Theresse

I don't actually mind making paraffin pillar candles and used to make lots of them but I am more conscious these days about indoor pollution so I'd like to avoid it if possible. Do you know if it might be less of a health risk if I used part paraffin and part beeswax as opposed to all paraffin? I mean theoretically if it were half and half, would the health risk cut in half (sorry if that's a stupid question!)? Seems that would also be half as expensive too. I'm more against using palm than I am using paraffin to be honest (I'm one of *those* who doesn't believe that truly sustainable palm exists - but I'm not here to get into a debate about that). So that's really not an option for me. What about tallow? To avoid using palm I'm going to start making soap using tallow from free-range cows, so I'll already have that on hand and I've read that tallow makes a fairly hard candle (not sure how hard compared to paraffin though) and they used it for hundreds of years...but the only issue is that it stinks. Some combine with beeswax to make it smell better but I've yet to find out if that completely fixes the smell (what about adding fragrance oil or essential oils as well?) or only somewhat helps. Anyone know about that? What combination of waxes would make the hardest pillar candle without using palm, and either without also using paraffin or else using only partly paraffin? I'd also like to avoid any additives that are known to be bad for the lungs as well (haven't yet researched which are the worst and which are seen as more or less safe). Thanks so much!

I appreciate that, thank you very much! So far it looks like a lot of people think Peaks is very close.

Hello - Sorry to here folks! I know many of us love this scent and there's been more than a couple of threads about it in the past. So far I've read (from searching) Peaks, Cierra candles (?), and WSP all make it. Any others you know of - but more importantly - have any of you compared these or feel strongly that one of them is a close dupe for the Thymes ones? I love love LOVE that scent (more than just during the holidays) and want to make a bunch as gifts. I've spent a zillion bucks on those suckers as gifts in the past and all recipients love them. Thymes says it's got in it fir, cedarwood and sandalwood, though I'm sure other "secret ingredients" too. Thanks!

If you don't mind paraffin, you might eventually give into the metal molds for pillar candles. That's what I started with (which shocks everyone, since apparently beginners prefer to do containers) and I had a BLAST doing it and seeing this perfectly-shaped, smooth, pro-looking candle pop out of the mold the next day. If you stick with container candles (and I do believe you've been bitten by the bug like the rest of us and will stick to candles one way or another!), I recommend buying a heat gun. You know, I bought mine for candle-making 9 years ago and only opened it for the first time a couple of weeks ago when I made my first container candles ever...and I couldn't BELIEVE how easy and helpful it was to have! Also they have so many uses that it can't possibly be a bad investment. So when my candles got bubbles and had little blemishes, I just re-melted the tops with the heat gun until I got everything just right. Peak probably sells heat guns, and here's another one (you want variable heat and a couple of settings) that has decent reviews on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-H0800-Heat-Gun-1200-watt/dp/B0000DD1KP/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1382333646&sr=8-2&keywords=heat+gun+variable This talks about the many uses of heat guns: http://blog.all-spec.com/2009/03/20-heatgun-uses-who-knew/