leslee42

Thank you EricofAZ for the info. I have been leaning towards the LLC/S-Corp. entity but just was not sure. Less paperwork sounds good. I appreciate your feedback!

I have been reading up from the threads as well as some books about the protection an S-Corp or LLC gives you. And I greatly agree that a corporation is the best way to go to protect your personal assets.

But I was just wondering how many people out there have a Corporation vs. a Sole Proprietorship? I would be new to selling my candles and was thinking since I am not sure of how much I could make,etc. - would it be wise to start out as a Corp? The State of California charges you $800.00 just to be a Corp. Just was wondering what others thoughts are on this subject (If you were starting out new to selling). Just need some other opinions on this subject!

Thanks for any comments/input you may have!

Jeanie:

I just got back on to this thread - I had to go to the store but could not wait to get back so I could log back on and read more recipes! Seems like I am already addicted and I haven't even started yet! Now I am ready to order some supplies!

Thank you Candybee for the great recipes. I have never done M & P soap but I am really excited to start learning. You are very generous to post recipes and offer your support! Thanks so much!!

I have been using 464 for several years and I love it. And it also will leave some residue like you have. It is a great wax and what you have is normal for this wax. I agree with Candybee that to have a "clean" glass the others may have been a soy blend.

I am glad that I read this today. I have been making my Soy candles for about 5 years now and I am starting to give more out to friends and they love them. I keep going around and around about starting my candle business. I have tested my Soy candles and they are safe and have a great HT as well as a CT. So I just need to get on with it! Thank you for your post - I need to print out what you said and use it as a reminder in times when I am in doubt! What you said is very true!

I have more of a frosting problem with my 464 in the winter months and I was about to give up on dye. But what Stella had mentioned about dye kept me trying and so far I have found that I have more positive results using liquid dye than the Reddi-Glo chips. I know it is not Winter yet but I think if I keep a warmer room temp when pouring in the Winter and use the liquid dye I might be frost free... On the other side of the coin I do like and use the natural color of the wax for some of my fragrances. I guess I like both!

I have tried mixing 50% Palm and 50% 464 just for fun and it gives a great HT for those FO's that I have problems with in my 464. The appearance may need some help......

I have used 464 for over 2 years (maybe 3) and cd wicks are the way I go. I get mine at candlesandsupplies.com. I have tested many many wicks in the 464 and cd wicks are my favorite. Good luck with your testing!

I use Peak for my Palm wax and I have had no issues with it. I live in CA so shipping is cheaper for me although the wax is about $2.00 more than what CS sold it for. I use the Pillar wax and enjoy making them! At this point I am not planing to stop now - just got through with all of my testing!

I love the 464. I have tried both waxes and the 464 does better in my opinion with the HT than the C-3. 464 also has a creamy top too when poured at the right temp. Where I am at in California if I pour the 464 at 150 and I have a perfect top everytime.

I am just starting up my candle business and want a specific design for my Logo. Does anyone have any suggestions on a company/person that does good work. Or maybe a software program that will help me create/customize lables and tags . My ideas are simple but I don't really want to use an already created icon which it seems so many sites have. If anyone has any suggestions I will greatly appreciate your ideas. Thank you!!

Congrats Leslee. I have to agree with Wendy. Don't overwhelm yourself with trying to have every type of product to please everyone out there.

Be an expert at a few, rather than just good at many. Hope that makes sense.

I agree with you and Catlover. Thanks so much for your advice!

Leslee, I still only have two sizes of soy container candles and have done really well at craft shows this fall. I find people have enough trouble trying to decide what fragrance they want, much less trying to choose from several different products! Everyone's different, but I like the more streamlined approach. Good luck!

Terri

Thank you for your input. It really helps to hear from people who are selling and going to shows. I think keeping it simple is the best way to approach the business. I was at a show where a candle maker was selling soy candles, lotion, bath crystals and candle accessories. I was overwhelmed by all of the product I ended up not buying anything because I cound't make up my mind. Learned from experience I guess! Thanks again!

Good luck!!

I started out with two different size containers and did really well at shows .

You can always add later on

I was thinking that too - try to keep it simple so to speak. Thanks for your opinion! It helps!

Thank you both for your help and a direction to go into. I really appreciate it! Now I will give it a try!

After 4 years of testing and testing I think I may be ready to start selling my candles to the public. I am nervous though (like some of you were) about the first step in this direction. I will have all licenses and Insurance in place but I guess my question is this. I have container soy candles, Palm Pillars and Paraffin Voitives. Is this enough or should I add more - candle accessories, etc. I am thinking about starting with small craft fairs and going from there. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks for your input!

I was wondering if anyone knows how to do the streaking techinique for soy pillars. I have searched and come up with no information.

If anyone knows where to look or who to ask I would greatly appreciate it! I just love the look of them and would like to give it a try.

Thank you for your help!:rolleyes2

Hi there,

I have been in a testing frenzie:tongue2: with the GB 464 wax.

I have been a c3 user and wanted to try a new wax that I have read good things about...the 464.

Anyways, I love the wax, it turns out so smooth with little to mostly no frosting, no sink holes, mottling, etc. However, I am so dissapointed with the scent throw. With the C3 wax, I would always get a good scent throw (with most scents)the next day when I was just testing the wicks. With the 464 I get little to no scent throw when testing the wicks and for the scents that I am getting a good scent throw, it is a faint smell.

For those of you who are using the 464, how long in general would you say you let your candles cure before getting an "excellent" throw.

Some of you have said on here that the throw is amazing and I am just so confused at that.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am using quality FO's and have tested with 3 different wicks. I really like the way the wax behaves with the exception of one of the most important things to me......the scent throw.

Thank you

Christina

I have been using 464 for over 2 years and it is great. I use CD wicks and I really like the way they burn - no mushrooming, etc.. I usually never have to use more than an ounce of fragrance to get the scent throw - hot or cold. I use fragrances from Candle Science and Peak. I have used Eco Soya, C3. GB464 and 444 are great for scent throw. I get my CD's from candlesandsupplies.com. Hope this helps.

I was actually on your website yesterday and I really like your embeds. Are they Paraffin or Soy embeds? Thanks for the info...

The Pillar that you made with the chuncks looks great to me. I like the look of the blended colors. I am trying to stay with using natural waxes - soy, palm, so this gives me some hope! I know that paraffin wax is more translucent so if you embed sea glass, etc. you can see the effect more. But I will start will a soy pillar wax and go from there. Thank you for sharing your pics and knowledge. I really appreciate it!

Hi! I currently use GB 464 and love it. I was just playing with the idea to try embeds in soy wax. I know that soy is not as translucent as certain types of parrafin but thought it would be interesting to try embeds. I know there are so many talented candlemakers here on this forum so if anyone has tried this process I would love to hear your story! Thank you so much!

I am a newbie to making Pillars and am using the Starburst Palm. My candles are coming out great (appearance wise) but I am not sure about my wicking. I am using a 3 in. by 4.5 inch mold and was wanting another opinion on what kind of wick to use. I have tried CSN 11 (works good, but could be better??) and RRD 37 (works very bad! alot of carbon build-up) and just wanted to know what other kinds of wicks might work well with this type of wax.

I have read the thread on the chemical treatments they use on wicks and found it very helpful. I looked for CDN wicks but cannot locate a supplier. Just needed another opinion on wicking this wax... Thanks for any suggestions!

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on insurance companies that will issue Liability Ins. in California for candle making? I did talk to a broker and he said the Insurance would run between $700 and $1,000 per year. Just was wondering if I could do better than that.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions!

Here's the secret. . . .ready??

I have found out with any soy, if you do not get a smooth top when pouring and you have to use a heatgun. You have to wait to use the heat gun. If you wait and let it sit overnight, then when you hit it with the heatgun, the tops smooth out. If you do it, while the soy is still setting up, you end up with the grainy tops.

I have fought and fought with tops trying to get a smooth top on the same day I pour, and just end up with uglier and uglier tops everytime I hit it with heat. Once I started to wait until the next day, they all smoothed out for me.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much! I will give it a try.