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snewbie

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Everything posted by snewbie

  1. I think it is the fact that you only use 8 drops max of the reach dyes that allows you to have success with the palm waxes. I was using 12-15 drops because I was just never satisfied with some of the colors. I think green violet and red are just hard to get with palm wax and reach dyes. I know I can use way less blue, maybe as few as 4drops/lb. I am going to throw my 12-15drop/lb reach candles back into the melter and add an equal amount of wax with no color to cut the dye in half. Im also gonna try the northstar premium liquid dyes when they come. I think a lot of the recommendations for things out there are for parrafin which I dont use and has caused me some trouble from missunderstanding. Oh well, nearly 7 months in, and Ive learned a ton. I can see why so many of you laugh at people that think they are gonna make a marketable product their 1st year in candles. I dont see it happenning, but I never really did anyways. Every single thing we add to our products makes a difference, and that's not even counting the business side. Thanks.
  2. I did it without a heatgun. I waited until the layers already there were nearly completly cooled. Make sure the wax is hot 190F and cover if necessary.
  3. I went ahead and got a new printer and some cheap label software and printed up my own. Not totally dialed in, but it'll be fine when I need it. Thanks.
  4. BC= Bitter creek? C&S=? Candlewic evo, Northstar Premium liquid are looking best so far. Thanks
  5. Thanks, i'll check those. I would just use the chips too, but I dont have an accurate enough scale to reproduce my results when Im only doing 2lb batches at a time. edit: It looks like I could just use a couple reddi-glo chips for 2lb batches. I'll have to look into those.
  6. Well, Ive finally been able to reproduce Topofmurrayhills results with feather palm pillars. Both my 3"x3" feather white, jasmine pillars burned well. CSN12 worked a little better than the 14 which came kinda close to a blowout. I have discovered that it is the REACH dyes from just by nature that caused my problems. I believe the reason is the amount of dye needed is 8-15 drops per pound. All my candles with the reach dyes leave way too much shell, but the white one burned as expected. Burn time was 41 hrs with probably 1 more burn for the CSN 12. Leftover weight was 4.7oz for the 12 and 4.4 oz for the 14. I can live with that. I tried wicking up, but that leads to close to a blow-out. Im not gonna chase my tail with these dyes anymore. While I am still looking for a better wick that doesnt curl so much, I am also looking for a better dye. So far, Cadlewic looks ok. Their liquid dyes are recommended 4-5 drops per pound, half the minimum for the reach dyes. I absolutley cant stand any kind of gross chemical smell, and I strongly perfer a more "natural" "healthy" product(which candlewic claims, and therefore so can I). Do any of you know of a better dye for palm? Less drops per pound while not having a gross smell?
  7. Ive been to shops online and storefront and they sell warning labels. The problem I'm having is if my customers(future) were to actually follow the labels, the candle wouldnt burn right. Example: 3" palm pillars with CSN wicks. The label would have to read something like: Never leave a candle burning unattended. Burn on heat resistant surface away from any flammable objects. Burn for 3-4hrs at a time. Dont move candle while wax is melted. Burn away from drafts. I am leaving out the wick trimming part because CSN wicks are self trimming, and if they(customer) do trim, it will change how the candle burns(probably for the worse). I also meant what I said when I wrote burn for 3-4 hrs at a time. If they burn for less than 3 hrs, the candle wont burn right on subsequent burns. What do y'all think?
  8. Well, Ive completed burning 3-3"X3" pillars. A feather with csn12, a 50/50 with csn 12 and a 50/50 with csn 14. None of them are good enough. All 3 left over 5 oz shell out of a 10.5 oz candle. They only burned 38-43 hrs before leaking out the bottom. Unfortunatly, I cant duplicate Tops results either, so I guess I have no choice but to try csn 11 and csn 16. If they dont work, I guess I'll try something from fil-tec or maybe one of the CD wicks.
  9. Ive gotten good results with the cd6 in scented feather votives and the fil-tec ultracore 1.7something and the 1.8something(they go by a 4 digit melt pool diameter) in my unscented and scented feather votives. The ultra cores barely bent over, and had a more reasonable flame compared to the ultra-torchy csn9 and somewhat torchy cd6 I tried. The bending and torching are my only csn complaints. The bending causes my pillars to burn unevenly, which isnt usually too much of a problem, but... I need to try whatever fil-tec recommends for a 3" palm pillar. They(series) all supposedly bend less. Try fil-tec.
  10. So far, most of my 50/50 have been burning great. Ive gotten through 9, 3-5hr sessions with no blow-outs yet. Wicks are csn12 and 14. The csn 12 is a bit underwicked compared to the 14. In a 3"X6" green 50/50 pillar with no FO, I think the csn 14 candle Im burning isnt burning enough of the top. Believe it or not a 12 would probably be better. Palm doesnt always burn intuitively. Sometimes it looks underwicked when it is really over. In fact Ive tested 4 csn wicks side by side and had the smallest one torch the biggest on the first couple of burns. I thought I misslabeled. Later it started behaving as expected. To me, as long as it burns well with no blow-out, and I get 45hrs out of a 3'X3", I'm gonna call it good. So maybe 50-53hrs on your 3"X3.5"? I'm glad I decided to do the NG plumeria in straight feather. Edit: I wonder if you need to make the burn sessions longer(after the first few) to get those to burn right. How can we expect others to follow a strict burn regime?
  11. And if you look really closely, you will see the individual wax molecules.....
  12. That's how mine came from Lonestar too(not quite as bad). Except on top of it, they had these rediculus 10mm length wick tabs. Cd series wicks. Why dont you mention the supplier? If we out these people who insist on doing a substandard job and then on top of it blame the people they outsourced their work to("that's how they come"), then eventually, they'll wise up and improve their product.
  13. Bart, I think you are right in poking a hole in the top to let the air suck in and prevent the sides from sucking in. Youll probably need to do a careful second pour, and, after it cools, level it on a hot plate.
  14. I thought the point of citronella was as a stinky outdoor bug repellant. Youre not planning on using it indoors are you?
  15. If you made sure the wick would curl in the opposite direction, wouldnt that make it centered?
  16. When I get my 3mm wick tabs, Im gonna start from scratch and test csn 9, cd6 and the ultracores Im getting. If Im still not happy, I'll get some csn 7 and try that. As long as there's no hang up, I guess there's no point in weighing the leftover. Since I double pour, I'll look for an 18 hr burn. Do you really think the continous marathon burn is the best. I doubt anyone(including myself) would normally burn a candle for 15+hrs straight.
  17. What wick tabs (neck length)where you using? How much leftover wax? I liked the look of the csn7 flame better. Should I go ahead and complete my csn 9 burn even though Im using 6mm length tabs? At least my 3x3 pillars are doing well so far. Thanks a lot. Oh and those votive holders are my personal favorite. You wouldnt happen to know where to get more would you? All of mine are from various thrift stores.
  18. Given that soy and palm are not really truly natural(considering the chemical processes involved with making them), I dont really think it is worthwhile to use EO with them. I know a few that do, but you'll be better off saving the EO for beeswax and just use nice phathalate free fragrances for soy. Just my opinion.
  19. Well after researching, I have found there is no need to even use 6mm neck tab wicks unless you are using gel wax. Thankfully, the people at candlewic are knowledgeable. So I'm gonna order some 20X3mm and maybe the 33x3mm. That's another instance of the people at Swan's failing to be awake at all since they have 20x3mm wicktabs, but only ever sold me 20x6mm even though I told then I was making palm votives, and even bought the wax and the molds. I realize only I am to blame for my lack of knowledge, but I'm realizing quickly that in this business, if somebody else can screw things up for you, they will. Be vigilant This lesson will not be forgotten. Ive learned a lot in this 6 months of candlemaking, so I'm done beating myself up. I think my cd6 testers will be fine with the right tabs, lol.
  20. I cant single pour these. The tops have a hole and cave in. I have to carefully time a second pour. What neck size is recommended for votives? I am using 20mm by 6mm neck size wicks. The idgits over at lonestar candles have their 2.5" cd5 with 10mm neck sizes. I didnt read the fine print, so they are useless, but fortunatly I still had some others for the test. The CSN 9s I am finishing up today even though the flames are too big. I didnt realize you were supposed to do a marathon burn on votives. Ive been doing 3-4 hr test burns. I cant wait to try the ultracores, cause I like the one I tried.
  21. I found that CSN 9 is too big in feather palm votives. Has too big of a flame and doesnt self trim very well, so I decided to wick with the cd6 wick I have since I dont have any csn 7. What constitutes a good result? I got 18hrs of burn and .1-.3 oz leftover wax. The cd 5 was too small, and the cd7 was even worse than the csn9. The ultracore 1.792 burns just a tiny bit too small in un scented feather votives, so I have some samples of the next 2 sizes coming. The burn was very smooth, just a little too small flame, but consumned nearly all the wax (.1oz or less leftover).
  22. Well, I tried it. 190F pour and walked away. The 3"X3"(10.5oz) was perfect. The 3"X6"(21oz) was irregular at the bottom, so I'll level it out on a hot plate after Ive wicked it. Both were very nearly as heavy as my double pours (.3-.5oz less), so I doubt the cavitation will matter. The pattern was within normal parameters. Thanks, you saved me some time, Top.
  23. Thanks also,Top. I'll try pouring at 190F into warm molds with 1 pour for feather.
  24. I forgot to say that you still want to use the heat gun to warm your glass first.
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