girlyracer

Hi everyone Tried running a search on this but couldn't find any answers. I'm looking to make my soy candles to order, rather than making them in advance. For those of you who also make them to order, how do you deal with the "cure factor"? If most soy takes 2 weeks to cure properly, do you put a do not burn till date on the candle for the customer? I have visions of customers ordering soy candles, getting them maybe 3 or 4 days after being made and then moaning that they don't smell. I know in the US people are more aware of soy, but here in the UK and Europe soy candles are still unheard of. I know that it is up to us to educate the candle burning public out there but sometimes they can be fickle and unforgiving. Ruby

That's where I went wrong. I thought the amounts came up a bit on the high side. Thanks for putting me straight on that Andre. Ruby

OMG I'm drooling again . I'm gonna have to make out my wish list. Ruby

Inez Interesting idea. How does one find a mail forwarder based in the US? I just ran a search and all I got was results for e-mail forwarding:( Ruby

Hi Chewie After consulting my daughter's school maths book, 'cos I forgot the formula for calculating volume, this is what I came up with. Using the formula 4/3 x Pi x R3 to calculate volume 3" mould 14oz 4" mould 33oz/2.06lb 5" mould 65oz/4.06lb It is only a rough guess. If anbody out there with better maths than me can confirm if that is correct. I haven't used maths like that since I left school a loooong time ago:) Ruby

Hi Chewie I'll be off to Tesco later today to grab some. Might even treat the kids to some Pringles too Ruby

I know what you mean. I've been dabbling with soy and just making them for myself. My MIL came round one day and was amazed by the smell of one I was burning. She went away with a container and some wax tarts to test burn. She thinks they're great. I've just gotten 50lbs each of container and pillar wax. I'm ready to do some serious R & D as my plan is to do this as a part time business from home. Ruby

Hi Ian Sounds promising. We have a Wilkos here in the town too. Thing is, do they carry a lot of stock of that particular tumbler. I only ask because if you intend on carrying that particular line of tumbler, you're going to need a steady supply. If you later find that they discontinue that line then it means haveing to test a new tumbler. I was thinking of the Tesco line as they've always got tons in stock at my local store (mine is a Tesco Extra). Plus it is the sort of thing that they wouldn't discontinue, methinks. We have such a pittance when it comes to candlemaking supplies and accessories here in the UK. Improvisation is sometimes the only way unless you want to get stitched up with prices. Ruby

Thanks for that guys. I think I'll run along with them and see how I go. At the end of the day as long as they're tested properly there's no danger to anyone but me. It was only 'cos I was under the impression that any glass container used for candles had to be heavy based. I'll pick some up this weekend while I'm doing my shopping. Ruby PS. Sally, woke up this morning to a light covering of snow. Nothing much though, it was all gone by midday .

You definitely DON'T want to put felt in the washing machine as this will shrink and distort it. Best thing to do would be to hand wash it in a mild detergent for woollens or silk. Once rinsed, gently squeeze out the excess water, pull it into shape and dry flat. You may want to put something heavy on top whilst it is drying to stop it curling at the edges. Ruby

Hi Ian Jo from Sensory Perfections is quite good. She gets all her oils from the US and she's quite helpful. She has an eBay store but if you order from her regular website all her oils are free of p&p. Ruby

This is aimed more at the Brits out there. Would the value glass tumblers you get from say Tesco or Asda be any good to use as containers? My local Tesco sells 4 tumblers for 79p, thing is I'm not too sure if they would be deemed suitable. Would the glass be too thin? How thick should tumblers be for this purpose? To me they look OK but I would like some feedback from those with more experience. I was thinking of getting a pack and testing out my new smells. Ruby

Well, most of the garments and toys I knitted were when my kids were little. They're now all teenagers so all those cute little jumpers and cardigans have long since been donated to the local jumble sales. My friends' children are also the same age as mine so there aren't any little ones to knit for anymore. I guess I'll have to wait till my grandkids come along which, as mine inform me, will be quite some time! Ruby

LOL. That tickled me. I learned how to knit when I was about 8. By the time I was 14 I was knitting jumpers for me and my family. I sort of stopped for a few years then when I was expecting my first I suddenly took up the needles again. Pretty soon I was knitting for everyone, not just for me and my own. I used to knit jumpers, cardigans, hats, scarves, mittens for my friends' children. I even used to knit dolls clothes and toys. I've still got some Jean Greenhowe patterns somewhere. It's been a while since I've knitted, I've been bitten by the candle bug for the mo. I also used to do embroidery, cross stitching and tapestry. Ruby

I'm mainly a hand knitter, but I did have one of those long loom thingies when I was about 7. I could only ever manage scarves on the loom though. I find it so much easier the old fashioned way. I've knitted fair isle, aran, lacy. Just give me a pattern and I'll knit it! Ruby

Ooh nice'n'snazzy Ruby

My kids must have been weird as I never had any problems getting any of them off to sleep. Just used to pop them in their cots but I did always leave a radio on in their rooms. It was barely audible but the sound of the music just used to help them sleep. Must have had an effect on them as they are all musically and artistically inclined. One plays drums, another plays bass guitar and the 3rd one plays keyboard! Ruby

Very true. There is more consistency with Yahoo and MSN. Google are too fickle. Plus, did you know that people who use MSN as their main search engine tend to be more affluent shoppers? There may be fewer searches but the people have more disposable income - allegedly. Personally, I tend to use Yahoo as I can choose to search either all the web or narrow my searches down to just UK based sites. Ruby

I know what you mean. You never seem to get the stuff you're searching for! Can't wait till Wiki search engine comes online. Apparantly there will be humans checking the site owner's submissions rather than using complex computer algorithms. Ruby

Personally, I think they're getting too big for their boots. My hubby can't stand Google. He does a lot of stuff on the Internet. He has a load of information sites and earns a bit from Google adsense. He's given up though on trying to get his sites on Google. About a year ago there was a Google dance and and now none of his sites are indexed. He just concentrates on getting them onto Yahoo and MSN. He says that if you get your sites onto the smaller search engines they eventually get crawled by Google. Just don't bother with Google as it is too much of a headache. Ruby

Just read through this thread and found it interesting. I was only thinking the other day about the problem with soy candles and pre-tabbed & primed wicks. I often wondered if they were primed with paraffin or not. Sally, at the risk of sounding like a right plonker, how simple is it to prime your own wicks? Is it a case of just cutting lengths from the spool and dipping them in the wax and then crimping them into the sustainers? Also, how time consuming is it? Embarrassingly Ruby :embarasse

I think they look great. Isn't that what chunk candles are meant to look like, nice 'n' chunky? Keep it up! I'd buy them. Husbands lol what are they like!!! Ruby

Yep, everything costs so much less in the US. Even with the extra shipping, VAT and import duties it still works out less than buying here, especially if you're getting in large quantities. You're effectively cutting out the middle man by going direct to the source. Many of the UK suppliers get their FOs from the US, but then at the same time, you're doing the UK guys out of business. It isn't fair. I would love to support our own domestic suppliers but unless you can strike a deal with them there's probably a few candlemakers who would soon throw in the wick as it would make their products too expensive. Just thinking on tumblers though, I wonder, would a catering supplier be any cheaper. The glasses that restaurants use always seem to be heavy duty ones. I would think that they would make good containers. What are anyone's thoughts on this? I'll have to go check for bar keeping supplies now. No booze, just the glasses . Ruby

Hi Ilona You can visit them at http://www.colouredbottles.co.uk HTH :smiley2: Ruby

Too right Grumpy Girl. When it's your bread and butter they're trying to nick you need to fight tooth and nail for it! Run after them with the bread knife!!!!!! Ruby