patka

Hi, I just wanted to mention that this wax is, according to Swans, certified organic by NOP, a division of USDA, in my opinion it means that the plants were grown non-gmo, since genetically modified foods cannot be certified organic by the USDA standards. Other than this wax, I believe all other brands that contain soywax use soybeans that have been genetically modified, including Ecosoya. Their website states the wax is free from gmo material and pesticide. One could assume this means that the soybeans were grown without pesticide and were not genetically modified, but from the information I was able to find, I think it in fact means exactly just what it says: that the wax does not contain these, not that the vegetables were not grown that way, which sounds like a misleading advertising to me :rolleyes2 It is my understanding that all oil, including oil from gmo plants is gmo free simply because oil does not contain the genetic material that is required to detect the gmo material, I hope I got this one correct. There is an interesting article on the website that explains this better: (here:http://nutiva.com/about/media/2006_11_12.php) "Testing for GMO contamination entails detecting the tell-tale DNA evidence of known GMO contaminants. By nature, these tests will invariably fail when testing oils, fats, or waxes, because they contain no DNA or, indeed, no carbohydrates or proteins. All of that was filtered out when the soybeans were milled into oil as one product and meal as the other. So, claims that soy waxes contain no GM materials are just disingenuous, because it will be true even if the oil used to make the wax was made from 100% genetically modified soybeans"

Just to let you know, the BC mold is back in stock, I ordered mine on Monday!

Are their palm waxes the same as candlescience? I mean the starburst and feather? I am thinking they could be since they carry "Glass Glow" but I think starburst and feather are more generic names so I was wondering if anyone knows. I really like the candlescience ones, but they are out now.

Stella, I did not know that the wax gets stronger over a long period of time after pouring. That helps a lot. I will try to let the candles sit for a while before doing anything with them and I won't give them to friends until they are some weeks old. Thank you so much for the information.

I started to make some forever candles from palm wax and they have turned out nice, thanks to a lot of information from people on this forum. I have noticed that palm candles are quite brittle and they chip very easily after they are made. I don't worry about that with regular pillars, since they will be burned sooner or later anyway, but with the forever candles, since they are supposed to last a long time and used over and over, I am worried they won't look so nice after some time. Is there anything that can be added either to the wax or sprayed in the mold or on the candle itself that would help protect the candle? I don't use any fragrance oil in the candles I wonder if that makes them more brittle too. Thanks!

Hi Grama, I don't use fragrance at all, and if I put anything, it is just a few drops of essential oil. I also use natural annatto color for different shades of yellow to light orange or leave the votives uncolored, so that is probably why a smaller wick may work for me better. I think I need to decide between CSN 5 or 7. I will try to do what you recommended next time I pour votives, to fill them the top. I also usually do the repour when my votives/pillars are still a bit warm, but I've had it happen also that the wax ran down the sides of the mold, especially on pillars and they looked awful. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hi Grama, thanks for posting that information. I am working on palm votives too. I use starburst/feathering wax from candlescience. What wax have you been using, and may I ask what wicks have you found that work for you in the votives? I tried CSN 7 and they seemed a bit too much, the glass was a little hot. Now I am testing CSN 5, it seems to work better, but I am not sure yet. By the way, I see you are also in Georgia, me too, in Gwinnett

Check out a shower filter from New Wave Enviro. They use KDF to remove chlorine, I think it works better than carbon filters. Here is their description of kdf: "A patented mixture of zinc and copper called KDF-55, plus crystal Quartz, converts Chlorine into Zinc Chloride. Zinc is considered to be helpful in alleviating dandruff and is used in anti-dandruff shampoos. Unlike carbon, KDF stands up to hot water and is very effective in filtering out Chlorine, odors and dirt particles. KDF possesses strong bacteriostatic character, inhibiting the growth of bacteria, fungus, algae and mildew. The Premium Shower Filter contains 16 oz. of KDF" The filter will last about a year. To be honest, I have not tried their shower filter, because I did not feel an urgent need (yet) to have one, but I do use their drinking water filter that has kdf too and it is an excellent filter. Some health food stores carry these filters or here is a link to a website where I have bought mine as well as a link to New Wave for more info. http://www.egeneralmedical.com/new-wave-premium-shower-filter.html www.newwaveenviro.com

Thanks Eugenia, I have not thought about that. We do have an Asian market nearby, I will check it out.:smiley2:

Well, it is just my preference, it means less processed product. Not a big deal if I don't have to eat it, but still prefer oils.....:smiley2:

Thanks for pointing me to Eugenia's tutorial. Is there any oil instead of shortening that can be used if someone would like to avoid hydrogenated fat as well? I wonder if that comes back to palm oil. I will look more in the stores. I order in bulk candle wax, but that company does not offer soaping supplies like palm oil. Any suggestions will be welcome. Thanks a lot.

I would like to try to make my own soap. I have searched some threads here, but I could not find an answer to this. Is there a recipe that would only contain plant sourced ingredients (no lard) and I could actually go to a local store to get the ingredients for it? I know I can get coconut, olive, sesame, some cooking oils... I do not recall seeing palm oil, is this something that can be found locally? If yes, which store carries it, or is there something else I could use instead of palm? I would also like to avoid using hydrogenated fat if possible. If you have a recipe, would you please share it with me? Thanks so much.

Thank you everyone for your ideas, I appreciate the candid discussion. I am glad you cleared the misunderstanding between an antioxidant and an antibacterial agent. So I can use vit E to prevent the oil from going rancid, but I still need some antibacterial stuff in the cream. I am definitely going to look into using ionic silver. I have already done a lot of research years ago, when I tried to clear up a tooth infection and I did not want to use antibiotics. I have a machine that makes it. Ionic silver is different from a silver salt. It is pure (99.9%) silver in distilled water. As far as argyria goes, this is a real condition that comes from taking large quantities of silver. Ionic silver has very little of silver in it if it is done properly with distilled water, you get a lot of silver atoms in the water, but the total amount of silver is fairly small (I think less then allowed in drinkin water!). That dude who got argyria, he did not use distilled water, but tap water with salt added, that speeds up the electro-colloidal process tremendously and you end up with heaps of metallic silver in the water and you could get argyria. As far as I know, there is no known case of argyria caused by ingesting pure ionic silver. If anyone is interested in looking at this, there is a website www.silvermedicine.org. I recommend this website over most others, because it is a non-commercial webstite (nobody is trying to sell you their silver bottles, they do recommend some silver makers, but based on their reviews only) and they have posted a lot of research. There is a part on argyria too. I am not one who thinks this stuff is good to cure everything, but it definitely kills bacteria and seems to be non toxic. Also, silver is used to help regenerate skin after severe burns, I think even in the hospitals. I had no I idea I would end up talking about ionic silver on this forum, but when the discussion turned to preventing germs and fungus in cream, it came naturally to me that this could be an option. Thanks for listening!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I will try body butter or lotion bar. As for the cream, is there a natural ewax? I heard vitamin e can be used as a preservative. I am thinking ionic silver water could be used too, since silver is used to preserve water (and the water is still drinkable) and pure silver is very good for the skin especially if the skin is damaged. I guess I am just thinking outloud here. CareBear, I know that "natural" is a relative term. For me it means derived from nature with minimal processing. OK, oil is not in nature, but when you just press sesame seeds to get sesame oil, you get a very wholesome natural product (in my opinion). But when the oil, like soyabean is hydrogenated, then I think it not completely natural. I try to avoid hydrogenated fat in my food and cosmetics, but I still use palm wax (hydrogenated palm oil) in my candles, so there is some compromise too.

Thanks so much for the reply. I would love to hear about your experience. I am planning to order a sample myself. The shipping charges from Swans are so high to my area I really need to make sure this wax is going to work well before I think of placing an order. I would love to hear your experiences and I will post mine if I get the sample too.

I can look into getting an emulsifying wax, if it is all natural, but I was hoping to use beeswax, because of the health properties and the nice smell. I got some really nice, fragrant beeswax and would love to use it. Does anyone have a suggestion on what could help to keep the ingredients (water, oils butters and beeswax) together without the water coming out? Thanks so much.

I just tried to make a cream for the first time. I used sesame oil, olive oil, mango butter, little beeswax and water. I heated all of these and stirred. The water seemed to emulsify but then all of it came out, separated from the oils. I thought it was possible to add water to oils to make a cream... I would like to know if that is correct, if yes, why would the water come out? I did use a blender on high speed, maybe that is what caused it? Or is there something I have to add to the mixture for the water to blend in? I am trying to make the cream all natural. Thank you in advance.... :smiley2:

I think you can dip in the wax that you are making the tealights in. I dipped mine in the palm wax and they worked just fine. It only takes a few seconds, as soon as you take take them out they will harden up. Or perhaps you could use some other pillar wax, for possibly a better look (the palm wax is a little brittle, but still works just fine), still only a few seconds of work, dip the whole spool or part of it in melted wax and out.....

Well, could you order a spool of CSN 5 soak it in wax (high meltpool), get the lowest base neck tabs, and cut up your own wicks, put them in the tabs, and just squeeze the around the wick to hold it in the tab? That is what I have done so far and it has worked very well. It will burn all the way down. I have seen commercial tealights burn all the way down too, so I am assuming that it is ok. It is just an idea and it could be cost effective. But I am still fairly new to candles and I have not been selling them so I am not 100% sure if this is ok. Someone more experienced might come and explain if this is not a good idea.

Southern, You can keep your palm candles undyed. They look beautiful, but seem to burn a little faster, you may need a slightly smaller wick. I keep some of my Starburst uncolored and some I color with oil soluble edible annatto color. I am looking into some other natural colors, but this is the only one I found commercially available so far and it has a beautiful golden yellow and burns well.

I wanted to ask if anyone has experience with the Accu Veggie Organic Container Candle Wax from Swans. I am not trying to make "organic candle" but I think I would feel better knowing the crop that the wax is made from was grown without pesticide or genetic modification. I think the wax is certified by USDA. Any feedback would be appreciated.

What kind of palm wax are you ladies using? This could be important, because I think different palm waxes behave differently. I would like to know what wicks work for 2" inches pillars as well, I just ordered a few 2" molds and plan to make some 2" pillars for the first time. I use Starburst and Feather wax from Candlescience. I use a few drops of coloring and either nothing else or maybe 2% different essential oils, the results seems to be the same. I used the CSN 7 wicks in my votives and I thought the wick was too large for them. I got a full MP pretty quickly and the glass would get fairly hot. I just ordered CSN 5 to try instead, but I was hoping the CSN 7 would work in the 2" pillars. I would be interested in knowing what works for people with both the votives and 2" pillars.

I had the same problem with CB Advanced and I don't feel it was because of cavities. I just made a candle with it a few days ago. I had a crack form after pouring and cooling. I lit the candle a few days later, got a nice meltpool and after cooling the crack re-appeared. It seems that this is something this wax likes to do, sometimes. I am not sure what is causing it, or what would help to eliminate it. I don't use the wax very often any more. I pour fairly cool, no additives, no dye, no FO.

Circle, I would be interested too, I wonder if it would help if you started the thread with "Evo Colors" or something like that in the subject line. I think I saw some people on this forum said they were using these colors, but maybe they did not open this thread because they didn't see Evo colors in the subject line? Just a thought.....

Stella, I should have been more careful when I wrote my post. I was mostly thinking of Glass Glow when I wrote my note. I am actually happy with the way my 3" pillars have been burning (much thanks also for your advice on how to remove airpockets from palm candles!:smiley2:). The few Starburst votives that I tried with CSN 7 did burn a bit fast, but I will try a different wick to see if I can get a better burn. But Glass Glow seems to burn fast no matter what and I tried different sizes of CSN wicks and CD wicks. So far I have tried GG candles without anything in it and also with 3% FO, no dyes.