jonsie

Rob, don't tempt me! I love to do R&D on new products for my little business. Once I finally get my website done and Christmas out of the way I might give it a try ACS is out of the metro jars I need and David said they'd be in in about a month. Fingers crossed the honeypots will get in then too in time for Christmas.

Could room temp or humidity be a factor? On my side of the world the weather is warming up and happily my candles are looking better too. One other suggestion is to check your thermometers and even your digital scales (if you add additives).

I'm open to help with co ops, but at the moment I don't have much of a need for feather palm. Please keep me in mind for other co ops in the future. Speaking of Indonesia, it is very likely we'll be living there before our work visa is up here in Oz. I'm not sure I'll be making candles there but maybe I can help hunt out some good deals on palm. Heck, maybe I'll become a supplier

Good question about charring the wick, because it can happen. I've rolled up some tin foil to cover and protect the wick while I use the torch on it, and that seems to protect it just fine. Then I move the foil from candle to candle as I zap each one. And I believe the kitchen torches used for carmelizing sugar would work too, although they might have a bigger flame. I've never used one so I don't know for sure.

For what it's worth, if any of the Americans are interested in the Benzomatic Micro Torch I described earlier, it can be found at Home Depot for about $16.00.

Oooh, I'm loving the suggestions! I can't wait to smell them!

Have any of you tried any of the package forwarders available in the U.S.? I even see some pallet forwarders and I was wondering what they might charge for glassware. Sorry for deviating so far from the original topic.

Thanks Richard. My good friend loves BPay, and my bank included it as part of a business package, so I thought I'd incorporate it. But PayPal has been way easier to add to osC than BPay :rolleyes2 I will get it to work, but I think BPay is shooting themselves in the foot by making it so tedious. And that's good info about AusPost. I honestly don't expect to do a lot of local shipping but with Christmas coming up, I simply don't know what to expect. Best of luck with your pouring, and hope your Christmas preparations go well

If NCS is turning off so many customers, maybe it's time to step in as a new supplier for that side of the country Believe me, I've thought of it but I wouldn't do it here while living in Perth. ACS started off as a candle maker, gradually moved into buying their supplies at wholesale, then started being a supplier for others. David doesn't make candles anymore but is very busy being the supplier now for everyone else. At least that is how I remember him explaining it to me.

About the ONLY advantage of the wood wick is the sound they make when burned. It might be a light crackle, but no guarantees. And as I've said in another thread, palm and wood wicks are a bad combination. At least the Unity wood wicks are bad in palm, I haven't tested the BCN wood wicks yet.

I bought an Ozito heat gun at Bunnings and I don't recommend it. I found it displaced the wax too much when smoothing the tops of the candles. It has a nice, variable temperature range from 70 to 600*C but it pushes out too much air. So I stopped using it for candles. What I did find at Bunnings that I LOVE, is a Bernsomatic Micro Torch! Lightweight, precise, very little wax displacement, runs on cheap butane that is easily refillable. I think it is ideal for melting candle tops. Oh, and yes, it actually shoots out a small, blue cone of flame. My main safety concern with this type of butane torch is that it stays in the ON position until you manually slide it back to OFF. That means if you accidentally drop it, the flame may stay lit while lying on the floor, or on your foot, etc. But I still love it very much and bought a second one as a backup. If you go to Bunnings you should be able to find it in the Tools section with the power drills, etc, and should be for about $35.00.

Thank you Scented! I'll start getting some samples

I'm working on my web site and setting up an osCommerce shopping cart. Even though I have lots of experience with programming PHP and website databases, this has definitely been challenging! A couple of questions for you that have a shopping cart running in Oz: 1. Were you able to incorporate BPay with it? I tried the BPay addon written years ago (2002?) but since BPay has changed their formula for calculating check digits, that addon doesn't work any more. Seems I have to pre-generate a list of CRNs for potential customers and feed them into the system that way. I'd rather it all be automated. 2. Are you set up to automatically calculate posted from AusPost? I see there is an addon for AusPost but I haven't messed with it yet. Just curious if you have been happy with it. Thanks in advance, Susan

I am getting requests for candles that aren't too sweet. The only two that I have that aren't very sweet are the Bramble Berry Lavender FO and a blend of Yuzu and Himalayan Bamboo. Everything else is either sweet floral or bakery. I'm using Soy GW 464 so any suggestions from suppliers like CandleScience, Nature's Garden, or Bramble Berry (I have access to those FOs here in Australia) would be appreciated.

Rob, that is great news! When I spoke with them yesterday they said the 464 will be in at the end of the week so that is a huge relief! That is REALLY good to know! I'd like to know this too. Their website is still claiming no international shipping. You still may come out ahead using a packaging forwarding service.

Unfortunately I don't have any Sun Ripened Berry. Maybe someone will try to unload their supplies on ebay.com.au or gumtree.com.au. And thanks for the offer on the 464. If I get desperate enough I'll shoot you a PM. Hopefully I can find some locally before it gets crazy. I wish I had thought in advance to stock up on wax. This is my first Christmas and I have no idea what to expect. If I run out, then oh well! Problem is a friend campaigned to let me participate in a very nice craft market over here, and if I can't line up the supplies then I'll turn it down. Fingers crossed it works out for both of us!

I've been doing nothing but testing on wooden wicks (Unity kind), GW 464 soy, and Libbey Status jars. After nine months of testing, I'm still learning stuff. Palm and a wooden wick simply do not go together. The palm burns too hot and the wick doesn't burn off as fast, resulting in the wooden wick version of a mushroom. It turns the wick into a torch. Even if you resize the wick so that it is small enough to burn at the correct rate as the palm, the wooden wick will be so small it will hardly produce any crackle sound (which is the main reason why to use a wooden wick). As always, you could blend in some soy or other additives to cool off the palm, but I don't recommend using palm as a base. If you like working with soy, then just start testing. Get some wooden wicks and give it a try. Bitter Creek North sells a different variety of wooden wicks and I've only started testing with them. Just by looking at them they appear to be a little less variable than the Unity wicks, which is great for getting more consistent results. Best of luck to you!

Bart, I know what you mean. I have suspected that our supplier here on this side of Oz shares the same distributer as CandleScience, but I can't know for sure. I've always wanted to ask our supplier for MSDS sheets or technical specs similar to what Nature's Garden provides. An example here is there Sugar Cookie FO, which includes the % of vanillin and Flashpoint temp. For what it's worth, I've ordered lots of FOs from NGC since they deliver internationally and I've determined they do not use the same distributer as our supplier. So my point is, I think we should be able to ask for and receive the technical data on the FOs from our supplier. And based on that, maybe we can compare the specs with other distributers/suppliers to hunt down a replacement. By the way, I might have small amounts (100 - 500 ml) of FO you might be looking for. I'm only focusing on about 12 scents for Christmas and I'd be happy to work something out. I'm getting nervous about running out of 464 so if you happen to have any you aren't using I'd be interested!

Hi Coconut, I wish I had an answer for your question, but I really don't know. Maybe some of the other Aussies can tell you. I don't know much about the corded wicks since I mainly work with wooden ones. Hope you can make sense of it

When I first started candle-making I would wear a mask when I would add the FO to the melted soy wax. But gradually I stopped wearing the mask and found that it didn't affect me (that I could tell). So now I don't wear one but I have them handy if I'm not working with good ventilation.

Good luck with the Peach. I think I have the CS version and I love it. However when I would burn it in soy it smelled rotten. I found that: 1) adding the FO at a lower temperature, 2) curing for weeks, and 3) wicking down, all helped to improve the scent. Hope you have an easier time with the palm than I did with soy. Chances are, you will

CareBear, I meant to thank you for posting the link. It definitely helped me understand better what you were saying. I'll definitely keep that method in mind because I might have to use it in a pinch.

Those look beautiful! I love the colors. Mind saying where you for the FO/EO? I'm looking for some good Eucalyptus and Spearmint. Thanks Susan

Good question, Cushie, I've wondered the same thing. I definitely can't dispute Chris' findings since I haven't tested anything, but I agree that logic (with no experience) would seem to point to a correlation. Factors that I want to test with low flash point FOs/EOs would be keeping the wax at a lower temperature when adding the FO (like 135 - 150F), and secondly, pouring at a lower temperature (135 - 150F). So I'm not answering your question, just saying I'm wondering the same thing as you are. Best of luck. Susan

I had the same problem! I asked about it in this thread: http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90193 After trying different tops, I ended up using something like this: http://bertsheavenscent.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22&products_id=135 Hope that helps! Susan