PurpleHippie

I thought the whole point of these wicks is that they burn like zincs but without a metal core? When I trimmed the wicks on mine I saw a metal core. Just to make sure I pulled the threads down a little and there is indeed metal. Here is the information I read about them before ordering...

Well Stella many times I have searched MSN or Google before I even look or post here. I guess it is just a matter of everyone not entering in the exact same words in a search. Many times you discover information that I didn't locate.

Interesting how opinions vary. I am also not a fan of coco butter, makes the tub too greasy! I love Avocado! Love the type of creamy lather I get. During the winter months I rather creamy vs. bubbly. I also use at 8-10%.

It's so frustrating dealing with all of the false information being used in sales pitches. From wax types down to wicks! It bugs me more when it's from people that don't even make their own candles or bother to research and see if the information they are spreading is true. Thanks for the help everyone! Thanks Stella, as usual you provide great information. Maybe there should be a special forum here "Ask Stella." Like a Dear Abbey!

I've used the RRD's in the past and mushrooming was a problem most of the time. However, occasionally I was able to use them without any mushrooming. It occurred more with certain FO's and when I used more than 7%. My major problem with the RRD's was black soot. I can tolerate some mushrooming if that is the only problem but I do not want black soot on my containers when I am trimming the wick and following all the directions we give on the warning label. Plus I have noticed that my candle doesn't last as long when I use the RRD wicks. They seem to just eat up the wax!

That's the problem I am having. The zinc truly gives me the best results in a certain wax/FO combo. I have explained and even given a hand out concerning lead vs. zinc wicks. I still have people insisting that zinc is lead. Some of that is because of false information being spread by a certain group of people that are selling these pre-made candles and marketing them as being a better choice health wise. They tend to go around at craft shows and bad mouth everyone else's candles and try to get customers to come over to their booth. They are very bold in their ignorance! I am considering switching to another wick just to avoid all of this but I really hate to do so. I get the best results with my zinc. That pencil mark test appears on several sites and some people think just because something is in writing and/or on the Internet it is gospel.

What type of wicks are you using?

You doubt that the test is an accurate way to determine if the wicks are lead or since they did leave a light mark you doubt they are really zinc?

I was reading information concerning lead wicks no longer being sold in the US. The article mentioned to rub the tip of a metal core wick on a sheet of paper and if it leaves a light mark it is lead. Well, just out of curiosity I did so with my zinc wicks and I got a pencil like mark on the paper. I purchase the wicks from a very well known US candle supplier. Is this an accurate test for lead?

I have burned several soy candles that produced more soot than some paraffin candles. It depends on the wick, the FO and if the candle was burned properly. I've had some paraffin candles burn longer than some soy and some soy burn longer than some paraffins. That's one of the issues I have with some of the information being used to market soy, natural, or organic candles. That they will never produce soot and that they always burn longer than paraffin. That along with false information concerning them some how being a healthier product to use. I am not bashing them, heck I make them!!! I make soy, paraffin, parasoy and have made beeswax candles. I like each wax for different reasons. I don't market my candles based on one wax being superior to the other. When making B&B products I state if a product contains soy because I know there are people with soy allergies. So when making a candle I state that it contains soy for the same reason. I orginally began making soy candles because I lived in a large farming community and I like the idea of using soy that in some small way helped farmers that grew soybeans. Demand is much greater now days so that isn't so much an issue. I continue to produce a very small line of soy candles for those customers that have been buying them from me since I first began making them. I like soy, most of the time. I like the consistant results I get with paraffin better. I don't play up the type of wax I use, I focus on and market the end result which I consider to be a well made candle. Not a perfect candle but one that I am proud of and customers like also. What I am sick of is the false information that is being spread about wax(on both sides) just to sell a candle.

Well, I am making a comment after I asked for the thread to be closed since it looked like it was going to turn ugly around here again, but... I like "made with certified organic vegetable wax" if that is indeed the case. I just don't like the general term Organic Candle which to some could imply that the entire product(FO and all) is a total 100% organic product. JMO After all how in the world would we really know if it's organic or not since it's not the same as food. Good point! Not everyone has the wrong intention and are just out to be misleading on purpose. I guess so many of us have seen some of the false statements made by some just to make their product seem superior that we can kinda get defensive. I can understand how you feel, I feel the same way if someone were to bash my product or intentions with false information. Sometimes it is intentional and other times it is just ignorance.

I like Stella's explanation and I agree that sometimes information given is purposely misleading. It really bugs me when that is done by suppliers. Not always but it does happen. Maybe I interpreted the post differently but I didn't find it hostile towards the organic crowd. Personally I prefer to purchase many organic foods but when doing so I expect if it is labeled as organic it is indeed organic. Not just one ingredient being organic. That's sorta how I look at the "organic" candle. Let's just say the wax is indeed organic, once dye and/or fragrance is added it can't possibly be organic any longer. If someone wants to market their candles by focusing on what type of wax they use that's great! I just have a problem with some of the(IMO)false information that is sometimes used in marketing. Honestly everyone I didn't mean this thread to turn into another one of those my wax is better than yours. My question was how could a product be labeled as "organic" without every part of it being organic. It was not meant to stir up a fight about WHY someone wants to use a certain type of wax or what is better. That's been done to death around here. If possible could a Mod please just lock this thread and we can all move on to something else.

I I love it! I make both so I am with you on not bashing one to try and get sales. Just simply not necessary! Whenever I answer a question about my products I try to always focus on just "my" products, in my testing, why mine are made or perform a cetain way. If someone tries to steer me into comparing mine to another brand or another companies information on their candles I stick with focusing on what I create. My experience was just the opposite as yours. The soy I was using required additives to get it to look some what decent and I had to do repours, the paraffin didn't. So many products all with there own challenges. :smiley2: Seems like I saw some information explaining that not even all EO's are natural or can be considered organic.

I have seen adds that state "organic" candles. They are marketing the candles as being a more healthy product, "natural". Oy, here we go again:smiley2: . The wax is better....yada, yada, yada. Once chemicals are added such as dye and fragrance oil isn't the final product no longer "natural" or organic?

The thread had moved by it and not deleted so I didn't understand why I couldn't access it. I thought something had happened to my account. After reading the "positive" thread I can see why it may have been deleted, locked or moved.:rolleyes2

I was going down the list and reading the post here on the first page. I noticed the previous post Candle Stories - Negative has "moved" next to it. When I tried to click on it I got a message stating Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system? If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.I may not have privlegives to access this???? I previously posted on that thread but I can't access it? I simply clicked on the link, no edit involved. What's up?

If you type in Joy Wax in the search here you will find many post from those of us that used the wax in the past. There started to be major inconsistencies with the wax from batch to batch which causes numerous problems. I use to use it and it was a very nice product but since I couldn't rely on it I decided to stop wasting money.

So far I've been told by 2 suppliers that there will be a price increase for all soy wax. There will probably be more increase in the future. I order all of my supplies because they aren't available locally. I am not sure how much more I can increase my product cost and still keep customers. I am only selling at 1x my out of pocket cost. Selling at any less wouldn't be worth it. I would like to keep offering both soy and parffin candles but I don't know if I will do so much longer.

For gel candles they are ok but they are a big disappointment and major loss of $$$ in other waxes.

She has the same warmer that I do but maybe there is a difference in the temperature. There is no way that I can possibly know what temperature each and every warmer a customer might use heats. Infact, most of them tell me that they prefer to use the huge apothecary candles on their warmers. I have to constantly explain why the big jumbo candles aren't necessary for the warmers. I agree about the tarts but for some reason people in my area prefer wickless candles instead of the tarts. It took forever to even get them to try those. At first they only wanted wicked candles. So do those of you that make wickless instruct your customers to poke holes each time they use the wickless candles? It's difficult enough to get people to trim wicks for regular candles. I just don't see anyone taking the time to poke holes in their wickless.

The melt point of the wax is 121 and it was an 8 oz tin. Not a high melt point wax and 8oz doesn't seem to be a large amount of wax???? I have seen the warmers that heat from the top but the warmers that heat from the bottom are the ones that are more commonly seen and owned by most people. So I test with these type of warmers. Thank you Stella for the links. I did see the topics previously discussed, that is how I brought up this one from the search. What I was trying to find out was IF having the lid placed on the container while the wax was still hot may have some how caused the problem. It is "common sense" that a large quanity of wax heated from the bottom might cause problems but I was specifically trying to find out if the lid on the hot wax could have caused a problem. I have made wickless for years and never once had this happen. As for the law suit case...I would hope there would be other factors involved. If not then it would appear to me that one could have total lack of regard for ANY warning/instruction label and have grounds for a law suit. I hope there is more to the story.

I am wondering if the lid being placed back on while the wax was still hot had something to do with it. I've purchased many soy wickless and know a few people here that have made soy only wickless for years without any report of a problem. There must be something more to it then just the wax??? I use my soy wickless just about every single day of the week and have never ever had a exploding wickless.

I know this is an old post but I was looking up information on this since I had a report of one of my wickless soy exploding. I used a tin container, thank heavens it wasn't glass. After asking several question I learned that the user heated the wickless then decided to turn off the warmer after the contents was fully melted. She placed the lid back on the container BEFORE the wax cooled, lid went back on as soon as she turned off the warmer. The next time she turned the warmer on the wax on top popped and exploded shooting the top portion of wax out of the container and hot wax spilled on the warmer and shot out on the walls! My guess here but wouldn't you think that since she placed the lid back on the container BEFORE the wax cooled this trapped in air that may have led to the exploding wax with the next use?

I wouldn't try it in a candle because that's not the products intended use. It might not be safe to use with a flame. It may be alcohol based.

I usually have to double wick if using a higher melt point wax and a container 3 1/2 or larger and some odd shape container. Sometimes depending on the wax and FO I might be able to get a wide container single wicked. However, I usually don't like the flame width that one great big wick produces. JMO