Sallykate

Thanks Sallykate, I assume that's for J-223.

Oops, yes that is for the j-223... Thanx for the survey, was a great idea!

I don't know if this will work out but I thought it might be interesting to see if we can survey CT board members' satisfaction with the features of the one-pour container blends. For simplicity I want to limit it to 100% petroleum based products this time around, including J-223, J-225, J-50, Comfort Blend, and Harmony Blend.

Don't post your ratings in the thread. Send them to me via PM to keep the individual responses private. I'll tabulate them and post the overall results. Send ratings for any wax you've used or tested enough to have an opinion. You can rate more than one wax if you like.

Here are the categories and scoring:

Low numbers are bad. High numbers are good.

One-Pour Performance: 1 to 5 for flatness of pour

Scent Throw: 1 to 5 for intensity of stink

Glass Adhesion: 1 to 5 for resistance to wet spots

Wicking/Burn: 1 to 5 for ease of wicking and clean burn

Appearance: 1 to 5 for coloring and surface finish

1 = Poor, 2 = Fair, 3 = Good, 4 = Very Good, 5 = Excellent

One-Pour Performance: 3 for flatness of pour

Scent Throw: 5 for intensity of stink

Glass Adhesion: 1 for resistance to wet spots

Wicking/Burn: 4 for ease of wicking and clean burn

Appearance: 5 for coloring and surface finish

I use the 3x4 zip close bags.. Customers love them because they can break the tarts up and still store the rest..

Heather

Do you worry that the zip-loc will steal the fragrance from the tart? or is it poly free?

Sally

I just make sure and keep to the edge of the container avoiding the wick. Sometimes I accidentaly get the wick but it burns just the same. hth

Sallykate

What do you guys package your tarts in? If I sell 10 at a time I use a Jelly Jar but what about smaller amounts or individual? Just curious.

Sallykate

Ok, did some searching based on the link Candlesprite7 provided. Ceres was bought out by CR Gibsons in '99 - (the gift division was losing money.) The candle division appears to be wholesale only. Found this info in a Thomas Nielsen report. Can't find a site for Ceres but did find their products at this vendor. It shows some of this type of candle but not the exact one and I can't get the pic large enough to get a good look sooo, I'll just have to make my own

http://www.bpassion.com/candles.html

OMG Pam! Just thought you might like to know... I clicked on the link you gave and then clicked on candles and a Porno site popped up! lol

Love the molds though!

Sallykate

This is a new one on me! I am making candles for a fundrasier and was on my fifth box of j223 when my daughter cut into it and a large pocket/bubble burst and water poured out of it. There was more than one pocket like that too.

About a week ago I posted a question about caverns and tunnels in my J223 contianer candles since I have never had them before. Now I am wondering if this has something to do with it? :rolleyes2

I called Mike at Candlescience and he said that the manufacturer cools the wax in water and sometimes it leaks into the wax and causes this sort of thing. He is promptly replacing the whole box and throwing in a sample of IGI 4630 and some wicks to test with it for free! I though that was very nice of him and very proffessionaly handled. He highly recommends this wax and said that the J223 is up in the with the manufacturers as we all know. So since the j223 might be discontinued, I figured I might as well start playing and testing another container wax.

Anyway I have a deadline to meet by next week so I am panicking!

Anybody else ever had this happen??

There was a debate about a bad batch of J223 a couple of months ago. I didn't notice anything unusual until I opened my last case from Candlewic. The first half was awful--I had holes the size of the grand canyon in my jars, the second half is fine.

I'd say you got part of the bad batch. It burns fine and dandy, just doesn't set up the same way.

I ended up remelting most of my jars in the oven then poking the air holes out with a skewer, while they cooled. Pain I know, but that is the only thing I found to work.

Even letting them cool at an amazingly slow rate didn't do much. Try zapping them with a heat gun then go digging for air in the holes that you see.

HTH, good luck

Thanx for the FYI Cetacea. I had not heard about that. I sure hope that that is all that is going on because I thought I had perfected my technique.

I have been using the heat gun and a skewer to poke around with. All of my craters don't go any deeper than an inch or less from the surface. Thank goodness! So far the heat gun is working but what a PITA!

I was relieved to read

It burns fine and dandy, just doesn't set up the same way.

Thanx a bunch!

I've had the same thing happen with this wax too. Not all the time, just occasionally. I've found that if I pour too hot and/or have the jars too close together, this is more likely to happen. I pour at 160 and space them out.

Well isn't that interesting! Since I am pouring a large quantity, I thought it might be better to "snuggle" the jars together for warmth to slow the cooling. Maybe that is not such a good idea. I would have never thought it a bad thing to do. hmmm... I will experiment with that too!

Thanx!

I use J223 too and sometimes I get this,,,1. sometimes I am pouring to fast, 2. I am pouring a wee bit to hot so I am now pouring @ 160. and then last,,,when I take and put my wax in my pour pot and add color and FO,,if I stir to fast then pour I get the bubbles and tunnels....HTH:D

Great tips, I will re-examine my technique and see if I can change some of those things.

I am pouring a large quantity of candles and I think maybe I am gettin a little too hasty with the stirring and pouring.

Thanx!

Hi guys,

I KNOW this question has been asked recently but I searched and could not find what I needed pertaining to container candles...

I use J223 and have never had any problems with it. It has always been a one pour for me. I do hit my finished candles with a heat gun every now and then when I see a dip but other than that, I have had no problems with it until now.

I am getting holes in the tops of the candles while they are cooling and when I hit it with a HG, it tunnels a little ways. I have not had one tunnel all the way down but as I use the HG on it the hole opens up into a little cavern.

Am I pouring too fast? I try to pour between 150 and 175. Any help on my new dilemma would be much appreciated.

Thanx!

Thanx for the label sites and the tips!! I was wondering if I should wipe them down.

Beautiful label! Another great job Sharon!:highfive:

Can anyone tell me a good brand or type of label that will stick to a container candle? I am leaving the hang tag world and going to a sticky label but I am just not sure what will stick well. I had a horrible experience with some avery address labels that I applied to my own personal jars of tarts (they curled and would not stick after only a short time) so I am a little leary of what to buy.

Thanx guys!

ETA: I am looking for white labels for my main label and possibly some brown kraft labels for scent names.

I LOVE my wetspots!............... NOT! I just tell myself that I do so that I can ignore them. I have just decided to live with them. I dwell on the other more positive things about my candles, the things I CAN fix and change. Water spots are just always gonna be there, period. I'm over it.

Sallykate

Thanx a bunch!

Mystery solved!! It was jackal after all!! Duh! Thank you guys!

what is the URL for Jackal? Purdy please?

ask again in a week I will have my totals in by then for the FR I am doing now.

Neato! those are fun aren't they...

They look great! Nice job! Great choice of colorsQuestion - the wick looks like it's one of those you use on an oil lamp. Does it have one of those clips on there?

I think that what you are seeing around the wick is a bead for decoration.

Great looking chunks girl! I bet they smell divine.... crooked?? where?

...and clams are a kind of tart.

Natures Garden has the Jack Frost. I just bought a sample and made it up...it is nice. Here is their description of it...

"A wonderful Christmas scent . A crisp clean peppermint aroma with hints of vanilla bean. Many of our customers sell this fragrance year round by renaming it Buttermint Candy"

Well I have been test burning them... the good news is they have an AWESOME scent throw... the bad news is my beef stew needs to wick up so I am not getting a full melt pool on him. My vanilla hazlenut is getting full melt pool but takes a while to get there! I actually used 1343 to make these and have NEVER and would have never thought to use it in a container. It just "looks" nice because it is so translucent that the chunkys show up real nice. The jars are recycled jars that mom gave me some time back. I think they are 20 or 22oz old Home interiors candles jars that she had from loooong before I started making candles. They are MUCH wider mouthed than my pints so I screwed up the wicking but it was all for fun and learning anyway. I will definitely be doing more of these in my pint jar and half pints etc.! They are waaaay to easy and lots of fun!

Thanx for the compliments everyone and your all invited over for "split pea soup" chunks next week!

Great look Amanda. You have done a wonderful job revamping your "look"!