absolutely right. I don't need any scents at all (a side effect from ym candle business - I am already at a stage where I need to use a gas mask as those fragrances affect my health. Guess I won't pour candles for the next 30 years...) and I really like the clean scent of pure soap without any scent at all. But that combo today, the coconut oil soap-laundry detergent - orange essential oil was nice: fresh, clean, and some delicious natural scent.

Thanks for the correction! I will keep that in mind (or simply come back here and re-read!). Essential oils are not used for cleaning purposes, it is the citrus terpenes that have this incredible cleansing power ( is it cleansing or cleaning in this context? I never get this right!). I sometimes buy a highly concentrated orange cleaner made from these terpenes. Smells so good (of course there are the essential oils in it as well as it is made out of the citrus skins) and you only need tiny amounts (a teaspoon full for 10 liters water). If used undiluted it even dissolves glues of all kinds. I remember using it for my oven window which simply fell out of the oven door after my cleaning mission - the cleaner simply dissolved the adhesive the window was glued to the door with.

This is not the first time I have come across customers who decide to start their own candle business without ever having made a single candle. They usually order some stuff from me and start asking questions, usually when something goes wrong with their first candles. Others order supplies and tell me their customers are waiting for this and that fragrance they have just ordered (for the first time) and need the oils really fast as the candles are already ordered and sold. I always want to ask them if they didn't test fragrances before they sell them but they don't think that is funny so I let them. But today I had a customer who really takes the cake: he ordered 100 wicks of the same size. I told him that this size was on backorder and that I could offer an alternative if he told me the diameter of his jar. He said it was 8 cm, so the size he had chosen was much too big (a Stabilo KST 26! And ladies and gentlemen, I DO have a wick chart on my website, with a link at my wick product page). I told him that he should try a 16 and see how that works for him. He told me he uses essential oils and we got to talk a bit. He seemed very unexperienced with candle making and said he appreciated my help. I asked if he planned on selling the candles and then he told me he already did. Said they (maybe he and his girlfriend, don't know, doesn't matter anyway) made a few sample candles and so it started. Gave me a link to their website which is exquisitely done I have to say. Candles look good, are really pricey (about $ 80) and have some descriptions that make me scratch my head....cucumber, apricot, lilac etc. Have to ask him where he found those exclusive essential oils. So he orders the wrong wick because he has no idea what to look for, is selling candles he has never made before and doesn't know if they work at all and I spent about 2 years pouring and testing and pouring and testing, over and over again until I had a candle I was sure was good enough to sell - am I an idiot? It is so easy as these examples show! I really don't know what to say to these people...after all they are buying my supplies. But this is ridiculous.

okay, that is the next thing I'll try, CandyBee! I always put in everything before I turn the machine on, there is a little departement for the laundry detergent, another for the rinse stuff and another for prewash. By the way: did several loads today (between candle pouring...200 jars yesterday and today...can't stand that smell anymore and my thyroid is swollen again, uggghhhh!), one with a few drops 'Gee, your hair smells terrific' from Oregon Trail Soap Supplies, that was even enough for the second load without adding more scent. Laundry smells very nice, holds scent really well. Third load was with orange essential oil (found an older bottle of a really good orange oil in my workshop, no idea why I haven't used it. Now it is too old for use in cosmetics or aromatherapy but it smelled as fresh as a new one so I guess it is okay to use in my laundry) and that was rellay perfect. Such a nice, fresh smell and above all it is all-natural. Did a fourth load with it again - a keeper for me!

CandyBee, that sounds like a good idea! The conditioner emulsifies the fragrance. Or you could use sth like isopropylmyristate, or glycerine etc. I even thought about using some of my empty liposomes and fill them up with fragrance but that would be a bit exaggerated, I guess

You mean lavender and jasmin scented soap? Yeah, I guess that won't work for having a great scent.

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually made a bog batch of liquid detergent 2 weeks ago. Works quite fine, but I have to say it is the higher temps that bring better results, but that was clear from the beginning. No fabric softener here as well ( so, no dryer and no softener...things I never needed, nor did my mum before me), I just put some homemade apple cider vinegar (which is almost a shame to use for the laundry, but I have two big barrels) in the rinse department, together with the scent (no vinegar smell in the clothes, just a fresh smell, even without scent.). I did some research and found out that the fragrance in normal detergent is microencapsulated in some nasty stuff containing formaldehyde...didn't know that! So that is why you won't have the same amount of scent when you use fragrance oil of essential oils: the capsules stick to the fabric and release the fragrance slowly. I have to say I don't want little formaldehyde capsules rub against my skin - enough toxic stuff around I cannot escape anyway, so don't have to expose myself and my family to some more if I can avoid it. I guess I will experiment with the recipes for DIY laundry scent crystals (they make them with epsom salt) or just stick with just put 2 or 3 drops to the rinse cycle.

yes, that goes without saying

Thank you TallTayl! Just wanted to make sure somebody has tried this before. I don't have a dryer (only line-drying here), I add my - bought - laundry scent to the rinse department, works great. Even essential oils smell strongly in the fresh laundry. Just never tested my fragrance oils.

Morning everybody! I'd like to ask if any of you have ever used fragrance oils for DIY laundry detergents? If you can use it in cleaning products you should be able to use it in laundry detergent as well, right? Any experiences with that? Thank you!

HI Candybee, thanks for your advice! It never works for me if I pour quite hot, always sunken in tops. I only get smooth tops when pouring at the "custard" stage. Heat gun doesn't work either as the tops look terrible afterwards, like being treaten with a...heatgun. I am really at this point where I am glad when my other big order is finished so I can stop pouring candles. I am so sensitive to the smells that it is quite hard for me to do some pouring at all. Two days in a row and I need several scent-free days. I tried wearing a gas mask but this sucks (guess I have to anyway). It has to mean something when suddenly I could be able to make good money with this business and then my health clearly says "NO!.