Elizabeth

the norm is 1 oz per pound of oils. A tablespoon (depending on the size of your tablespoon, some are 10 ml some are 15 ml) is not quite 1/2 oz. So I think you underscented this two pound batch. But like the others said, some fo's are pretty strong and you can get away with only using 1/2 oz per pound of oils. Just depends...

Looks pretty good E. Nice work!

that mottling on the ivory is gorgeous. I really don't care much for the black though, it's in too much contrast i think. I like trish's idea although i would lighten that black up some to maybe a smokey gray and try to do that part with a frosty rustic look and keep the ivory sections mottled. Not asking for much now am i LOL

Those are really nice! I bet you're an old pro at them now lol

Whoops!!!!!

i bet you can find all kinds of interesting molds at the antique store! good idea

Add alcohol to make balls harder? And the moderators allow this type of language?

Seriously... Liz, we peeps down south PRAY for 70% humidity! Houston won't see 70% humidity until November/December.

My blow-up issues went away when I decreased the salts and also warmed them in the oven for about 30 minutes or so.

Bri

oh did i say 70%? I mean 700%

Actually that was just the humidity for that particualr day. It does vary here going up much higher. But on an up note, my plants are all doing wonderfully. Greenhouse effect ya know lol

I used the 6 tsp of Alcohol that the recipie recommended, and it still wasnt moist enough that I could make my 2 halves of ball mold stick together. Do you think i would be better off decreasing it and spraying my ball halves to make the stick?

Melly, the first time I tried it I added in all of the alcohol at once and it didn't work so good for me. What i do now, is fill a spray bottle up with alcohol and mist it onto the bbomb mix, stopping occassionally to stir. I think i counted a total of 30 sprays of alcohol lol

I mist about 10 times, stop mix, mist 10 more times, stop mix, etc. This is just a guideline for you. You may have to mist a bit more or less until you get the right consistency for molding HTH.

water always works great for me.

hmm...

Well, I tried them, I ended up with Worty bath bombs that reak of alcohol, and would not form a ball, had to make half balls. any suggestions? I will try a batch without the salt tommarrow and let you know how it all goes.

they will smell like alcohol while they are still wet

The alcohol evaporates out so there is no alcohol smell in the finished product. Wait 24 hrs after you've made them then sniff.

BTW, How much did you use cuz you don't need to use a lot. Just enough to moisten the mix enough to mold.

Nice work Sherry. Beautiful presentations.

very nice!

Whats on the bottom one? is that an embed or just a different color wax?

they are adorable!!

No that is not what is happening. I thought of that and ruled it out as the things that end up happening will be the cauliflower effect, all the sudden the candle will burn to hot things like. The things I have experienced ice crystal don't account for if all the sudden it didn't burn or just burned poorly I would have said moisture in the candle.

So I did some experimenting and in all most all the candles I made the ones that got frozen had some kind of effect and didn't burn the same as the ones that where in a controled conditions. The heat will effect it also just not with as dramatic results.

well crap! I have no idea then. I wonder if the MSDS has anything within it to explain?

Vicky, i'd be willing to bet that the reason the soy candles that were frozen burned so crappy was because of condensation occuring from being frozen. The air trapped inside the closed container contains some degree of moisture and freezing it will cause it to form tiny ice crystals . When thawed, that water will lay on the top of the candle, possibly even being inside the candle if there was any trapped air bubbles.

I've made soy candles and i've not experienced this "growing" thing but to my way of thinking the bottom line is, and this is in regard to hot throw, fragrance will be released from a candle when it is warmed whether or not it has cured or not and having it sit longer doesn't really do anything to change the structure of the fragrance oil or its "binding" to wax. Now remember, this is just my opinion based on my own experiences. I am still on the hunt though for some objective data to prove this whole cure thing one way or another.

sorry but it is way to blurry for me to make out a thing.

LOL! Bunny! I know it! I really wanted to meet you all too! Definately count me in for next year though!

yeah yeah, but next year you'll be preggers or have a new baby and won't wanna leave him/her.

LOL, you just reminded me of my first encounter with lye and soapmaking.

The very first time I made soap, I was extremely cautious, probably went a bit overboard. It was the middle of summer, I put on a long sleeved flannel shirt, long pants, socks, shoes, goggles, gloves up to my elbows. I measured out the lye, put it in the pitcher, and then went outside, far from the house and added my water, being sure to keep a far distance from the pitcher as i stirred. OMG, what a freak I was about it! LOL

Now, i just mix it right in my kitchen, shorts, tank, barefooted, only i still do always make sure i have on my goggles when mixing it.

edited to add: Disclaimier: This is in no way an endorsement of mixing up the lye bareskinned.

While it is a really cool idea, i would heed caution in doing this.The porous nature of the gourd can actually wick the wax/oils in and it could combust giving you a real pretty fireball

That's what I'm talkin' about

not to be a smarty... but one week you do not smell but the next week you do Your right about how long something can cure though...... try pickles, or Beer, (ok so I am not a wine drinker)..... they can only get so great........and only get so ..well quaility..

and your right about the candle nose... but next week when i cannot smell the one that has been cured for 2 weeks.. after not playing with any fragrance at all............. well end of story...

loved your post.....gives us all something to think about.......

Cathy

Not really sure what you're driving at but if you are saying that after 2 weeks you still can not smell your candles, then I'd say you should look at the fo's you are using and possibly the amounts. That is of course if you are using less than is recommended for your particular wax.

They are kinda interesting. Havent' seen many with that sort of marbeling effect.

I really don't think they're all that bad. I've seen worse lol

I personally do not subscribe to the whole "curing" theory. I think the only thing that occurs during that time one is waiting for a candle to "cure" is that you've given your nose a break from the scents and it smells "stronger" to you. Once you put that cap on the container, there isn't any magical chemical "reactions" that occur lending to a more fragrant candle. I've burned candles as soon as they've hardened and they've been wonderfully fragrant and no less so than ones I've had sitting on the shelf for 6 months!!

This of course is just my opinion and if anyone has some real, tangible proof to show otherwise, I'd be very interested in seeing it.And by tangible, I mean some proven data that supports it. Anything else is just a matter of opinion.

Here's an intersting note: In researching bathbombs I read about some people that were having "blow up" issues omitting the additional salts (i.e., epsom, dead sea salt whatever you use). The mindset was that they attracted atmospheric moisture to the bath bomb. It seemed that omitting these extra salts dramatically improved their end product.

I tried it out, and although my bombs didn't have the visual appeal that the epsom salts lend, they seemed to set up quicker and got harder faster.

Since I usually don't have blow up issues, and in light of the visual and label appeals to adding the additional salts, i opted to continue using them.

Just thought i'd throw that out there for those of you who are having a hard time because of humidity. (although I live in michigan, surrounded on three sides by HUGE lakes with 90+ temps and a relative humidy of 70++ and i don't have issues with blow ups. I really believe the alcohol is key! )

I am racking my brain on how to package these. I have been selling them naked at the moment, but have heard comments about other people touching them. I don't want to do shrink wrap because of the time and cost. I have wrapped them in tule but with doing different designs I want them to see the bombs clearly.

Also, what do most of you sell your bombs for? Not sure if I am underselling or not.

Thanks!

What are you selling yours for?