KarenOH

Yesterday I tested my first Premier 700 series wick. I found the burn to be excellent but I had absolutely no throw with this wick using a scent that throws like crazy with my CD's. I've used 415 for 6 yrs, been pouring soy for 7. My personal preference is the CD's and CDN's for pure soy. I feel I get the best burn and the best throw with these wicks. Cotton's would be my second choice and I am actually starting to use them for my harder to wick scents. Sent you a PM. Karen

I've been pouring soy for 7 yrs and have always trimmed my wicks to 1/2" with no problem. That's what I was told when I first started and it works for me. This is from KY's site: With soy candles you do not need to trim the wick as short as you normally would with paraffin wax. Soy wax does need a little extra to get took off burning well the first time. This is from Candle Soylutions site: Trim wick to 1/2" length

Flickers carries one also. Since I have never smelled Aveda I have no idea how close it is but it's very nice.

Guilty as charged! 10-12 hours easy on the weekends. And just last week I left one burning all night in the living room. I woke up a couple times and could smell it..I just thought, damn that Wildberry Mousse has a terrific lingering scent!! Got up and saw it had burned all night and about had a stroke. And the melt pool was still only between 1/4-1/2" after 14 hrs.

I love Apple & Maple Bourbon from Candle Science. My other apple scents are Apple Danish from Heartfelt. Cinnamon Apple and Gingerbread Applesauce from TCS. Toffee Apple Crunch from Keystone is another great apple scent.

My advise would be to start with a candlemaking kit...Deb has already suggested Millcreek for their FO's and they do offer a kit at a very reasonable price. Then if you find you still want to make candles stick with one or two suppliers at least at first. Actually if you find you like the kit at Millcreek..you could stick with them for everything and have some excellent candles. If you try to order from every supplier that someone mentions you will end up spending a fortune in shipping charges. And as everyone knows...shipping is a killer!! Good luck!

I've been having problems too. Haven't changed a thing in 6 years...have always used GB415, CD wicks and get my FO's from the same suppliers as I always have. Bought new cases of wax, changed wicks and was still having problems. I even went a step further and changed jars...went from an 8oz jj to a 9oz salsa jar. For some reason changing jars was what worked for me.

You should never have to pay anyone to fix your credit report. Once a year you can request a free copy of your report from all 3 reporting agencies. Check it for discrepencies, if you find any you can fix it right thru the reporting agency. You really need to get all 3 reports too, even though they get all the same info from the Credit Bureau they always seem to be a bit different. The only thing you can't get for free is your FICO score...I think it's usually $9.95 from each agency. Like your credit report the FICO score can vary from agency to agency. It's worth getting it from at least one if you are planning any major purchase in the near future. https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp PS..yes Dun & Bradstreet is for real. We use them at work.

I love TCS!!!

Tennessee Candle Supply.....wax, wicks, jars and fantastic FO's! Great customer service too!

Rustic Escentuals (Longwyck's formulation)

Fresh Baked Cookies from Heartfelt is the best cookie scent I have found for soy. It's not really a sugar cookie but smells just like cookies baking in the oven. Miight be an option for you if you can't find what you are looking for. The majority of her scents are awesome in pure soy and she has great customer service.

I quit coloring my candles in 2001. Saw an immediate increase in my sales. The feedback I got from the majority of customers was that they could now buy their favorite scent without having to worry if the color clashed in their rooms. I had the occassional customer who equated no color with no scent but they were and are few and far between. It is true that color draws people attention so in my opinion the key in making a colorless candle work is how you present it. Eye catching label or hang tag, at craft shows or in stores use colors that naturally attract attention(I did a poll and the majority of customers I asked this of said they gravitate towards shades of red). Like Susan said, you can't please everybody so follow your instinct. Karen

WSP has customer ratings and ICS/Snowtop has a new message board just for rating their FO's.

Christmas Wreath - Willow Woods Berries & Balsam - Just Scent Christmas Splendor - TCS Gingerbread Cookies - ICS/Snowtop Gingerbread Applesauce - TCS Sugared Spruce - ICS HTH

I have tested several different apple scents and have found nothing that compares to Heartfelts.

Eve....I test basically the same way you do and have for 10 yrs and it works out great...start in a small area and work your way out to the bigger areas. Nothing wrong with that. Everyone has to do what works for them...and what works for us may not work for someone else but that definitely doesn't mean it's wrong. Keep up the good work...I enjoyed your helpful review and appreciate the time and effort you put into testing and posting your results. There are a lot of people who aren't that giving! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the help. Appreciate the responses!!

Judy...Northstar is a very good company to deal with. Great customer service and quality oils. There were other oils I used from them with great results but they have been discontinued...they had an awesome Strawberry-Kiwi and Rain Forest.

I am switching from CD's to CDN's and am in the process of re-testing all my FO's. Has anyone who made the switch have to go down or possibly up with the CDN's from the CD's they were used to using? The info I received from one supplier sounds like I could go down 1 size, just curious if anyone has found this to be true. I am using GB415, 8 oz jj and 8% FO...I am starting with the CDN12. Thanks!

Try this link - http://www.odod.state.oh.us/onestop/ All you really need is a vendors license to get started and they are available thru your county Auditor's office. In Stark county they are $25, not sure if that is a state wide fee or if each county sets their own. You can either register with your name or with a fictitious business name.

I use TCS's Pumpkin Souffle and when I first started burning it to me it did smell like it was burnt. But it seems to lose that after curing a bit longer. My testers are in love with the scent and they couldn't detect any burnt smell. Hopefully the CS version will do the same. BTW...IMO they are identical OOB.

OMGosh...I ripped that baby open as I was coming in the door.....my neighbors probably thought I had gotten a huge check I was so happy!! Couldn't get them opened fast enough. OOB I am loving most of them...not real sure about Palm Tree or Basil & Herb but will definitely put them in the wax because I know better than to judge OOB. My favorite has to be the Tuscon Melon & Apricot...talk about a beautiful scent!! Also got Pumpkin Souffle(OOB very similar to TCS), Peach, Mistletoe, Blueberry Cobbler, Blueberry Cheesecake, Brandied Pear and English Garden. Can't wait to get them in wax!!

Candle Science has a great Cranberry Marmalade and a Scotch Pine both are great in GB415. Willow Woods has Christmas Wreath and it has a lot of balsam in it...a huge seller for me. Just Scent has Berry Balsam....not sure how close it would be to what you are looking for but it's awesome in GB415 and was a great seller for me last year.

Lorraine...you can't go wrong with any of their scents that have 3 leaves. I love their rating system and have yet to find one that doesn't throw in GB415. Cranberry Marmalade would be great for the holidays, have heard great things about Mistletoe(still have to test that one), Apple Maple Bourbon is excellent and one that you don't hear much about but I love it. Scotch Pine is another strong one. As I said...check out the rating system you won't be sorry!