2rottndogs

I know I've seen it explained, but for the life of me I can't find it.

Candle Science has the leaves for ratings... what do they mean? I've looked on their site and can't find an explanation either.

Thanks for the help.

Kimberly

Good luck!

Kimberly

I use cdn 20's most of the time in my status jars with c3...once in awhile I have to wick up, but not often.

These jars are very capable of being wicked with just one wick.

HTH.

Kimberly

Well I know I'm not cutting back on buying wax...I want my c3.

It's sticker shock sometimes...since I usually buy by the cases, I don't always see the increases on a regular basis. It might be 4 months before I order my c3 again and it becomes a nosebleed moment when I see the price.

Not that the husband would agree, but it might give me reason to purchase things on a biweekly basis.

Kimberly

I believe market volatility will determine the fate of a lot more suppliers. Possibly some may drop soy wax from their inventory completely.

More than likely you're right on that account Judy... it's a scary thought to consider though. Although what isn't at this point with the economy in the condition it's in.

And I wanted to add... most of the sites I've been on the waxes, while the prices have gone up, still seem reasonable and the suppliers are within a $15 range or so of each other. It's the suppliers that are hitting the 80 plus that make me go, "hhmmmm".

All you have to do is go to this post and you can see exactly what I'm talking about. And the site I happened to be on when I originally posted isn't even one listed here.

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70409

I'm just having a hard time buying that the select few need to be increasing the price of their wax so significantly. All the suppliers that are sporting the lower prices can't ALL be buying by the truckload.

I suppose in the end it isn't going to matter, the prices will be what they will be and if a person wants whatever it is badly enough, they will pay the price that's asked.

Kimberly

I understand the explanations given...I know how that's how things work with suppliers...BUT I also know that there are suppliers out there that want to make a buck while they can.

As I said... I expect cost of living increases... I expect supply and demand increases... I expect to make some money off my salon clients when I buy and then sell retail...however, $85 without shipping for a 50 pound box of wax from a supplier is unreasonable when the order I just placed from Candle Science was for a 50 pound box and I paided $88 and change with shipping.

The bottom line is a person in business can do 1 of 2 things... they can pass 100% of the increase along to their client base so that business can continue making the money they are used to making OR the company can can increase the price just enough to continue paying their overhead and still put a bit in their pocket.

I'll give an example of what I mean... I buy a bottle of shampoo for $5 and the standard practice in salons would be to mark that bottle up to $10 to retail to the general public.

I have owned my own business for 15 years and I've managed other peoples salons for 5... I will NOT gouge my clients that way. I will mark that bottle up $7 or $8 and work a little harder to make what I would have made in a better economy.

I work a bit harder for the sale and I have to sell twice as much to make up the lower cost...but my retail sales in my salon have not dropped in 2 years. My goal is too keep people buying what I offer, not put it to them to the point where they can no longer afford to buy my retail and go elsewhere.

I would think that would the goal of most people in business right now... keep people buying what you offer, not drive them off.

It's only my opinion... I've been in business for a long time and my moral beliefs have worked well within my business plan...obviously, they may not work well for everyone else. I expect increases, but I also expect reasonable increases.

Kimberly

Ya know, I was just going over sites that sell c3 and I've got to say that I think suppliers are raping those of us that use wax just like the gas companies do with the price of gas.

I expect increases... I have no problems with price increases... but when you can look at several sites and some are charging $85 for a 50 lb. box of wax SHIPPING NOT INCLUDED IN THAT PRICE and others are charging $48 to $63... you can't convince me that kind of price gouging is neccessary.

Kimberly

Thanks Stella,

That was exactly what I needed to know.

I've got myself on the right track with the testing...infact, the candles are even better than before I lost my notes.

Ever since the lost notes, I keep thinking that if I don't twist my tongue just so and breath only through my right nostril the candles might not come out right.

Anyways...a relief to know there are no major changes to be expected.

Thanks for the response.

Kim

I restarted my soy candle making after that devastating disaster of having my notes thrown out.

I've been in a good place, all the testing was going well until I learned that Natural Artisans wasn't going to be selling C3.

My question is after doing the testing with the wax from my original supplier and having great results...does one have to retest EVERYTHING if you switch suppliers or can I test a couple of fo's and jars that I know burn well and be secure that the same wax from a second supplier will work?

I guess my concern at this point is that I don't want to keep testing with the batch of wax I have if I have to just redo everything when I get my next order of C3 from a different supplier.

Kim

Thanks everyone.

Kim

I went to the ngiwax.com site to read about cb135. It says on the site that the wax uses 10 to 12 % fo load. That seemed like quite a bit compaired to what I use with my c3, so I did a search here and can't really find a specific answer.

My question is ... is it neccessary to use that much fo in cb135 or can I stick with the usual 6% pp?

Kim

Yeah, I looked this morning and there was no c3 in sight.... I too wanted too scream!

I'd been planning on buying some and figured there was no hurry.... I was WRONG!!! Little did I know when I was dragging my feet that they were closing.

Kim

It occured to me last night when I was pouring my test jars that my biggest fear was I might not enjoy pouring candles anymore... especially considering the amount of work I was going to try and recoup.

FYI!!!! I love it as much now as I did before!

Kim

I'm wicked anxious about going through all that testing and work again since my original notes were thrown out.

I dug out some candles that were made prior to loosing the notes and I'm trying figure out what I did. I've been burning some of them and finding that even in what I thought were great candles there are things I want to go back and change. I guess now's the time to do it since I'm going to be testing again.

Just makes me anxious when I think about all the work I've got to go through... I haven't forgotten how hard it was to get some of the jars and fo's to burn and scent right. I'm hoping that there will be many that just kind of "come" to me once I get going.

We'll have to see.

Kim

Thanks everyone... I was reluctant to order without getting some opinions. Their prices are higher than I'm used to paying and I didn't want to end up wasting what money I've got left.:rolleyes2

Kim

Does anyone order fo's from them and if so, what do you think of the fo's??

Kim

I never saw the point in dipping tp, I still don't see the point and I'm amazed it sells. More power to those that want to mess with it.

Kim

I would have the same thing happen with my container candles. I found that by heating my higher than what I was doing got rid of the problem. I wasn't heating the wax to the temp that was recommended and that's when I would get the spots of color.

Kim

I've used igi 1288b with the 8oz. masons... I wicked with a cd 8. I got pretty good results, but I felt I should wick up to a cd 10 and my results would be even better.

Kim

I do what ring of fire suggested... when I want a pale pink, I use toothpick or left over wick cuttings... dip it into my red dye and mix. I end up with the prettiest pale pink. I don't use the pink dyes for light pink... they come out way too intense.

Kim

I think of an ivory candle with blue/purple swirls in it. Not sure if that's actually easy to do, but that's what comes to mind.

Kim

Well... after a few weeks of work, I can honestly say that everything is lost. I thought that once I calmed down, I might remember some of the fo combinations I used to get the candles I'd made... no such luck.

The single formulations were easy, I can't come up with any of the ones that were combinations. I talked with my sister and my best friend thinking that they might recall stuff that I'd said to them... no luck there either.

A lesson well learned I guess.

Kim

Jeeeez Top... you could have said something about the Apples & Oak sooner :rolleyes2:grin2: ... and all this time, I thought it was just me!

Kim

In my opinion, since I've worked with jars with similar dimensions... I would start with a cd 14 and work from there. While you should keep in mind that you don't want to wick too hot for the latter half of the jar, you're still trying achieve a fmp...correct?

As for the double wicking...I would think that because of the shape of the top of the jar, you would have to set the wicks pretty close together and that being the case, then what's the point in double wicking? Sounds like a lot more trouble than it's worth.

hth.

Kim

Thanks Top for the answer to my questions...between the site Danielle gave me and your information, that clears up a lot.

Kim