theresa t

Thanks for the suggestions! I have been using a parasoy type wax lately and really don't care that much for it as far as throw goes. I will either switch back to the soy or go back to the NG joy wax as this one has given me great results but the shipping on it is very high so just mulling around alternatives since the soy doesn't cost me as much for shipping.

Is there anything that can be added to soy to keep the frosting to a minimum? I am thinking about going back to soy again but the frosting ran me off from using this wax. I loved the scent throw I got with it and would like to try it again. It has been over a year since my last time of using soy so I would have to find my notes on temps as far as adding oils and pouring. TIA!

I love going into stores and smelling their candles and today I came across an unusual scent to me. It is called "living room" and it is so nice. The candle company is Aspen Bay I believe. It is just a nice fresh floraly scent or at least that is what it smelled like to me. One of my customers, she's actually a neighbor wanted me to try to make this for her but I liked it myself so would also use it. Just wondering if anyone is familiar with this scent or company and if anyone could point me in the direction of finding this oil? TIA!

**Edited to add this: Description: Fresh floral blend of roses, gardenias, lilacs and freesia

This is the scent description taken from the site of Aspen Bay. If anyone can help I would appreciate it so much!**

I definetly understand that! I don't sell that many of anything other than to people that I know so I am hoping they don't go and do something stupid then come back on me but sometimes those can be the worst people there are and I am sorry to say that but it seems to be true in most cases. I enjoy doing what I do so for me it is relaxing and gives me something to look forward to once the kids are in school and I have the house cleaned up. Of course when I pull all of my supplies out there is a HUGE mess but it sure is fun making it and the rewards are even better! I have checked into insurance of course, I'm just not at a point right now where I feel I can afford it for one and then like I said, with me just doing this mostly for family and a few friends I am hoping it is not necessary yet.

This may be a really stupid question but, if a person only makes wax tarts are they going to need to have the insurance for candles? I am really new to this selling stuff so it is just something I was curious about since there is no flame involved with the tarts. I realize that product liability is for the product to protect in the case of a claim but wouldn't tarts be less of a liability than say making a candle with the wicks since there is no flame? At this time I mostly make things and give to friends, most of my candles are for my use but when I sell it is normally the tarts that I sell so was just curious about this. I don't make enough off of anything to afford insurance and it is more of a hobby at this point than a business even though I have been making candles and tarts for the past 5 years! I also realize that if someone wanted to, they could make a claim against me for the defective product in the way of tarts so I am aware of that. Again, maybe a stupid question but just wanted to ask anyway!

Another thumbs on them from me! They are some of the best FO's I have found! Great customer service, great oils, great prices and this is the first place I go for my oils other than the classy's on here. I would very highly recommend them to anyone that is wanting to make a great quality product!

I have to chime in here about candlesource! You can't beat working with them at all! I have bought tons from there and all of them have been great. The customer service is second to none as far as my experiences with them have gone. One really good one that sticks out for me is the black raspberry vanilla it's been a while since I bought any but that just reminded me that I need to place an order soon! Loren is great to work with. I buy not only FO's from there but the combo tart warmers and glassware alot. Oh yeah.....they ship super fast too! Just another added plus for me!

I know that I am a little late to chime in here but I would have to agree with Fern just based on my experience with the Joywax. This is the only wax that I use and I love it. From what you are describing it does sound an awful lot like Joywax but it may be another type of wax. I hope you find out what it is so you can use it though. I am very happy with the Joywax, like I said this is the only one I use although I am going to be trying out another wax pretty soon.

It does help and I appreciate the reply from you and the pm I got today from Jenn. I was going to play with this today but got tied up with other things so I am hoping to have time to try this tomorrow. Will let you know how it turns out!

That is what I was wondering also. I just didn't know if this is the norm or if maybe I was doing something wrong with my pricing. I've not done this for a real long time but my candles do sell, it is just they move slower than the tarts do and I seem to sell more of them. Maybe this is the norm for this business? I was just wanting some input to see.

I have better luck here making and selling the tarts than I do candles. I don't know why that is but for some reason they just seem to go better. I don't really think that I have my candles priced too high. For the 4 oz. hex I have them at $3 and the prices vary up to the 8 oz. masons at $6 each. Anyway, does this happen to anyone else as far as being able to move the tarts better than the candles?

I've not been around here that long but I had surgery on my neck back in July and I practically gave everything up at the time. It took me up till just this past few weeks to get back in the swing of things and it was a rough surgery for sure. Still not traveling well to say the least. Now I am looking at the great possibility of disc replacement on my back...will know for sure after the 28th. Anyway, what I am trying to say is I let my surgery get the best of me for a while, not that it wasn't a rough deal or anything with being on the pain meds and trying to get back to normal, it was. I didn't sell out of my supplies they were calling me each and every time I went out in the shop. I really wanted to give it up and stop but it gives me such pleasure to make a candle, tart or whatever and working with the wax has truly became "therapy" for me over the past few weeks. Granted, I understand completely where you are coming from. It is hard to go through something like this and not think that you should be done and it got me down many times and thinking about the possibility of having my back done is starting to work on me in the same way. Stay positive and know that you will be back to your normal self after a little time....that is all it will take. I am praying for you and hope that you don't make a fast decision on this. I have seen some of your work and like the others have said, you do beautiful work and it would truly be a shame for you to stop creating these works of art you have been given the talent to create!

I have done a search on here about the swirled candles. I like the ones that I have seen so far that are the balls that appear to have been done using an oil based paint. That is similar to the effect I am wanting only I am wanting this in a container candle using white as the base color and then adding other colors like maybe red for a strawberry cream or ivory with blue for a blueberry cheesecake or just to do some mixed colors with other scents to make the candle a little more interesting looking. I use Joywax with color chips so didn't know if maybe I could shave a little of the dye off of one of the chips and place it down the sides of the container while the wax was still warm enough to melt the shaving or if there is another way to go about doing this. I don't know the best way to go with this. I had also thought about pouring the base color and then letting it get set up some or slushy then adding the other color and swirling them together. I've not tried either of these methods yet and wanted to see if anyone else has and if so if maybe I could get some pointers on the better way to get this effect. I have had a request for one of these candles but with not knowing how to go about this have had to pass on it. Any help is greatly appreciated! TIA

I've never had any trouble getting the tarts out of the burners. Just a few minutes in the freezer and they pop right out for me. I may have to get me some pillar/votive wax and give it a try. I would like for the tarts to be a little more "solid" though and that might be the way I should go in order to get them that way.

Thanks. Do most people use the votive/pillar wax to make their tarts? I have seen where several people have mentioned using this so didn't know if it would be better to use than a container wax.

I normally make my tarts with the same wax that I use to make my candles. I use NG Joywax and really am happy with this wax over any other I have used for making my candles. I have had to up the scent pp on my tarts on some scents, mentioned that in another thread concerning this. My question is about using the same wax for tarts and candles. The joywax is fairly soft, I would say that it has the consistency of crisco and it is very easy for me to work with. Now, when I make my tarts I don't use molds for them, I just pour them into the little muffin type foiled papers and then once they set place them in the cello bags. I found this to be extremely easy for me personally and the tarts end up being a little over an ounce each. The only thing that I have noticed is that the tarts may be a little too soft using this wax. I have only been doing this for about 4 years but tarts are just something that I added in the past year, mostly I do them for myself but do have the occassion when I sell a few. I realize that this question may be one that the answers may be based on differing opinions but, I am willing to go with the majority in getting a wax that might be better suited for tarts. I don't want any trade secrets or formulas, I'm not asking for that at all, just some opinions on which wax works best when making tarts. Like I said, Joywax has been my wax of choice for a while now so I would love to try something different so maybe I could cut back on some of the FO pp in my tarts. I would appreciate any help or opinions. TIA

I don't have many scents that I will up the FO's with. It is mostly the ones that are not as strong throwing when there is not a flame. I didn't know if it would hurt anything by using a little extra oil. For instance, rose throws so much better for me in the wicked candle but, when I use it in a tart or wickless the throw is weaker. I am just wanting the wicked and non wicked to compare in strength of scent throw which for me they are not so that is why I wanted some opinions on this. I appreciate each of them also. Thanks!

I am just curious about the amount of FO you can use for either of these. I use 1 oz pp in my candles with the wick and get a really good hot/cold throw with most FO's using NG Joywax. I have also used the same wax for my tarts but have used at times about 1 1/2 oz. pp of FO for some of these just to get a little better scent out of them just because I know that there can be a difference in the scent throw flame vs. non flame. Is this going to hurt anything with using a little extra FO in the tarts or wickless? I was just curious as to what others think or what others may do with the varying amounts of FO with these types of things.

I have to say after buying more of these dye chips that they are working out great for me. I use the Joywax from NG and have had problems in the past with dye chips in this wax with the colors not being as "colored" as I wanted them to be. I bought the chips from an online supplier and had to use several of them when only supposed to use 1 per pound to get the color. The ones that I just bought are really working out great!

In my case with the liquids, I really liked the ease of use of them, don't get me wrong. It was just a situation where I had the dyes for a couple of years and they were super thick. Most of the bottles had just a little left in them when I pitched them. The bulbs on the droppers were all dried out, thin and crusty as well as around the edges of the bottles. I'm not one to normally throw out things like this due to the cost of replacing them. If not for the nasty mess, the way the dyes looked and the bulbs on the droppers being in the shape they were I would probably still be using the messy things!

My dyes got tossed due to the fact that the dropper part of them were all leaking everywhere and I was a little unsure of the quality of the dye itself. Some of the bottles had the "crusties" around the edges of them and the dye really looked thick where before it was not as thick. So, I went over to a candle supply store here in town and bought me some dye chips. I have used these before but didn't get the colors out of them that I wanted to. I looked at their candles that they said they only used one chip per pound of wax and they had these nice bright, deep colors in their candles. I took the chance and bought a couple of bags of these, I figured it was only $4 for 40 chips so why not...if they are good then I can just go back and get more. I made a couple batches of candles and mine are just as bright and deep in color as are theirs! I was pleasantly surprised let me tell you! Good thing is that they are just a couple of miles away, the dyes are good, there is not any shipping charges and I can go get them whenever I need them without having the mess that the liquids have. So far I am happy. They have 20 chips in a bag for $2.00 each and have 20 colors. Looks like my problem with the mess is taken care of!!

That's what I have been wondering about myself as far as having to start over again with trying to formulate the mixes of the dyes to make the same colors I have now. I didn't know if the twist tops would be any easier or not so, since it seems they may not be, I will just order where I have before. I know that I will have them by the end of the week if I order now and I am in need of them really quick. Thanks for the responses on this! Moving my shop out to the garage where I have a little room built out there with heat and a/c so maybe with having them on a shelf instead of having them in a cart will help with the leaking problem I have had in here. I really think that since they have been knocked over a few times in the cart that has been the biggest problem with the leaks but, will buy them again and see what happens this time around. Thanks again for the responses!

I just pitched my liquid dyes yesterday due to the tops of them leaking and just in general making a huge mess. They had the droppers in them and the squeeze bulbs (I guess you would call them) on the tops were horrible and the bottles were leaking everywhere. I need to buy some more liquid dyes now so, would like to try to find something that has the lids on them with the twist caps that I don't have to use the droppers in them. Any ideas on where to get something like this?

Used some of the oxi-clean carpet and upholstery stuff to do that. It works on carpets and upholstery and I use it all the time in my car and works great! Dye is gone and now so is the crisco....can't even tell it was ever there.....dye or oil!

I was desperate with needing to get this up so I tried some crisco oil and it got it out!! I can breathe easier now I think! Anyway, if anyone ever does this, you might try a little crisco oil...it worked for me! WHEW!!

This is not a general question about candlemaking but about how to get a liquid dye out of carpet! My bottle of dark blue leaked and I got some on the floor in the kitchen, then apparently stepped in it but only realized it had leaked on the floor AFTER I noticed the dark blue spot on my carpet! Any ideas on how to get this out of my carpet?? We just put this NEW carpet in a couple of weeks ago and I am so upset with myself over this!