2rottndogs

Stella you little devil, where are when I need you! My issues ( I have many, but I'll stick to the candle related ones for now). I poured 2 16 oz. apothocary jars with c-3.... no fo, no color... just wax and wicks. Jar 1... has 2 cdn 8's. Trimmed wicks to just shy of 1/4 inch, burned for about 45 minutes and one wick drowned. Jar 2... has 2 cdn 10's. Trimmed wickes to just shy of 1/4 inch, burned for 3.5 hours... good melt pool, but lots of soot rings in the melted wax. No soot on jar, just in the wax only. The flame didn't flicker, but bent over like they were bowing and that's the way the flame stayed. Note... anytime I've tried cd 10s, they do the same thing as the cdns only the flame isn't bent. I was really happy with the melt pool on the cdn 10s, but the soot is killing me and it makes for a butt ugly candle. Suggestions? Kim

That just kills me! I make my husband do the same and the little ole ladies just LOVE him! He calls them his girlfriends! :laugh2: Kim

To get the cranberry color I want, I have to use 2 cinnamon chips from Candle Science. Anything less and I get a offlooking putrid color. Kim

if he sees one more test candle burning in this house! I told him if he kept it up, he wouldn't have a home to worry about testing candles in!!!! "OOOPS, was that flame ABIT high!?!?!?!":embarasse Stella and her damn CDNs started this mess! Kim

and this is apparently one of those days! After all the nosebleeds I had over those 2 difficult jars... I've got the wick down with one and I'm close with the other! I thought if things kept going the way they were, I was going to blow an artery somewhere. My planets must all be aligned because I'm having a very karmic moment. Who says stubborness isn't a useful quality? It was just going to come down to would I get the jars wicked before I completely lost my sanity! Kim

I use the natural colored bees wax for the clamshells... so far hasn't effected the color at all. I don't use that much either, about 1/2 oz is so far all I've needed to use pp of soy. Kim

Personally... and maybe it's just me since I've never seen anyone else mention this... but I wouldn't hold your breath on being able to just one type of wick all the time. I started with cds and found they worked great with some fo's and not with others. The worked great in some jars, but not others. It's really frustrating to be in the middle of testing and find out that the supplier you're dealing with doesn't carry the type of wicks you many want to test with. Also, I didn't see alot of people here using premier wicks and if you've got questions, it's going to be much more useful to you if people have had experience with the wicks you're going to be using. By all means order the premiers...but maybe budget somewhere to try some and get some of the others. I hate ordering clear across the country for wicks with shipping the way it is, but I'm glad I've got the selection I have. I have htp, rrd, lx, cd, and some zinc. I am very happy with my end result candles and my clients love them, but I'm always trying to improve if possible. I learn something new about my candles, the wax, the color, the fo everytime I test a different wick. And as much as I HATE testing ( as we've all seen me say that off and on here) it's still intriguing to see how changing slight conditions with effect the outcome of a candle. Some out come being good, some... not so much. Anyways... best of luck and enjoy. Besides walking my dogs, pouring candles is the only time my husband says I'm not uptight. Kim

I've had my turn a bit off sometimes. I chalk it up to being the nature of the beast. Same jars, same wicks, same colors, different fo's... sometimes different colors, same fo's.... only seems to be on some of them. I've never quite been able to pin it on one particular reason. I have right now burning 2 4" jars ... one with jack frost, htp 73, colored light dove grey... the other is lumberjack, htp 73, and sage green. The one with jack frost is slightly off looking while it's burning, but goes back to almost dove grey when cooled. I'd like to kick the person in the shins that introduced me to soy wax sometimes... ohhh wait!!! that person would be me!!! I've got to be honest though... I love working with soy when I've got the time to play... it's those rare moments when I'm really stretched thin that I could beat the box of flakes silly. Kim

Do you like them so far? Kim

I can understand being discouraged. This is hard work. I remember saying here that all I wanted to do was, "wick the damn jar, pour the damn wax and burn the damn candle!" My Dad died 3 months ago and it still feels like yesterday. I missed the Autumn season... didn't get Christmas candles going until November, and to top off my misery... I didn't get to the problem jars I've been testing until now because I was having so many problems dealing with the death of Dad. I kept having clients asking about Christmas candles in September and October. It's just not good for business to tell people that you don't give a rat's behind about the candles they want. You've been doing this for a very long time... maybe it's just time to take a break for awhile... reevaluate the reasons you started making candles, weigh the pros and cons of stopping or continuing... maybe it's just time to overhaul the entire career and see if you can get back on track after a break or if you'd even want to get back to making candles. Good luck with your decisions. Kim

Just for you Stella! I placed an order for the CDNs! Kim

I was hoping for that also Beth... but what I found is that in the center of the jars, there is a spot that bows upward towards the widest center point and that is playing a part in the difficulty of wicking this jar. I supose this is a learning experience (regardless of the fact it's making me crazy:D )... I've poured 5 different tests for this jar so far, what's 5 more if I learn something from it. It's going to come down to whether or not I get commited in the process. Kimberly

Stella, Do you think the cds would work? I don't have the cdns. Kim

Thanks Jenn, I feel better knowing that you're using a large wick also. The RRD 50 is the only one so far that I let burn COMPLETELY to the bottom. The LX's were OBVIOUSLY not going to catch up and they had 3 to 4 different burns on them. The RRD 50 had 4 burns and that was the one that left about 1/4" or less of wax on the sides...but wax still didn't melt completely even though I let it burn to the bottom. I'm on burn #3 with the RRD 55s and this by far is looking the best. I'm hoping when I light the 3rd time, the sides will catch up. Kim

or at least a fresher mind than what I have at the moment. I have been working with a candalina jar (10oz.) I have officially pulled out every eyebrow hair I own and I'm now poking myself in the eye since it's less painful than trying to wick this godforsaken jar. I also want to note that the flaws in my personality enable me to be so stubborn that I wont give up until I'm as blind and hairless as a newborn mouse. That being said... I had done a search and found a comment that I'm wondering if it applies to my situation. I'm working with this jar, I'm on test #5 and now I'm wonderin if I've been heading in the wrong direction. The jar is narrower at the top and considerably wider at the middle (roughly about 4" wide @ center)...it also bows up on the bottom in the center where the wick would be placed. I can't get the jar wicked to where it melts the sides at the widest point. I started my tests with an LX20, then LX22, then LX26, then RRD50, and now I'm at RRD55. None of the first 4 burned the wax off the sides... the closest I came was with the RRD50 and I had about 1/4" of wax left. Note... test #5 isn't complete at this point, it's burning as we speak. The comment I read was that by wicking up so much, the wick was consuming too much wax and that's why there wasn't going to be a full melt pool. I don't know anymore if I'm going in the right direction with these jars. All joking aside... I'm at my wits end. I need to make these work... I need to get them on my shelves and they need to be sold. It's not helping that I'm working with another difficult jar and the 2 combined are making me crazy. Kim

I don't have an answer to this, but I'd be darn curious to see what's said! Kim

Thanks everyone for your answers. While the hubby may not be happy that I can spend money year round... I'm just delighted!!!! Kim

Hi Jenn, Without walking into the kitchen to actually look at the bottle, I believe the fo is from candlescience and it's cranberry marmalade (sp?). Loveitloveitloveit! The rotties in the avatar were from a litter that I got my last female from. I have Brenin (SUPERRRRDAWWWWG to those that know him) and Madison. He's 4 years and she'll be 3 on Valantine's Day. Kim

What I do know is that if you stick around here... read, search and ask questions... you're going to get a wealth of information. Everyone here is helpful and very well informed. I love dealing with Laura... I just wish they would carry more fo's. Kim

Ohhhhhhh to be able to make a candle like that!!!! I'm jealous. Kim

I poured a test candle late last night, didn't cure it, just messing around trying to get the right size wick for this silly jar I've insisted on using, lit it first thing this morning so there might be 5 hours that it sat.... well knock me down and steal mah teeth!!!! I can smell that puppy half a house a way! I can't imagine what it would smell like if I'd let it cure for any length of time. Kim

I think I got my technical data from the jarstore's (out of NY) website since that was the first supplier of c-3 I dealt with. HOWEVER, the Natural Artisan is closer to you (in NH) and I'm assuming that's who you're going to be placing an order with. I can't for the life of me remember the woman's name that owns the business, but she is delightful to deal with and I'm sure if you called them... they would be more than helpful with the c-3. I couldn't be more happy with their customer service. Kim

I get wondering if the cold weather is going to ruin the wax or fo's when they freeze since just about everything I order comes from half a country away or further. And things will freeze... it takes on average about 1 1/2 weeks or longer for stuff to come UPS. Kim

Since I live in a cold state, I was wondering what everyone does when it comes to ordering fo's, wax, and such during cold weather. I haven't ordered any fo's or wax because I'm afraid of it freezing and being ruined. Should I be concerned? Kim

Hi SSSSTTTEEELLLAAAAA (Sorry, can't resist doing that) I have melted my jars all the way down and I still get some cling on the sides... it's not much, but it's enough for me to say that it's not melting properly. It's like I almost need one wick of each in the jar... I'm close but no cigar. Although I did dig out my LXs and my RRDs... so far I'm having really good luck with those and my just change my wicks over after a couple more test jars. And one other thing, the more I pour, test and work at... the more I'm able to pick a wick that's close to what I need instead of doing what I did when I first started out... 1 hundred million test jars to get the right wick for the one jar. I'm probably just being too picky. My clients are all satisfied, great smell... jars burn great for them... no complaints about wax cling... I seem to be the only one not quite happy with the finished product. So I guess I could say I'm at a point where now I'm fine tuning. Kimberly