Tereasa

cost of a microwave... cost of a presto pot.... cost of a new home due to fire... priceless...

What?

ooooh! ooooh! I can answer the superfatting question!! Now, someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong! Superfatting, as I understand it: Newbie soapers tend to make their soap lye-heavy. Which is super bad and dangerous. Even experienced soapers may make slight mistakes due to scales being off, etc. Superfatting, or adding more oils, etc, than the lye can saponify gives a cushion, and makes the bar of soap a bit more moisturizing. It's going back to high school chemistry and the solute, solution... or as we say with candle wax, it's like a sponge, it will only hold so much FO. Well, lye can only saponify so much fat. If more fat is added, then it decreases the chance of making a lye-heavy soap. Now, I've also read that it's not a great idea to go more than 5-8% superfat because it also decreases the lathering, cleansing, etc quality of the bar. My question was... 5-8% of what? But, on soap calc, it's a number that is filled in, and it automatically discounts your lye. I've read that some add extra oil at trace, but I'm not sure if this is how it's ALWAYS done. I just wanted to show off that I'd actually learned something by searching and reading. Now I only hope that I got it right!

I've been doing a lot of research on soaping... I'll put in some keywords to search, and that takes me to something else, and then so on and so on until I forget what I was originally searching for. I've been doing this for days. And, tonight, FINALLY! I found out what the hell superfatting meant, and why it's done. I still haven't found out % FO to add (although I do admit I need to study the tutorials more), but I know that some add it to oils, and some wait... but waiting may be bad if the FO will cause seizing. I'm not exactly sure what a seizure is, but it sounds bad. I'm teasing, I searched seize and found out what it is. And recipes! And soap calc! Holy Bat Soap, Batman!! I'll get there... eventually! I did PM an experienced soaper with some questions, and received a speedy and helpful response. There's just so much I think I need to learn, and I wouldn't want to impose on someone when there is a wealth of information I can learn on my own... soon as I learn the key keywords. I suppose I could have bookmarked some links in the searches I found, but I tend to copy/paste and print what I find. It's like taking notes. I forgot why I was posting.... ETA: how much should I be charging for a .... oh, chit, I don't know how much a bar of soap weighs... brb... (just teasing! I'm not selling soap or anything else...)

I am very sorry this happened to you. However.... you did let a few days go by because you said you were busy at work, etc. If a supplier doesn't answer e-mails almost immediately, it's posted about here. It works both ways.

I borrowed this from a mod's profile. It explains how to do a search. http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1802 Didn't you just start making candles?

test burns aren't just about burn times. As a matter of fact, this is pretty low on my list of things to test for. I test MP.. time, depth, etc. Flame... even, smoke, height, dance, mushroom jar... too hot, wax hang up, soot scent... hot throw, etc If I'm using soy wax, and have a properly wicked candle, I can THEN get a burn time. JMHO

Have you tried a tripod? Even the slightest movement, especially when doing a close up, will blur an image.

Wife alone doesn't bother me... it's the 'the.' As in the car, the TV, the dirty socks, the wife. It, obviously, grates on me pretty harshly. I'm not generally a feminist, and I hardly ever cry about being objectified... but the 'the' does it to me. Anyway, I use ecosoya votive/pillar blend for tarts, to get back on subject.

Awww... I remember the days when I first started and thought I'd have orders just rolling in.... without insurance or licensure and with my free website, shoddy pics, and untested products. Then I woke up and decided I didn't want to be a failure, as I've not much business sense. Much less stressful to not worry about a business and do this for fun. Although I am much in awe of those of you who are successful at selling.

A bit off topic, but if my man EVER... and I do mean EVER... calls me 'the wife' he will be less than 'the man.'

second to CS cranberry marmalade

I borrowed this from a mod's profile.... hope she doesn't mind.. http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1802 This question has been asked a plethora of times, I'm sure that you'll find terrific answers with a search..

I'm going against the grain, but I haven't yet found a JS FO that knocks me over. I like Southern Vanilla from KY, Extreme Vanilla from MC and Vanilla Delicious from DS.

Maybe Jakalex will jump in, she's the palm wax guru... but I remember reading in a post of hers somewhere that you shouldn't go over 5% FO with palm wax. Perhaps a search will show her results.... ETA: here's a link http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50839&highlight=5%25+palm+wax

I was going to say what candle makin momma said... this usually happens to me when I'm not patient enough and pour my soy hot. The heat gun is your best friend sometimes...

I prefer Dairy Queen ice cream cake... and, if going for a traditional cake, I prefer buttercream frosting instead of whipped frosting. Just my preference... Oh, wait, this isn't in the fragrance section... were you talking about FO? If so, then I'd lean towards DS cake batter, although there are several that come to mind.

You may be done, Judy, but I'm going to jump in. Corry... The person you accused of calling you stupid, Vicky, is one of the most respected members of this community. A veritable black hole of knowledge, expertise and advice. She has been a successful chandler for many years. If she suggests getting a kit, I'd listen. Just because she didn't take the time to explain every little thing about why it's sage advice doesn't mean you should be so defensive. What exactly is in a kit that you think you won't need? But, you know what... you go ahead... do what YOU think is best. You've closed your mind to advice by refusing to listen to experienced chandlers. You've made up your mind that you are going to do it your way... so do it. How can you expect to come on here and ask for a precise list of what will work? If you actually have searched, you will find that the exact same combination will work for one chandler, but not another. There are hundreds of soy vs. paraffin threads, easily found with a search or even scrolling down. I wish you the best of luck, and don't forget to get insurance before you even give a candle away... when you play with fire, sometimes you get burned....

tie (or tye, I have no idea which is correct, but I'd guess tye) dye and pink are both descriptive of colors... so I don't know if they'd both work in the name... and that's a long name to remember. I have trouble with my name because it has too many letters though, so I'm probably not the best judge....

I almost missed your company name because it's about 1/6 the size of the flower next to it. The wording of 'Our 8 oz handmade soy candles are the best gift that anyone could recieve' doesn't sit well with me. I'm thinking if I were to pick the best gift it wouldn't be a candle... perhaps a vacation to Cancun.... complete with my own cabana boy... but, I digress. $6.00 stands alone, and you don't need to word 'dollars' in the sentence. If I were a consumer visiting your site, I'd rather have the option of seeing products than joining a mailing list on the home page. I won't join a list unless I've tried the products and found them worthy of joining. I could nit pick a lot of your wordings... for example 'They are also colored vibrantly' should be 'they are vibrantly colored.' I don't like the long, long list of links. Perhaps group things into bath/body. One link takes me to several products instead of a link for each product. I don't like to click links. Gives all those spy-cookies too much to track... even though spy sweeper does seem to enjoy quarantining them. Anyway, I haven't checked out some of your other requests for feedback, so I have no comparison of your previous efforts. I think that this site could use come polishing... it just doesn't appeal to me as a consumer. No offense intended... and you can take my opinion with a grain of salt...

First choice... candle source. Second choice... millcreek.

I have no idea if this will fit, but the first thing I thought of was 'tie dye'.... probably silly....

Peaks started it. I was surprised to find out that a lot of people don't know that Peaks hosts this board... Thanks Alan and Nachelle!

Perhaps if she sells a few, she'll be able to afford a basic English course. That is truly terrible and disturbing...

Hello! And Welcome... I've used both liquid and chips. Right now, I'm using the CS dye chips. There are downsides, like figuring out how to not get the speckles, but I've worked through most of them. If your goal is consistency, I'd probably go with the liquid because it's easier to measure a drop or drops. As far as FO load, that depends on the wax you are using. If you'll tell us, I'm sure there is someone here who uses the same wax who could help you.