pcbrook

Well after a couple of years of fighting with soy I tried palm and I will never look back. I actually found it easier than soy to wick. It is a little bit of a pain to wreck the tops but I am getting used to that to. And I love the way the wax stays looking the same. No frosting. No blooming. And I feel more confident in my candles now.

I was actually afraid to try it for a while but after reading all the posts here I knew I just had to.

I agree with everyone about the fact that your should pay attention to your customers but I also feel you should not pounce on them to try to sell them something they don't want. You have to find the fine line between helpful and desperate to make a sale!

I guess I am just one of those people who like to look and not be bothered with a hard sell. It is such a turn off. I know what I want and I don't need someone telling me what I want. If I have any questions I will ask.

I know I was walking on pins and needles for a while because I could not come up with the $300 per year to have insurance. Then I asked my agent about making monthly payments and found out it was an option and I did not hesitate one second and said "sign me up"!!!

Wow...that is an amazing price and payments to boot! Insurance is pretty expensive in my neck of the woods!

My peace of mind is only $26 per month.

Mind you it started out to be around $400 for the year but I did a little tweaking on the policy. There were things that were not needed like terrorist insurance (this was only $4 per year though). I really believe the terrorists do not care about my little rural town and if the world does end the insurance will not help not matter how much coverage I have .

It also had coverage for my inventory at craft shows in case of damage while at the show but it had a $500 deductible and I never even have more than $500 worth of product at any given craft show so it would do me no good. So they took that off of there too.

There was something else on there too that we decided I really did not need but I cannot remember right now. Guess that is how important it was.

I would start out with your usual insurance agent to see if they have something to offer you. Just tell them what you are looking for and they should be able to lead you in the right direction.

I know I was walking on pins and needles for a while because I could not come up with the $300 per year to have insurance. Then I asked my agent about making monthly payments and found out it was an option and I did not hesitate one second and said "sign me up"!!!

I feel so much more at ease now that I have the insurance. As stated previously.....those warning labels don't cover the cost of hiring an attorney in case a suit is ever filed against you or your company.

With containers, it helps to smooth the boogers first with a knife or something so that there isn't much work for the heat gun to do other than generally bring everything together.

Thanks for the tip! I have a few sitting there right now I will have to give that a try to see how it goes.

Thanks Stella for that explanation. I guess I should invest in a little level. Never thought of that. And probably an old griddle from the Goodwill.

When I wrecked the votives they easily smoothed out with the heat gun. I am having a little trouble smoothing out my containers with the heat gun so they look good. They always seem to have a ridge around the inside edge of the glass.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate everyone here.

Palm wax is actually becoming my favorite. I ran out of soy and I am not planning on buying anymore. So far I have had good luck with the palm. Wicking even seems to be easier than soy. Or maybe I am just becoming so used to it, it doesn't even phase me anymore.

I was thinking about making the jump into pillars soon also. What is the best and easiest way to level out the bottoms instead of doing a second pour?

I did a couple votives a few days ago and waiting for them to cure so I can test burn. That went pretty easy.

TIA

The Kmart in my area does not even carry them at all. Might have to start grabbin' what we can get as Stella said. :tiptoe:

Wow! $42. At that price I might as well go on Ebay and buy them with the spigot already installed. Aren't they usually about $49 on there?

Thanks for the links!

It is a 4 quart, at least that is what I think it is. That is the only one they had in the store. Funny thing is they don't even put the size of the thing on the box but I could tell by the size of the box that it was smaller than the one I have. I guess what kills me is they should charge less for this thing. They still charge $24. I could see $18. They had me over a barrel. I needed it so I bought it.

Just bought one yesterday. It is smaller and you have to put it together yourself now and they still charge you the same price!!!! I bought it because I was only planning on using it for votive/pillar wax and I don't really need anything that big. But what a rip off!!!

I added a spigot to mine. As far as an easy way to get the wax out without the spigot I have heard some people use a ladle and scoop it out and some people just pick it up by the handles and pour it into their pouring pitcher. I however, am not that talented to not make a mess doing it that way. I love my spigot.

Yes, incense is supposed to smoke. They say if it smokes too much then you can lower the amount of FO to DPG. I never seemed to have to do that, although, my husband is the one who does all the testing for me and he has never complained about too much smoke. I don't care to have incense burning in my house so he uses it out in his shop.

The longest burn time for my incense has been 1 hour so it looks like your incense is burning just about right.

HTH

Can't help you with GB415 but I have put Tuscan Nights in palm wax at 6% and it is very strong. Masculine but good.

I made a few for the fall and winter shows but they did not seem to go over to good.

I made up labels using old fashion and vintage pictures. Sorry I do not have a picture of them.

I burned the 6006 yesterday it did better in that wax than the palm wax. Didn't blow me out of the house but it was there.

I am going to test the palm again tomorrow to see how it does. Maybe it just needs to cure for a full week. Man I hate that. I wish I had the willpower as some do on this board to just make a candle and let it sit for two weeks.

I put some in 6006 a couple days ago. I will give it another day or two and see what happens.

Thanks for the reply. I guess I was just a little disappointed. I have heard so many good reviews on this but I can hardly smell it.

Did you try looking at Fillmore Container. That is where I found what I needed. Just need to know what size lug you need. Which reminds me, I need to order.

I started out using the glass bud vases that are about 9 inches tall. They hold about 36 sticks perfectly and they are evenly soaked all around. You might be able to find them cheap at the Goodwill or some other store like that. Then I started saving my 16 ounce DPG bottles when they are empty and cutting the tops off and use them. You can fit a least 100 sticks in them at one time if you need to make that many at once. They do not cover all the way to the top of the stick (about 7/8 stick) but the solution moves up the stick as it is soaking it.

You have to soak them for at least 24 hours before drying. You can use this link for directions: http://www.candlesupply.com/how2incense.html

Does anyone have any experience with this FO in palm wax? I tried it in GB415 and no HT. Just tried it in Glass Glow and still nothing. It is there but very, very light to almost nothing. CT is good but...... I let it cure for 3 days. Does it need to cure forever?

I have heard everyone rave about this FO and I am starting to wonder if it is just me. So far not so impressed. I am going to mix some up in 6006 and see what that does.

Just curious as to what other people here think. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

If I am understanding what you are saying, yes, dry wax will weigh the same as liquid but the volume will be different.

I am sure there are less scientifically challenged people on here that can explain it better but this is what I have found to be true.

Thanks for the heads up. I have read that palm is hard but I did not realize it was that hard.

Whenever I test any candle I usually do not put a wick in it at first. I just use a skewer after it has hardened to make a whole and stick a wick in so if I have to change it out it is easier. Is it possible to do this with palm?

Yes, you can substitute. Here is a link for the directions for corn cob.

http://www.candlesupply.com/how2corncob.html

I have used it in organza bags and never had a problem with them although they do look kind of ugly.

If you are using them in the paper envelopes you might want to try the base that dnj suggested.