jonsie

Sorry for the delay in responding. So much going on in real life, I can't even pour candles. And that's saying a lot! Thanks! That means a lot since I've always admired your banner ad in your signature hehehe... my daughter was just given a t-shirt with that on it. They couldn't squeeze anything else on the front of the shirt! Radellaf, I agree with you that your link shows what I think is the norm. When I fell in love with the WoodWick candles, I also really admired their labeling. For an example, click here. Their front label is very basic and doesn't state the candle size or scent. The size and scent are listed on a sticker on the bottom of their candle. If it is legal for me to do so, I'd like to keep the size and the scent of the candle off the main label because: 1) If I purchase these labels from a professional printer (one day) I'll save money on volume. That way I can use one label on multiple sizes or multiple scents. 2) I will be coloring the wax so it should give some kind of hint as to what the scent is, although maybe the color might intrigue the buyer just enough to take the candle off the shelf and look/smell for themselves. I'll state the scent on a round label on the top of the candle, but for my taste I would rather not list it on the front label. If I must do it, no problem, I'll work with it Thanks again for your feedback! Y'all are such a big help.

Radellaf and Sharon, those look beautiful! I'm so glad yours aren't smoking. If you like, I can post you some pictures of my WoodWick candles after many hours of use and you can see what I've experienced.

Thank you very much, Kyme! I agree that climate and 50 other factors are at play. I can't believe I've paid so much money to drive myself this crazy.

Amazing. I get such horrible looking tops when I pour at that temperature, but I'm willing to keep trying. Do you do any tempering? And how do you let your candles cool down? Again, my lazy self must look for the shortcut, lol... can you just scrape off the wax? I haven't worked with corded wicks yet so I'm really clueless about them. With wooden wicks I could scrape the skirt off w/o leaving a mark and move on.

Maybe it's just me and my lazy nature, but if after one pour I saw just a slight dip, I'd be satisfied and move on. I respect that you have your own standards and I wouldn't want anyone to talk me out of mine. But that second pour makes for additional labor cost, and I'm all about saving time and money. I'm sorry I couldn't help with your original question, but if you are open to the idea, I'd cut out the second pour.

Thanks Luminous and Tammy. Your responses have sobered me up a bit and are making me realize I have a lot of work ahead of me. Tammy, I'm off to read the website you posted

Thank you, Scented It certainly wouldn't hurt to put it on there. As you can imagine, I was going for as uncluttered a look as possible, but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot either. I'll make some updates and repost.

I've been having a lot of fun working with the M&P soap bases from our local supplier. I have some product ideas that would appeal to adults, but I am also excited about products for kids. Specifically I am thinking about soap crayons (that would write) and soap playdough. The soap crayons are made from M&P, small amount of FO (made for soap), and a considerable amount of soap pigment (to make them write). All of these items are purchased from the soap supplier. How much testing should I do before attempting to sell these? I have extremely sensitive skin and I don't mind testing them myself, but I know I'm not representative of everyone's reactions. And I'm happy to hand this to my daughter for her to test. I have lots of friends and neighbors with children but I hate the idea of handing them a product to test, asking, "Mind reporting back if your child breaks out into a rash?" :rolleyes2 Any advice?

I think Dial in the U.S. makes a foamy hand soap that you can buy at any grocery store, and after using it I fell in love with that type of soap. And here's a good link that describes how to make it: http://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/Foamies-c-46.html Thanks for the feedback! And tbh, I really don't know what the laws are. I'm not sure where to begin on that one, but I'll start looking.

Any input is appreciated. Momentum is picking up on my candles and before I commit to a label design, I'm bringing it to the experts For my wooden wick candles, I'm thinking of four basic labels: 1: My main label, as generic as possible to be used on all of my candle sizes, in color 2: Warning label, as generic as possible, on the bottom of the candle, in black and white 3: (not shown) Scent label, to be put on the top of the candle jar (all of my candles are containers, or possibly packs of t-lights), maybe in color 4: (not shown) A back label detailing ingredients, weight, estimated burning time, and contact info, as generic as possible, in black and white For soaps, I'm thinking of three labels: 1: My main label, used on all of my foamy soap sizes 2: (not shown) Scent label, small circular, in color 3: (not shown) A back label detailing ingredients, weight, and contact info. Kept as generic as possible; in black and white. "Subi" is short for Subiaco, a suburb here in Perth. Timber is the more familiar word for wood here in Australia. I plan on doing other products but this gives you a general idea. At the moment, all of my candles are containers in Metro jars.

I agree with Steve on checking with a hobby shop. I found a broad assortment of metal tubes like that when trying to hack my way through my junior year engineering project.

Thanks! When the M&P starts to smoke like that, any idea what is being burned off? I hadn't added any FO, just pigment.

I'm new to soaps and accidently heated the M&P until it was smoking. I am guessing I should throw it out now? How can I tell if a batch is bad from over-cooking?

I don't have any Palm Steric Acid so I haven't tried it yet. Hopefully I can pick some up this week and report back soon.

I have a bunch of WoodWick candles that I bought from Cracker Barrel and the pros are they look great and throw well and crackle well. Very consistent burners. Cons are they soot and burn hot. Really a matter of opinion, I guess.

Thanks for sharing, Darbla. That helps put things in perspective for me. I have to drive to pick up my GW464 and still pay $84 (U.S.) a case (no shipping charges) so that made me feel a tiny, tiny bit better.

I hear that the commercial WoodWick candles are made from a Paraffin-Soy blend. I myself haven't tried them in paraffin yet so I'm not help with that. Before writing them off as trouble I'd suggest burning them in a controlled environment such as a bedroom or wherever you test your new pours. By default, wooden wicks are wildly variable, just as any veggie wax is. Each batch is dependent on how good the crop was, the processing, etc, so there is no guarantee on performance. You probably understand that but I'll throw it out there for the new user. Good luck.

Oh wow! That explains why I couldn't find much info about it here at CraftServer or anywhere else. Could you try using a small amount of any other palm wax in your 464 just to see what it does? I'm guessing that something like 1% of a crystallizing or starburst (or any kind) mixed in with the soy would not affect the creamy appearance in the container yet still help gloss up your post-burn wax. You might find that your candle burns hotter so some wicking might need to be adjusted. Thanks Nadia! Who is the distributor? This is how my supplier describes their Blending Palm Wax: Funny how one suggests it for pillars and the other for containers. I haven't tried the Palm Stearic Acid yet, but I think it will be worth a go. Thanks for the suggestion.

Are you using any additives? When I use Coconut Oil with GW464 I find I get ugly candles post-burn. I've since stopped using CO and I've been playing around with a palm blending wax as an additive. It seems to help with the post-burn appearance.

Andy, thank you so much for your comments. I have ordered from NG and I think their customer service is great. Good to know that their Clementine might be a good fit for me too. And I am happy to report that by pouring the peach FO at 138* and curing for only three days the HT is great . It still isn't as succulent as it's CT but a DEFINITE improvement.

If you'd like to completely repour your containers you can take a cookie sheet or casserole dish and line it with aluminum foil, lay a cooling rack on top, and then set your containers on that UPSIDE DOWN. The wax will drip through the cooling rack and collect in the foil. After everything has melted, clean your containers and let your wax cool a bit. Then it is ready for remelting or storage. I give credit to suggestions I've read here in this forum, but I've learned from practice that it works very well.

I just received a # of Sugar Cookies from NG and OOB is smells light compared to the Sugar Cookie I've gotten from my local supplier here in Western Australia, ACS. Unfortunately, ACS is out of the scent and my friends are asking for more. I'll pour some of the NG Sugar Cookies and try to report back. I love NG's Australian Bamboo Grass, and it is a big seller for them. I poured 7% in some GW464 and the CT didn't seem strong enough.

I'm new to 464 so I don't have the experience that any of you have. If it helps, I've tried using CO, UA (long story), and my best results have been with Blending Palm wax. My two batches of 464 are: 11/10/09 14:50:19 817 11/10/09 17:33:18 009 My first batch, the 817, had a lot of white flakes in it (they look frosted). I have no idea how this might affect the candles so I mentioned this to the supplier and they said they didn't know what it meant either. They also said they didn't have anyone calling to complain from that same shipment. My newer box, the 009, doesn't have any white flakes in it, and by coincidence, I'm having better results. I have no idea if my improvements are due to the 009 batch, or using the Blending Palm. As for pouring temp, I'm getting beautiful tops at 145-165. Frosting on the sides is still a problem... argh!

I bought a second-hand Braun drip coffee maker at a local Salvation Army-type of store here for about $7. I like the coffee carafe because of how it pours the wax. I can also warm the wax back up on the coffee burner (mine seems to stay below 190*F but I recommend gauging yours if you get one). I've been very happy with this arrangement and like it better than a hot plate.

Thanks everyone. I've been on holiday and haven't poured any candles for over a week! I found a peach candle with a smaller sized wick in my tester drawer that had cured for 10 days and burned it and it still smelled disgusting. So I can rule out the wick size and cure length. I had added the FO in that batch at around 170* so I'll try another batch with the temperature a lot lower (maybe 135*). Fingers crossed I get better results. But since the CT of these candles smell yummy even though I added the FO at 170*, I'm not sure if a lower FO add-temp will make a difference.