Ilona

I took a pic of my 4627 test tumblers I poured this week so you can see the adhesion. As you can see there is not a single wet spot or pull away. Oh an excuse the bumpy top on the green one, I haven't heat gunned it yet. Best, Ilona

I've been testing this wax this week and have 100% adhesion. This is what I've been doing: Heat wax to 175 Pour in pyrex measuring glass prefilled with FO & liquid color (the small 1 cup ones as I am pouring 8oz tumblers to test). Mix for 1-2 min with my little frother/mixer. Then pour immediately into tumblers that are room temp. I checked the pour temp on one batch it was @ 140 because the FO cools the temp of the wax. I live in florida so my house (Air Conditioning - I don't need an oven, it is HOT outside.) 73 (night) 76 (day). Something to think about - when you pour at hotter temps, the wax will shrink more when cooling. The cooler you pour, the less shrinkage. It is a chemistry thing. Try pouring at 130-140 and see how that works. Don't heat glasses too much as they will overheat the wax - again causing it to contract more when cooling. Good luck!

Who knows maybe I should give it a go! LOL. Never know, the Snuggle, Gain, and Clean Cotton - Laundry scented candles sell, so why not take out all the Pine that smells like floor cleaner, the Lemon Peel that smells like floor cleaner, the citrusy oils that smell like windex, and make a "Spring Cleaning" line. Hee hee. I shutter just thinking about having to pour those. Peeeeww! Anyway if anyone wants my JS Lemon Peel, give me a holler. You can have it for free + shipping. Or we can do an oil swap. I love swaps.

I agree DO NOT hear it to high. I made lip balm a few months ago I heated it initially to 170 and poured a few. Then it started to set up so I zapped it in the Microwave for a little too long and the last two I poured with that bit came out grainy. I did some research and found that Shea behaves like chocolate, it coagulates (? right word?) when temps get to high. I just made two batches of the whipped shea for all my mom/stepmom/aunts/sister/etc... and it came out nice and smoothe. I kept checking the temp to make sure it stayed under 170. Good luck! ilona

PINK SUGAR from ICS!! I have it in perfume spray, body lotion, shampoo, and I have a 110z tumbler with it burning as we speak! Yes I'm a bit extreme when I'm in love with a FO. Usually lasts about a year or so, or until everyone that comes near me begs me to change the scent. But luckily most people complement me on this one. Good luck! Ilona

Thanks so much for the info. I bought some of these small and large and have been testingthem all week. Right now I have them going in 11oz tumblers with soy (eco 135), and a parasoy blend of 135 & 4627. I just poured a 100% 4627 one to test tomorrow. These are my results (no pics - maybe I'll try to get some on here). In 135 and 135 blend I use the small double wood wick. Burns nice, relights like a charm, throws wonderfully. I trim by clipping off the burn bits after its cooled upside down into the trash. Easy. No need for high tech clippers. No crackle :undecided When I tried to use a single wick - it had awesome crackle (I think it needs to be single for it to crackle) and burned fine in the soy on the 1st burn, but when I went to relight it the next day, no way. 10 min may and it went out. I played with wick in wax height and nothing. Even with the para blend - nothing. What I noticed is that the OVC WW candles do not say "soy wax" anywhere on them nor on the OVC web site. I am wondering where it was that those babies were soy. They are no way 100% soy as they have para caractaristics. So I am wondering if somehow the single wick will stay going in my 100% para blend. I will let you know after I test it tomorrow. *fingers crossed* In the meantime, the double burn well. No crackle and look a bit lumpy, but I like them. I'm sure they will be evolving over the next year or so. So thanks for your research. I love the body butter post LOL! Gotta love soy! ilona

I have CB135. I used Max FO % and poured slushy. At what temp do you add the FO? I usually add at 150. I love this OOB. I'd love to get it to throw well. Thanks so much! Ilona

I Just got my first batch of oils from JS and most of them smell amazing, but the Lemon Peel smells just like floor cleaner. I'm so bummed. Anyone test this scent? Does it miracuoulsy change in wax to an amazing fresh grated lemon skin scent? Maybe I just need to make a candle called "Mop & Glow" :rolleyes2 Ahh well. xoxo

Can anyone get this to throw successfully? I've tried it in 4 different soy waxes and even in parafin and can't get a strong throw. I'm using various % but even on the high, there is almost nothing. Has anyone got a great throw with this? I'm thinking I may have to find another good lemon cake supplier. Any recs? thanks! ilona

Anyone have the recipe for something close to Creme La Mer? I saw it somewhere but can't find it and my sister would like me to make something resembling it. Thanks! ilona

Amazing post. So informative. I was wondering, do you pull the double wick apart and use a single? I have the le wicket ones but they are the two pieces stuck together and don't crackle at all. So do you use a single layer? Or double? Thanks! Ilona PS are you using soy? or para?

could I ask what BTMS is and where I could learn about it/buy some to try? Thanks! Ilona

I just got the ICS/Snowtops one and I live in Florida so I can say what is REAL orange blossom scent and what isn't. ICS is nice but it is not a TRUE orange blossom. I tested over 15 suppliers and only found one that had TRUE Orange Blosson/Neroli. Unfortunately it is $$. Sweet Cakes is the supplier. But I've tested it in soy with a great throw and it is body safe. You can explain to your customer about the $$ and price the product higher. But it is the only true to life orange blossom I've tried from many many suppliers. Trust me, if you live near orange groves, you won't settle for anything except the real thing. Joe Malone makes an orange blossom/neroli cologne, this FO smells just like it. True right off the tree. I have the snowtop one. You can have it as I won't use it. PM me. Ilona

Are those the Madison Covers? Anyone know what tumbler size they fit? Anyone tried them? Anyone have a successful pairing of tumbler and lid? I'd like to use 7.5 oz and 11oz tumblers. or 8 & 12 oz. Plastic lids are OK too. I just don't want to sell "naked" tumblers and we all know what naked and saran wrapped looks like ... well those of us exposed to maimi beach nightlife. LOL ok, bad joke!

I agree Natty is awesome with hooking people up in the UK. She also makes some kick butt candles with throw that reaches my neighbors! Definately get wax from her. She's FAB. ilona

Hi all, Has anyone set up anything for tumbler lids? I need something for my 7.5 oz tumblers. GL only has the bigger ones. I would totally be willing to go in one something and buy a bunch of tumblers with lids (any size). As I like the tumblers better than the jars. If anyone knows anything, I will be obliged to you for life! Ilona:D

I bought my crystals from BCN and used a few types of oils but all seperated. I tried the drops of soap and presto. It emulsified and binded the water and oils. You really only need like 2 drops and it works. Thanks so much for all the help. i.~

I just bought one of these to test alongside my own wood wicks (when they arrive) and I've been burning the OVWW for 2 days. Here's my opinion: At the store, out of the 5 Applewood (the scent I bought), 4 of them the wick was grossly off center. The one I got was pretty much in cenetr, but MOST of the ones were WAY off center. Maybe they have to outsource the candlemaking to people who really don't care about straight wicks. All the candles had wet spots and most had pulled away from the glass containers. None had frosting. The melt pool is not enought. After 4 hours there is still 2 centimeter of solid wax around the edge. I'm sure it will catch up as the glass narrows. What is great: SCENT THROW. OMG this scent throw is amazing. It KILLS my ECO-135! I'm so jealous that I need to know what they use. It says soy wax but I think it MUST be a 70/30 blend as there is NO frosting and none of the normal behavior that burning soy displays. So if anyone knows what blend they are using PLEASE PM me, or reply as I MUST do tests on this. The throw is amazing. Thanks Ilona

I use the simple square braids from peaks and it works well. I wanted to make a long pillar but only had pre-cut wicks, so I used a #4 and it burned very nicely.

Hi and welcome to the world of soy! I am devoted to my 135! But I do tweak it a little to get rid of the frost issues. I max it with scent so that a lot of my friends don't even burn it because it scents up the room with the CT. Right now I use 2oz FO PP wax with a bit of beeswax and some Eco PB to harden it up. The PB helps with the frosting I found. There are other issues, with coloring dark colors I have to add a UV inhibitor as I live in florida, and I don't cool it warm as it mottles (!). I cool at room temp 70-72 degrees. If you need any help, feel free to ask me. How are you wicking your candles? I use RRD, Hemp, and Performa. Good luck! Ilona

would you be willing to add some beeswax? I use some and don't have that chunky stuff at all.

What I did: My friend wanted a coconut vanilla candle (I use Eco 135) and I went on a mission testing everything. This is what I found: The coconut cream pies were never stron enough. I was on a mission to mix my own blend. So to find a good coconut was HARD! Peaks - too musky (I know! I was surprised) NG - great OOB but no throw. DS - Only the coconut macaroon, the other coconut did not do it. The coconut vanilla blends I found were not strong enough on the coconut, so I needed to make a custom mix to ballance the coconut. So I took the DS coconut macoroon and mixed it with MC french vanilla. It was so amazingly yummy. Test burn was great and my friend loved it from the six other combos I gave her to test burn. So that's what I did. Hope it helps.

Hi all, So I made my first jelly jar and I have a problem that I'm sure is so basic that you with chuckle at my niavity. I can't get the oil to absorb into the crystals. I use the BC crystals and their instructions but they absorb the water and the oil just seeps to the bottom of the jar. Any tips? I did a search but could not find anything on it. I'm sure it is totally obvious but I'm such a dunce. Thanks ilona

Do a search on Gelli Baff and you will find it. It is the polymer that is identical to water crystals, but ground up to a fine powder. It absorbs the bath water and makes it like jelly. HUGE in the UK

thanks for the meta tags info. I know I have to go and put them in. I also know about the text on the site, but I'm not too worried about that as it is not a large scale thing, just a place for people I know to get candle info. U should put more pix in the slideshow. That's a good idea. I think that will be one of the next things I'll work on. As you can see the whole thing is casual and informal, which is how I want it to come off as it really is only a hobby. Thanks for all the kind words, I appreciate all of you taking the time to have a look at it. ilona