Gretchen

Just started doing votives; had i known they were so easy; geez! Anyway, correct me if I'm way off base but it seems my costs per votive is about 25.5 cents without any packaging. Sound about right? Wax, wick, & FO. I've been trying to figure out the packaging. I thought maybe a 'box-top' type of bottom with four votives (square) and then shrink wrapped; that's one idea but I can't find that box bottom thing. I saw the clear box with a top from Sunshine but they're like 50 some cents each; isn't that kind of steep to package these in? What would be the appropriate wholesale price for a four pack? I have to keep in mind the ending retail price. i want these to sell not sit! Advice? Gretchen

Howdy! I noticed today as I was working that some of my cases of the CBA said 'new & Improved' and some did not. I just got a shipment last week of 5 cases and thought I had used up my old stuff before I opened the new. So I pondered on that for a few minutes, checked my invoice, thinking about when I had poured what. Finally decided to call the supplier to ask if I could feel confident that the lables were accurate, new verses old. She said she would hope so, but suggested I test each box! I didn't like that answer so I called Nature's Gift (the manufacturer). There's a batch # on every box, although a little tough to read. She said they had reports of the old lable on the new stuff! Fair warning here guys; call them and check the batch #'s on your cases to be sure! I also told them that about adding the 2% steric and the great results I was having. (with the steric, these are the nicest burning, and the longest burning candles I have ever seen; and I mean EVER!) They said they had heard that was working; so I said, "guess that means it's a pretty safe bet you'll be messing with this formula too to try to eliminate the need for steric?"; she said, "I would think so". At least that's a heads up! Of course we'll probably be the last ones told! Henry, sure you don't want to send them your resume'? Gretchen

I thought all Wal Marts were 'getto'!

Well, I've , no I am currently using, several of the ones listsed! That bites! And not that I would have known! Before making candles, I only ever bought vanilla pillars at AC Moore! If the FO is called 'red currant', and it smells like red currant, why would I call it something else? I hate it when the 'name' leaves me guessing! UGGGH! Gretchen

Any comments on how I melted from above with the haet gun to expose the pits and release the air? Comments please! I'm on the second burn with the one I added the steric to. This almost feels too good to be true! I still have allot of work ahaed of me to fix all these candles! Gretchen

I'm guessing the colors are achieved by steeping, and straining. Sounds like it could be messy at first, but i bet you could get a system down! Gretchen

Get some of those wooden scweres (I hate that word! Can't spell it to save myself! Those giant wooden toothpick thinggy's you use to make shish ka-bobs!) Cut them a little longer than the width of you votives; get those teeny black rubber bands (100 for like a buck); take two sticks together, secure each end with the rubber bands, secure the wick between the two sticks. This dosen't read like it makes much sense. If you just try it, you'll start to see what i mean. (Wish I could figure out how to post a picture!) Gretchen

I have to let this go for tonight; it's been a long day! I have my market tomorrow, so I'm giving this up until sunday. (The candles for market were pulled before I started pouring with this new stuff, just in case the thought popped in your head) As mentioned in the previous posts, I added steric to one of them and have already begun to test burn it. It's doing quite well. That's one of my 3" tumblers with a CD12 wick. Burning really nice actually. There were a couple of my 4" jars that I hit with the heat gun, poke around in the 'crevices', expelling the air and letting the wax settle in, let them set up solid again, and biurned. They did fine too. here's what i noticed with them that would have tipped me off that it wax the different wax, even if there had been no crevices; they are burning much hotter. Bigger flame, deeper pool- quicker. Not burning so hot that I'd be totally dissatisfied, but I noticed the difference. Not the case with the tumbler that i added the steric to. Any of you agree or disagree with melting the tops, letting the crevices fill up with the wax? I tested 3 of these and they seemed ok. Not something i'd want to do as a routine, or a method of solving this wax issue, but i do have more than a few dozen of these already poured. Comments? Concerns? Gretchen

I spoke to C&S; the owner new there had been a change. Her suggestion was crisco; I can't go there. I'm trying the steric. I melted one in the microwave, had melted steric ready, measure based on what I knew was in the jar and added it. It's setting up now. Secondly, I did take one of the larger jars and held the heat gun directly above the wck, until the entire crevice was completely exposed, and poked the air bubbles out. I did that sortly after my initial posts. Let it set back up, and it's been burning for about an hour. It's actually burning fine. I do have my notes on how many of theis order I actually had to pour to complete it, so it may be easy to tell which ones they are. Regardless, i called the shop and told her the order would be delay until the begining of the week. Thank God I had poured some testers (testing FO's) while I was completeing this order. I may not have realized there was a problem until this order had left otherwise! Wouldn't it be nice if my new heat gun became my salvation at least until I have the steric, or I should say this wax, figured out! Does candlemaking ever get to be smooth sailing? This is a huge pain in the you-knoe-what! I liked the original, new CBA! The cold throw wasn't there immediatly, but it certianly inproved with each passing day. And how many of have great sniffers left anyway?!? My sales have always comfirmed the great scents of my candles! I really think some of these wax manufacturers should do a better job of testing before they put the product out there. They should all send there stuff to Henry and pay him to do their testing! Thanks for all your responses; again! I should have paid closer attention to your previous posts. Actually, had i known I had the new stuff, I'd like to beleive I would have. I'll keep you posted if I actually learn or figure out something you guys haven't already said. Gretchen

Ok I'm sure this is a stupid question, but Im not feeling very clear headed at the moment. If I'm going to add the steric, how exactly do I do that? I use the really big roasters to melt, and I just scoop or dump it in. I don't weigh it out as I put it in. Then i ladle the hot wax into my pouring pots, weighing that. Oh, ok, so i would add the steric to the weighed wax in the pouring pot, right? It'll melt pretty quickly in the wax right?. So what about the ones I've already pourd? Can I just nuke them to melt, pour that wax into a pouring pot, weighing it, and add the steric then? Gretchen

Just read the other posts about this stuff again; so much for life without additives! I just took the heat gun to one that hadn't been lit; held it directly above the wick. Held it on it for just about a minute until the hole around the wick was 100% visable, and poked at the air bubbles until they were gone. Will this candle have a chance? I think I can tell the difference between the old and the newer looking at my finished candles. The newer stuff seemed to sort of climb up the wick just a bit and maybe looks a little creamier/smoother on top. My cases do say 'new & improved'; I hadn't noticed that until now. I am so pissed right now. I have an order sitting here ready to go out. now I have to try to figure out which is the old stuff and which is the new. This makes me sick! Gretchen

Ok, I'm like in tears here! I read it here that there was the *newer* version; my supplier (C&S) said they new nothing about it being changed. Can I tell you I'm being struck by some kind of candle demon here!! there seems to be a deep air pocket around the wick and the candles are putting themselves out in less than 15 minutes! I've done nothing different. Nothing! As a matter of fact I thought I was working with the not-newer version. I litterally do not know what to do. Anyone? Gretchen

I don't feel so productive anymore! Wowza! You people really do pour candles! Holly crap! Gretchen

Here's what I did: Poured about 6 or 7 dozen candles, about 40 votives, packaged and labled 5 dozen, put and order together and produced their invoice (hate doing that part. Weird, I know considering it means $$), read, posted, replied, read and posted some more on Candletec, delt with emails, printed tons of candle tags and soap lables, pulled soap for the Husband to send to someone he's been braggin' soap to, ate once or twice, cleaned the birds' cage (daily) and fed the cats, and the kids, and, and, and, I'm sick as a dog! Can't smell a thing! I've got this red currant FO that about blows ya out the door (too strong for me but it sells like crazy), poured 12 of them tonight; didn't even grab a wiff! Unbeleivable! Gourmet Chocolat too; can't smell a thing! Oh, and can I tell you how much I LOVE pouring hot!! Makes claening out the pouring pot a sinch! So, what'd you do today? Gretchen

I just checked out the web site for French Color & Frag. Guess you have to call them? Gretchen

Hate the idea that I might sound either old or stupid, (neither really) but are you guys tellin me you're selling a candle named 'monkey farts' (?)(my kids aren't even allowed to say that word!)(LOL- but true); and do people really buy a candle that smells like Vicks? Although I cane understand the reasoning to that one. And Downy? They buy that too??? Gretchen

Wow! Thanks for all the replies and links! You guys are great! I'm going to try the heat gun trick; don't have one yet; just called the husband to pick one up on his way home; need it for other reasons too. I'm really not too interested in getting involved with paraffin. Nothing against it really, but I'm trying to keep my work/craft/life as simple as possible and am avioding additives of any kind at all costs. I prefer things to run as simpley as humanly possible. Of course I'm doubting my level of intelligance too:) I'm also a little hung up on staying with the same producers waxes for my different products; eEco CBA and VB. I'm wondering if any of you would know how the CD-6 wick would compare to the Eco-2 wick. I've read in other threads about votives with the eco-2. Thanks again for all the advice! Gretchen

I'm using ecosoya Votive blend and CD-6 wicks, traditional votive cups (metal ones- 2oz.) and wick pins. With my container candles I'm using the eco CBA so I'm now accustomed to pouring hot not slushy. With the votive I poured kind of hot only because I was using so little wax to pour the first few, and then there's so much cling in the pouring pot. Anyway, They burned pretty well considering my votive holder wasn't a tight fit; it's one of those really thick, almost free form styled ones; so there was a little cling but it melted down as the votive burned longer. I think in a tighter fit cup itthey'll do fine with the CD-6's. So my questions, do I want to pour tis wax slushy/cool? They had little cracks (one each) on the tops; was that due to the pouring temp? I had a hard time removing the wick pins without a little chipping on the bottoms of the votives. I pushed the pin against my work table. Is there a better way? It seemed the chipping was as a result of the thin film of wax that gets under the wick pin when I poured. Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated! Gretchen

What's a watchmakers tin? I have my sample candles poured in little 4oz slip tins; the lids fit just fine; and the candles smell great; easy enough to transport

Way cool! Three candles in the entire line!? Hmmmm.......

And I ended up with the CD wicks with great results! Go figure! Anyway, thanks! You're such an asset to this board! Gretchen

So when I order again, which will probably br next week, I'll need to ask what I'm getting. I know you love all this testing stuff Henry, but can I tell you; I HATE IT! If you say there's no wick issues, i beleive you, oh God of candlemaking!! And I get so caught up in my own business and what I'm doing, I don't check the forum out regurally! Need to factor you all into my routine! You all are a wealth of valuable info, but only to those who stop by to read it! Thanks, once again! Gretchen

In the previous thread about this wax, Henry refered to it as 'new version'. What do you mean 'new'? I got my last shipment in June. Please tell me it hasn't changed again since then!?! Gretchen

Hi all! I've never done votives; nota one. I've read through a couple of post, recent ones about the eco vb wax, which was what i was going to use(?) I use the CB Advanced so it seemed fitting I would use their VB. What I've read is about cracking, not getting a clean burn, poor scent throw, etc. Doesn't sound god! I have a customer, really good account, that is requesting chocolate scented votive for the first Friday in October! Do I really have enough time to pull this off? Wax and wick testing all over again! Yikes! Are these little buggers worth it? Really? Gretchen

Ellie- Henry's threads are worth reading; they got me through the switch to this wax! ('s for Henry!) You are adding the FO's at too low a temp; I heat this wax to about 180-190, add FO"S, stir, stir, stir till I can't see the FO 'swirls' at the bottom of the pot. Then I pour, so I'm pouring at about 160, sometimes even hotter depending how warm my shop is. I don't use color at all. I've never heated my jars or my pots; never had sink holes or any real disfigurment with this wax. Never had any frosting either. The tops set up smooth as silk, after the pour as well as after each lighting of the candle. Never a 'bump or lump'. I have had this wax darkren, like a darker cream color, when I left the wax in the melter for too long at like 200 degrees! That was my own stupidity; like for two days at that temp! As far as the scent throw, it gets ten times better with a little age on it's side! I let mine sit until they're firm; several hours, again depending on the temp in my shop; then I lid them. Some FO's are better in just a day, others take a little longer. I've even delivered an order the day after the pour. I've never had a complaint or even a question about the strength of the scent. Anyone's sniffer is better than mine! By the way, where in PA? Gretchen