aimgrace

I get my ocean from peak candles. Smells great and get lots of requests.

I have those exact containers. I got them when I redecorated my living room and needed something trendy. I LOVE them. Only I now that my soy is all burned through thought about some palm in them. I used Vanilla Passion/sandlewood and Mahogony and red and beige to match my living room. I had to double wic on them. I did not wick in the corners though like you did. I wicked directly in the center between all four corners. They came out great and burned more evenly than the status jars I have. But that was soy and not palm. But maybe wicking in the direct middle might help? Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Love the color and the glass glow. Every time I try to order it is on back order. Hopefully soon.....

I wanted to say thanks to everyone on these threads. I have learned so much from everyone. Today I was making 2 round pillars. I have learned from everyone who does pillars about the hot, molten, wax spills that can potientially happnen. So I always pour slowly and watch closely to the bottom. I always have my molds on a rack on a cookie sheet just in case. Well today I ended up with a nasty leak. Since I pour so slowly and watch so closely to the bottom, I was able to save myself from a nasty clean up. So thanks everyone for sharing your adventures and mis-adventures. You may never know just how much you may be teaching someone.

NICE!!! I absolutely love all the palm waxes. I may actually be changing from soy to palm because of how beautifully they turn out. Also better scent throw than soy in my opinion. Just made a starburst myself yesterday. Coffee with a hint of vanilla and chocolate. CS has the best smelling coffee I have EVER smelled, and the vanilla is from peak, and the chocolate is from cajun candles. Once together, my neighbor stole one from me. She loved the "recipe" and has never seen a palm before, so it is now at her house:( . Oh well. The other was a gift for helping me with my sick daughter, so I don't have one for me. I only have my test candles and there is no scent throw from those. UGGG. Guess I will be busy for myself today:yay: .

I am so glad I happened by this post. I have some metal molds I made I coffee scented/brown colored candle in yesterday. I am making an aqua color/ocean scented today and didn't want an ocean/coffee, brown/aqua candle. I used palm wax, and that stuff just breaks and slides out so good, but no chances. The oceans are gifts. So to the oven I go. Thanks all. -Aimee

I have been sucked into this candle addiction for a while now. I love it. I just got my box of palm wax. I am fixin' to to make a couple of layered ocean, vanilla scented pillars with it. I want to do some swirls but I don't have any liquid dye, so I am making layered. I can't wait. Thanks again for making me feel better about those evil wet spots. I also got some container decorations, so I will go and hide those beautiful wet spots with it.

Thank you all so much for helping me feel better. You are right of course. I have seen those candles that start with a Y, and even some at bath and body with them. As long as they burn even and smell great that is all that matters right? Now....just to see a G....C...... with some, than all my woes will be vanquished I just burned one that I made for my mom and it has burned past the wet spots but when it cools, it looks great, so least it does that. I must have been having a bad candle day. I can't wait till my latest shipment comes in. More to make yay. And maybe the soy I got from cajun candles will treat me better the second time around. Thanks again. -Aimee:grin2:

So I have gone through the archives and tried just about everything. I warm up my containers. I hot soak while melting. I cool down my soy to 100 degrees. I use my hair dryer ( actually does work wonders and saves me money for a heat gun) to fix my tops and remelt the sides. This is the only thing that gets rid of my wet spots, but it takes a LONG,LONG,LONG time and my hand will fall asleep when I am trying to do the bottom, and I have to use a heat pad so I won't burn my fingers. THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!!!! I know with soy I should not have to warm my container, but that didn't work either. I have also tried several soys, and sometimes peaks advanced soy container works best, floridasoysolutions sometimes works, but cajun candles soy container is awful. I only tried one container, but it came out crumbly and uneven on the top and sides, and there were all kinds of gas (air) pockets throughout. I use a box lined with towels, or a cooler lined with towels and let it cool in a draft free quiet spot and my palm pillars come out perfectly, but my soy containers come out awful. They smell great cold throw, but I can't smell anything hot throw, but that could be that I am not using enough fo. I have all kinds of requests for my soy, but I just am about to give up. Help..... Please.....

I got one from peak supply. I have't tried it yet, but it comes with a little "stand" to keep it level while it cools.

I so wish we could get our ducts cleaned. We tried to have military housing out to do it and was told the because out house is only 7 yrs old, they don't need it. Right...I constantly run the fan in the house becaues when air gets stagnit (sp) than my son and I have constant asthma attacks. I fought hard to have our ducts cleaned because my son (3 yrs) kept getting pneumonia every 6 weeks. He is finally better and the only thing we have to live with is constant nose bleeds, but that is better than not breathing at all. I was quite angry, so we just vaccum the intake and all the vents at least twice a week. I didn't think about polution and the furnace being a source. Our furnace is gas powered.

This is very informative. Thank you for the article. I just started making candles, and I have lived in my house for 3 1/2 yrs. This house was built in 1999 and first occupied in 2000. We were the second family to live in the house. I have found this "phenomenon" around the door frames in my upstairs bedrooms and am constantly cleaning this up using bleach because I thought it was mold. I also find it around my picture frames and heat and air vents. I hate it. I am always burning candles, but only soy and have only burned soy candles since we lived here because my son has severe asthma and allergies. I live in military base housing, so I wonder what causes it too in our house. I know it isn't from making and testing my candles because I only started last November and I have found this since we moved here in Oct. of 2003. Hmmmm.:undecided

Peak is where I began my addiction too. Actually I began my addiction at Michales to see if I could do it. Now Peak owns me. I think I order something once a week. Have fun with it. I have never been able to make anything. Now I have friends and family telling me I should go into business. You will love it. Especially once you figure out the wick thing.

I was wondering this too because I picked up one of these to see how they may turn out. What about the large square jars from walmart. I am redecorationg and my husband just brought 6 of those home for me to make my soy in.

So how do you keep them away? I usually will warm my containers in the oven, or soak them in a hot water bath while I am melting my wax and then just before I pour, I take it out of the hot bath or oven, and prepare my container. I make sure I pour the wax at the recommended pour temp and the container is warm. Yet I still get the wet spots. I then, after cooling for 48 hrs will soak the candle in warm water, making sure I keep it below the lip of the container, so as to not get the actual wax wet. I will get rid of the wet spots and my repour lines seal better. It looks like what it is supposed to, and burns great, but I know that is not the recommended way to keep those stupid wet spots away.

So glad you are okay!!! My family lived through the F-5 in Oklahoma in May of 1999. So scary. It will take a long time for your town to heal, and it is sad about the kids at the high school. Well, at least you had your testers around the house to have some light. I know how much scarier it would have been if you didn't have any light.

I actually have not had a problem with mine getting stuck in the mold. If it is hard to get out, I will pop it in the fridge for about half an hour then it comes out no prob. I let mine cool overnight in the mold then when I went to take it out, the ball flew across my kitchen and I had to remelt and redo because I dented it when it flew out. My regular molds are easy, but I didn't expect it to be that easy. Funny thing, my husband was walking in to check out how it turned out and it was flying right at him. I would not use mineral oil. Cleaning and putting some pam in is what I have been told, but so far, I haven't had to use anything. My votives are the only things I have had to put in fridge, and that was with soy.

I am new to ball molds too. The big hole is for pouring the wax. Unlike other molds that have a small hole on the bottom for wicking, the ball mold does not. Once you actually complete the candle and it is ready to take out (comes out rather easily, just kinda roll it out), I learned a tip from this forum to take a long nail, get it hot, and push it through the candle. You can also do the same with a wick pin for 6 inch pillars to do this. Once you have the hole through the center push your wick through. As far as wax is concerned, I started with pillar wax from Michales just to learn how to make pillars without spending too much, but I don't really like it. I use the basic pillar wax from peak candle supplies and add a small amount of vybar to it. With candle making, you get what you pay for. I usually get my wax from candle suppliers because this is what they specialize in. The wax is usually about 9$ cheaper for the same amt you get in hobby stores, but with shipping it equals out. Only you are getting a better product from a company that can help you anytime you need it. One thing I have found is that the places where you buy your supplies will help you if you have any questions and will also help you get the wax you need for your project. I have called Peak before and spent over an hour on the phone as they helped me through a project. I don't recommend that but that is how great their customer service is. I really hope I have helped you a little bit. I am new at this whole thing, but I have already gotten great advice from others here. You asked the same thing I did earlier this week.

24$ for an 8oz candle?? Are you kidding me? Maybe 8$ but certainly not 24$. I also think those roses look a bit dangerous. I would remove them first. Wow.

That is an awesome idea. Didn't think of that one. I don't want anything to happen to my mold since I am new to this whole thing. Once I get my candle done, I will post a picture of it. I just have to have enough patience to wait for it to cool since the wax is basically enclosed in a hot metal enclosure it is taking longer to cool than I thought about. But I am optomistic it will be okay for a first. Thanks everyone for your advise.

I too am making my first pillars. I made a square with a wick pin (loved that tool), and threaded my round pillar and used a screw. Easy, but I just liked using the wick pin better. I learned about those the hard way after making votives by dropping my wick into them after coagulation. Now I am making a ball mold and I have no patience for it so far. It has been cooling for 3 hrs and still no hardness. Not even enough to poke holes. UGGG. So I have to say for your first one, you did an awesome job. My square is getting remelted and done over because the repours did not seal. I actually am able to pull apart my layers. I didn't have a wax spill, but I just didn't have the patience to wait it out for a complete cool before pouring. I remembered my relief holes, but mine didn't seal when I repoured. So no safe burning for me. I really like yours. It would look great in my kitchen on my dining table. Love it. If you didn't say it, you wouldn't know it is your first.

I get mine from peak candles. No color change and it is a strong scent. I usually use white, baby blue, or pink with mine. My white stays white.

That is a good idea too. I may do that too. If anything a good vent:lipsrseal

I thought about doing the same thing. Or just dropping it in when it starts to "congeal" like votives. But then I also thought about the wick pin. But the wick pin is too short, so I may go with your idea. Thanks!

Cynthia, I am with you. I am new too. I have a little boy with health issues too, so I stay home also. I am a full time online student, and took up candle making from my neighbor. She only does containers with paraffin. I got hooked at Christmas time, and now all my friends and family is continously asking for more. So as I continue my testing and learning, my goal is to have a home based business. Only through word of mouth. I don't want to do craft fairs or home shows. Just too much for me. Maybe a few years later. Right now I am getting insured first. I am experimenting with pillars now. I am so addicted. Seems to get in the way of my homework, but nice to see I can so something beyond motherhood.

So I am just now learning to make pillars. As far as set up is concerned, it is pretty self-explanatory, but I bought a ball mold. It only has a hole at the top to pour the wax into it, but nothing to wick it with at the bottom. How do I wick my ball mold?