DonnaP

Glad to hear all the responses. I was a little concerned with the response from Trae... that gel does not throw as much scent as parrafin. I had never heard that particular thing before. Now I'm wondering has anyone who has made both gel and wax candles ever tested one against the other Two candles made with exactly the same percentage of FO to see which one actually does throw the most scent. I'm wondering if the wax does have more scent throw as Trae stated ...is there a scientific reason for that. Thanks all

Well after being a member here for a little while I can see there seems to be a large difference between the number of wax chandlers and the number of gel chandlers. I'm just wondering if anyone knows the reason for that. Is it because gel candles are fairly new compared to wax candles. Or is it because people are afraid gel candles. I'm just curious as to why. Sure would love to hear from the wax chandlers. Personally I think there is just so much you can do with gel wax once you learn how to work with it, that you can't do with wax. But I don't know much about working with wax so I may be totally in the wrong with that opinion. All thoughts on this subject are most welcome. Bill and Donna Jacksonville Fla

Ok, I've been reading the posts on smelly jellies. So now I have to ask, what exactly is smelly jellies. And what do you do with them. They are new to me.

Yes, I can believe that's true. I have been ordering gel wax from Iowa and having it shipped to florida. The shipping on 25 lbs. was about $12. The last order I had shipped the price jumped in one month from $12 to almost $20. There's got to be a better way...lol Bill and Donna Jacksonville Fla

I learned from the very beginning especially with gel candles...turn your candle upside down..an clip the wick with either toenail clippers or tiny sharp sissors. Not only do you get a pretty little flame but...that nasty black stuff doesn't fall into your candle.

I was just wondering how everyone measures the amount of FO to put in their gel to get the correct amount each time...once your testing phase is complete. I heard some say they do it by weight...some by volume...some I've talked with at craft shows say they really get confused because ...like ounces can be either weight or volume... So which do you prefer.....scales or measured cups and eyedroppers.

A hair dryer blow gun works great. At least that is what I use on gel candles. Not that it makes my wife happy that I use her blow gun. Gel has a much higher melting point than wax, so melting the wax shouldn't be a problem. The only problem would be the fan on the hair drier blowing the wax as it used to do the gel on me. Solution: Point the gun away from the candle top. Turn on the blow dryer, put your hand over the end of the blow dryer where it draws in air. This will pretty much stop all the air or at least most of it coming out the heat end. I then point the gun at the top of the candle an lift my fingers slightly. As the heat melts the gel you can begin to see it move on the top of the candle. I continue waving the blow dryer over the top of the candle until I see all the gel moving. I then take away the blow dryer and the gel has run smooth all over the top. I also use this method to remove air bubbles the love to collect on the inside glass on gel candles. Hope this helps you Bill and Donna Jacksonville Fla

Bugtussle you sound like you have been truely blessed. You are where many would like to be. I know my wife would. She loves making gel candles and is just in the beginning stages of opening her own business. Feb. will be our opening date. She does pretty much all the work and she lets me do the designing and supervising...lol. Her goal is to be able to get away from the job she works full time and put all her effort into making candles and operating her own business. But we are taking it one small step at a time. I would say as long as you are doing something you love, and are paying the bills...stay with it. There is nothing more satisfying than working for yourself in your own business and especially watching it grow...as yours has. Good luck in the future and may God bless Bill and Donna Jacksonville Fla

My wife and I set up at our local flea market for several weekends before christmas. We sold several hundred dollars worth of Gel Candles rather quickly. We enjoyed the atmosphere a lot. It is a fairly nice flea market. The vendors there sell everything from "junk stuff" as my wife calls it..to antiques..to handmade crafts. We will be opening a permanent shop there beginning in Feb. We have designed what I think is a unique type of forever gel candle..At least I have never seen any like it for sale anywhere...but who knows..there may be some out there somewhere. We are going to use the flea market shop as a stepping stone to build our candle business and hopefully open a stand alone shop at some point in the future. Bill and Donna Jacksonville Fla

I found this information on the US Patent office website. Novelty And Non-Obviousness, Conditions For Obtaining A Patent In order for an invention to be patentable it must be new as defined in the patent law, which provides that an invention cannot be patented if: “(a) the invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent,” or “( the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country more than one year prior to the application for patent in the United States . . .” I would think the part about the item being known or used one year prior to the patent being applied for would cover the question. There is more info on the US Patent site...relating to this matter. Bill Jacksonville Fla.

Probably the best thing you can do is ...Read..Read..Read....good way to spend your time while waiting for you kit or supplies. At least when it does arrive you will have a basic idea of the do's and don'ts of using gell. No matter how long you have been making candles you can always learn something new from reading. And this site is sure a good place to start. Have fun. Bill Jacksonville

I don't know of anyone who does a software program for candles. However, for about an hour maybe of your time, you can use a program i'm sure you already have....Microsoft Excel. You can design your own spread sheet and have it do anything you want. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to be able to work it either. You can probably learn enough to make a simple spread sheet to track anything thing you want with candles in about an hour. Bill Jacksonville

Vicky please let me know when you do the tutorial on forever candles. I would really like to read that. My wife and I was discussing forever candles the other night. We are trying to figure out just how the votive glass goes in the the top of the gel candle. Do you submerge the votive glass in the gel and the then put a tea light candle in the the votive container. Or, do you fill the votive glass with gel and a wick, then inbed that in the top of the gel of the forever candle. I've never seen a web site that really explains how you do that part. Thanks Bill Jacksonville Fla

If you are having problems getting you labels to print where you want them to print....the first thing to check is your printer software program. Most printers when printing labels to exact locations on label paper have to be calibrated first. Check your printer instruction book or software program on how to calibrate your printer. That will make sure it prints exactly where you want it to print. I used to print a lot of round labels for cd's. Each time before I started printing I would run my calibration program to make sure the print was set and lined up properly to print on the round cd labels. And yes, before you go printing and wasting a lot of costly sticky labels. Print on a plain sheet of paper, then hold the paper to a strong light and see if it lines up correctly on your sticky labels. Will save you a lot of money that way. Bill Jacksonville Fl

Just wanted to say hello. My name is bill, my wife donna and I have been making gel candles for about a year now. We love making them. We will even be opening a gel candle shop here in Jacksonville Florida, starting in Feb. Guess we have really got hooked. We are always looking forward to meeting new gel candle makers. My wife does most of the actual work on the candles. She does the melting and mixing and pouring. I do the designing and supervising. Well she lets me do the supervising most of the time. Nice to find this place and looking forward to talking with you all Bill and Donna Jacksonville Florida