cowgirl

MY oh MY. What a great presentation and I have never seen firestarters like that before. Absolutely beautiful.

A remember when gas was $.97 a gallon. HAHA, and at only 24 yrs old... I feel too old already.

I remember the gas wars and it was .24 cents a gallon !!!! I will never forget that !!! I also remember quitting a job when gas got to .75 cents a gallon cuz I was driving 35 miles one way and thought it was rediculous to drive that far. Guess what ??? I pay 3.39/gal now !!! sigh

Everything is going up, doesn't matter if it's candle wax or a loaf of bread or fuel. The point is, do you think your the next Yankee Candle Company or is this a hobby for extra money. Regardless IMO I think it might be a half way decent 2nd income for those who go on the road and do shows week after week or have a store front but to honestly have this as a SOLE source of income and it make a comfortable living that your accustomed to, I doubt it, if so then very few. It's just like being a farmer -- smaller ones are gobbled up by the larger ones. You either figure out a way to be more effecient and go for the gusto or dabble in it as a hobby. In all honesty which are we/you?

OMG, those are just beautiful. Soon as I finish these dang taxes up I have to try soaping, I have all my supplies just no time and I have been working more than I like but soon I will get to try to make soaps like this

All these beautiful soaps that have been in the gallary lately are giving me great inspiration!!! Good job to everyone, keep it up. All you experienced soapers are wonderful !!!

IMHO I don't see wax prices going down even if the bio-diesel program flops or the bottom drops out on bean prices on the CBT. Even if some farmers are planting more corn not all farmers do this, from what I see most plant a 50/50 rotation between corn & beans. I haven't seen $12 beans since the 70's, did the market stay there? NO. But then again that was a different time and era, times have changed, who is to say what will happen in the future. The market is too unpredictible to plant just one crop, if we could predict the futures market for a crop we would all be rich. Can't put all your apples in one cart kinda thing

Not sure if it was a post or in one of those articles ppl keep posting on beans saying farmers are going under etc, that is very true for the small american farmer but what most don't realize is the larger farms are getting larger and larger by buying out the smaller farmer who can't make ends meet and I mean by thousands of acres. There is no small farmer now days and if you are a small farmer its a hobby farm and not your full source of income or the farm was handed down from a previous generation.

I am actually glad we are starting to find other resources for fuel even if it does drive up our cost of wax. I don't know for sure but as a guess I will say that the wax prices have been pretty steady in the past but I have only been making candles for a couple of years so I guess I really shouldn't comment on that

Basically I don't think there is a thing anyone can do about it and if ppl want good candles they will pay for it, is the consumer buying $1 candles that don't scent a room just for the effect or do they want a quality candle ? I have no clue because I never did buy the $1 and $2 candles cuz I figure you get what you pay for. Maybe in this economy ppl will start to realize that. When customers tell me they can buy cheaper candles I tell them go ahead but all your buying is a flame, if you want a candle for its fragrance then try one of mine, very rarely do they walk away w/o buying a candle from me and come back for more with good raves about my candles and tarts

But hey that's just my opinion. Not intended to make anyone upset just my opinion. Sorry to ramble on or be on a soap box

Try securing your wicks, go ahead and pour, then twist and secure wick with a clothespin to your wick centering tool. I think its easier and less time consuming doing it this way. Let me know if it works out for ya

I have had a couple of issues with this company as well and I will never order from them again either. They have a handling fees even on a full box of wax they don't have to repackage. Customer service totally sucks and it's always your fault even when you have proof of what you have ordered and they ship the wrong thing. Just beware. If I were you I would try to find supplies elsewhere.

I drilled holes too and I use a clothespin to keep the wick taunt

I do a second pour for all my candles.

It helps with the sink holes and also helps with my tops looking nice.

I usally don't have to take a heat gun to them when I do the second pour.. HTH:smiley2:

That's what I do also. I rather do a second repour than use a heat gun.

Thanks for the reply, I have already tried cajun and BCN but still on a quest to test more

I used to have those bubbles too and I think its because I stirred the wax too hard/fast using various stir sticks . I now use a rubber slotted spatula and I have not had a bubble since.

Thanks for the reply Stella, that definetly gives me something to think about. I made 3 more batches and burned those and they were fine. I am not sure what I did that day but I do remember it was 89 deg , the only thing I can think of is, I turned the a/c on lower than normal and one was by a vent. The other 2 I am not quite sure. Maybe a draft was on them also and they just cooled way too fast. I was in a hurry that day (too many irons in the fire so to speak) so who knows what I did that caused it. I was really worried because I have never had that problem before

Just out of curosity I would like to know what brand of UV inhibitor everyone uses.

Thanks everyone

ETA - I forgot to say for 'soy' . I am going to start testing new ones and wanted to know what everyones favorite was.

Thanks for the input scent cellar !!!

maybe this will help you http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59029&highlight=NG+palm

lmao top, yep ya gotta watch that moon !!!

yes, i remember those threads, my batch is L7H17.

ETA - maybe i shouldn't say 'bloom' cuz some ppl refer to that as frosting.

My issue is this batch of wax won't cool smooth after the burns. kinda lumpy looking like a head of califlower. does this make sense ?

Nope, I have been pouring candles everyday for the last week, the temp has actually been the same in the house. I keep a watchful eye on the house temp and humidity. Any other ideas ?

Ok, all you seasoned candle makers who use C3 I could use some ideas. I got a new batch of C3 in and like always I test a new batch for problems. It burns fine, flame is good, wicked scents I have already tested.

The problem is this, after the burn and the wax cools its like it 'blooms'. The surface is rough. I am not doing anything different than I normally do. I have even wicked down thinking, ok, this batch is totally different but it still does the same thing.

Any suggestions ??? I am totally confused on this one, the only time I get a 'bloom' (as I call it) is when I have wicked too big.

Yep thats it !!! Nashville wraps has them along with the trays if you want to stack them in the box as well as the wrappers

I believe I saw some in my Nashville Wraps catalog a couple of weeks, try looking on their website I think the website is www.nashvillewraps.com

oops your right it is trademarked i got it mixed up. been up way too many hours the last few days....sorry & thanks for correcting me

How many do you have to buy to get the wholesale price of 5.25 ?

crap !!!! i just realized i won't be here on that day and i would love love love to learn from you E. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr do you have any other days available after the 21st ? i suppose that is way too much to ask but i hope everyone enjoys the lesson. i just love your soaps in the gallery so beautiful

Don't mean to hijack this thread but just wanted to say, it's nice to see Naturewax reps posting on the board and helping us out.