kaytee_316

I usually just judge by the smell ... they tend to stink! Honestly, we do date all our FO's and rotate when we get supply's but there's always those that get shoved to the back of the shelf not to be discovered until we do a complete inventory (for us that's usually tax time) then wouldn't you know it that particular scent will be "out of season" and wind up sitting there until the next "fall" or "winter season" ... you get the idea. Of course, by then the best seller will be a totally different scent! We do run sales to try to keep from losing money on the FO's but there are those FO's that just don't make the grade after sitting on the shelf for a long period of time. That's why it's so important to buy good quality FO's, they may cost a little more but it will save you money in the long run.... we've been burned more times than I'd like to admit.

I would like to know the answer to this myself! I also have a few FO's that need to be tossed.

Thank you so much for your reply. I tested three different kinds of wax, playing around with the initial heat temp and I have to tell you, I'm sold on the lower temp. 1 batch I heated to the higher temp, the others I only went to 175 - 180 and what a difference. The batches with the lower temp all look really good, smooth tops little shrinkage ... nice. The other one isn't so nice. Wow, who'd a thought just a small adjustment would make such a big difference! By the way, these waxes are veggie blends and 1 was paraffin/soy blend.

I'm amazed at how much I really don't know...lol. Before I joined this board, I kinda thought I had it all together... then I start reading the posts and wind up scratching my head and saying " I didn't know that" ! What I'm gathering from the posts is that there isn't a rock solid "heat to" temp so, at the risk of sounding completely brainless .... is there something specific that you look for when your testing that indicates that you need to heet the wax a little hotter to begin with and also, is it different for paraffin. I had been using mostly veggie blends, then found the Gw444 (love it) but would like to at least have a little working knowledge of the other waxes.

What is the purpose of heating the wax, any wax to such a high temp as usually recomended?? Like the 200 degrees for some parafins or the higher temps for some soy???

Thanks for the reply, ok.. so how hot do you heat your 444 to? Do you take it to the 180 point and then let it cool down??

Could someone tell me how to determine how hot to heat the wax? I've gone by the suppliers heating and mixing instructions (example: J223 - heat wax to 200 degrees, add scent and color pour at 180 degrees, GW444- heat wax to 180, color and scent let wax cool until thick and slushy before pouring), now I was told that you only heat the wax to the pour temp or just above. Which way is right??? Any info is greatly appreciated.

We also use a shot glass measuring glass from walmart, works great!

Thanks everyone for responding, I made a few candles and honestly, they seem fine. I can't tell about the scent throw just yet, but the wax seems as good as the day I bought it. I will go ahead and sell it but will take your sugggestions about letting the buyer know the date I purchased the wax. I feel that is the honest thing to do. Thanks again for responding to the post.

Thanks silvermoon, It kinda seems to me that soy is soy (although I could be wrong, didn't mess to much with it in the past) and if one would have a "best if used by" date then all soys probably have some sort of expiration .. which includes the EL wax. I did contact the supplier but didn't get to much of a straight answer. I wouldn't dare try to sell this .... so, what do you do with 200+ lbs. of soy wax that's possibly outdated? hmmm, must have had more money than brains when I bought this stuff! Thanks for the info!

Thanks Misty and Junebug for your help:D !

Could someone tell me if there is a shelf life to Enchanted Lites soy wax? Or any soy wax? The wax itself, not the candle. I have about 200 lbs of EL wax that I bought 2 years ago and never used and was thinking about selling but wanted to make sure it was still ok. As far as storage, it's been stored with my other waxes with some varying temps but nothing to extreme either way. I also should mention that I repackaged it into ziplock bags after I bought it. I also have modifier (quite a bit) bought at the same time. Now, the some of the modifier has turned a yellowish color but most is the same as the day I bought it, is it still ok? Also would like to know about the stabilizer (I think its just steric) does it have a shelf life? I'll be using gw444 in the future so I figure knowing the shelf life is a good thing. My other wax doesn't hang around long enough to worry about. Thanks in advance for any info.

Thanks Misty, I just checked out their web site and their prices are really reasonable. I think I order a slab of the perfect blend and try it with the other samples. I'll be paying more on shipping but with their prices being so much lower, it won't matter to much on the shipping. Thanks for letting me know. By the way, would you happen to know how the CD wicks work in this wax? Kate

I know what you mean about the FO's being addicting! I'm an avid user of the "sample pack" specials the different suppliers offer. I have a hard time keeping our scent list down to what's managable and profitable cause I tend to like them all! I also just ordered some samples of wax only I ordered from JS, ordered their 50/50 container blend and their 70/30 container. I'll be ordering from FH after Thanksgiving. I sure am on a time crunch to find a new wax. Our grand re-opening is scheduled for Jan. 2007 that's not much time to find, test and settle on a new wax.

Thanks for the link Junebug, Sounds like I might have gotten a bad batch. Think I'll order a slab from FH and maybe also try some samples from JS. Honestly, didn't even know these suppliers existed! This board's great! Kate

Hello Everyone, Could anyone tell me of a wax that is comparable to the Joy wax? Only better? I used to really like the Joy wax but can't put up with the inconsistencies any longer. I've tried the prodution wax from c&s ... sorry didn't care for it. I tried the gw444 and loved it, will be adding it to our line, but need to find something for my die hard "the scent has to run me out of the house" customers. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Kate