raginabr

I have no problem with the HL wax. It is what I use to make my votives. You have to add Vybar in order to get a good scent throw. The wax is more expensive per pound but I print out the coupon to save 40% and I don't have to pay shipping. My container wax, pillar wax, and soy waxes I order online and bite the bullet and pay for shipping.

As for the rest of the supplies, I would start looking online. The wicks are not labeled well at HL and Michael's. I have never purchased scents from either HL or Michaels so I can't tell you about their quality.

Like botanica stated if you are using straight paraffin wax you will probably want to add vybar to it to get a better throw.

I use baby wipes as my final step in cleaning my pour pots and molds. It really seems to remove any remaining smell (at least to my nose).

According to this page, http://www.candlewic.com/candle-wicks/pop-spools.asp CD wicks go as small as CD2. That being said, I always had the problem of the CD wicks burning too hot in my votive wax. I ended up going with LX wicks. Usually a LX 10 works well for me.

Just remember that this is a plain wax. It doesn't have any additives so you will need to add some vybar, etc. I use it for my votives and add vybar to get a good throw. It works really well.

The only time I was able to get the decal paper to work was when I put it on a candle I purchased from Wal-Mart. I could never get it to work on my candles. I gave up and gave the decal paper to my husband and son to use on their model railroad.

Just have to jump on the bandwagon here. The first thing that jumped out at me when I read that story was how the candle started the fire. I must be making some really poor candles because I have never seen any of my candles walk across the room and get the matches and light itself. So I am thinking that these two boys were either playing with matches or a lighter and a candle, or they were playing with a lit candle. Both situations are dangerous...were was the parental supervision????

I was just wondering about Lonestar's odor remover FO. I am glad to see it works well. My mother just inherited an office from a smoker and needs something to get rid of the smell. Thanks

I haven't noticed ants, but I put my FO measuring dish in the sink one day. When I came back, I found three dead flies in it. I figured they thought it was something yummy and found out differently.

Well at least here the theme is "Blow it out before you go out."

I thought you might find this tip helpful too. If you don't want to have the wax directly on the cookie sheet or cake pan, line the pan with parchment paper. I used parchment paper instead of wax paper and found it was much nicer to work with. It holds up better when cutting (chunks) and peels nicely from the wax. HTH

I also use the gardening gloves with the bumps on them. I was having some problems getting the full weighted mold into the bucket so I decided to try it by putting the weighted mold into the empty bucket. I then pour the wax into the mold and cover the top of the mold and carefully pour the water into the bucket. I remove the cover after the water is in the bucket. I have to have three pitchers of water standing ready to go but it seems to be working a little better for me. HTH

J223 will hold 8-10% so that may be the reason there is a better scent throw. You can add more FO to it than you can to other waxes (4625, 1343, etc.) I am not familiar with 1275 so I don't know what percentage it will hold. HTH

Here is the supplier by state link.

http://www.candleandsoapstuff.com/Suppliers_by_State.html

Last time someone announced that the candle warmers were on sale they were not on sale here. Then a week later the ad ran. It also seems like it was also in reverse one time. So hang in there Georgia, maybe they will show up in our advertisements next week.

Ok, you have made me wonder. Do they charge an additional amount for shipping or is the shipping high because of where you live?

I would definitely put it in some wax to see how you like it. I recently purchased two scents Sweet Pumpkin Spice (SPS) and Warm Apple Pie (WAP). OOB I loved the SPS but wasn't too impressed with the WAP. I put them into wax and found that the SPS lost all of the pumpkin smell that I really liked. I was so disappointed. I put the WAP into wax and it was wonderful. So just goes to show that everyone was correct about not tossing an FO because of the way it smells OOB.

As a side note, I poured both of these scents into 4794. Last night I tried putting the SPS into my tart wax formula (combo of 4625 and J223). It smells more like the scent I can smell in the bottle but not totally. The cinnamon and spices seem to overwhelm (sp?) the pumpkin scent. Hope all this rambling on helps.

I agree the White Tea and Ginger is awesome. I received it as a free sample in one of my first Peak orders. I made it into tarts and now I wish I had made it into votives. Oh well, I will do that when I get more votive wax.

Thanks for the responses. I had purchased some Sweet Pumpkin Spice and Warm Apple Pie FOs. I loved the Sweet Pumpkin Spice OOB but when I put it in my votive wax I was really disappointed. The Warm Apple Pie was a big disappointment OOB but smelled awesome once I put it in wax. I was hoping that maybe another wax would make the Sweet Pumpkin Spice smell better. I was so bummed because I lost the pumpkin smell and I really liked the way it smelled in the bottle. I guess if it doesn't work in any of my waxes, I will just go around sniffing the bottle.

I have a fairly simple but stupid question. I am wondering if the FOs smell different in different waxes. For instance if I test in 4794 (Votive wax) and don't get the result I want is it worth my time and wax to test in say a pillar wax (4625)? Thanks for all the help.

Here is one site that I know has gusseted bags for a reasonable price. They are listed as polypro instead of cello.

http://www.uline.com/Group_201.asp?keywords=polypro%20bags

Here is another that has smaller quantities (in case you don't want a major amount.)

http://www.nashvillewraps.com/ShowType.ww?Class=019

I also noticed the IGI 1554 was gone. I sent an email inquiring about this and found out that IGI has discontinued producing this product. Nachelle stated they would be adding their own formulated blend of this product in a couple of weeks. HTH

Yes I poke relief holes. The cap just sits on the top of the mold. I take it off poke the relief holes and put it back on as needed.

I sent them an email yesterday because I noticed the IGI 1554 was no longer listed on the board. I got an email back stating it was also being discontinued. Nachelle stated it was a "feedstock" issue. I think that is what she called it. It didn't mean anything to me.

Another alternative for a gizmo to hold your wick pin in place is a PVC cap. I took my molds with me and went to the local Lowes. I found PVC caps which would fit over the mold. Then I gave them to my DH and told him to drill me a centered hole in each one. I did this when I was centering my own wicks and now that I use a wick pin. It does slow the cooling down a little, but I could have my DH drill bigger holes around the perimeter of the cap. I also really like the caps because when putting the molds into the waterbath I don't have to worry so much about water getting into the wax. HTH