inherowndominion

The orchid from SS IS fabulous, I LOVE it

Absolutely, I do it all the time. It's a GREAT way to use up soap that is fine, but didn't turn out great looking. Just make sure you put enough new soap in there to bind it all together. I once went a little wild putting way TOO many soap chunks in the mold and basically I didn't have enough liquid soap to bind it all together and the chunks kinda fell out. It DID leave the soap with these cool looking empty square holes though LOL But again, I got REALLY happy with the chunks, my mold was FULL of them to the brim.

I know everyone else said it, but I gotta say it to: Welcome to your new addiction! It's honestly so much fun, it's almost evil...

Are they super tiny triangles and crumbles? You might be able to use them as samples maybe if they aren't suitable to sell as full bars?

Thank you THANK you for the words of encouragement you guys! I will keep burning and keep posting pictures. I did try moving the wick a little bit in the jar (I'm using a wick setter so generally it's perfectly centered) and that really didn't seem to help, but maybe I gotta try again. Maybe I'm "doing it wrong". It seems that happens a lot with me and candles! BUT, I believe, and you all can correct me if I'm wrong, that HTP's tend to curl to the left, correct? So, in theory, if I set it off a bit to the right, perhaps it'll have less hang up? Do I have that right? The hot throw IS amazing. My house is setup so the kitchen and living room are only seperated by one wall, and that wall has two door ways. The front door of the house is in the living room. I had it going about an hour when I left the house, and the timer had 30 minutes when I walked in and that scent slapped me in the face in the living room and it was burning in the kitchen. It's a floral scent, so it's not "I'm gonna throw up" strong, but it's pretty darn strong. Let's just say I was really happy with it. If I DO wick up, it'll be the next size, to a 126. Let's hope that doesn't happen, huh? I was wondering, let's say it DOES catch up as it burns down, how do you think customers will take that? I can hear the emails and phone calls flooding in now that it's "NOT BURNING RIGHT" or whatever. The wick isn't drowing, it's going really good, but I really don't want to risk p***ing off my customers either. Have you guys had problems with that? As far as soot. It's gonna soot. At 3 hours, it's freaking sooting, and it's the freaking jar, and too freaking bad LOL It's not ALOT of soot, it's a pretty minimal amount, and it seems like there is just nothing I can do but junk the jar. It doesn't happen with a wide mouth, and I have a zillion of the jars, so I'm gonna sell them that way once they are tested, tested and tested some more. And if my testers complain about the soot, well then, I'll run all the jars over with a truck and be done with it. But I don't know yet, so we'll see. I tested a "Y" candle (yes I ventured into their evil store and bought one of their evil candles) and it sooted. So there! LOL Once these jars are gone though (I'll label them limited edition or something), I'm switching to a wide mouth or a smaller jar. Something WITHOUT shoulders *growls* But I'm bound and determined to defeat these stupid jars! And Stella ROFLMAO! I was actually helping a friend of mine on his dating site profile (I don't envy him) and there was that option of "more to love"! And gravity. Gravity is an evil thing, evil evil thing. Alright, since there are women on this board, I'm gonna tell you a story. And I'm so sorry this is SO OT, but it's worth being told. I'm attempting to liberate women everywhere as I have been liberated! LOL I almost died when I went to my "female" doctor (ok, HOLY OT now, huh?) and in discussing breast cancer and whatnot, we starting talking about bras. I'm a *clears throat and looks around* top..heavy...kind of girl (that's a nice way to say it huh) and I made a joke that as I get older, the girls seems to "migrating south", they *used* to be inclined to face north-ish if not straight forward. He told me that UNDERWIRES make the girls head south FASTER! HELLO?!?!?! Wish someone would have told me that at 15! He explained the reason why, and you wouldn't think it makes sense but it does, but I don't want to go into it since I think I've probably already offended somebody telling the story at all! But, basically, he was right. 1 year underwire free turned out to be like having a lift without the surgery. Underwires and gravity....it's all their fault! It has nothing to do with age or diet or excercise, I'm convinced, we are all just helpless victims! Now that I've probably just completely embarassed myself, I'm gonna shut up.

I'm no good at pictures, so I took 4 of them. Of course, I didn't think about it until after, but there is something black behind the jar, so just for reference, the black part isn't all soot LOL!!! There is only some soot on the rim and near the shoulder, but you can see through it, it's not nearly as bad as it might look (note to self, next time take picture in front of something WHITE! DUH!) The first one: You can see the hang up on one side. I tried turning it, that didn't work. The second: they are all the same candle, pics taken at the same time. The melt depth on this was a little over 1/4" when I measured, but it looks bigger doesn't it? It's got a soy blend, so I expect the MD to be a little higher, but it really wasn't but again, you can see the hang on the side The third one:, from the top, that it's more wax hang up than it looks like when you see it from the side: And one last one, you can kinda see the soot on the jar Ok, so I hope that helps explain what's going on. From the notes I've taken on the candle, this was the 16th-3 hour burn. It's burned essentially the same all the way through, though has gathered a little soot along the way and, obviously, the hang up doesn't seem to be catching up really. The throw is great though! As far as "it ain't over til the more to love lady sings" LOLOL! STELLA!!! LOL I love that, I'm gonna use that line and pay you royalties. I'm not a skinny-mini by any means, and lemme tell you, as I get older, I'm not sure if I'm getting really "more to love" as much as it seems gravity is starting to take over.

Oh and PS: My parasoy blends that I mentioned above are now a little more than half way, and the wax still hasn't caught up on any of them. Super UG!

I actually notice the flame is HUGE on my soy candles, much larger than my paraffin or parasoy blends. That's a huge part of the problem with soy candles for me, everything else I've got down pat pretty much. With the same jar (16oz straight sided 3" diameter) a 1212 seems way too big, and a 126 is too small (no throw, tunnel). The throw is great on a 1212 but the flame is ridiculously huge. So, Stella, if I were to go with CD or CDN's for the soy, what size would you recommend starting with for this jar?

Thanks Stella and Top, you guys are the greatest!!!!!!! Just FYI I'm using a 16oz straight jelly jar and a 105 wick. I'm using a variety of Fo's. I did batch A, B, C, and D and so on. Here's how I did the batches: Batch A consists of hyacinth whereas 1a is 1.5 oz pp with 104, 2a 1.5oz pp with 105, 3a is 1 oz pp with 104, 4a is 1oz pp with 105 and so on and so forth. Each batch is a different FO, and I'm changing the wick size and % so I can get an accurate measure of each one. I'm testing in different scents using that method: 1 candle that's 104, one that's 105, and in varying degrees of FO, but keeping everything else the same. God I hope that makes sense. I know a lot of people think it's really wasteful to do it that way, but I like burning them side by side or one right after another for comparison sake. The FO's are all very different categories, so I can kind of get a feel of when I need to wick up. As far as having NO soot, I WISH!!!! Even with the parasoy blend, I'm getting soot. Soot, soot, soot, it's the bane of my existence! Now, I will say that, to me anyway, the sooting is tolerable. I think I AM learning that soot is the nature of the beast with paraffin and this type of candle jar. It likes to create a little air tunnel and the soot hangs up on the shoulder and the rim as it burns down. But, for how far the candle has burned it's very little soot. I think once they are ready to be tested by people other me (I have testers lined up) I'll know whether it truly is "acceptable" soot or not. Now, I know it's not PC to say "Acceptable" level of soot, and I know I wouldn't tolerate soot in a wide mouth jar, but with these jars, and with everyone I've spoken to, I have yet to meet someone who uses this type of jar, and uses paraffin, that DOESN'T have soot. I swear we should start a support group! I know going 100% soy it won't soot (black, anyway), but I'm having trouble with that wick too. The flame is just way too big on my soy candles still. Yet, I wick down, and it drowns out or has no throw whatsoever. Such is the case with my EZ soy...1212 wicks the flame is ridiculously high, great throw though. With a 126 wick, the flame is perfect, but it nearly tunnels and it's super weak. And I cured both of them the same amount of time, poured at the same temp, and used the same FO and same %, so I know it's the wick. I'm adding the FO at about 170 (I've tried lower and it just doesn't throw AT ALL then) and pour at about 100 when it's nice and slushy, otherwise I get crystals real bad (effect of the UV inhibitor or the dye, but the lower pouring temp seems to help alot) Oh boy! I'm on a roll tonight huh??? Thanks for the tips and the encouragement too, it means the world to me. Sometimes when I see it's not going right day after day, batch after batch, I wanna throw my hands up. But hearing from you guys that I'm, at the very least, headed in the right direction, is enough to keep me going! Thank you!!!! As far as whipping, ok, I'll stop doing that. I was using a little mini frother like you use for milk, thinking at least then I KNOW it would incorporated. Guess that was a bad idea huh? Do you think that might be why the throw seems to get weaker as the candle burns down?

I'm using a parasoy blend, my throw is pretty decent, everything seems to be going well BUT...there's hang up on one side still. I've tried everything from twisting the wick to putting it a little off center (that was a disaster). I'm wondering if I should just wick up? I'm SO afraid wicking up will cause more soot or cause my nearly perfect wax depth to be too much! Although my blend is mostly paraffin, I add some soy (20-30% or so), and I know soy has a deep melt depth than paraffin, would it be true then that a parasoy blend would have a deeper melt depth? Anyhow, how far through the candle do you usually go before you decide if the hang up is gonna go away? I'm using 16 oz jars, I'm on my 12th burn (3 hours) and it's not quite half way through the jar and there's still a little hang up on one side. Should I just keep burning or you think customers won't stand for hang up that far through a candle? On a side note, I was wondering if anyone else had this problem: On some of my candles, the throw seems to get WEAK the further down the candle it goes. I even had one completely stop throwing half way through. And I DO mix quite a bit to incorporate a fragrance (a full 2 minutes with a blender if it's electric, 3 minutes if it's by hand with a slotted spoon). Anyone else had that problem? Ok, too many questions, sorry! I tend to get on a rant! Just feelin' so frustrated over this!

I've seen this discussed all over the board, but I just HAD to open the topic again because I'm wondering: Is telling a person to add water to their burner safer than telling them NOT to on the warning label? Some people say it splatters, other say it's the only way to make sure they don't ignite. I'm planning on mixing mine 50-50 DPG/FO. Personally, any time I've ever burned any home fragrance oil I'm added a few drops to a tea light style burner and let it go. It does get kinda sticky once it burns down all the way and you can only burn it a little while before it's really overwhelming, and yeah, it steams, but it's never caught on fire. Though I don't know I wanna tell my customers to burn them that way! I can understand telling them to add water to an electric warmer or tea light style burner, but what about a lightbulb ring? I wouldn't think you'd want to add water to that? And all burners are different sizes, so how would much water would you tell them to add? I looked at yankee's oils, and they just say "never add water to hot oils" and it add a "Few drops" to their burners. But I read on the site somewhere their fragrances are different than the ones we buy so you CAN only add a few drops. Is that true? What's everybody's opinion on all this? I'm a little overwhelmed thinking about sorting all this out, but I'd rather that then get sued!

Just a note about the perf shrink wrap. I've used it..the 60ga stuff is a SERIOUS PAIN to work with! And the 75ga I couldn't really smell anything through it, though it DID wrap better. I couldn't get the 60ga right at all, I finally gave up cause I was wasting too much wrap trying to get it right! Maybe you will have more luck, I'm the impatient type so that could be part of it too LOL

"You can also poke the base of the wick in the direction of the cooler side to help center the heat" That's what I was referring to when I said base (have no idea how to use the quote function on here, lol, Im tech stupid LOL!), sorry, shoulda been more clear But that makes sense to me....and twist the wick BEFORE, can't do it while it's burning, got it! Thanks, I'll try that. And I'll try the CDs too, pretty sure I have some...I KNOW I have some LX wicks The place I ordered it from said it's a jelly jar. I want to say I got them from Candles and supplies, http://newcart.candlesandsupplies.com/Store/Products/Candles/PID-MJ-16.aspx?VariantID=10 There's the link, pretty sure those are jelly jars? I might have to offer it in tarts only, that sucks though cause I LOVE it, it smells just like real hyacinth! I'll give it one more go with twisting the wicks and using CD's (maybe even LX) and make a decision then. I don't mind having to use more FO for one or two candles if they are good sellers, but I don't wanna make it a rule cause it IS expensive!

I'm sorry, I'm using EZ soy. I forgot to answer that last time. Here are the measurements of the jar: 5.3 inches tall outside diameter is 3" The HTP's tend to dip to bend as well, I think they are self trimming, and this one has bent too, I find that desirable most of the time cause it seems when the burn is perfect the HTPs bend a little and almost never mushroom for me at all. Maybe I'll try giving it a twist and see if that helps. How would you tell a customer to do that, or wouldn't you? Would you just offset it by tipping the base as you said? I've used that same FO in tarts, and it works GREAT. But, it does take slightly more than usual to scent the tart wax too. But I LOVE the fo, it's only true hyacinth I've found, all the others I've tried give me a serious headache (I am not a huge floral fan to begin with).

Great! Maybe I'll do that then, I gotta go take an "inventory" on it though. I think I've got like 4 different cartridges with it, but for the life of me cannot remember which ones except the boxes one LOL Thanks guys!

Stella, thanks! No it's not a wide mouth, it's a regular mouth jelly jar 16 oz. I believe the only difference between that and a standard mason jar is that the jelly jar has smooth sides and more of shoulder. But the diameter is the same I believe. I tried adjusting the FO and couldn't get a throw .7oz per pound all the way (in .1 increments) to 1.4 oz per pound (yes, I know, I'm anal LOL) but once it hit 1.5 oz pp, it threw! I changed nothing else, go figure! So do I need to off center the wick? I'm using a wick setter which puts it right in the middle of the jar so I thought it would be fine, but I guess not! I think I may have some CD's laying around. So I may try that and see what happens. I cured them all for 2 weeks, I generally pour a bunch of candles all at the same time in different wick sizes and FO amounts, etc, so I can compare side by side. Then let them all cure so they are ready for testing at the same time. And if none of them are a go, I start all over again. I know it's wasteful, but it's easier for me that way. I'm still kind of new at this. I think it's burning too hot too, the flame is just way too high. But I was miffed cause the 126 didn't cut it!

This is totally IMO, and I haven't run it through a lye calculator myself, but it might be the lard. If you gelled it or it got real hot, it could be that the lard just didn't mix with the FO you used very well scent wise. I used to make lard soap all the time and 99% of the time came out just fine, but there was one FO, I believe it was grapefruit actually, that just stunk SO BAD when I gelled it in a lard recipe!!

Hello all! I'm having a problem with soy...I'm using 1.5 oz ppw (when I use less than that, it doesn't seem to throw well at all! The 1.5 oz seems to be the power number for this scent). It's 100% soy by the way. I'm using a 16oz jj and an HTP 1212 wick, with a hyacinth FO. It's cured and throwing great, BUT... The flame is just WAY too high for my liking. Yet, it's not getting a full melt pool at 3 hours, yet the wax depth is really deep, way more than 1/4"! The HTP 126 didn't do the job either, way too much hang up. (Sorry for the pictures, I'm so bad at taking pictures!) Ok, here is the candle burning, it's the 3rd burn, I've trimmed the wick (1/4") before burning, at this is right before I blew it out (at the 3 hour mark) You can see the crazy melt depth too [ATTACH]18830[/ATTACH] Next is when I blew it out, you can see the hang up on the side there... [ATTACH]18831[/ATTACH] I would think that the flame being so big would be caused from the wick being too big, yet if I use smaller wick, the throw is affected AND it leaves so much hang up. Anyone have any suggestions on this? Thanks!!!!

It's a 16oz jar candle...and yeah, my house is pretty darn drafty!!! Do you then test it for throw in a draft house, or should I put it in optimum conditions? The room which I close it in usually isn't real drafty, but the living room sure is!

I've got one and I've got the bags, tags, boxes and more cartidge as well. Totally cute. You just cut them out (well the machine cuts them out) and then you fold them where the score marks are and use glue to glue the boxes together. So adorable, I've done a bunch of them that way for birthdays and gift baskets. I REALLY love the popcorn box, I use that to put my little knitted items in for xmas (barbie clothes for my neice and so on). I once made 100 little boxes and put $1 bills in each one of them for my nephew to open one at a time for graduation. It was HILARIOUS! Actually, I'm want to sell off all my cricut stuff, I LOVE it but I just don't use it enough to warrant having it anymore, I'm way too busy and I think someone else would probably use it way more than I do. I thought about going on ebay but the fees are ridiculous, I wonder if I can post it in the classifieds or would that be against the rules since it's not really pertaining to candle making?

I'm testing a few of my candles for throw and run into a little problem. I think I may have candle nose. Ok, when I put the candle in a bedroom, and shut the door, let it burn a bit and walk in, there's a REAL good throw! Fills the room! Even go so far as to say knocks-your-socks-off-strong. When I put the candle in my living room though, obviously a more open area, I can't freakin' smell it! UGH! I figure it's gotta be candle nose cause how can moving from room to room affect the throw at all? I'm wondering if putting it in a closed room is a valid way to test for throw? Anyone else do that? Jess

It could be your flavor oil, that's the most likely bet. If the flavor isn't pre sweetened, then adding a lip balm sweetener would help. If that still doesn't help and you still get that taste, it's either the flavor itself or the next thing I would look at is how fresh the sunflower oil is. When that stuff goes bad it's awful! I've noticed lip balm flavoring varies seriously from supplier to supplier, some are great, others, ICK! So I'd definately start there....

I used kaolin from time to time in my soaps, it makes the soap nice and slick. For a 5# batch I used 3 TB of kaolin. It shouldn't really "Affect" any soap recipe, so I'd think you could use it with whatever soap recipe you want, I've used it with many different ones. If he's got real dry skin try a recipe with olive oil and\or shea butter, that'll probably help.

Completely depends on the scent you are using. I've used just about everything as a colorant LOL Tumeric: No doesn't have a scent, but it needs a strong FO. I used it with lemon once, and NOT a good idea, totally left a scent Cocoa powder: Yes, leaves a scent, but very slight depending on how much you use. If you use quite a bit, yeah, it'll smell like chocolate. Curry: I used it once and only once. All I can say is maybe it was just me, or perhaps it was because i gelled the soap, but it turned a funky color and smelled like kind of like dirty socks (and I love curry!). I've stayed away from it since. Coffee: Again, depends. If you are using it with another FO, probably no scent anyone is going to notice, but if it's alone, it does kinda have a scent, but I use it in massive amounts in my soap. Sage: To me, yeah. But I've only ever used my own dried sage which is REAL strong anyway. Cucumber: I wouldn't use fresh or dried cucumber, I did that once (dried) and it made the soap go bad. Ditto with tomato, but tomato juice works really well, to me leaves a slight scent though. Any fruit or veggie in soaps (I've only ever used dried) never works out for me. Carrot: I've only ever used carrot juice, and no, never left a scent for me but does turn the soap a REAL funky color.

I forget what they are called now, but I THINK Candlesandsupplies has them...they are little clips you put on the jars, metal, and it holds the wick in place. Those work awesome if you are looking to "test" out different wick centering tools and don't wanna spend too much money. I wanna say they are like $1 a piece or something to that effect.