spark-me-up

Not much to add to @Stellas excellent advice, but I'll say that it's a fine line, temperature wise & you really need to watch your thermometer... & remember ambient temperature will play a part too. Also, I have found red dye in particular, is very prone to leeching or bleeding. I've used blocks & liquid & have found this to be the case in my experience. I think kits are a great way to start out! They end up saving you a fair amount of money whilst giving you a good "grounding". Good Luck & Have Fun!! =)

Ha! Exactly the same has happened with Ikea. They are (or, used to be) THE place to buy tea lights over here. I used to buy a couple of bags of 100 to keep me going. Not any more. Charging the same price, but the cups/ quality/ burn time etc. now fail dismally. So yes, the solution, I guess, is to make our own. Such a shame! We were just saying you can't get anything as a bargain any more =(

Congratulations =) Very exciting!!

People ARE going to buy this! OMG... what a mess. Suppose you COULD use it to level off any dodgy bottoms... Great laugh @jackbenimble... in fact, they just kept coming!

Well, I have noticed that MOR candles are almost "soft"... I call them a buttery consistancy. They can get away with the softer wax of course, because they're all in glass votives.

a ha ha ha @Stella! I agree with the "seasoned"!! I treat my moulds like I treat my wok I use Palm, or a Palm & Paraffin blend & I never spray mine either. ONLY time I can say I have had trouble is with %100 Paraffin, but as mentioned above... they DO eventually come out & the fridge trick sure helps! I remember reading someone's advice a while ago (sorry I can't remember who it was now...) & they said something like "Never be tempted to throw your mould on the floor to release the wax, it won't help & you'll dent your mould & wreck it..." (or words to that effect!) THAT little gem has saved me several temper tantrum disasters I wonder if throwing the damn thing through the window would be as bad?!

Ouuuu! How FRUSTRATING!!!!!!

Hmmm... that IS interesting! Thanks for posting =)

Syringes! BUT... (& isn't there always a "but"!?) the rubber stopper inside sometimes perishes after time, so they aren't something you can keep & re-use indefinately. I buy 5mls. in bulk from the pharmacy, without the needles. I was thinking I'd try pipettes, as @megandgarr has said... I could probably afford to piff them then, when I'm done. I also really like what you have suggested @catlin! Your dad is a smart cookie Think I might try that, next time I'm stuck- cheers!

You could try this worksheet at... http://www.candlecauldron.com/ Scroll down on the right, click "candle pricing worksheet". Can post a direct link, sorry! Good Luck... I HATE working out all the math involved in this caper!!!

Nice to see you are so excited =D Depending on how many wicks you have, you could practice melting & pouring a few times before you add dye or fragrance, but I think as @rjdaines has said, you will get the melt & pour thing pretty fast. Good Luck!! Have Fun!! =)

Thanks for the pics! WOW! Maybe, even if the plastic cups ARE rated, when you refill & burn & refill & burn, the plastic gets degraded somehow over time??? That's the only thing I can think of...

I remember when Zodiac candles were a huge trend & they were everywhere (I mean just the plain para pillar ones, with a stamped zodiac sign on it type stuff)... now, I hardly see them anymore (ok, so that's me here in Oz... maybe they ARE still big in your area ) & it makes me think about things that come & go. I haven't seen too many creamy cherubs lately, either... they were known to hold sway all year, not just at Christmas! What have you guys noticed, that has been huge in Candle World once upon a time, but has now faded by the way side?

@HorsesentS... "jarless container candles"... "shatterless candles"... why not indeed, eh? It's all in the spin @rjdaines... woot! That's it!!! he he he. Shut me up quick smart when I realised I do glass votives though! Lol.

a ha ha ha! Either that or the FO's... =)

Be nice to have the $'s to promote your candles that way though, eh? They've even got the views from that window shopped in...

No, I haven't heard anything further. Must say, when I received the email, that it raised my eyebrow too. Thought it must have had more to do with protecting themselves somehow, rather than anything else... *sigh*

a ha ha ha!!! SO true... & far less frustrating let me tell you! Anyway, Good Luck... it's not as easy as it seems =)

I've tried so much stuff to get the bottoms looking good & in the end I have found my heat gun is my best friend!!! As long as they are level, the gun seems to "resurface" the wax to a presentable state. Took me a few goes to get it right, cause if you heat the wax too much it just "bubbles & pocks" & still looks horrible. Anyway, this seems to be the easiest solution for me. Amazing how many "ugly butts" there are out there on shelves though eh? Some people don't seem to give a toss... nice that you do =)

Just beautiful Anu! Congratulations =)

I think the Acs wick probably produced a slightly smaller flame & so it would slow down the consumption of the wax & therefor burn longer. You are a brave woman, taking corded wicks on... they have nearly cost me my sanity & I am envious you have had "saleable" success so swiftly!!! Good on you

This is true! =) "Sustainable" is big over here. Aussies LOVE to hear that word. As far as "Domestic" goes... I think we can only claim that of beeswax. May be wrong, but I don't know of any Palm or Soy actually being produced here. Hmmm. Slightly off topic, but I'd love to see/ burn a Bayberry candle! I had never even heard about them until I came accross something or another here. Have you worked with this wax rjaines?? 15 lbs of Bayberries to make one lb of wax. I'd like to know what it smells like! I imagine it's quite expensive but its applications are very limited... 46C/ 47C MP?!

As to previous posts... @jonsie... I appreciate your Palm suggestions, even if from a Soy perspective. I hadn't thought of trying to add/ pour at LOWER temps! Still, though your theory sounds a good one, it becomes complicated (surprise!) by a few of the more recent posts. Anyway, at this point, I am willing to give anything & everything a red hot go. I was lucky enough to score a stash of pure Chamomile, so it has afforded me this testing luxury, but yes, it IS very expensive. Still not much use for the stuff if I can't make it work, so round & round I go @Candybee... thanks for your suggestions too. What you say makes sense & I would be totally wacking out melts BUT I have got Customers very keen for Pillars only. In fact, they're trying to place "pre orders" but I won't take any until I know I can crack this. Imagine!!! I have people banging down my door but I can't deliver. SO frustrating!!! I don't want to do a half assed job & risk putting out duds, so if I lose a few in the wait, I still think it's for the best. As with us all, I'm really passionate about making The Best.... but man! Sometimes circumstances try you to the MAX! Grrr!!! @chuck... "clear as mud?" Actually... what you said makes sense =) We all are obviously on the same insane wave length. I mean, come on... I am realising we all suffer from a certain kind of madness us candle crazies =) Thanks for the heads up about @Stellas crystal structure threads. I will have a scout around & try to get my head around it all. @Stella... you said something along the lines of "... if an EO or an FO can't handle 200*F..." & you made a great point. I am trying different wicks now, but think even if I wick down to where the EO is "happy" the actual candle simply won't burn properly. Still, I am plagued because I see & have sampled EO pillars that DO have great throws. A lot of them are Soy these days, but I'm talking Palm too. I would swap to Soy but have requests strictly for Palm (whatever!!!). It can be done... but HOW I wail!!! They MUST be adding additives. Still if you plug a candle full of those, how can you claim it's completely "Natural"? Maybe I'm just being naive =( That might turn out to be the only way, but I have to exhaust all the avenues I can think of before I "succumb". I agree that any EO candles I have sampled have a MUCH lighter throw than FOs. Another good point of yours "... Arguably, candles may not be the ideal medium for Aromatherapy applications" & as @Candybee said... melts may indeed be the better way to go. Thanks to all of you who addressed my troubles & I didn't mean to take over the thread =( Pretty much ALL of my friends & family think I've lost it by now. All I hear is "Oh, it's just a candle... you're over complicating everything..." You simply CAN'T convey to the "uninitiated" just what we are subjected to... & WHY we do it!!! =)

Ok jonsie... I'm putting my hand up!!!!! Only my forum/ board knowledge is even worse than my candle making abilities!!!! Can't work out for the life of me how to send a PM!!! GRRR. If you haven't found anyone willing by now, I'm your gal! I'll keep trying to work out the PM situation in the mean time! =) I'm in Vic, by the way.

ok, I'll chime in with my 2 cents worth! I've been testing EOs exclusively & have been adding them at the lowest temps poss for a couple of reasons... a) I DON'T want the palm to have any effect- I want a smooth surface & from an Aromatherapy background, we are told that the lower the temp you burn an EO at the better, as the Oils are "highly volatile". (You can sort of see this in an oil burner... if you add near boiling water to the oil, it will "burn up" really fast & the fragrance will only last a few minutes. Adding to luke warm water will "hold" the oil & evaporate it MUCH slower, so fragrance lasts longer). I'm adding my Oils in at 175 & Pouring at 170. (with no dyes). The cold throw is good. The hot throw is non existant!!! BUT, when I blow the flame out, the melt pool immediately starts throwing... & quite strongly. Even if I let the candle burn waaay down, the fragrance will still be as strong at the end, but again, only with the flame extinguished. This has been driving me crazy. I've tried everything I can think of... Heating the Wax up to 180- 185 to add the Oils, mixing it through like a maniac (ok... a contolled maniac!) & then pouring again at the lower temp (to avoid effects in Palm) but to no avail. I haven't wanted to add the EOs in any higher as I was sure they'd "burn up" before I even poured. I don't really know where to go from here. I have been seriously resisting putting any additives in the wax at all. I wanted the candles to be as Natural as possible, PLUS consistant supply of anything like that over here (AU) is impossible, so I don't want to become more "reliant" on anything I may not be able to source when I NEED it. For what it's worth, that's what I've found & where I'm at! This has been an interesting thread... Thanks Guys!!! NOTE: I should probably add that I haven't been testing with Pink Grapefruit, but with Oils of a similar "viscosity"... Lavendar & Chamomile. Cheers =)