twotyerfryer

Stella, I have looked at soaps in fact! My wife and I went to Whole Foods several months ago and they had a block of soap (about 20" cubed) that was marbled and my wife loved the scent. Of course it was natural, or as natural as anything can be these days. They were cutting off chunks and selling it by the pound. Very enticing in deed. Our daughter, who is almost 10, wants to start her own little business. She has talked about soaps, air fresheners, and the like. I better watch out as she doesn't know a stranger apart from the social rules we've taught our kids, so she could be my future competition. I'd hate to ground her. :smiley2: Boilers, yep. I was one of the top boiler guys in the Kansas City region. I've always loved working with fire. Not sure that I'm necessarily a piro but one of my other hobbies has been metal working. I've built forges, and foundries at home for either shaping metal or melting it. I love trying to figure out how things work and how to then build them. Metal working was my first passion and I suspect will always be, but with the condition of my back I simply cannot do as much as I used to. I find many of the same principles in melting wax as I do in melting metal. Wax is obviously much safer and technically is not as difficult but it's still an adventure in solid/liquid/solid. On another note, people have been asking me for melts like the ever popular S or Y companies. I found a silicone mold that makes great little bricks (originally made for brownie bites). Melts have taken off. The same people are excited that the melts have a great smell and last as long as they do. Maybe business is starting faster than I thought it would. -Steve

Last January my wife and I celebrated our 13th anniversary by going out of town. While on our mini-vacation from the craziness at home, we walked into a small storefront candle shop. The smells were immense and free for any nose to partake. There must have been two hundred different candles, most were votives loaded into baskets. My wife was in heaven sniffing here, sniffing there like a bloodhound after a rabbit. :smiley2: Eventually she came up with about six different votives which we took home with us. The cold throw of each was good and she was happy to have new candles. About one month later for Valentines day our three kids and I decided to make candles for our lady of the house (a.k.a. super mom). We went to Hobby Lobby and bought some supplies, came home and put together three container candles using paraffin wax. They hardy put off any scent at all but mommy was so happy. Something in me sparked and I started reading online about candle making. I have been involved in heavy construction, mostly boiler work, for the past twenty years and have done substantial damage to my back. So I have been considering a new job for the past two years. I love working with my hands and solving problems so candle making looked pretty enticing. I ended up at Candle Science's site and ordered some PB wax as well as CB135. These along with a small assortment of one ounce F.O.'s and die chips arrived a few days later. I followed Candle Science's instructions and started making votives and subsequently testing them. It was then that I realized that finding the correct wick could be difficult at times depending on the candle itself. I've been frustrated often after the candle has cured for several days and still has no or little H.T. I asked my wife how well those six candles we had bought worked when they were burning. "Poor" was her response. Though the C.T. was fine, almost all six had no H.T. I was taken back. How could someone sell candles that didn't work? I take pride in my work. I always have. My boiler jobs and now my candles are my signature. A couple of months ago I finally had to quit my job as the back pain was to great. So now I work on "cooking" up new candles, working on recipe's and test them out to make sure I have candles that work. Eventually I want to get my own business going. I don't think my wife could be happier as well. Free candles for her! I have another small order coming in this week, so I'm hoping to get more bugs worked out in the effort to get a business off and running. I've lurked here more than I've posted by far but thank you to everyone who has posted how it's done correctly. Thank you also for ideas and suggestions. -Steve

Thanks all for the input. :smiley2: Stella, I've thought about the idea of selling them with the container or pre-poured into the container to help prevent "customer confusion". In the long run, I believe my customers will be happier doing it this way. I'll have to see. -Steve

I guess I'm trying to weigh the benefits of using my 2 oz steel votive molds vs. the 3 oz Dixie cups. It seems to be more difficult to get the larger votive holders. Most people already have the standard votive holder, so now they would have to go out and find the larger holders. Or perhaps I could sell the larger holders as well. Oh what to do. -Steve

Forgive me first for this question as I've searched, found answers, but I'm not sure what the answers meant. :embarasse I've switched from metal votive molds to the Dixie cups. Sooo, what holder can I use now as standard votive holders do not work? I read about "flower pot holders" but I'm unaware of what these are exactly. I'm not sure if selling loose votives will work either. I gave one of my standard size votives to my neighbor so she could try it out. Told her clearly to use it in the votive holder (that she clearly told me she did in fact have) or the wax will just go to puddle. Saw her a couple days later and she complained that the candle only burned for five minutes and then went out. In disbelief, I asked to see the candle. She had put it into a 4x4 square jar. "Here's your sign" comes to mind. So now I'm looking for what holders to use with my larger Dixie molds. Thanks in advance for all the help! -Steve

jnkthailand, I've been using the following FO's from CS: Gardenia Honeysuckle Jasmine Lilac Sunwashed Linen Also, I ordered three more sizes of cd wicks from Lonestar (cd-5, 6, and 7) as well as some of their FO's in the 4oz bottles as opposed to the 1oz from CS. I'm hoping I'll be able to do more testing this time with more wick options and more FO. Thanks again everyone :smiley2: -Steve

On Wick It's site, where they talk about testing wicks with a certain candle formula, they say "The candle should cool overnight before lighting it. This allows for it to completely cool into its solid state." Have you found this is not enough for proper testing? Also, my wife just tried some of my wax "scraps" from my last set of candles in her little oil burner (small dish-type thing with a tealight candle underneath to warm it) and the scent throw is awesome! I'm led to believe that it is a wick issue. I also have read a bunch more on Wick It's site as well as Wicks Unlimited. My wicks have been mushrooming which I now know is a sign of too big of a wick. I'm pretty excited to be getting answers and confirmation from this forum as well as the above mentioned sites. I'll try to take pics tomorrow to put up as well. Thanks again for the help! -Steve

So size wise, how do cd-6's or cd-7's compare to LX 14's? And, can cure time actually have that much effect on HT? How long of cure should I allow? Thank you again. -Steve

Ok, so I'm new to candle making as well as this forum. I've already spent many hours reading here and have found much help. Not having much luck with what I've done yet with my candles, I've finally decided to ask for possible solutions. I'm using wax, wicks, scents, and dyes all purchased from C.S. I've been making votives using 75% Eco PB, 25% CB 135. LX 14 wicks (as per C.S.'s recommendation) . 6% FO and C.S.'s dye chips. I've been heating the wax(s) to about 185 when I remove from the heat, then add the FO and dye. I stir for about 2 minutes (again as per C.S.) then wait until the temp drops to 140. I gently stir again and pour into the steel votive molds set on wax paper with a cookie sheet underneath. I place a box over the votives until they cool, then remove the wick pin and insert the wick. I've tried four different FO's, with 2 of them, that I know of, being on the "FO for soy" sticky. The CT is great on all four candles but HT is virtually non existent but for one and it's very subtle. I've tried even a 50/50 of PB and the 135 hoping it would give better HT, but have had similar results. I've tried to read up on wicks, finding several using CD wicks with success. I understand that the variables with candles are many, but have any of you had experience with votives and LX wicks? I've ordered some CD-6's and CD-7's from Lone Star. Do you think this is a wick problem? I've read a lot of people use PB with great results. I've not read of anyone blending it with 135, but I'm thinking the wax isn't the problem here. Any help is appreciated. Thanks:smiley2: -Steve