2rottndogs

Thanks Danielle. Kim

Either I'm not typing in the right wording or the questions I have about paraffin just haven't been covered yet. 1. When wicking a jar to burn paraffin, do you do the same as for soy and wick smaller to take into consideration the last half of the jart hat needs to be burned? 2. When I wick for soy, I know that the soy will slide down the side of the jar as the burn gets lower. Does one wick paraffin to do the same or should I be striving for a fmp right from the get go? 3. I have some zinc wicks, but since I was working with soy...I have more coated wicks that were meant to be used in soy. Can those same wicks that I would have used in soy be used in paraffin? ( I could have swore somewhere in my travels here that I saw a discussion once about this, but I...for the love of pete... can't seem to put my mouse on it.) Kim

Once the water dries out, does the wax work the way it should? Or does it burn a bit off? Kim

I realized I had the wrong name once I posted, but you were too quick to send the spreadsheets for me to edit. Thank you for sending them... I'll put them to good use and they are certainly appreciated. Kim

I have a question, because I've never burned anything like that...how does it burn? Meaning... does it get a melt pool, does it self consume like some pillars or does it leave a shell like a hurricane??? I think these kinds of candles are just stunning, but they befuddle me since I can't ever figure out how they burn. Kim

Sally, Could I have a copy also??? onerottndog@yahoo.com Thank you, Kim

Thanks everyone... for whatever reason, I thought that paraffin wouldn't alter... now I know that possibility is there. Kim

I know that every so often you can get a "bad" batch of soy... does the same hold true to paraffin? Kim

Let me tell you a true story...... I love candles and always have. A number years ago before I met my husband, I was rooming a super friend that was willing to take me in during my divorce when I had no place else to go. Everything she and I owned was in that apartment... along with my 5 y/o son, our dogs and a cat. Below us in the downstairs apartment lived a couple and their son, all their possessions and their dog. I bought some candles and thought I would put them in my bay window that was in my bedroom. My roommate mentioned after some time that she thought she could smell something burning. I told her that I would hope so since I had a candle burning in my room. I never went to check that candle. The burning smell got stronger and we went into the room to find one wall on completely on fire. I, of course, panicked... in the mean time Janine is trying to put the fire out...which she did manage to do. That candle had fallen over and ended up leaning on the wooden window casing. It could have easily fallen on the mattress. It occured to me after the fire was out that I could have ruined the lives of 6 people. Best case scenario would be that none of us would have a place to live... worst case is that we could have all lost our lives because of my stupid mistake. To this day I still feel guilty about what could have happened and what would have happened. It's a lesson I learned well and it's a situation I never want to see repeated in my life ever again. Kim

That might explain why the fire department is constantly being called to Martha's house in Northeast Harbor, Maine.... those damn bamboo candles! Kim

I don't think I stir as much as others do...but I stir until I think I've combined everything well and if I have to let it sit to cool a bit, I make sure I stir well before pouring. Kim

At least my notes for the tests on the paraffin were in a separate place. Those testers were going well and I have everything for those. It was the soy notes I lost everything to. I can live with loosing the notes on what worked and didn't work...it's the fo combinations that's killing me. I went through ALL my bottles of fo and for whatever reason, I had written some of the names on the bottles and the combinations to get that particular name. Unfortunately, not all were done that way. There are dozens I wont be able to create again... but like someone said here in so many words... it might have been meant to happen and something good may come out of what I consider to be a disaster. I have 7 paraffin testers to complete and since these are the notes I have, these will be the candles and wax that gets focused on for now...maybe this is the direction I'm suposed to go in (a little philosophy going here). Plus I'm not so hysterical either... calming down made a huge difference. DH still isn't in the bedroom yet... going to have to be a bit calmer before that happens...might even take a zen moment! Kim

OMG! You're making my head hurt! LOL Kim

I just don't know what I'm going to do...I just don't even know where to begin with this mess. I had a whole line if candles who's names and scents reflected the island I grew up on... I had a line of candles that were representative of family members... all of them were combinations of fo's and then the candles were renamed. I just can't begin to express how overwhelmed I am right now. I just don't know how to pick up the pieces without starting completely over and basically come up with new combinations. I've torn the candle room apart and while I've found little bits of stuff... it's of course not the stuff I truly need in my hands right now. I can't stay mad at DH because being this angry at him isn't helping this mess. All it's doing now is making things very hard for both of us. *Taking a REALLY deep breath* Starting tomorrow... bright and early... it's off to the candle room and I'll just have to begin again whether I want to or not. Right??? Kim

We also had an understanding that his new bedroom is out in the livingroom until I've cooled off. I've been known to stay mad for LONG periods of time. Jeeeez.... I thought I had him trained better than that. We haven't even been married a year yet and I was ready to kill him! Kim

This only seems to get worse the longer his mouth continues to open and close. He fess up that the binder didn't "exactly" go into the trash. Since we have been building a new salon on the property, we have dump pile that gets burned every so often. It seems that the binder has ended up in the burn pile... along with all the wax that was being saved to use for firestarters. He said the wax made for a WICKED fire. If I wasn't so beside myself, I think I could actually see humor in that. So much for calling the transfer station and seeing if I could recoup my binder. I really didn't think it was possible for me to be more upset than I already was. At least before I hope of getting it back. The new salon is going to be done in a few weeks and there is a room out there that the candle business will be moved into... those damn doors to that salon are going to be locked when I'm not there. That will be one way of keeping his ass outta my business! Kim

I've been combing through the candle room and I've found little things here and there written on pieces of paper. I'm looking for the notepads I used to scrawl on when I was pouring...I'd use them to quickly write stuff down on and then transfer. Problem is once everything was transfered, I usually threw them out. DH is trying to be helpful.... he's been standing in the door way asking if he can come in... so far the answers been a very firm NO. Top, I'm certain there are some redeeming qualities somewhere in that man and as soon as I'm not quite so mad and I've pulled myself together, I'm sure they'll come to mind... as for right this moment, I see red everytime he comes to the door asking to help. I asked him what the Hell he was thinking and he said to me, " I'm a man... obviously I wasn't thinking." Made me laugh just a bit. I keep telling myself it'll be fine, it'll be fine and I guess I need to just deal with the fact that I'm going to have to come up with new formulations. He keeps saying that he promises that he'll never touch anything again in that room and I asked him if that was like the promise not to wash my suits and he washed a dove grey suit that I liked to wear to meetings...by the time he was done, the beautiful dove grey suit could have fit Barbie. I must be calming down because I'm not so Hell bent on killing him and I'm starting to focus more picking up the pieces and starting over. Kim

Top...I noticed that the 1 oz. didn't always work. It also depended on how hot I poured at too. The hotter it wax was, the better it seemed to hold more fo. Since I was playing with trying to pour cooler and still get a good throw but less contraction, I found that I had to ad about half of what was recommended. Kim

I don't know what I'm going to do... I kept records with all my waxes, fo's formulations, those that worked and those that didn't, every wrinkle in a cat's ass was in that binder! Dh threw it out thinking it wasn't anything important! OMG what am I going to do!?!?! Every candle that was named and successfully sold was in that book! I have no idea how to mix most of the formulations that were made this past year. I can deal with the rewicking...but the fo combinations to get "Aunt Sandra's Hot Toddy" or "Compass Harbor" ( which a client came in asking for and I couldn't make it). The were made ages ago...I can't even begin to remember what I mixed to get them. I'm close to tears at this point... there is just nothing I can do to recoup those lost formulations. What the Hell possessed him to think I needed him even looking at my candle room??? I told him if it were Monday I would have been down to the court house.... as it is, I said he'd have to close his eyes at some point. *Trying to maintain some sort of sense of humor...but I'm almost at my wits end* Kim

I ran into that problem over Christmas when I was pouring for the season. I had some jars I was double wicking and when I would go to burn them, sometimes one wick would just fall over into the mp. I didn't run into it will all my candles and it was my HTP's that were doing that. I figured it was just me. I had a customer actually bring a candle back because the wick had fallen over and she couldn't get the candle to burn right afterwards. Same thing as I was running into... once she got a fmp, a wick would just all of a sudden fall over into the mp. Kim

Michi...The mottling just grabs me everytime. It's definitely a 2nd pour wax because of the contraction around the wick as it hardens. I've been playing with this wax a bit and I've found that I can pour 20 degrees cooler than what it calls for and STILL get a great hot throw and significantly less contraction around the wick. After working with soy... I just think this wax is a fun wax to play with in containers. Kim

Thanks everyone. Kim

Just had to say that. Kim

LOL...the visual for that one was priceless! Kim

Carrie, Thanks...those were the answers I was looking for. I thought I might get a head start on some pouring, but I didn't want to waste my time and money if the candles wouldn't "keep". Kim