2rottndogs

LLM, I did wick down to cd 8s instead of cd 10s, but I don't quite get the melt pool I want and I have cling on the jar. CD 10s get too hot, so I'm trying other wicks now. I just figured now that I'm testing other wicks... maybe my thoughts on how to double wick were off... I'm glad to see that was one thing I got right. So far I'm happy with the testing I'm doing and I think I'm on the right track with everyone's advice. Kimberly

Well lucky you Stella that it's only mold issue.... I even have to be told to leave the dogs alone when they have stitches!:laugh2:For some reason.... I don't have boundries! Kimberly

Gdawg, What you wrote was you traced your jars on your CANDLE table.... what I saw was that you traced them on your KITCHEN table. All I could think of when I read that was, " that must be attractive when company comes over". LOL Everyone's got great ideas and I'm going to try them all to see what works best for me at this point. Would love to have a set area where I could just trace things on a table, but that's not possible right now...maybe some day. Kimberly

And you know what!?!?! It's not the first time I've done that stupid trick! I should wear a sign..." slow learner, procede with caution!" My OCD must be kicking in, I just can't leave the molds alone! I popped out 4 tonight with horrible results. Can't imagine why that would be!?!?!? I need a to walk away from the molds and . LOL... I even stuck them in the fridge thinking that I could hurry them up! Kimberly

I just can't leave a warm mold alone! I can't wait till it's cooled all the way through....NOOOOOOOOO, let's try and pop a warm candle out! I SWEAR!!!! If I had any more bright ideas, I'd be dangerous! Kimberly

You guys are so smart.... template city here I come! Kim

I did a search, but didn't really come up with what I was looking for... so here goes the brain picking. I don't pour alot of candles at once... usually one jar at a time. I've been centering my wick by eye... but apparently my eye is off. I was wondering how everyone else centers their wicks when they are using just one in a jar? How do you decide placement when using 2 wicks? I'm not off by much... my customers don't even notice... but I do. Another question.... when using 2 wicks, how do you determine what wick you're going to use? For example...when I'm testing a jar and it's 4"... do I pick 2 wicks that on their own would give me a 2" melt pool and combined would work in my 4" jar or do you pick 2 wicks that are made for a 4" jar? God! I hope that last question made sense... in my head I understood it completely! Kimberly

As a person that is currently running 2 businesses... one being candle making and the other as an owner of a very successful 18 year old salon, I can see both sides of this coin. In both businesses, I deal with retail, customer service and suppliers. I personally believe that as long as no specifics were given, expressing feelings over a particularly difficult situation is well within anyone's right to do so. Reading about others difficult clients and how they were dealt with may give me ideas on how to deal with or not deal with difficult people and situations. Lastly and to be quite frank.... as a consumer, it sometimes does well to remind us that we can be unreasonable in our requests. It wasn't until I was on the recieving end of unreasonable clients that I realized how my requests of people might be effecting them. I don't see an issue with the orginal post and sometimes a good step back from the mirror does us all some good. Kimberly

I mean clients are even asking when the Fall and Winter scents are coming out and all I can do is look at them with this stupid grin on my face. Kimberly

It's been hot and humid here too and I keep looking at all these new jars I have that I have to test because they're not what I normally use. LOL.... this has been so bad that I'm even beginning to find humor in it! Kimberly

I've heard of writers block, but never candle block. I haven't poured a candle in over 2 months. I moved my stuff from the kitchen to the spare bedroom and I'm just not motivated enough to organize everything AGAIN. I'm so tired of testing and the creative juices just don't seem to be flowing. Kimberly

Thanks... that was exactly what I was looking for. Kimberly

Does anyone know the shelf life of fo's? Good for a year after purchase... longer...shorter? Kimberly

I don't order from candlescience... I order from BCN, BCS and Peaks. This one I have has a top scent of peppermint, then there's a middle note of woodsmoke and then very faintly you can smell a piney smell. I hate this one and there's not one client so far that likes it. Kimberly

I'm not really fond of Jack Frost and so far none of my customers are either. It smells strongly of peppermint with a hint of smokey campfire woodsy smell. Kimberly

How's that saying go? " No good deed goes unpunished." I'd mind my p's and q's, let them tend to their business and as long as you're doing everything that you know you're supposed to, that's all that matters. Kimberly

I'm constantly checking the candles I pour for hair or dirt of any kind. I have 2 large dogs, 5 birds and 1 cat... and nothing bends me out of shape any faster than finding a hair in a candle. It's lost revenue for me and it tells me I wasn't being careful enough. I expect my candles to be as darn close to perfect as they can be... anything less than that and I may as well just buy everyone elses (meaning like this lady's candle). Kimberly

I don't think I ever noticed the hair before because I wont by candles with no tops and I never buy votives... those were the ones with alot of hair and dust on them. As a general consumer before I started making candles.... it never occured to me to look really close at the candles before burning. All I cared about was that it burned well and scented well. Now as someone that pours candles, the embedded dirt is what gets me the most. What that tells me is that she doesn't care that her wax is dirty. Kimberly

OMG!!!!!!!!!! Your descriptions are so original! LOL Kimberly

When I go visiting my friend, I ALWAYS buy candles from this one place that makes them on site. It's one person making them and I've always loved them for their scent. This time I went as a person that pours candles too and there were things I've never noticed before. There are animals in the candle shop and any candle that didn't have a top had cat hair stuck to it. There was alot of dust on some of them too. The jars looked clean, but the votives that had sat for awhile... not so much. I bought 2 different sized jars and took them back to where I was staying so I could really look at them. Both jars smell wonderful and I've never had a candle from there yet that didn't throw well hot. So.... one candle has wax drippings on the inside, glue drippings on the inside. You can see where she topped off after the candle was cooled and then must have moved it because the 2nd pour isn't nice and flat plus it's all up along the sides. There's animal hair in the candle and what really got me was the fact that there is dirt embedded in the wax that you can see. The wicks are off center in both of them too. I was amazed at how "dirty" the candle was. And here I drive myself silly to make sure there's no dirt and no hair of any kind. Kimberly

Thanks everyone... I've made a note so I can order those the next time I place an order. Kimberly

Thanks you guys. K.

Does anyone know who might sell a true and strong tart grapefruit and the same with cranberry? Kimberly

I had seen that thread already... it was informative. Kimberly

Everito Bandito, I needed to hear that there is someone besides myself that gets a tiny bit of black in their soy when they've burned for awhile. I'm starting to feel crazy because my husband now starts whispering around me when I'm worked up over the wicks..."oooooo, a wicking problem. There's only a BILLION on the candle table to use and choose from.":laugh2: LOL.... I just had a thought!!!! Some night when he's really tired and sleeping deep, I ought to super glue some wicks to his face!!!! :laugh2: OMG! I think I'm going to wet myself! I'm gonna have to try that on him. Kim