jonsie

Thank you Bart and thank you KoalaGirl. I know it is scarce here in Oz so I think I'm going to bite the bullet and order a pound from the U.S. and have it FedEx'ed over. It sucks big time. Keep in mind that it is here in Perth, and has been for weeks, but hasn't been decanted yet despite me calling twice a week about it. Do you think I am frustrated? KoalaGirl, I'm going to wait a couple of hours until the supplier in the U.S. is open for business to talk with them, and once I know, I'll send you a message. I really appreciate your offer. If and when my supply arrives and the other suppliers here don't have it yet, I'll gladly send you some.

Ruin, you just made my day And your soap is gorgeous! Where did you get your acrylic rectangle and plunger? I assume you are making a whole loaf at a time? Or are you making one bar at a time? I haven't done much more with this idea since I last posted in this thread, but I've spotted a juicer with a manual lever that I think would be a better option than a potato ricer. I haven't worked out how to incorporate a soap mold with it, but I do like how it is inexpensive and attractive. http://amzn.com/B0018MU3SS

Could any of you Aussies please send me some UV Stabilizer? I'll gladly pay you whatever you want. I think it is time for me to order it from the US but it will take weeks to get here. Could someone please post some to me from within Oz, so I can make colored candles for the first time in months?

It is so nice to be back. I really was lost and confused without this place.

Sweet. I look forward to updates on this. I haven't ordered from them yet either, but I am tempted to lay down some money for large metros and glass holders for maxi lights. The shipping was always a concern for me, but I could swing a $400 order. What kind of account gets this discount? I have an account on their website... that kind of account, or something more involved?

Bart, I am DEFINITELY not an expert but I'm learning as much about wicking as I can. I'm assuming you are talking about container candles, right? It is possible the only factor at play here is the increased heat as the flame drops lower into the container. Maybe the increased heat allows the wick to incinerate more efficiently. And, if you are talking about container candles, do you wick your containers so that there is some overhang during the first half of the candle burn, or do you wick it so that it cleans the sides of the jar as it burns? If you allow for overhang, then maybe as the flame lowers into the container, it is being fed more wax as the overhang melts and the wick hits its proper wax consumption. Those are my theories, but I'd love a solid answer just like the rest of you.

I've made quite a few of these and I'm ready to hang it up, lol. The whipping part is a pain, and I already burned out a stick blender making these. Maybe I'm going about it all wrong but I'll explain how I do it. Oh, and part of my problem may be because I'm using Organic M&P, and my local supplier only has the organic in clear. - I melt the M&P in a big Pyrex measuring bowl in the microwave until completely melted. - I add my blue color and EO (I use Lavender EO and Chamomile Absolute) - Then I start blending with the stick blender to incorporate as much air as possible. It turns the soap from clear to opaque without having to use titanium dioxide. If the M&P is too warm, the bubbles have time to rise and it makes a distinct color gradient in the soap, which isn't what I want for this bar (though it could be cool for other projects). - I pour my first layer in the pond mold and wait for the skin to form on the top. - I spritz the skin on the first layer with alcohol and set my rubber ducky on it. Now this is where it gets really frustrating for me... - I want to pour the rest of the whipped M&P around the rubber ducky to embed it. By now the M&P in the Pyrex bowl has cooled off or separated or both and needs to be reheated and rewhipped. - After whipping, the top of the M&P in the Pyrex is very bubbly and if I pour this into the pond mold, it makes an unattractive bumpy blue top for the ducky soap, but that is just my anal opinion. So I usually wait until a skin has formed on top of the M&P in the Pyrex, then poke a hole in it, and pour the smooth (yet opaque) M&P to embed the ducky. - Then I spritz the ducky and the top surface of the M&P in the mold and top with shaved opaque M&P. The second pour to embed the ducky is killing me, especially if I continue to work with clear organic M&P. The reason I'm working with organic is that the market I mostly sell at is focused on organic goods. And the market manager loves these ducky soaps and has requested that I keep making them floatable. Meh. I'm tempted to add titanium dioxide to help make it look opaque and maybe the bubble separation wouldn't be so obvious. Does the addition of titanium dioxide make it any less organic? I seriously don't know, lol Another option I'm considering is to pour the first layer as whipped blue and the embed layer as whipped white. Maybe even let the bubbles show on the embed layer since they'd be white and not blue, and well, the ducky IS taking a bubble bath, right? Regardless of how I go about this, my design is almost cost prohibitive. The organic M&P over here is $6.80/lb, bringing the cost of materials to about $3.00 per bar. It sure is darn cute, but after agonizing over the wholesale and retails pricing and conservative estimates on labor costs, I don't think anyone would want to pay $18 retail for it, even in a ridiculous economy like Perth's.

I haven't tried to make any clear embedded kids soaps yet, so I'm no help there. But it's on my long list of things I wanna try

I don't use CB-135 so my input here isn't based on experience with that wax. But I did go read what NGI was saying on their website and I think they were using 135 deg F as a MINIMUM temperature to add FO, not as the suggested temperature to add FO. So I believe you are adding your FO too low. I'm also a big believer in determining the right temperature to add FO based on the FO's flashpoint. For example, some FOs have a FP of 160 deg F, so I would choose to add it to my wax when it is at about 150 - 155 deg F. Some FOs have a very high FP. I'm not sure where you got your Blueberry Muffin FO but on NGC's website, their Blueberry Muffin FO has a FP of 250 deg F. In that case I would add it to my wax when it is at a temperature of 180 - 185 deg F to allow all the components of the FO to be released into the wax. Hope that is some help.

Lol, can't argue with that. That is an excellent idea. I had completely forgotten that candles on tables (such as restaurants and dinner tapers) are usually unscented.

I use a photograph for every fragrance used on my website. I have a customer wanting to order some unscented candles, which means I would need to create an Unscented category, then find an appropriate photo depicting Unscented. This has me stumped. Any suggestions?

I really like this style thermometer: http://amzn.com/B000HHJ0CK (just ignore the insane shipping and shop elsewhere). It has a High Temperature Alarm and a Low Temperature Alarm. I also like how it will keep a record of its highest temperature and lowest temperature til you reset it (I'm currently using it to track the temp range of a new electric warmer I bought). Last year I was able to buy four of these on eBay for about $16. Usually all four would have the same temperature but one of the units was off by 10 deg F, so be sure to check how your own readings might need to be corrected. If there is a way to recalibrate it, I haven't found it, so that is a drawback.

Agree with everything you said. I don't have the fans on when I test, and our old house doesn't have ducted A/C so it's not hard to minimize air currents. Now if I could minimize my impatience...

I like the smell of Nature's Garden Candles' Christmas Tree. I use 464 too and I had to bump up my load to 8% to get a good HT. I wouldn't mind trying another FO because I think this one might cause my candles to frost. Then again, it may be frosting because it is at 8%.

I hadn't noticed before when the HT was weak. I'd just assume the FO was weak and move on, but they could have been floating high too and it didn't occur to me at the time. Our ceilings are over 10 feet tall so if I can smell the HT in a room like that, then I know I've got a winner

Thanks, all of this is helpful. I use a spreadsheet to tally everything and break down all of my costs, etc. When I first got started, I had read somewhere on here that Retail was 4x Cost, and Wholesale was half of retail (inline with what y'all are saying). So that is how I calculated my retail price, but labor was always a booger. I had been making wooden wick candles, and those require extra time to wick each one. Add that labor in x 4 (oh yeah, I looked up the minimium wage for Western Australia ~~ $15/hour) and my price blows up. So when tallying up your prices, do you do it this way: Wholesale = [(Unit Cost) + (Labor)] x 2 Retail = [(Unit Cost) + (Labor)] x 4 or Wholesale = (Unit Cost) x 2 + (Labor) Retail = (Unit Cost) x 4 + (Labor) I really appreciate your input on this. This has been bugging me for a long time.

My friends and I love the scent, but no idea what it is. We all agree it helps our hair smell like we just washed it. I use it in my daughter's long hair to get the tangles out.

What about labor costs? Do y'all typically factor in the cost of paying someone else to make the candle for you? Or do you waive the labor when calculating your wholesale/market/retail prices? This is what has completely confused me. Sometimes I need help with candle jobs so I'll ask the neighbor's son or I'll ask the babysitter to come over and help. Do y'all have any idea what a babysitter charges per hour here in Perth? $20/hour!!! Factor that into the price of a candle, and it is astronomical.

Hey Richard, I'm just now seeing this. I think that is a very attractive label. Please let me know if you are pleased with how the printer does them. My label has a border around it too, and when doing my own printing and cutting, it is a huge pain in the ass to get the border even around all four edges. I would love to get my labels printed professionally, but I didn't know what to expect with the border, lol.

Thanks, I'm glad to hear I'm not that crazy, lol. I just got my HTPs in on Friday so I'll give them a try too.

So I'm testing Lemongrass EO in 464 with CDN wicks and it appears to be burning well. But what is curious is that the HT seems to float to the ceiling? Does that makes sense? I would burn a candle in a bedroom with the door shut, and when I'd check on it, I could barely smell anything. But if I turned on the ceiling fan, boy, I could definitely smell it. Is this typical of Lemongrass EO?

Bart, that would be very interesting if your printer had packaging contacts. I have struggled to find properly-sized packaging (in plain kraft) for not only my metros, but for my tea lights and maxi lights too. I have seriously considered ordering from China but since they don't accept credit cards and without an agent, I didn't proceed. I believe whatever surplus we have from bulk purchases can easily be sold off to crafters here in Oz. Richard, I know I yap on about using Freight Forwards but I admit I never used one myself. So based on using a friend in the U.S. to receive the packages and forward them through USPS, I've broken it down this way: ~150 3 x 3 x 4" boxes will fit in a Large USPS Flat Rate Box. The approximate cost per unit after shipping within the U.S. is $0.25 if shipping 200 units from Uline Large Flat Rate Box postage to Oz is $58.50 Fee for friends's time and expenses: $10.00 (optional, of course, hehe) (150 x .25) + $58.50 + 10.00 = $106.00 (delivered to your door) $106.00/150 = $0.71 per unit Since Uline ships these in boxes of 100 or 500, then to maximize your Large Flat Rate Box, you could split an order of 300 with someone else. If shipping 300 within the U.S. vs 200, your unit cost would drop a few cents. Also, I am talking with someone back in the U.S. who may be interested in offering this as a service. She is still considering a fee to charge, but I cannot imagine a better person to take on something like this. PM me if you are interested.

This is the box that I am currently using, and I am very happy with it. It has a lock bottom and tab top, and sturdy enough to hold a metro jar full of wax, plus the lid. Uline also has them in white, black, and Indestructo Mailers: http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-13219/Retail-Boxes/3-x-3-x-4-Kraft-Gift-Boxes If any of you want me to mail you one, PM me. I also use the Large and Small metros, but Uline doesn't supply the right sizes for them. I found a box manufacturer that has 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 x 3 but minimum order is 500 and I'd have to arrange freight forwarding. If anyone else is interested in something like this in the kraft color, let me know.

Even if they don't ship internationally, we can pay a freight forwarder to do it for us. If we do it enough, we can work out discounts for volume. A product I would like to see provided that I haven't seen our suppliers offer is gift packaging sized for the metros we all use. I have found boxes that fit the medium sized metro (including the lid) and asked David to carry them, but he wasn't interested.

Thank you so much for the explanation. My order was right under $50. I'll add a couple of things and get it submitted, but not without some grumbling. I happy to discuss co-ops. It would be nice if this forum had a special section just for Aussies because our needs are so unique.