darrell

As previously stated, simply handing out formulas with no knowledge of how that formula was developed is no favor to a newbie nor is it fair to the chandler who spent months or years developing it. We learn by doing and what we learn is hard won. While we can offer tips and suggestions, no one "owes" anyone their "trade secrets" and techniques. There is a huge body of knowledge in these threads that should enable any student of chandling learn, test and discover which things work best for them in their candle system and which are not applicable. There's no substitute for experience in candle making.

Well said

My husband came home from work the other day and asked me if using a presto pot would make it easier for me. I told him yes, when I'm doing more than one scent or a bigger batch, a presto pot would definitely make it easier. So he told me to buy the stuff needed and he'll get it set up for me. :-) See, he's good about it. As long as I'm happy, he's happy.

Tell him since he has all his tools out he might as well just make ya two

I started almost two months ago and have spent a little over $1,000 so far. Shhhh, don't tell my husband. :-)

too late, i already called him, texted him tweeted him and emailed him... your busted

I saw the thread subject and thought to myself how that whole thread could just take a whole turn for the worst

it is easy to find folks to test, hard to find folks who know what to look for and how to report back.

That is exactly what I thinking when i posted.

OK , I think I have it down but am not sure. I am looking for one maybe two of the more experienced folks on the board to test/evaluate my product. When I say the word mentor I don't mean it in the sense of tell me what I got to do. I am talking along the line of like hey your wick may be too big or not enough HT . Either way if one of the more experienced folks is interested in this please PM me. I will cover all costs all you have to do is light it and tell me what you think . Thanks again. I am finally starting to get excited over this whole ordeal.

So far I got a good $500 invested an think I finally found a worthwile product. Not sure if this is a lot of money to get started but to me it is

Whenever i finish say my bottle of Nyquil I save the cap the measuring cap they give you and use that

This is my first holiday season also and so far I am really liking Holly Berry from CS ....

why not i would like it also

forgot to leave my addy it's darrell at carolina dot rr dot com thanks

I have one that I"m playing with that seems to be a great one if you give me your email address I'll send it to you

Only one thing I'm confused about on this though is the units. I assume I could make it pounds per case & the cost/units I believe would figure to be the ounces???? Nope that didn't work lol sorry thinking out loud kind of and also hoping someone can give some input.

why not i would like it also

LX-20 or HTP104?

just curious on this one. I use CS wick guide for a starting point and the recommendations are ECO 2 or HTP 52. Does the LX-20 come from experience or are you really asking a question ? Cuz right now I got boatloads of wicks and candles laying around and realize I have to start relying on notes I thought my memory was good enough but it just aint what it used to be

i throw my on a tart melter. it's melts all the way down and boom, i pour it in a new jar for a new wick test.

Going out on a limb here I am looking for anybody that purchases directly from Bell Flavors and Fragrance. If you do would you be kind enough to send me a PM.

Thanks,

Darrell

Let me try to offer some advice. First, the air flow in your home makes a ton of difference. So, consider burning in another part of the room. Second, find one spot that you like to test burn your candles. Always burn them in that spot. After 30 min how big a melt pool is there. and how deep. how are the wick(s) looking. After and hour, same thing. Two hours, ditto. Do this for every jar type, FO, wick, etc. Same spot. This gives you consistentcy. A well designed votive can easily cover the area you are talking about ( I agree with Chris). The FO can make a difference. Strong ones cover easier. But you need a benchmark to compare every burn to. HTH

David thanks for the advise I will take all I can get. I recall reading a thread that someone tested them in the bathroom which almost seems a little small to me. I think umma consistantly burn them in my master bedroom which is about a 20x30 room, that way i can speak with confidence and tell folks that in this size room it will knock your socks off

The widest part of the container. Charts don't help much...

thanks stella .. you r a supa star

It could be either your FO, as Chris suggested, or the wick type/size you are using. A 4 oz. container is plenty large enough to fill my living room/dining room combination (10 ft. ceilings). However, you did not mention the type wax you are using, the FO & amount used, temp at which the FO was added or the wick type/size, so none of us can do much but guess... The details make a difference.

Here ya on that Stella but when I moved my candle to a smaller room 10 x 10 i could smell it great. I went through this one on one of my other posts but I had the candle on the ledge in my kitchen that opens to my dining room that has stairs that go up so it's a huge open layout. Honestly , when I went to the top of the stairs I could smell it better than downstairs.

The wax that I am using is 4627 comfort blend in a 4oz jelly jar. I am pretty confident in the FO and got a really nice melt pool from my wick . I am going to try an 8oz wide mouth Ball Jar right now . I gotta say that I am a little confused on wicking and I know a lot of it is trial and error but are you wicking for the opening size or the widest part of the jar ? On Candle Science wick chart they give you the option of 3 - 3.5 Diamter and 3.5 to 4.0 diamter. I am not sure what those two numbers represent .

Thanks again for everyones help....

Ok , my 4oz jelly jar candle is not giving off a good throw where it was located(Big open area). I moved the candle to a smaller room and I could then smell it. My question is, would changine my jar to a wide mouth jar and increasing the melt pool help me out with my hot throw in a larger room? GGGGRRRRRRRR!!!!! and here I thought this was gonna be easy

I truly appreciate all the info you guys give , w/o you guys I would not even be as far along as I am in this addicting hobby and hopefully one day business which is my ultimate goal. Not a full time job just something to help maybe pay the bills

Thanks again guys and gals.....

Guess I should really pay attention and read the detail of the post I didn't even realize you were talking about a "laser" printer.

@CandyinVa...thanks I guess I never thought of that, that is a big difference.

@darrel...No I never tried to refill. I guess I thought you couldn't do that with laser cartridges, isn't it more of a powder?

@luinousglow...always glad to meet a fellow Floridian, what part of the state are you in? More great advice, half price works for me, next time and I hope it will be a long time before I need to get more ink I'm definitley going to search around. I needed the ink right away today, have a show on Sunday and needed labels, no time to ship.

have you tried refilling your cartridges yourself ? It can be a pain but it is a whole lot cheaper. Also I have noticed and read the the cheaper the printer the more expensive the cartridges are and visa versa . Guess that makes sense, you sell the printer cheap and make it up on the ink ....

Thanks, I will try the dishwashing detergent too.

In another thread somebody recommended using rubbing alcohol also , I do that and it works very well.

You mentioned that on a warmer it was better. That tells me the room is not the issue. So, did the warmer created a larger melt pool? Usually the larger the melt pool the better the throw.

you are right Eric, I did get a very good throw from the warmer . As far as the melt pool the melt pool is no different. Now ya got me thinkin

i think i may have solved it and am a little embarrassed . I have a fairly large home with a very wide open layout. I think it may have all been placement of the candle. I had the candle burning on a ledge that separates the living room from the kitchen with is also wide open to the dinning room which also has stairs in the middle that lead upstairs. I took my little 4 oz jelly jar candle and put it in my computer room which is about 10 x 12 and wow , it knocked my socks off. Perfect melt pool nice hot throw , just a little mushroom on the wick . But other than that I am somewhat happy and excited.

Does this make sense ???

Thanks

Darrell

I new somebody was gonna ask that but I thought I knew it was the wick size thats why I didn't put that info in. Using IGI 4627 with a 4 oz jelly jar and have tried various wicks from ECO 2 HTP 52 and I think I even tried the LX-16 that the Candle Science Chart recommended. Got the melt and burn down but I'll be damned if I can get a hot throw with a wick. Just made another batch of testers and added fragrance at 180 and poured at 165. I also used only 1 oz of fragrance. Umma get this down one day Thanks again ....

Ok , got some fragrances from the NEW supplier in GA and man I am stumped and really can't find the answer(unless I am just overlooking it). I get hardly any hot throw with the wick but when I put my candle on a warmer all I can say is WOW.

I know wick size can affect the hot throw so my question is do I have to wick up or wick down ?

Thanks a ton in advance