rustic

What talent you have, all are just beautiful...:rolleyes2

KY fragrances are very good, Candle Cocoon is also at the top of my list. Never received a weak one from either of these companies. In my book they are my two most favorite fragrance suppliers:rolleyes2

I have been working on my business for 3 years now. I retired from my full time job after 28 years. I make soy candles, tarts and lotions. I invested thousands of dollars with my start-up. Any dollars I make at this point I put right back into my business, my company is slowly growing but as others have said and I agree it is better to take it slowly. I have read where people jump in and try to grow too quickly and they end up in debt and in financial trouble. Read everything you can get your hands on about starting up a business, always test your products to make sure they are the best you can make. Ask your family members and friends to be your testers and let them give you their honest feedback on your products before you even start selling. My family and friends love testing my products It takes time and money to get your products on the market and I honestly can say at this time I couldn't live off what I make but feel that putting the money back in to the business is the best thing for me right now. You need to build up your customer base and give them the best product so they will continue buying from you. Good luck with your venture.

I prefer to use KY's Para/soy wax for tarts and votives, they always come out real creamy. No additives needed. I use one to one and a half ounces per pound, depends on what fragrance I am using at the time. I only use electric tart warmers and have no problems with scent throw or the tarts melting.

Pulled up or braided.

I have to agree with Angel2006 - KY has a Yankee type Fresh Peach, it beats any peach out there. It is soap safe too:yay:

I use Paraffin/Soy Blend for all tarts and votives. The pros takes color well, has great scent throw hot & cold, creates a very creamy looking votive. No cons on it from me:grin2:

The way I do it with gingerbread men and snowmen molds is after the tarts are removed from the mold. I melt just a small amount of wax then color it with the color I want to make the details take a toothpick and dab it on the eyes, mouth where ever you want the details colored. It's works for me. Hope that helps:cool2:

All I can say is WOW!!

KY Para/Soy Blend.

Wow! So detailed, love your work:rolleyes2

I use KY 125 it is a soy and cotton seed blend for container candles. I have tried others but nothing compares to it. Great cold and hot throw. Love it because it is in flake form, easy to use. I don't want to have to mix my own blends, I don't have the time. Never have to repour and I get smooth tops, sometimes alittle frosting but that is the nature of soy. I have noticed how some candle supply companies seem to discontinue different waxes, which is something that I don't understand...I would hate to go through all the testing and then find out it is unavailable. I try to only use fragrances that have been approved for use with soy wax, so I haven't had a problem with fragrances. KY Candle Supply lists her fragrances and she also tells you if it throws well in soy.

I use two popsicle sticks and a clothespin to hold the wick in place works every time:rolleyes2 cheap and a timesaver too.

About using the heat gun, it can't hurt to try it. But it may still cave in....not sure. Maybe try it and post your results so it could be helpful information for anyone else that has this problem;)

It could be several reasons for the cracking, try pouring at a slightly lower temp and if you are pouring in a area of your home that is cooler (like a basement) after you pour your candles take a box and cover the candles while they are cooling, that slows down the cooling a little and may help the cracking problem. There are so many things that can effect your soy candle making. Your right about having patience, but keep trying and yes do alot of reading, and all candle makers will tell you that the most important thing is to test, test, test... but it is a fun and addictive hobby:rolleyes2

Wow! They are absolutely beautiful, you are very creative and talented. I make candles and melts, but after the holidays I am hoping to try my hand at soap making. I have been reading on here trying to learn a little at a time, I love looking at the pictures all you soap makers post here, you all do such beautiful work.

For the tealights just do a repour,which means melt some additional wax and pour into your tealights to fill the caved in area. But I have used the 4794 in the past and the same thing happened to my tarts. I tried pouring at a cooler temp, pouring a hotter temp nothing worked. I now purchase a soy/paraffin blend wax from KY and my tarts come out real creamy and have a great throw. :highfive:

I like both but my customers prefer the tarts I use KY para/soy blend wax for tarts & votives.

I have found that using the tealights tart warmers can heat your tarts too hot which burns the fragrance off too quickly. Try a electric tart warmer, that's what I use now, they don't get as hot so the fragrance does last longer. Hope that helps. :smiley2:

I use KY Para-Soy tart blend and love it. The tarts are creamy and I never have a problem with the hot throw. I have discovered that if your tart warmer gets too hot, your fragrance burns off more quickly, so you might want to try a different tart warmer next time just to see if that might be your problem. I have been buying from KY for years, I have tried other brands but have never found a tart wax as good as the para-soy blend.:smiley2:

I know you can buy 5 inch reeds on Ebay. That's the only place I have found the short ones. I think it is 3.50 for 100. Hope that helps.:smiley2: Tina

Thanks for the help, I will pour hotter and see if that works.

Hello - I am new to this forum, so relieved I found this place. I normally make my tarts with KY parasoy wax. I received some samples from Kris at Gateway Products one of them is their LP416 wax. I am having a couple problems with it - one problem was the tarts didn't want to release from the molds so I had to put them in the freezer for a few minutes. The tarts then did pop out and were real nice and creamie except for the tops are all bumpy. Anyone else have this problem? I poured at 100 degrees, used one ounce of fragrance to l lb of wax. I will try making some more tomorrow but wondered if anyone had any tips on this wax? Any help would be appreciated.