VanillaSniffie

I thought I lost my post so i posted it again. Oops. Anyway, I am having a hell of a time with J223. I was using bigger wicks they weren't working. Was adviced to use less FO and try again. One attempt out of seven produced a good candle. Not using any additives except scent a few drops of dye. I am going to keep trying but I was just wondering how popular wickless candles really are, if it comes to me needing to turn the wax into them. 3" small apothecary jar. 2.5" high. used Secret Crush from Lonestar Candle Co. RRD 34 wick. ( Don't have anything smaller than LX12 for wicks) 6% FO. Just am not getting a good hot scent throw

I've been thinking. I have a lot of formulas that no matter how hard I ahve tried can't get them wicked with horrible results. I was going to throw them out but my husband said to make them into wickless candles. For those of you who have websites and shops, are wickless candles that popular? What about wax dipped animals?

How many of you actually have businesses? What do you do? Do you also work? I am no where near opening a business but I want to really bad. My DH laughs at me because when a candle turns out I dance around the house singing "We're in the money... we're in the money". LOL. Although I am above 20,000 a yr income, it's not what I want. I want more. So I was just wondering what you all do with your products. I am going to try and shoot for our County Fair this summer but not sure. Tell me a little about your candle making so I can get an idea of where to start.

The reason I ask is because I have candles that I made with J223, took everyone's advice and scented down to 6-7%. This "Secret Crush" I have is not as prominate as others but I still smell it. I also think I am getting a candle nose, like you all like to call it and I am not sure how to get my sniffer back to normal all the while still making candles. I think the temp is my house is a factor too. It's cold here is E.Washington. 3 ft of snow where I am at.

LOL. Thank You! Basically, that is me! I am in love with Vanilla! I have Vanilla perfumes, lotions, bubble bath, fabric softners, and yes, candles! My husband and friends and family know not to get me any other scents because I won't wear them. So I am a VanillaSniffer, thus I am VanillaSniffie! LOL

Do some scents throw out scent lighter than others? I was wondering that because some scents are strong within the hour or so that I light my candle. others start out slow (not much) but as the burn goes on they are stronger. Besides the fact that I think I am getting a candle-nose. Should I be worried?

Thank you. All of your suggestions are helping so much. I love ya guys!

OK so what about HTP's and ECO's or would they not burn very well? I just don't know much about this wax, Just thought I would try it because I have seen everyone's posts on it.

So stick to the smaller cd's. I was going to order some cd 4's, 5's and 6's tonight because that was my thought too. Thank you bizzyb!

Does anyone hate this wax? I have started out low. CD8 Using 9% Fo, and double wicking in a short 3.5 jar. All three times, they have a constant stream of smoke. Any suggestions?

I saw this on another board for candle making and thought I would post it here to get your reaction. The board is SMF and it was a recipe someone put up. It seems crazy to me for several reason, most important being I thought zinc wicks didn't work well in Soy Wax. 10.15 EZSoy Container Flakes (I have never used this, is it good?) 4.55 CB135 1.45 Cierra's Candles FO Chocolate Brownie 6 drops of brown liquid dye 3 1/2" wide by 5" tall jar wicked with w60-44-18Z <---- what the hell???!! Is that good?

I definitely don't have a lot of soot with my candles. Some, usualy it's due to too high of wick (I think anyway) in which I just melt and re-wick it, or that I light the candle with the wick being larger than 1/4" Mushrooming, eeent, there is some. Not very big. I can live with that because people should be trimming there wicks anyway and nushrooming is just an ugly (literally) reminder to do so. Scent and Appearence, very important So.... all in all, I guess I am doing ok. Thanks guys. Suds_n_flamez will be so proud of me!

Thank you so much for saying that! My husband was telling me the same thing! What I look for is more on the Chandlers taste than what the customers look for. I try to do the same. I go by scent first. And I have read meltpools are safe as long as they go no deeper than 1/2" . I am been tryiong to keep true to that. So my solution will be to try and eliminate those problems but "Quality" above all others. I have candles that I did not think did well in my initial burn but I gave out to people to burn anyway and they loved them and had no compaints. Thank you! You just boosted my confidence as a chandler somewhat!

OK So I went shopping yesterday and bought a candle from a very well known boutique in our community. This place isn't cheap and I paid 19.41 for a 16 oz. Pomegranit candle. Nice cold scent throw, nice color. Got it home and lit it. Know that this boutique is no rinky dink place. Very popular and expensive, and for a reason. Their bath and body products are luxurious and so I wanted to see what the candles would be. Anyway. SO when i first lit the candle it smoked a little. I put it out quickly and trimmed the wick to 1/4" and re lit. The smoking subsided, unless of course my german shepard, Rowdy, ran by and made a breeze. I guess smoke caused by a breeze is normal. I hope anyway. But as the candle burned the wick mushroomed. There was some hang up left on the jar (not much, just a light "skin") and just a tad bit of soot. Again, not much. All in all I was very pleased with the candle and hope I get my candles to that point some day. Now my question is this - I have searched through numerous posts before I started making candles and I see a lot of you hate soot, mushrooming, splitting, curling, etc. I understand, so do I. But some have gone as far as saying they will not sell a candle unless it does none of those. So how picky is too picky? I have visited some sites as well and some of them have FAQ's , and in the FAQ's explains that what soot and mushrooming and so are and what to do to minimize them, but not how one could prevent them. A couple sites even mention there is no way to completely eliminate them. I have candles I have made and they had a litle smoke, or mushroomed and I didn't pass them on my test. I mean, less than this candle I just bought. So please tell me, how much is too much. Sorry for the long, very long, post. I just had to get my situation and point across, PLEASE HELP me before I flunk any more more candles that could be considered good.

When a candle doesn't turn out? Had a couple yesterday and today fail test burns. Arrrgh!

Has anyone used the company Scent It for fragrance oils? I bought Strawberry Banana and Strawberry Kiwi from them. It took forever to get them. I think I ordered around the 10th and I just got the scents on Friday. Bittercreek takes a while sometimes too but not that long.

Thank you. I also wanted to thank everyone for telling me to work with one wax at a time, once I did that, and concentrated on CB135 (which I love BTW) I actually had a lot of candles work out. Enough scents that I can move on. Some people carry all the fragrances out there but that just seems like a lot to me. I like the twelve I have. Thanks so much for your suggestions!

I take it no one felt like answering. OK.

So I pretty much seem to have CB135 down. There are a few scents that are still giving me trouble and I will work with them a little more but I have had 12 different scents do well. So I am moving on to my next project. J223. I would ask Suds_n_Flamez (my friend) but she is on her honeymoon in Cabos San Lucas and I don't want to bother her. So I'll bother you instead, LOL. I have 2 containers I am starting out with, one is a 3" wide, 2.5 tall apothecary, and te other is half pint mason jar, about 5" tall and 3.5" wide. For the Apothecary, which wick do you think would do well. i started off with a CD wick but didn't get a big enough MP. Any suggestions. I am using 8% FO.

What are some suplliers (can't seem to find any) for bath & body supplies. I am mainly looking for shea butter and body lotions. Please help. Thanks.

Yeah this FO is good in the bottle. Was good with the first small candle I made but bad with this so i am pretty sure the wick is burning the wax and the smell is gone out from remelts.

Cb135

I read somehwere that Soy wax is capable of taking up to 10 - 12% Fo Load. True or false? Because I have this Mulberry, thought I had it done but I am not happy with the scent. Please answer soon, I want to get this before I go to bed. Also, does re-melting (and re-melting, and re-metling....) wax after bad test burns take away some of the scent? I am assuming it would because the scent would burn off? Correct me if I am wrong. Thanks for you help.

Thanks. That's good to know!

How long do you normally let your candles set for before you burn them? I just talked to a lady who said 12 hours and I have read on here that some make sure they set for 24 hours? I am anxious to see this new container I used and by morning it will have set 16 hours. I am wondering if that is good enough?