robertgibbens

Yes, increasing the jar opening and the melt pool would give more throw (provided its wicked correctly). A 4 oz 3-inch diameter jar will throw exactly the same as an 8 oz 3-inch diameter jar. True the larger the jar the larger the opening usually is, but the reality is it's all about the melt pool diameter, not jar volume.

There is a big difference between a trademarked name and a general name given to a product. Buying a scent called Jamaica Me Crazy for instance. You can still call your candle Jamaica Me Crazy without a problem. Make sure the title you'd like to use is really trademarked. Also, the product your naming has to be the same or similar to the trademarked name. I could sell a dog house and market it as the "Home Sweet Home" doghouse without an infringement.

Ok, where can I learn the technique your using to make those pillars? They are amazing!

Stella, yes I am using paraffin wax. As for bubbles on the wick pins, my voids are not bubble voids. I could put a quarter in the last void. I've determined that its not poking holes often enough or late enough in the process that's the problem. I've come up with a solution that works well. Wondering if anyone else has used or heard it used. I will poke holes as I can. After the candle has completely cooled, but before my second pour, I drilled 2 or 3 holes directly into the sunken wax, just outside of the wick, stopping about half way down the candle so not to his the bottom. Several of the first test drills definitely penetrated through voids (I could feel the drill drop). I then repoured. Saw cutting revealed no voids in any of the test candles. The drilling took about 10 seconds per candle. Wondering why this method is not used or talked about. I wonder if I can avoid poking relief holes entirely. Pour and forget. The drill and repour. Think I will try that.

As I said, I prefer to use wick pins, so I do not wick until the pillar has cooled completely. I'll have to keep experimenting. Perhaps I am not poking often enough.

I do use wick pins. And I do poke and poke as well. The candle looks perfect on the outside. While testing I cut a 6 inch long candle in half so I can try different wicks. That's when I saw the voids. Maybe when the candle burns the voids fill in with hot wax. Guess testing will tell...

I am venturing into pillar testing after 6 months of container testing. I am noticing that I have some pretty big caverns inside my pillars when they are sawed in half. I know it's due to the relief holes that I am poking into the cooling candle. Nearly every time, the hole I just poked gets plugged with wax rising from a second hole I poke.

How many holes do you poke? How early? How do you avoid the voids I am experiencing? Any advice would be useful.

Peak is the best. Simple.

Doesn't make sense for a supplier to short their customers as reputation is everything in this biz...

You can? I'm happy to hear that! So, if I make some duds, I can set them in the oven and melt the wax, then pour it into my pour pot and repour it into containers with different wicks? Or I can add more FO if the HT was weak?

I wouldn't set the dud candles in the over, but melt them with a double boiler or sealed burner...

Yep, Cajun's in LA, but not so close to drive there (~3 hours & 130 miles one way - costs as much in gas to drive there as the shipping) but they stopped carrying C3 a year or so ago... they jumped on the GB & EcoSoya bandwagons... Closest distributor to me now is Lone Star up near Dallas...

260 miles round trip should be about $100 with reasonable gas mileage. If you 100 lbs of wax, I can't see how it would not work out. Or buy 500 lbs!

Pillars suck? I guess if you don't know how to make them! Pillars are pillars and container candles (which theirs are 100 percent) are container candles. No one, not even the giant Yankee, can change this.

How does Yankee use a low FO load?? All their candle are very strongly scented from what i've smelled....

$25 whole dollars a case? Costs me as much as $175 a case, just to ship it to Hawaii!

I also use my pot directly on the stove now and again. It's made of aluminum, which means its made for direct heat. Not sure why anyone would think it wasn't? Of course it's still safer not to use it on direct heat.

Yes, you can't twist the premade tabbed wicks. How tall are the pillars?

The plan is for 3 and 6 inch tall pillars.

Thanks Stella. I'll give twisting them a try. And I'll try cotton core to see if the concentric circle MP works better. Wait! Now I know why they call this "testing". Personally, I think they should call it "Son of a *i*ch!"

I use tabbed HTP wicks on my containers and plan on using them with my pillars as well. Dont think they will twist! They seem much easier to place using wick pins over spooled HTP's.

I have heard of twisting. I will give that a shot. As yet I have not tested my first pillar. Still wrapping up my container testing. But I am only a few weeks away from diving into pillars. I found the HTP wicks smoked and mushroomed less than the LX's, at least for my containers using 4630.

Has anyone or is anyone using HTP wicks in their pillar candles? I will begin testing pillars soon using IGI 4625. I use HTP exclusively for my line of container candles. I have found they work best for me. I do see more melt initially on the "curl" (lay over) side of the candle (the side where the HTP wick bends over to) and less melt on the opposite side. This less melt easily burns down as the wax lowers into the container.

I am wondering how the "less melt" side on the pillar will work as their is no extra container heat as the candle progresses. Maybe it's not a problem with pillars. Wondering if I need to switch to a "standing" wick instead of a "curling" wick. Any comments would be appreciated.

Soy is not "better" or "healthier" than paraffin (unless you ask someone who sells only soy). Soy is "greener" and has less impact on the environment than paraffin. But soy wax is hydrogenated, which means carbon is added to the wax by the same companies that produce paraffin. So soy is not any more natural than paraffin (unless you ask someone who sells only soy). Also soy smokes just as much as paraffin, but the smoke is gray to white and is therefore not as visible. There are no toxin of concern released in either soy or paraffin. There is a German study out there on the web which tested smoke from both candles and found no difference (unless you ask someone who sells only soy).

My line includes both soy and paraffin. Bottom line is that there are many people out there who either believe soy is healthier or for whatever reason, just want soy. So why not give them both...

Bought 10 scents to try from SOS. Threw 10 scents away the day they arrived. I think they have lost their sense of smell over there...

Chappyyyk,

Aim high and don't let anyone tell you how to start or where to go. There is no one right way to start. The order of the steps is not as important as the steps themselves. If you want to figure out packaging and the name before you figure out how to make a good candle then do it! Just make sure you learn how to make a good candle before you open a shop.

IMOH you need to learn to make a quality candle before you even consider starting a business.

Why is it again that candle testing is not considered by you to be "starting a business"? There always seems to be a lot of negativity (even unintended) toward new folks and their ventures....

Where is there a manufacturers published direction on making candles? My FO does not say stir for X minutes....

Can't imagine not using the spigot. Ladle might work for craft candles, but I pour 50 candles at a time. My spigot and tubing system (for connecting multiple Presto Pots) are invaluable to me.