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I always use Duct Seal to seal the bottoms of my molds, it's WAY stickier than mold sealer, it never dries out, and it's amazingly cheap, like 2 dollars a pound at Home Depot or Lowes. Chris

Debbie, The wick affects hot throw for a few different reasons. The biggest reason in my opinion is that wicking affects the speed at which the wax burns, as some wicks suck wax up faster than others, resulting in more wax being burned, therefore producing more throw. A second reason is that some wicks can clog if you are using a high % of a very "heavy" fragrance oil such as cinnamon. This can lead to dramatically decreased throw. I have had really good luck using the LX wicks with the GW 444, they do give a bit of a mushroom, but they throw very nicely. On the flip side, they tend to burn a little faster, and in order to make my 17 hour votives, I need to actually use a slightly larger container. Chris

I have actually made container candles with 2 ounces of fragrance oil per pound of wax, but with most soy waxes, that is beyond the ammount which will bind to the wax, and will result in "bleeding" of the candle. This will result in an unsafe candle, as the fragrance oils are flammable, and can cause flare ups if they begin to pool. To counteract this, you have 2 choices, purchase wax which will hold 12% fragrance oil or you can use a binder such as Vybar to hold in the extra fragrance oil. But when using a binder, you have to be careful not to use too much as it will eliminate the cold throw of the candle. Chris

Britty I have a firm policy of charging my family wholesale prices (2x my cost.) The reason behind this is that if you buy in builk, the actual cost of making candles is very inexpensive per candle. One thing you must consider, however, is the cost of getting to where you are comfortable selling candles. I know that when testing out FO's and different mixes my gf and I went through just over 50 lbs of wax, and a ton of FO, different wicks, etc. My 1 pound jar candles cost me around $3.30 to make without taking into consideration equipment, so I sell them to family and friends for $7 each, on my website for $10 plus shipping, and at craft shows for around $12. I haven't had any complaints yet. Chris

I can't give advice as to forever pillars as i've never used them, but I use Duct seal from Home Depot to seal my aluminum molds. It's amazingly cheap to begin with, heat resistant, and I can reuse it over and over. As far as votives, I'm actually using plastic ones which are a hair bigger than the standard 17 hour ones. The plastic gives an amazingly smooth finish which is what it seems like you are looking for. I got 100 of them on eBay for like 15 dollars. For wicking them, I bought a box of 1500 low tack glu dots for under $20 at www.buygluedots.com (not the normal high tack ones for containers) and I just stick the wicks in before I pour. To remove, I have predrilled a very small hole in the bottom of each in the center (gluedot covers it) and press them out with a wick pin (they seem to come out better for me than actually wick pinning this way.) The metal disk on the bottom of the wick prevents me from punching into the candle, and they release very easy. Chris

SMCC That site is GREAT, I have been fighting with my own labels for a while now, and for the price that site charges, it's a no brainer to order from them instead of buying locally!

Britty We have a spigot on our presto pot, we mix just the wax and any additives (like UV inhibitor and vybar or stearic) in the presto pot. We pour into a pouring pot (standard almuminum one with handle) which sits on a scale so we can measure by weight as we add the fragrance and coloring. The presto pot gets left on on low, and it keeps the wax around 180 degrees so when we add the fragrance and coloring we just stir immediately, let it cool in the pouring pot to 145 and pour into preheated and cleaned containers. Chris and Lisa

Thanks for the quick reply, you know what they say, a picture is worth 1000 words! I'll post pictures when I get it made, and let you know how it works. Chris

I'm not sure if anyone has told you this, but the best state to incorporate in is Delaware. They have the most business friendly environment for you to incorporate in. There are actually a TON of companies which will even provide you with the registered agent for VERY cheaply, like 9 dollars a year. Chris and Lisa

I know this might be an odd question for this section of the board, but have any of you tried to do something similar for candlemaking? I want to try to make a multi cavity mold for pouring my square pillars. I figure that due to the stickiness of wax, instead of coating the sides with lexan, I would use PTFE (teflon) which can be bought on amazon actually very cheaply, and you can get adhesive backed sheets. My one concern is how to make the dividers, any chance you could post a few pictures of the individual pieces for the dividers? I figure my first run at this will be using a setup that would basically give me like 6 4" wide x 4" long x 6" tall pillars. Thanks a million Chris

Britty, once you go liquid dye, you will never go back. We started with the dye blocks, and then went to those little diamond chips, and then tried liquid. The chips are MUCH better then the blocks, but if you only want a slight color, we found it was difficult to achieve. Since buying the liquid, we haven't ever bought anything else since. Also, the liquid you get in the store at big chain craft stores (like Joanne's or Michael's) is terrible and expensive, the candlescience stuff is super cheap (per pound dyed) and it's amazing in comparison. Chris and Lisa

I started with the blocks, but quickly shifted to liquid. It is cheaper per pound of wax dyed. Also, look around for those cheap disposable droppers. It seems like the ones that come with the liquid dye are really tough to get carefully measured (drop in like 5 drops instead of 3). They are incredibly cheap too, and I reuse them over and over until they clog. Chris

Have you tried the LX wicks? We have had really good luck with them not clogging or putting themselves out. Chris & Lisa

I have a couple silicone molds, and whenever I use a release agent, I get weird peck marks along the sides of the candles, not the super smooth finish I'm shooting for with the silicone. Try pouring a little cooler or hotter, that is what fixed it for me. Also, how long are you letting them sit? I find that my silicon molds take twice to three times as long to cool completely (and release without fighting) as my trusty seamless metal ones. Chris

Funny thing you mention this. One of the major reasons my girlfriend and I got into soy, was the price of paraffin for us locally. We are hobbiests, not in this as a business, but the cost for a 50 lb case of soy was under a dollar a pound, and in comparison the local sellers were selling parafin for over 85 dollars for the 55 pound box of slabs. When it comes to it being a hobby, parafin to soy wasn't really a big deal, and now after we have been doing soy for a little while, we would never go back. Not for the crazy yahoo soy is better vs paraffin reasons, but just because it's cheaper, there wasn't any black soot for my ceiling, it cleans up with soap and water (and a stiff scrub brush), and oh did I mention it was cheaper. Chris

Well with 2 suggestions for the KD 7000, I decided to go with the KD brand, and picked up the KD 8000, I got it on Amazon with the AC adaptor and the other spill shield accessories for 46 dollars, and because I hate to wait for stuff I of course had it shipped second day air for another 14 dollars. I really like the fact that it did everything I wanted, AND has a % based measuring system, so I could measure my wax in my pouring can, and start using the suggested max load %'s on the wax without having to figure out what other weights I am using. Thanks for everyone's suggestion, and especially with finding a scale with the ability to disable auto shut off, I would not have thought of that! Chris *EDIT* I also wanted to point out that this one weights up to 8,000 grams which i think is really near 18 lbs. The myweight balance had great features, but only measured up to 200 grams, which is about half a pound. I decided that I could give up the amazing accuracy of the myweigh in favor of a substantial increase in capacity.

We make votives out of the 444 with 3.5 wendy's chili spoons (my super exact measuring device ) per pound of vybar 103 (which is incredibly cheap btw I got 5 lbs for 26 bucks delivered). They burned very nice, and have very good throw because we are able to increase the scent load because of the vybar. We wick our votives with LX 14's from candlescience too. Chris and Lisa

Yea, I can't seem to figure out why either. We have single wicked the same scent in other jars (mostly small mason jars) and had no issue. The jar is very clean, did my normal dishwasher run and complete dry before pouring. I also heatgunned the jar as normal. There are no wetspots at all, and again although the initial pour needed a little heatgunning it wasn't bad. Anyone else have this issue with GW444? No additives were used at all other then FO. I also just finished the second 4 hour burn, it is cooling now, but I'll have pics up tommorow, I'm hoping that it was just a fluke, as that really looks crappy. Chris.

I'm not sure why the picture posted that huge :-), Its not that big when I look at it on my pc, but I duno.... Anyways, so after a 4 hour burn and a full cool down...this is what I'm left with...any idea on how to minimize this?

We have been making both container and pillars out of the same wax, but the mix for additives is different, so: Containers: Type of Soy or Soy Blend you use? Golden Brands GW444 Additives if any? N/A Preferred dyes? Candle Science Liquid Preferred wick (Not sizes)? LX Pouring temp you recommend? Pour at 140* into heated containers What you do to prevent frosting? Nothing What you do to prevent rough tops? Heatgun the top 1/4" and let recool slowly Do you do anything to prevent wet spots? Dishwash containers same day we are pouring, and heat the containers with a heatgun before pouring. For the Pillars Type of Soy or Soy Blend you use? GW 444 Additives if any? We add 4 "teaspoons" (Wendy's chili spoon) per pound of Vybar 103 Preferred dyes? Candle Science liquid Preferred wick (Not sizes)? LX Pouring temp you recommend? Heat the metal containers to VERY hot with a heatgun, and pour at 160* What you do to prevent frosting? Heat the containers, cool covered What you do to prevent rough tops? Our pillars are poured upside down (gives beautiful looking pillar), so we don't have rough tops, rather rough bottoms. I just heatgun them out. Do you do anything to prevent wet spots? No because it's not into a container Chris and Lisa

Hey elf, I know this isn't related to your post, but the quote in your sig....it was said by David Russell.

Thanks for the suggestion!! I would not have thought about auto shut off being a problem. Also, I would prefer something I can plug in rather than power via batteries. Chris

OK, so we went out last night and bought ourselves a presto pot, and today I am going to shoot over to Home Depot to get the fittings I need to make it into a wax melter (pictures will be up when it's done.) My question is...what is a good scale to use. We want something that is pretty accurate so we can measure FO by weight, something that is heat resistant, because it is our intention to measure by weight wax which is already melted (in a pouring pot), and if possible I would like it to be digital. I'm willing to spend around 100 bucks on this, so long as it's something that will last me a while and fits what I need. For us this is still a hobby so it's OK to sink money into it without worrying about return yet. Thanks!! Chris and Lisa

So my girlfriend and I were out shopping yesterday at a discount store, and found these jars for sale for 75 cents each. We picked one up but looking at the jar it seems like it would be too wide to get a good melt single wicking it with the wicks we have on hand (LX 24 from Candlescience). So we bit the bullet and shot for our first double wick test! Here are some pictures, let me know what you guys think, or if you have suggestions for future double wicking endeavors. I have started the first burn today to see how the jar holds up, and if it does well I might go back to the store and buy everything they have (could be a couple hundred jars). The container is filled with right around 1 pound of GW 444 soy, and 1.5 FLUID ounces (our scale isn't accurate enough for FO by weight) of candlescience Lemon Chiffon FO. We didn't add color this time because we wanted to see how it went. We let the jar cool overnight (poured it at like 11 pm and got up at 9am) we heatgunned the top once to fix the choppy top but did nothing else. Here are some pictures I took with my cell phone (not super quality but not terrible). We did make sure we had the wicks so they would curl away from each other based upon the braid, but other than that we just guessed!

BrittyBea So far my girlfriend and I have tried 2 types of soy. We got a GREAT deal on golden brands GW444 so we have ton of that (over 200 lbs as hobbiers not a business) and so far we've had really good luck with it in containers, and have got our additive recipe almost to the point where we can reliably make nice looking/burning/smelling pillars out of it. The second wax we tried was the EcoSoya Pillar Blend. But we have read alot that there are 2 different formulas, one has a blue sticker (we got that) and the other has an orange sticker. The blue sticker box is FANTASTIC for pillars, but it is very expensive, almost twice what we paid for the GW444, and from what I"ve read on the boards, the orange box is not nearly as reliable for making good candles. So when you say that you are looking for a new wax, what are you looking to pour jars or pillars? Chris and Lisa