SatinDucky

Anything about paraffin candles or candlmaking and home scenting in general go here.

Soy, palm, beeswax, all veggie candle type questions go on the Veggie board.

You can post in the wrong section but often you wont get as many replies or as much help as the right section. If a mod sees it, they'll usually move it for you, though it may take a while.

Welcome to the board

FYI: Try to give as much info as possible when posting a question. Candles are a complicated process and everything you use and/or do can affect the outcome.

Whoa! 21 posts already on your first day! LOL

MYTH started by soy wax advocates to try to make paraffin look bad.

And by avian vets, no doubt.

Have the vets tested UNSCENTED paraffin candles for toxic fumes?

I have no knowledge of birds, I'm just curious...

If it is, then I'm in trouble. I hardly ever let my pot run out, just keep adding more in. It's frequent for me to heat it up then not have time to play and turn it off again. As long as you're not over heating it, it should be fine. Now very excessive re-heating might break it down, like hundreds of times, but I have no idea of any testing on that.

Oh my goodness! Those are absolutely gorgeous! I just love the deep rich colors and the textures within it just make them that more stunning!

I don't know of any in GA... there are a few in TN, AL and FL that I've seen. It really depends on which supplies you use and which other states you're closest to.

I made my very 1st orb with a metal Saturn last weekend, and it was quite obvious that the heat gun was going to be needed. But unlike you and Donita, I'm a little scared of it. :embarasse Does the melted wax just drip down to the bottom and cool? I made a few forever candles and ended up with wax "drips" on the outer edges - not the look I was going for!!

I'm guessing on the pillar you were trying to just "fix" the outside a little bit? Doesn't work very well that way as you found out.

On the shells you have to get heavy handed with that heat gun. Repeat after me... my heat gun is my friend.... :DTalk soothing to it, keep it close and use it often. Most important... respect it's power and danger.

When you clean up the shell, be prepared to take at least 1/8" to 1/4" off. I usually end up taking 1/4" or more off, inside and out. The key to a smooth finish is to keep heating and rotating as the wax melts off. The entire shell will become soft. Start at the top all the way around and slowly work your way down. Don't let it cool down and harden in the middle, while the drips and runs are soft they will melt off easier. Once you get most of it smooth run it over the whole thing while warm and you shouldn't have any drips, they will just blend in with the melting wax.

Since I don't know what you're going to do with the shell, here's a possible tip. If you're planning on putting flowers or something outside, you'll be over dipping it afterwards anyway so the surface doesn't have to be perfect. If there are any small lumps, trim them off while warm so that it's level. Dipping will cover the difference int he finish there.

Here's a picture of my set up I use. The shell is on a tuna can turned upside down for the excess wax to drain off. The pan underneath is a stainless steel stove burner cover sitting on a lazy susan. For the longest time I just set the can in an empty aluminum pie tin and turned by hand. It works ok too, but the turn table is so much easier. I do trim the seam off with a knife before I start zapping it though. This I haven't started on yet. You can see kinda how thick the shell is when I start. Most people probably don't have them this thick, but... as I said, I love playing with my heat gun I find it very relaxing just heating, pouring out wax, heating pouring out wax (inside work). I do clean up the inside and take out most of the extra thickness in there first, then do the outside. That way I don't mess up the finish while playing inside. The shell on the left is finished, you can see the difference in thickness. Though towards the top, the shell is thinner. The bottom has about 1.5" of solid wax left in it.

Now that I've written a whole dang book here...lol, maybe the info you wanted is buried in that somewhere.

PS.. ignore the mess on my bench :rolleyes2

Personally I'm not overly fond of the top color but it all goes together nicely. They're very pretty Especially your decorations!

Something just doesn't look right!

I have to agree. The blue circle decal with the dove (at least that's what it looks like to me) just doesn't seem to go with the pretty shells. Maybe just do the words larger without a picture? Kinda staying with just one theme.

It's pretty still and I'm sure she would like it anyway, especially since YOU made it for her

Oh my, those are so delicate and pretty

Considering that distance, weight and volume will vary between people, your best bet is to call the supplier and ask. They will be able to tell you better than anyone else

Curious as to what you mean by soggy? What kind of FO (supplier) are you using and how much per pound of wax?

Candlewics liquid dyes are great, although there are some very weak ones. The white tends to settle to the bottom and even when you have stirred thoroughly, when you pour the last bit out it is much more concentrated.

Yup, all white will do that. Like Top said, they're pigment not dye. The only thing you can do is stir just before you pour. The cooler you pour the better it stays suspended too.

The white is the only one from Candlewic I have and it works good. I mostly only use it to make pink so it just takes a tiny bit.

I use mostly Peaks and a few from Lonestar. Lonestar's are strong, but the dark colors thickened up faster than Peaks (still took 3 years...lol).

I prefer Peaks

When I use wick pins, I use metal wick tabs with my wicks.

Yup, me too. When I don't want to use a wick tab, I remove the wick pin before the final repour. Put the wick in, dab a bit of sealer over the wick sticking out of the bottom, fold about 1/4" wicking over to the side just below the first fill line and do the repour. Wick is secure

You guys will think I'm nuts, but I use the really big cans my church gets green beans in for the soup kitchen. They use an opener that leaves a clean rim. I run them through the dishwasher and dry them in the oven on warm. They are great for 3lb of wax, you can fit 4, but they are hard for me to handle. I squeeze them in on the sides and you get a great crease for a pour spout. The ribs on the outside make them easy to handle and I use an old dishrag to grab onto the top on the opposite side I am pouring from. I get enough of them that I now have two for each fragrance, one for pillar wax, one for container. I put them in a frosted wastebasket liner labeled with the fragrance :Dand line them up on my shelves in the basement. I zero in my scale and just add 3lb more wax to the same can the next time I need that fragrance!

Nope, been there. Well, smaller anyway...lol. I tried a couple different veggie cans, but never found any that didn't have that coating inside. Yup, FO dissolves it enough to make a mess...lol

And a coffee can works just as good as a pour pot - you can crimp the side to make a bit of a pour spout and it's free

I have to disagree with this one. I tried that. No matter how well I tried cleaning it, even boiling water in it for a couple hours, eventually the darn grounds work their way out of the seams into my wax

JMO ... wait... JME just my experience

are your candles soy??

I dont add anything to my soy.

tootie

Now see... that was a smart question...LOL. Had I paid attention to the name of the poster, it might have dawned on me.

For some odd reason, I still expect paraffin questions here and soy questions on the veggie board.

Here's a start..

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45381&highlight=universal

They look really professional - I would also like to try the sleeves in a much smaller quantity than a thousand. Does anyone know who carries smaller quantities for smaller prices?

It would be nice if someone would do a co-op. I'd like to try the little votive wraps too.

Looks like it'd be worth checking out

Ohh, you mean like an electric hurricane. You should be able to use any pillar wax if the bulb you use inside doesn't get to hot. If it's a palm blend it may not be very translucent for the glow though.

Best way to know is try it and see

I'm near Lake Weiss and SatinDucky.

Ohh, are you coming to the conference?

It would be nice to finally meet ya since I never can seem to find the time to make it over to GA

Exactly what is All Natural Pillar/Votive Wax?

And what kind of paraffin?

Curious... by electric flameless, do you mean wickless... as in containers? Pillar wax wont work in that.

Here's another one....

I used my heat gun to heat a mold, put it down quickly to pour the wax in, and didn't realize that I put the gun on it's own cord.

Melted all of the coating off, right to the wires

I had a heat gun accident yesterday, I put the heat gun on the side of the table and knocked it over right on my foot.

Oh yeah loud screams and a tatoo ( not a pretty one) to show for it.

Not a problem here anymore. I use a Corn can "holster" nailed to the side of my bench. It never gets laid down anywhere now and you have to actually lift it to get it loose

I use the metal saturn molds. But then I float them in the water bath until the wall gets the thickness I want. I always have the "snow clumps" inside, but it's just the inside surface. Since I zap them anyway to get the opening shaped the size and look I want, I just zap the inside too. It also helps me make the flat wax base inside for the tealites to sit on. So it all works out good. Besides I just love playing with my heat gun , so it gives me another excuse to play. Now if I was trying to produce them quickly in large quantities, that would be another story

I still use the 1260 though, with nothing added but UV.

This may be way off base, but....

If the wax is just mottling, why not add a little vybar to it?