jonsie

Leisa2003 posted about this same topic, but in the Off-Topic area: http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92567

It sounds like it is coming directly from PayPal, but maybe it isn't affecting all of their business-class users.

I have been gearing up to use PayPal on my website so I am interested to see how this plays out.

Wow, those look fabulous! I am too scared to try pillars yet as I'm focusing on just containers for now. But if and when I do start pillars, I want them to look like that!

Although the engineer in me can agree with how paraffin can be called natural, I would not feel comfortable trying to explain that to potential customers.

So I would let your comfort level be your guide.

You might enjoy reading this article about what qualifies as 'natural,' making the point that anything from planet Earth would qualify.

Susan

Welcome! Hope you enjoy it here. Have you been working with candles for a long time or are you new to the addiction?

I have four of them and they all made great sound and burned well without burnouts. But I bought mine a couple of years ago so they may be cutting corners on production.

Too bad that they are so crappy now. They are what inspired me to get into candle making since I couldn't find any of them when I moved here to western Australia.

I haven't ordered wood wicks from either of these companies so I'm only going to guess here...

The wood wicks at Lonestar appear to be the same kind supplied by Unity Wood Wicks. This type is the most common wooden wick available thru the candle making suppliers. The Unity wicks come with two pieces of wood bound together, which is what the Lonestar graphic is showing.

The wood wicks at Bittercreek are something I haven't seen before. Definitely a different design than what Unity has been providing. They have more widths and longer lengths, and a better-designed wick clip IMO. Their wick design is to use a single piece of wood (not two bound together like Unity) with the option to double-up, giving you more flexibility in matching wick size to container size. I gotta admit, I'm kinda impressed.

I think I will be ordering some of the Bittercreek to try in my soy.

Thanks for the question

Susan

Thank you Ravens, after scouring the Internet for prices, styles and selections, I've requested three samples from Uline. I was so happpy that I could call them in the middle of the night and have someone help me. They earned bonus points for that.

I'm just curious if others who've bought boxes for their Status jars used the same sizes that I did:

I won't get my hands on these until mid-August, which is when I visit my folks in the U.S. I'll try to update then, but if anyone has any opinions on these sizes, please comment.

I know this has been discussed here before but I thought I'd see if there were any new options and ideas for packaging Status jars, for both mailing and for gifting. Since I live in Australia, I'd really appreciate any tried-and-true methods before I spend a huge amount on shipping.

If possible, I'd like to find the 1 piece flip-top types for the 3 popular Status jar sizes in Kraft or white color if possible. But I'm wide open to ideas.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Susan

Thank you Jo, I wasn't aware of them, and I'll definitely look them up. It definitely helps to read good references on a company.

I'm happy to sniff thru my collection of ACS samples for you, but unfortunately I have my first big, bad cold of the season! Darn Perth weather!

I asked about the bakery spice because ACS has a fabulous Gingerbread scent. It is extremely powerful so you don't have to use as much, and it smells EXACTLY like fresh baked gingerbread. My Aussie friends aren't too keen on it but my American friends love it, lol.

Deena, it is so much fun, isn't it? And I know what you mean, I want to make candles with the scents I like, so they may not please everyone, but so what

As for your question about spicy FOs, are you looking for floral, or bakery, or musky?

I don't know if this is true, but I do wonder if ACS and CandleScience use the same FOs. CandleScience doesn't ship internationally (yet) so I can't compare scents. But I wonder if they use the same source since many of the FOs have the same names (like 'Himalayan Bamboo'), but that may be a stretch

Oh wow! Those are fabulous! I'm having to wipe the drool from my keyboard...

When I think of the word Thieves I think of the word Rogue. I don't know if it's already taken.

I love it!!! And so would my daughter. That looks like a lot of work to me, but since I haven't made soaps I'm only guessing.

Personally I just feel that wood wicks and soy particularly are an issue, although having said that I know of one shop that gets loads of returns of the genuine Woodwick candles due to their extremely poor burn quality and issues with not being able to stay lit.

Thank Richard, that does help. I have four Woodwicks here at home and they seem to all relight just fine. I'll also experiment more with the soy and palm to see if that helps.

Are your wicks melting your wax completely to the side of the jars? Are you pouring on the cool/thick side? I find I do not have to poke holes around my wick if I pour slushy but do if I pour hot. And I do think this is a soy problem.

Thanks Sharon. I get full melt pools and I'm satisfied with how the wicks melt the wax. The problem is once the melt pool cools off. I have tried pouring slushy but I don't know if it is because of my climate or what I'm doing wrong but my candles look horrible with I pour at a low temp. Like Chris is suggesting below, maybe I need to poke holes, but I really hate that, lol.

Actually it's not just soy wax, but any container wax can get air pockets. I blend my own parasoy and to make sure I don't have any air pockets I poke holes after they've set up and I heat gun the tops to fill in any voids. It doesn't take all the long to make sure I don't have a problem burn!

Thanks Chris. I just hate fussing with them, but I just might have to to prevent problems during the burn. Ugh!

Hi Again,

Interesting when you start talking to others how wants and needs are similar....

I buy all my FO's in 2500ml Jerry's (wish I could get larger..) and am looking for a screw on lid that has a 'tap' incorporated. This way I can line up all my FO Jerry's on their side on the rack and pour out easily through the tap.

I have been unable to find these taps on their own - I noticed Bunnings have a 10 litre jerry with the screw on tap fitting - just cannot get the tap on its own! I must do more looking around to try to source them. If anybody knows where these can be bought please advise!

That is so interesting that you were looking at those at Bunnings. I was looking at the same thing when I was on my quest for dispenser caps. That was the closest thing they could find for me there

I know this isn't exactly what you are looking for, but if you don't have any pumps already, this might work in the meantime: http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/Pump-for-Jerry-Can-pr-737.html

And you must do a lot of candles! I feel pretty big-time buying 500 ml worth of FO

And I'll keep y'all posted on what I discuss with David. I am somewhat resigned to the fact that I'll be doing all my candles in the Metro jars. But it will be nice to get some selection

i don't know if it has already been mentioned but.

Bert's at Heaven Scent does international shipping..

She handles Fo's..and she has some very good ones..

Thank you 8-Gran! I had no idea so that is great to know. I've read many good things about Bert's but I had no idea the provided the international shipping. Yay!

Hi Jonsie

You could try gala imports they are in Adelaide SA. I think they do mostly bulk but its worth a shot. I personally dont use the metro jar because....everyone else does....lol. At least ACS try to keep there stock in....the other have been out of glassware for 6 months....very annoying. Shipping to here is about 5 or 6 days from WA which is kinda annoying.

Can I get some interludes too LOVE those jars...

Tammy

Thanks Tammy! And yes, I'll share some interludes with you

Jonsie,

Thanks for the heads up about Aussie Soap Supplies......Might have a look at their product line.

Just a thought that you may have already tried......Have you considered asking ACS to see if they can source the glassware you desire?

Quite often the suppliers have huge inventory's that cannot be financially kept on stock but are available to order.

Might be worth a shot to ask ACS if they can get the type of glassware you are after - if they know there is a market for it they may not only source it for you, but decide to stock it on a regular basis.

I know in the future I have some molds I want to source and I will be asking ACS to see if they are able to source them for me.

Just a thought....You may have already tried this avenue.

Bart70

Bart, I think it's a good idea to approach ACS about it, I just need to follow thru with it. When I was picking up an order, I asked David if he was open to carrying any new styles of glassware and he said he was, but storage was becoming a problem. He suggested I send him a link of the styles I'm interested in but I haven't done it yet.

Another item I'd like for him to carry are the flip-top dispenser caps for the 500 ml FO bottles. I couldn't find any available here in Australia so I had some sent to me from the U.S. and I LOVE them. They make measuring out FO a breeze.

This is what I'm talking about: http://www.qorpak.com/store/catalog/Flip-Top-Caps,245.htm For the 500 ml Amber Bottles, the correct size is the 28-400 series. So if you see 28-410, that will fit also, but it might look a little different. I need to forward that link to David as well. But if any of you Aussies know where to find something like that locally, please let me know!

Hi Bart, I'm sorry that you are in the same boat as the rest of us, but it is nice to meet you

You might have also heard of AussieSoapSupplies.com.au (mentioned earlier in this thread). I have relied on them for a few items for chandling and some soap making. They are so friendly and helpful! However, most, if not all, of their scents can be bought from the U.S. for less. I haven't had anything delivered from them (I usually do a pick-up), but I am guessing that you would receive your orders from them faster than you would from the U.S.

If anyone in Australia can suggest some companies that carry candle glassware, I'd be very grateful. I am VERY happy with the prices and customer service at AussieCandleSupplies, but the selection is limited and the Metros are currently out-of-stock. I've called around to wholesalers but they usually have little-to-no selection. I've seen some nice options on Alibaba.com but I am terrified to pursue that seriously.

Lol, you bet! And I'll take a pallet of Libby Interludes I need something to stand out against all those Libby Status jars floating around Perth now. And the Status/Metro won't be available from our local supplier for a few weeks

It is an absolute long-shot, but if anything works out, I'll be glad to let you know

Ooooh, Richard... I have definitely fantasized about trying to work out some kind of system to get pallets of stuff here!

My husband's company payed to move our stuff here and gave us a whole shipping container to fill. Would you believe we only filled HALF of it? I wasn't doing candles at the time but if I knew then what I knew now...

I have a friend here who hears about others making the transfer from the U.S. to here, and she has stuff delivered to their houses to be loaded on their containers. I've definitely thought about asking to load up waxes and glassware, but, my house here in Subi has no extra space to store it!

I usually pay close attention to shipping, especially the international charges. Fortunately, I can have things like labels mailed to my husband's company in the U.S. and it is forwarded to Perth with no charge. Unfortunately, that does not apply to the pricier things like FOs, glassware, wax, hehe. I can only use that service for things like media.

I'm still new to the labeling but I have ordered a few items from http://onelinelabels.com and I've been happy with them.

OH NO! I just noticed I put the wrong url... doh! Should be http://onlinelabels.com. I wasn't aware that their international shipping might be pricey so it might not be a good option.

The labels for our coutry range come from Labelsbythesheet and the labels for out "New Age" range come from Onlinelabels.

I'll have to check out Labelsbythesheet. Thanks, Richard.

Thank you Tammy! Yes, I definitely appreciate knowing about NCS And that is interesting about your experience with 135. Gives me something to think about.

I have only worked with wooden wicks so far, and the only corded wicks I have used have been with tea lights. So my chandling experience is embarassingly limited :embarasse.

Well, here's my problem. After any one of my candles has burned for some time and cooled off, I have some difficulty relighting it. I'm blaming this on the air pockets in my post-burned soy. I find that when the soy in my container candles cools, air pockets form from the melt pool. When I relight my wick, the surrounding wax melts, drains into one of the air pockets, and extinguishes the candle. It takes a few relights but eventually it will stay relit.

Is this a common problem with soy candles? Or is this something that may be a problem with wooden wicks? I'll guess that since wooden wicks have more surface area than corded wicks then it's more likely air pockets will form around them, causing them to extinguish more often. But if you can tell me that you have this same problem with corded wicks, then I can blame the soy, and not the wick.

And I'm mainly using GW464. I'd like to keep my wax 'veggie' if possible so I don't mind other veg waxes as additives but I'd like to avoid beeswax and paraffin if possible.

THANKS!!!