nadiap

I'm in Oz, and same as Tammy don't have any probs using the CDNs with my pillars - or my container candles for that matter either

Newbie Alert !! I'm going to get around to testing some new goat's milk base over the weekend and was just wondering whether any of you use a percentage as a measurement when adding FO. This is how I do it when making soy candles and diffuser oils and think it would be easier as I don't use 1 pound of base as standard. For a start, I have to convert everything over to kilos and grams (in Au ;-) so it would be easier to have the starting weight of the base and then use percentage weight for the FO.... Can anyone help ?

I'm no expert but the only time I've had a result like that was when I poured the wax at too low a temperature and the top looked a if I had just poured the wax flakes on top of the candle - which looks to me like what those tops look like. What I did was warm up the oven, then turn it off and placed the container in the heated oven, let it remelt and reharden over night. Removed the horrible top and it all came out nice and smooth :-) I really don't think it's worth burning the way it is because that is more than a 'rough top' Hopefully someone with more experience can come along and give you more/better advice.

I had the same question about the liquid soap in another thread and Tammy wote me to check with a health food store or one of our local (australian) suppliers. I then did a search on ebay and found some on there as well. Pricing was pretty competitive, so that's where I ordered it from - just waiting on it to arrive :-) So ebay USA may be a good place to check.... (maybe :-)

I'm only very very new to soap making, have tested using just plain old MP base and my little guest soaps turned out great. praireannie's recipe which looks great. I do have a quick question, what would the soap be like without the liquid soap added? Only reason I ask is cause I'm not sure if I can find the non-scented stuff anywhere locally. Is the reason for the liquid soap additive, so that you get more bubbles? any other reason? I do have some plain white MP base as well as some Goats Milk base and want to try the recipe, but need to know whether not using the liquid soap will make that much of a difference and if so, what ? As you can see I'm very new at this and don't even know the why and wherefors of the various additives and what they 'bring' to a soap - more reading for me I guess ;-)

Isn't the Blending Palm meant for Pillars though? Here's what I read on the distributors' website: "PALM WAX - BLENDING PALM WAX -This blending palm wax is a natural wax used to blend with the soy pillar wax when making pillar candles.... It will help strengthen the soy wax and not give any crystal pattern. " I've been testing the following in small doses and seems to work ok in containers: "PALM STEARIC ACID - The highest quality triple pressed and filtered, natural palm stearic acid.This additive is used widely in the candle industry for many reasons, but mainly to allow a higher fragrance loading, reduce sweating and also to harden the natural wax of Soy Wax"

In my last order from NG, I bought a bottle of Yuzu - haven't tried it in a candle as yet, but smells delicious from the bottle Wonder if anyone has tried it and whether it has a good HT ? Oh and another I love the scent of is Sweet Orange Chili Pepper - just have to find time to try these 2 in a container candles.

I agree. I find that Salmon doesn't melt and leaves behind tiny little particleshat just won't blend in with the wax , so they would effect the burning. What I found was that buying the larger dye blocks instead, I just shave off (sharp knife helps here) bits from the block to create the depth of colour needed - this seems to save a bit more money too I now also shave off bits from the small chips as well, and found that this helps the colour blend in quicker than throwing in the whole chip at once

I don't use your wax or the CDs, but regardless of which fragrance I use, I alway use the same wick for tealights and never had a problem with HT :-) I use a CDN3 or the small clear cups and a CDN4 for the larger silver cups.

I totally agree with you - love Angel :-) Gives a great throw in most products, melts, tealights or containers.

For the clear case tealights I always use CDN3s (33mm) and for the larger silver casing tealights I use CDN4s (33m). I've made 1000s of these and never had a problem, either non-scented or using various FOs. Hope this helps with your tealight question :-)

Yep, they were the same, using the gold swish lantern container (posted a picture of it some time back). I then tested using votive containers and one turned out grey/blue and the other didn't :-( Seriously weird, so I have to agree about the soy gods :-)

Not experienced as most here, but the colouring is probably from the FO. I did a couple of testers using Chanel no. 5 FO using NO dye, one of them stayed white.cream when burning, but the other ended up with a grey/blue tint to and stayed that colour when it hardened up again. I've made a few since and not one turned that bluey grey colour again. As to why it happened the first time, haven't been able to reproduce it, so have no idea,... Could be due to the amount of FO that is causing the discolouring and the 'cauliflowering', so I'd cut back on that see what happens. I've read here that Cinnamon type FOs need to be wicked a bit bigger and not to use as much FO :-) I'm sure I haven't helped much, but this has been my experience with wax discolouring.

I've got many on that list that Jonsie linked to and they all work great.. after testing them in votive containers to get a feel for the scent throw. (I didn't see that list until now though - just went with the description and picked them that way :-) A few I haven't even had time to test in containers, but have done so in clamshells or tarts and they too were good. I really don't think you'd be disappointed in anything you purchased from there really. If one sounds nice, but you're not sure, they do have the small sample sizes as well though I jumped right in and purchased the bigger bottles right off the bat! PS: If you go with French Vanilla, I'd suggest not going with the original thick FO, I found it way too thick.

Thanks for the kind words Tammy and Jonsie :-) I have to agree about their customer service - they were great every time I've dealt with them A while back, I ordered from your supplier Jonsie (in WA) and from NG at the same time. I actually received the order from the US before I received the one from WA <lol> couldn't believe it. I've nearly run out of FOs from NG and left it a bit due to the currency rate, and now when I order, hopefully they will be as quick as they were last time (my fingers are going to be crossed cause I really need them PS: they sent me a sample of their Cannabis Flower FO in the wooden flower and it's absolutely gorgeous, so I'm going to buy some for myself, not sure how it would go down with my small band of customers though

I'm afraid I can't tell you their postage costs - they are not included in the price. What happens is you put in your order, there is no immediate payment for international orders. They email you pretty quickly with a postage cost - then it's up to you whether you commit to the order - you are not forced to buy if it's too expensive I've ordered twice, the second time doubling up on the number of 16oz bottles (2 bottles of each my favourites), 2 boxes worth ! and the freight was around $300 - but I figured it was worth it to be 'different' Just did a conversion a US $13.95 16oz bottle converts to AU$14.92 then add the extra for the freight, so yes, they are more expensive, but I find I don't need to use as much as they are fairly strong. I am an FO junkie too :-) and wanted FOs that were not available here and have done really well with them for melts / tarts,votives, so much so that I am just about ready to put in another order. I also try and make sure I buy when the exchange rate is good - which isn't bad right now actually. I follow the company on facebook and keep up to date with new fragrances etc., They are a really nice group of people and easy to deal with. Just shoot off an email to them, maybe specifying quantities and they should be able to give you an estimate on postage - then you can see if it's worthwhile for you. Hope this helps a little

Sorry for only get back to you sooner - busy finishing off another large order using those votives I liked the different look, so thought I'd try it, and it worked well, so made up a heap in different fragrances for testing, and they turned out ideal for small rooms like bedrooms or bathrooms with aromatherapy type fragrances I'm liking the CB135, more so than the 464 (from WA) at least i'm getting nice looking tops, but I I'm having a lot of hassles wtih wetspots - one batch of jars could be great and the next (pouring at exactly same temp), and get I get horrible wet spots, either hours after or the next day. Haven't found a cure for that May I ask what temp you pour at??? I'm pouring at 128* and the candle sets up nice, especially the tops, but ends up with wet spots. Not using any colour either - too much frosting I love Dragons blood - my fav FO at the moment I put in an order the other day at NCS and Shane was kind enough to send me a sample of the Xcel as well - haven't had time to play with it yet... I'm hoping it will help with the wet spots and possibly frosting - I love coloured jar candles, but can't make them due to the various issues. I imported quite a few fragrances from NG and wedding day was one of them - absolutely gorgeous scent. I love their aromatherapy fragrances as well

Thanks Judy, it did take a while to get the right wick due to the 'oval' shape, but found a CDN that works well for a lot of fragrances I've tested in these containers.

Thank you I'm in Australia and purchased them from one of my local suppliers, so can't help with any suppliers in the US. They were different to the traditional small round votive, and thought the same, that they were 'cute' so bought a heap when they had a sale on them.

Had to post this up as I'm quite proud of the way these turned out without having to go back for much maintenance - and I know a lot of you like looking at pics (same as I do!). Lots of testing to get the wicking right and a good HT - but I nailed the testers, so was confident in taking on this project. 70 Oval Glass Votive candles for a bride-to-be. Used CB135 and FO: Wedding Day. The candles on the bottom row were made the day before yesterday, the top row early this moring. All were poured and set up in the open on my bench top as well as on the stand you see in the pic. The jars were not warmed, only washed in hot soapy water, dried in the oven but left to cool on the bench tops. Temp of room, not sure of, but I was getting 'extra flushes' Had a couple with sink holes - where I poured with the wax a little too cool, otherwise they turned out perfect - not one wet spot on any of them !! I'm over the moon the way they turned out Used: CB135, FO 6% , no colour; poured between 128* - 125* (seems to be the perfect temp for me with these jars as well as some honeypots I'm doing). [attach]19727[/attach]

I started off using the CB Advanced and was not happy with the scent throw at all. no matter what scent I ued. I changed over to CB135 and it's much better for me with nearly all the scents I've tried - usually waiting a week, sometimes less to get a good HT throw.

I was just going to ask the question in another thread you replied about diffusers - so thanks for your reply here too I have had great success with 40% FO and 60 Base, but was stumped with using EO. My friend is pretty much like me - get eaten alive by mozzies - maybe 10 people in a room and I'll (and she) will be the first to get bitten every time <lol> I loathe the smell as well, but was thinking about mixing it either with lemon or orange FO as well (they mix well with the citronella apparently), that way it won't be all citronella - hopefully this will add a 'fresh' aroma to the whole thing At least you've given me a starting point and I'll test it for myself before committing to her. Thank you ! Nadia

Hi all, just wondering whether anyone has done a citronella EO in a diffuser kit? I've had a friend who has a mozzie problem and she was asking me about the use of citronella and I thought there shouldn't be a problem. If using EO in a diffuser, would anyone know the breakdown with EO and diffuser base?? Any advice really appreciated - thanks !

ha ha.... that's exactly what I tried too - and found exactly the same problem :-D Or if I did manage to poke the bubble, it left a tiny pin hole anyways. I'll give that a shot - probably later tonight, as I'm just about to make a few more containers. Thank you !

I'm finding that when I need to heat gun the top of a candle after it has set up, I may get tiny bubbles (usually only 1 or 2 tiny tiny ones usually around the wick area - that move around as I move the heat gun ) that don't disappear completely. Is there some secret chant I have to do to make them 'go away' of their own free will?? :-) Using CB135 - container candles.