soygirl

You make an excellent argument MommaD. I guess I can say that I make my lotions. Thanks!

Thank you. Your comments are very helpful. I really do love the properties of the base I found, and I doubt I would be able to make anthing similar without a lot of trial and error (and expense!). I have enormous respect for those who do make their own though, and wouldn't want to sell them short by claiming that I make my lotion. I like the idea of stressing how much I believe in the base that I found, and that I add my own special "touches".

I am going to get into selling scented soy lotion along with my soy candle line. I have found a premade lotion base that I love, and have tested it with seven of my skin-safe fragrances on friends and family for over six months now. My question is this: For those of you who buy lotion base and scent it to sell - how do you answer the question "Do you make this yourself?" I have been telling people that I buy the lotion base, add fragrance and package it. I'm wondering if there is a better way to say this. Technically I'm not making it. It's not my own formula. But, it's still a lot of work to add fragrance and package it, so I consider it my own product. How do others handle this question? TIA, Margie

Topofmurrayhill, I have to laugh at myself and my pathetic attempts to change the world too, because all my efforts may amount to nothing. Perhaps recycling is a big waste of community funding that costs more than it saves. Maybe it won't make a difference to the water supply if I use eco-friendly laundry detergent. There is no way that I will ever be able to justify every decision that I make. But, I keep trying anyway, because I feel that doing something with the best of intentions is better than doing nothing. I try to research and make informed decisions. Eco-trendiness may be the selling point of my candles, but it isn't my influence for making the decisions that I make. I'm not particularily worried about the world wax supply. It's the oil supply I am concerned with, and not only due to shortage, but moreso because nobody has gone to war over soybean rights that I know of. Paraffin is a by-product of oil refining, so I guess the argument can be made that it is a good use of something that would otherwise be thrown away. But, refining less oil creates less paraffin, so as we find fossil fuel substitutes, we will also need paraffin substitutes. I'm sorry if this answer was too political. I realize we are supposed to avoid political issues on this board.

Hi Jodie, Welcome to the board. I haven't personally tried EOs. I use FOs in soy wax with a universal additive. I've heard that EOs are harder to work with, and some have poor throw in soy wax. Others can give a much better opinion on this. I have never actually heard that EOs burn "cleaner" than FO, but, FOs can contain solvents like mineral oil, for example that I don't think EOs contain. You didn't say what kind of wax you will be using. If it will be soy wax, there are a lot of arguments against soy wax being completely natural - pesticides and fungicides used in soybean farming; chemicals added for soybean oil extraction; the hydrogenization process to raise the meltpoint to make soybean oil into wax. I'm not bashing soy wax. I'm just saying that if you claim it is all-natural, be prepared to meet a lot of argument. If you did buy organically raised soybeans, and use a natural extraction process rather than a chemical one, you would have a natural soybean oil. But there's still no way around the hydrogenization process to change the chemical structure to turn it into a "wax". My understanding is that palm wax and bayberry wax are more natural than soy, because an actual wax-type substance is extracted, and does not require modification to the chemical structure. Someone else please feel free to jump in and correct me if I am wrong about this. Henryk? You seem to know a lot about palm wax. Anyway, to cut myself off, because I tend to ramble on...the question is, if your wax is not all-natural to begin with, why use a "cleaner" candle argument when choosing an oil type? I agree with your thinking - that with all the competition out there, you should go with the type of oil that gives more choices and better fragrance throw ability. You could also look into soy-based FOs, that contain less mineral oil than regular FOs, as a compromise with your husband.

I work as an assistant for a department full of scientists and chemical engineers. I asked one of them about the new high temperature plastics - they make bakeware out of them. I asked if you couldn't make a clear high temp plastic, to be used as a candle container. He told me it's not likely, because, although the new high temp plastics are very heat resistant, they are actually flammable. In other words, the container could potentially catch on fire when the wick burned to the bottom. So, I guess they would work well for wickless candles, but not candles with wicks. I don't know if this is the same with polycarbonate containers, but if it is flammable, it probably needs an extremely hot temperature wick to catch on fire. A tiny tea light wick doesn't burn very hot. Just thought I would throw that information out there, in case you are thinking of testing acrylic jars. Watch them very carefully when they get to the bottom, and put them in a heat resistant dish, in case it actually melts through at the bottom. Be safe - and let us know what you find out:)

Yes, Chad, that's true. But, I still feel that the end result is reduction in the use of a non-renewable resource. That's why I use soy wax. Afterall, additional energy sources are also required to pump and refine oil. So, if the fossil fuels consumed in processing of paraffin versus soy wax cancel each other out - in the end you are still using a renewable resource as candle fuel. It's not the tiny differences - it's the huge difference that results from the combination of all the tiny differences. That's what will change the world:) I know, I'm a hopeless optimist:wink2:

I posted this on the old board once. I named my business Thumbwick Candles, because my last name means thumb (or finger) in Czech. So I played around with Thumb - Thumbthing, Thumbody, stuff like that, and finally settled on Thumbwick, which I think sounds like it could be a small village somewhere in England, although it's not as far as I know. I wanted to create a new word, so I could be fairly sure no one else was using the name. I googled it, and not a thing came up! Can you believe it? Well, then I knew it was the name for me, plus it's a lot easier to spell than my real name:)

I order fragrances from Northstar a lot. Everything I have ordered (about 20 different FOs) works really well in soy. They have great customer service, and fast shipping to Wisconsin. Also, their 16 oz. fragrances come with nice spout tops that pour well. I don't get the ultra FOs, so I can't comment on them. I haven't tried Scents for Soy yet.

My mistake. I should specify that what I am ordering are the ceramic, tealight-type wax potpourri melters/burners. Not the electric ones. I just wanted to clarify that. By the way, what's the best price anyone has found on wholesale electric plate-style warmers? Levine carries them, but they are even more expensive than you can get them at Walmart.

As far as craft fairs, you could try doing a Google search of your state name plus craft fairs. I found several sites for Wisconsin that way. I also recommend Craftlister.com. They send out a nice newsletter with a lot of great tips. But, several of the larger shows in Wisconsin are not listed there, so I try to consult as many sources as possible. I may also be able to help you out with the tart warmers. I am planning on putting in a wholesale order very soon for 240 warmers - which is way more than my business currently needs. I estimate my cost to be less than $1.50 each with shipping. I will post pictures, dimensions and prices in the classified section when I have them. You can buy them from me at my wholesale price, just pay whatever it costs to ship them to you. Check the classifieds section in about 3 weeks. -Margie

So glad the board is running again. I really missed it. I don't post much, but I read it all the time. Just wondering - Since we all had to create new accounts, does that mean that we will never be able to search old posts by members anymore?

I use plastic wrap too. If you get Glad Wrap with the new sliding cutter bar, there is a lot less frustration with losing the roll end, or having your plastic stick together. I pull out a length of wrap, cut it, then cut in thirds with a scissors and wrap 3 melts (tarts) closed at the back. I hold the wrap closed with a warning label. On the front I put a small label (sized 1/2" x 1 3/4 - the edges have to fold over a bit, because my melts are only 1 1/2" wide) with my business name, website and scent. It seems kind of unnecessary to put a warning label on a melt, but since people use them with tea light burners, it never hurts to give one more warning about candle safety. The tart warnings also tell people to remove the packaging, and I guess if they have never used one before - they might not know that. You laugh - but my mother told me that when she first got married she didn't know how to cook at all. She bought some brown and serve rolls. She followed the directions, which said to warm them in the oven, but, she never took the plastic wrap off, because the directions didn't mention that. Needless to say, it melted all over the rolls and they were ruined.