gicandles

I would never use any other votive wax than EL. It has a nice creamy finish and if you add a hardner it makes decent pillars as well.

EL Container wax is excellent. You just have to remember that because it is not a blended or stabalized wax it does have some characteristics to it. I use a couple pallets of EL container in any given month, and can tell you this much. Never stop experimenting. Bottom line for use though... let the wax cool to at least 110 degrees before pouring. You want it in a slushy state. This will create a smooth top and minimize frosting. As for the frosting itself. Tell people that it is a characteristic of 100% soy candles and is a way to check it. I have no problem selling a candle that has some frosting. If a candle does frost go at it with a heat gun (gently!) and this will fix it up. Overall this is a very easy pure soy wax to work with and has excellent cold and hot scent throw. now if I could just get the smell out of my hair.... Have a good one.

I use mostly RRD's and for large or hard to burn containers/FO WI's. I also use the cotton and paper core (cotton is more flexible while paper is stiffer) wicks from wickit.net for votives and tealites. They have some handy charts on their website for sizing. I use a 28-24Paper for 2oz votives and it works great. They have several different options for coating your wicks. No coating, parrafin coating (ahhhh), natural coating, and highmelt coating (both natural and parafin). They make your wicks to custom order. They do have a minimum order, but their prices are so good. I order around 100 000 wicks at a time (minimum I think is 1000) and ship them across the states and into canada and they are still the best I have had both price and quality. They have a chart located here http://wickit.net/recommendations.html#ccw and if you call and ask they can tell you what size you need. Great customer service and will send samples, so you can test before ordering a box. Should mention that I use these all in EL Container, Millenium and Votive Blends. I also get their square braid wick and add a hardner to the Votive wax and make pillars, with no problems.

I have used many Vanilla's over the years and have setteled on EL's Vanilla. If you like french Vanilla's add a mix of EL Buttercream to their vanilla. I had to clients who were bringing in Essential Oil Vanilla Blends (smelled great) and they both dropped them and went back to my EL Vanilla

EL's Container wax takes a little TLC to use as it has no additives or stabalizers in it. So you might have to fight frosting and rough tops. However, their prices can't be beat and they do have distributors all over North America, which can save on the shipping costs. The customer service is excellent. I have used almost half of the FO that they carry and every time they get a new one a 1lbs jug of it lands on my loading dock with my next order. I have never had any scent throw or burning problems with their wax or wicks, and I go through a couple pallets of wax a month. If you are having burning problems with EL wax (particularily votive wax) I would suggest you just need a more powerfull wick. For their votives I use a 28-24 Papercore from wickit.net with a natural wickwax coating. Burns beautifully, and is a natural wick.

I suspect they are made out of EL Millenium blend wax as the Millenium blend shrinks as does not adhere to the glass. Hence why all beanpod candles are in containers with narrower tops. To prevent the candle from falling out. EL and Beanpod/Soybasics are the same people. Still no parrafin though.

We use EL wax in all of our candles. We mainly use the container and votive wax. From time to time or for special applications we will use the EL Millenium Blend. A couple of things that everyone should note about the EL container wax is that it is one of the few 100% soy waxes out there. There is nothing else blended in. Therefore it does not naturally have nice smooth tops like most blends. To obtain the smooth tops you need to pour at the coolest temperature possible, and two pour your candles. The thinner the second layer is the smoother the top will be. The advantage is that you candle is 100% soy (assuming no fragrance or dye) and many clients are out there looking for this. As for votive wicks... I usually use a 24-28 Twisted Papercore available from Wickit.net. I get all of my wicks from them and have never had a problem. I am not sure what their pricing is like in smaller quantities as I usually get 20-30K at a time. I have found that any cotton or papercore wicks work excellent in EL wax... also note that you can get wicks coated in a Highmelt Natural Wick Wax from wickit now which works wonderfull on hard to burn items. If any frosting occurs just go at it with a heat gun or blowdryer. Same with a bumpy surface. Just be carefull of your wick. If it has a wick wax you should cover it with a drinking straw to prevent melting the wick! The biggest thing to remember about EL Soy Wax is that the regular container blend does not contain any of the additives that most soy waxes these day do. So it does take a little more work, but ultimately it is more soy than many. Also if you like to do layered candles then EL Millenium is excellent as it is a little harder and the layers do not blend together. Also hardens faster so you don't have to wait as long to pour a second colour/fragrance. I hope this has been of some assistance. Stefan