macaroni&cheese

"The huge truth here though, is that you just can't talk about success without talking about the bumps, walls, and the uglies along the way. You are correct, positive thinking is a large part of success, but so is realism..." Prairieannie said it best... How would we know success without the contrast of hardship? Hardship's the teacher. Success is P.E.

Why do you want to make a contract in the first place? Not trying to be mean here, but I wonder if all that techno-lingo frightens off buyers. Maybe I am just naive, but I sell wholesale just as if it's any other customer.

I have just moved my candle stuff out of my apartment, today as a matter of fact, and I tell you as a matter of fact, I had started out rather subversive, I guess. I told no one, and was going full steam, ever growing until the whole thing overtook my entire palatial 1-bedroom estate;). Then my hot water heater went out, and the landlord was in my apartment fixing it before I knew what had happened. He was very gracious about it, and a few month later even offered me my own additional apartment to pour in. That didn't happen, as I have seen my biz grow beyond 800 square feet in just a few short months. I tell you, it's all up to your conscience. To be quite honest, I am glad my landlord found out. I didn't feel all sneaky anymore after that, and the landlord's wife began buying candles from me after that to keep in her salon. I seriously doubt it work out this well for a whole lotta people, but there is an opportunity for bribery. Maybe make a few, and offer them to your landlord, and tell him/her your vision. You now have a visual aid, as it were. Insurance? forget it. You had better keep it safe, bud. I got the biggest A-B-C extinguisher I could find, just to keep it on hand, and babysat the hot wax at all times. Try to keep the combustibles away from the kitchen, and do your work in there, as it is more suited for this kind of stuff. Stove top melting? Forget it. get a presto pot and make a melter, or order one off eBay. Get a plastic putty knife, and scrape spilled materials immediately, keep some kind of spot remover for dye spots. I seriously doubt I was any help at all, but I thought I would tell you for what it's worth. Rent a house with a small garage. It's your best bet. You don't need to tell anybody until you start making 3 cases or so. by then you will know whether or not you want to do this full time, anyway.

Some words to the wise: I have no idea how this happened, but I began to have a large amount of candles with an unusual "frost" on top, and the wicks were burning out within 1.5 hours. I need to give you some background information: I had bought one of those vats 3 months ago so I can melt 55 Pounds of wax at a time. Currently before that I was placing all my additives etc. in the pitchers before adding the wax. I began to think, why not just save some time? So I began to add the coconut oil directly to the vat, each time I filled up the vat with fresh wax, although I never would completely drain out the vat, nor wipe it out, etc. Over time I noticed that there was what looked like bits of cardboard or some type of darker matter on the bottom, every time I would stir the wax. It would all settle to the bottom, collecting in the center. no problem, I thought. The drain is 3/4" above bottom, right. Just pour slower. Back to my problem. As I said before, I would never completely drain out the wax. This wax would temper, I guess, because again I wouldn't pour the vat empty every time I used it. And as it did so, it began to drop out the coconut oil. THIS was what I thought was bits of wax box. It was burned CO!! Well, I was down to my last batch of Cinnamon, and I had just enough wax in the bottom of the vat. I tipped the vat over, and got out most of the wax, and brought maybe 1/3 of the burned CO with it. This ruined my last batch of cinnamon!! So wosdom says to go back to adding it to each individual pitcher. You could learn a lot from a dummy...

I am probably wrong as usual, but didn't the IGCA or some ruling body say something about any container should never exceed 175F? Again, probably wrong.

You are correct, I guess I have been using them for long enough that I forgot. Sorry!

Shoog, try Levine gifts. $100 minimum is all they require. Great variety! Some good combo warmers, as well as those awkward-looking things you plug into the wall. Where in OK? I'm in midtown Tulsa.

Whenever a ratio is given in parts, you can then decide what quantity, either ounces, cups, tablespoons, etc, but they must be an identical form of measurement. In my world everything is weight, so I go by the weight of ounces. I don't know much about sprays and such, but I figure you would want to measure in volume, because some things would weigh into big quantities. Therefore: 1. 4 fluid ounces modifier 2. 1 fl. oz FO or EO These two components form a base mixture. This is now considered 1 part. On with the spray: 1. Decide how much of the linen spray base you want. Did you say 8oz. total? Take 1% of the total of 8 oz., (0.08) subtract from 8 oz, (7.92), and you now have your ratio to make your spray. Since it would seem so very little of an amount of FO/EO, you may want to work with teaspoons, unless you plan on making larger quantities of stuff. HTH!!

No, but for veggie chandlers, avoid CS's red liquid. Frostarama!!

Currently I have been using a 44 Zinc wick for my deep 4 oz. tins, but I have been experimenting wioth HTP's. So far, I think the 73 would be the best, but I don't have an official conclusion. Start there, and maybe go up or down one.

ABSOLUTELY!! My wife and I do the same thing, using a zinc wick to slow down the wick burning up...pull off the metal tab too. We take all our tester wax (ratios and all that don't matter with these) and mix it with Jack Frost FO, and we can't keep them in stock!!

I use an 11oz frosted tumbler, and the best wick I found that made the candle last the longest, and would melt across to the edge in 2 hours or so with a 1/2 inch wick length are the Zinc-cored wicks. They are not aggressively hot wicks, and no more than the usual trimming is required. I also use a low melt-point wax, but that does mean that I have to use a slightly higher FO load. Fair trade, as far as I am concerned. I have tried so many different wicks except for the 700 series and the HTP's, and I plan on trying them soon, bet so far these are the best for what I am doing. In my two years of chandlery, I have only had one person shrivel up at the sight of a metal-cored wick, and I think that was a competitor at the show who needed an ego boost.

I am wondering about that, and also UV inhibitor.

Since I like to weigh my pouring pitchers as I 'put it all together', I usually add dye and FO to the pithcer, and then add wax to the proper weight, trying to pour the wax in as close to the center of the pitcher as possible, by means of a separate pitcher. Slowly adding wax to the fragrance, instead of fragrance to the wax, doesn't shock the temp much at all, and the fragrance won;t settle to the bottom. Try it, you'll like it!

Type of Soy or Soy Blend you use? CB Advanced. Additives if any? Coconut oil, 1teaspoon/lb. UV Inhibitor, 1/2teaspoon/lb. Preferred dyes? CS Liquids, preferably French Color liquids and powders. Preferred wick (Not sizes)? ZINC, due to low melt point and for longer burn life. Pouring temp you recommend? 135F March thru May; 145F June thru October; 115F November thru February. Trust me. What you do to prevent frosting? Not needed. What you do to prevent rough tops? Not needed. Do you do anything to prevent wet spots? Coconut oil for FO loads above 7% in 75F+ ambient, less in cooler months, as long as they sell out before May. Outdoor venues? Forget it.

I purchased mine from save-on scales.com. for less than 70 bucks I have a digi-scale that measures either grams, ounces, pound-ounces, or pounds. It has a large removable, washable table, and I can also buy replaceable display covers. It came with three already, so I haven't had to buy them, so I don't know how much the covers are.

Hmmm. My wife and I looked long and hard for a good, unique container, and spent much in time and resources for the right fragrances, etc. just like we all do. It would seem our manufacturing costs are at about the $3 mark, and is kind of the 'sound barrier', as it were, until we grow enough to get those 1,800 pound pallets direct, and mega-thousands of $$ for glassware. I sell my 8 oz. for $7, and the 11 oz. for $12, and my tins for $4.50. Nobody gripes, but I feel weird charging that much. Yes, this is a labor of love, but momma always said, "Love don't put food on the table." I want this to be out sole source of income someday, and I therefore watch closely the major competitors' pricing on SOY only, ignoring paraffin pricing, since we're soy. I am not interested in making 50 to 90 cents per candle. Interesting to note, however, in my area, people look at hand-crafted items and EXPECT to pay more. Selling on the cheap makes people think the products are cheap as well, and even thought you "poured" your very heart and soul into making the very best.

I'm old-fashioned I guess, so I prefer the zinc cored variety. Easy assembly, easy setting, I use a low melt-point wax and a cool wick for a good slow burn and a cool-to-the-touch container...except for the 4 oz. tins. Can't seem to win there.

Be sure to check out their multi-poundage prices too. Shoot them an email and they will send you an .xml file that shows their prices that way. They have also tested some candle fragrances for me, but I had to wait QUITE a while on that one, but they found some didn't work well in soy at all. Great bunch of folks.

Be careful what your intentions are with a candle warmer. They won't melt your wax hot enough if you want to just melt down some wax for a tester of a new fragrance in a single container--the wax won't get hot enough to bind properly, and it will all sink to the bottom, giving you a false reading. Unless the vaporization point is near 125 or so. As for crooked wicks, I prefer to use a heat lamp for the top, and a candle warmer to melt the bottom, and I use a thin, sharp steak knife to move the bottom of the wick. Swamp coolers work great, as long as the humidity is below 65%!!

Yup, same here, nothing but KUDOS to CS!! Their fragrances are top-notch, and even though I'm in Oklahoma, their shipping is cheaper that Peak's, which I just don't get. The have helped me all the way from the beginning, and I really dig their glass containers they sell. Their wick kits are top notch for testing too.

Welcome to the forum, Patty. As was already mentioned, wet spots are a seemingly necessary evil...that's why I like to use frosted containers from Libbey Glass, these seem to blend a bit better with the deal, and are forgiving to Ecosoya's pulling away "feature."

This is what I am saving up for...my place's wiring was built in 1962, so I don't plan on getting the super-dee-duper one, but the 1600 watt version. When I worked at a shop I used to Waage melters, and three other melters that were actually labeled "gear heaters". The Waage units had a thick layer of insulation between the actual melting pot and the outside cover, and the heat level was less than 140 degrees, and we heated the wax at that time to 230. The information I have gathered on the RiteHete version is quite identical, but at half the cost! Please trust me when I say that if you can use the 220 volt unit, do so, because 220 cuts your current draw in half, and lowers the overhead of electricity, a much forgotten expense to consider. Make a dedicated circuit if you have to, and they also make 220 volt timers to work with the setup as well

AHHH.. yessir, the 51-32-18 oughta work. Maybe even a 44-32-18Z, if you're not looking for a big flame, depending. J.

This is all so hilarious. I have had an encounter with a very picky woman who couldn't find a candle to her liking in my booth because I didn't have scentedwicks ...talk about marketing ploys! J.