Nodtveidt

Michael's is a craft supply chain in the US. They're okay I reckon...nothing too special though. If you're getting a lot of bubbles, it's likely because you're pouring right after a vigorous stir! You could try some Vybar 260 to help stop the bubble problem. Also, scent blocks are a waste of money...go for proper fragrance oils, you'll have much better results. Also, watch out for "candle nose"!

With paraffin, I generally add FO at about 170, which is just above the temp I usually pour at. The Vybar I add helps with FO retention. With Soy wax though, I add the FO at a lower temp, usually around 140.

Might work, but if the pour spout is open, you might have to get creative if you fill that far. Even thin ceramic seems to hold up very well to overwicked candles that burn hot (verified after over 200 intentionally abusive test burns) so it's likely fine, as long as the wax sticks (sometimes some waxes won't stick properly/completely to thickly-glazed ceramic but a secured wick can help keep the wax in also).

I've worked with paraffin for years and only recently attempted soy. Soy wax is for advanced users, it's more difficult to work with than paraffin to get similar results...soy has frosting problems (especially with 100% soy), dyes come out lighter, not all FOs hold as well, wick sizes change, and of course, lower temperatures (a real problem where we are) and a different pour style all add up to an experience in and of itself. But using soy has distinct advantages, mainly in that you're supporting farmers rather than oil companies, and soy is a renewable resource, unlike oil. Also, with the right usage of additives, soy can be very effective and beautiful. It takes a lot of practice and note-taking though, as any other type of candlemaking does, and since you're basically taking on a whole new process, it's almost as if you're starting from scratch. But it's SO worth it to take the plunge into soy...you won't regret it after you've got the process down!

Mod Podge!

I'll call them and yell at them for not providing accurate information.

My wife found some pretty negative information online about Silly Soap too. They're probably one to avoid.

¿Usaste una tarjeta de credito o paypal? Si usaste una tarjeta de credito, llama a la compañia y le dices que pas'o, ellos te van a dar instrucciones de como proceder. Si fue por paypal, hay un mecanismo en la misma pagina de paypal para poner una queja. Que bueno ver otra persona aqui en el foro de PR.

:rolleyes2 I never said 1 pallet. And I still don't see where they say you have to order 12 tons of wax per year to order 2 pallets. Can someone please provide a link to this information?

You start by posting in the correct forum. But aside from that, it depends on the kind of wax you use and the potency of the fragrance oil.

The two small-time chandlers we met with here in PR also had their parrafin wax imported from China, and they were able to sell it to us for less than we could have it imported from the US.

Hrm...I don't see that anywhere on their website. This page specifically states the minimum order is 2 palletes.

That's exactly the reason. It is VERY expensive to ship to Puerto Rico using FedEx or UPS unless you select one of their economy plans, and in that case, Parcel Post is STILL cheaper (although we tend to use Priority to get stuff here faster).

We sell a hell of a lot more soap than candles, mainly because everyone's gotta bathe. Our one independant seller has no problems moving scores of soap bars each week. The best thing to do is get matching sets put together, try gift baskets and the like and people will love 'em.

I see a lot of people here swear by Ecosoya CB-135, some preferring it over Ecosoya CB-Advanced (guess there's a tradeoff between frosting and scent throw with these two waxes).

Our old FO supplier gave us the wrong information then...oh well. Thanks for the clarification.

As a general rule, we avoid ebay stores, so no comments here.

One thing to remember is that no real-time shipping application is always going to be 100% accurate when it comes to "our line of work". Of course, it largely depends on the shipper, but weight estimates are only so accurate. That's why I generally discourage realtime shipping calculators...anything that isn't 100% accurate ALL THE TIME simply isn't to be trusted. As far as PayPal goes...they're a good start for shopping cart/gateway all-in-one...until they screw up and leave you hosed with no explanation and no refunds. If you run a serious business, PayPal used this way probably isn't the method for you. We offer the PayPal payment method to our customers out of convenience, but their shopping system leaves much to be desired for a serious application. You're best off looking elsewhere. On that note, apparently Google is trying to get in on the same kind of system, but I don't know how far along they are.

If you need wax, go through IGI directly. Their minimum order is only 4000 lbs and they have lots of available blends, including (and this is what interested me) three different types of palm wax.

No, you don't have to, but anyone who wants to have full control over their website should have at least a basic understanding of HTML. It seems a lot of people are afraid of it, as if it's some kind of monster or "thing that only nerds do". It's nothing to be afraid of, it's incredibly easy to do and you'll get a lot more satisfaction out of the finished product when you can look at it and say "I did all that myself!" rather than letting someone else do it or using some hokey design tool that makes your site look like it was cut with a cookie cutter anyways.

FedEx sucks and is expensive anyways. UPS sucks even more. USPS sucks if you mark things "Fragile", they will deliberately try to break them because it's all fun and games to them. NEVER mark anything as "Fragile" or it will get broken by some dips**t USPS "worker" with too much time on his hands. Lessons learned the hard way. We have everything sent via USPS because it's way too expensive through FedEx or UPS. When it comes time for wax skids though, we'll have to go with a freight company, but they tend to be more reliable anyways.

My wife and I used to run a webhosting business of our own but we decided to get out of webhosting because of the sheer oversaturation of web hosts. We still have paying clients, but we're not taking on any new ones. There's very little money in web hosting anymore unless you're already a giant or simply get lucky because web hosting has gone the way of the Wal-Mart Mentality...paying very little for a subpar product, and not giving a rat when it comes time to replace it. Our service was very straightforward but we never offered any web builders or anything like that...we did have the usual cPanel/Fantastico setup though, so accounts came with tons of content managers, portal systems, etc.

No one's a natural born candle artist, so don't worry. It's a learned art, and one that you can always improve on. I've been doing it for many years and I still learn something new every day. Never give up!

I read something here about the Bluegrass people having some family health problems.

Most any one-pour paraffin-soy blended wax. Straight paraffin or a "requires repour" paraffin blend isn't as easy to use (since you have to repour), and you should avoid vegetable waxes if you're just starting out, especially if you get frustrated easily.