GoodScents

I tried it! It's amazing. Although I can't stop giggling about the name, the lather makes it all worth it!

I've used this wax for almost 8 years now. I have seen variations in hardness and color over the years. The hardness variability comes with the amount of oil in the wax. You can add a little oil (coconut, mineral, soybean) to the wax to soften it up. I do find that I have to wick up when the wax is harder but I've gotten used to it. I think the big picture here is that we are working with raw materials, not finished goods. Do you think IGI can send the oil back and say, I'm sorry, this isn't working like the last barrel I got from you, I'm going to need another? They work with it and figure out how to make it into the product they need. It's our job as the crafter to appreciate the challenges they face with their raw materials and work with what we have and accept that there will be variations. A raw material is not going to be consistent, period. And I'm pretty sure when Yankee gets a tanker truck full of wax they don't just blindly start making product with it, they test it, they probably test the crap out of it so they know exactly how it's going to perform and what changes they need to make to end up with the finished product their customers expect. There's a big difference from "out of spec" and "feels/looks different". Out of spec means it's not even they product they intended to make. Looks different/feels different means just that, it may be further to one side of the specification which causes the difference in look and feel, but that doesn't mean it's out of spec. And I doubt any supplier in their right mind would try to sell a wax that is out of spec. If they are, shame on them if they're not disclosing it.

I actually have been doing a blend of 75% 464 and 25% 4630 for over 4 years now. Those cracks happen to me ALLL the time! It's always attributed to cold glassware and/or a cold house. I also have one fragrance blend that does it every single time. It got better when I mix some 4627 in with the other 2. I also found that pouring much hotter made a huge difference if, when, and how bad they would crack. I pour between 165-170 now and have just about eliminated the cracking except for in the 1 fragrance blend, if it wasn't my best seller I'd kick it to the curb already! I know it's frustrating when the wax seems different with every new batch you get, but it is a raw material that you have to work with and manipulate to make it do what you want. Do you think Yankee candle backs up their tanker cars of wax and just start pouring candles????? They have an entire department dedicated to testing new lots, figuring out fragrance loads and pour temp, etc. I realize that's not realistic for us smaller companies, especially if you're a one person operation, but you can make 1 candle initially to see if you need to make any changes. I do that and it has saved me a lot of time and heart ache over the years! Jeana I'm happy to chat more about your blend if you'd like, I played around with the ratios for awhile before I found the one that works best for me. That may be easier than jumping ship and starting all over from scratch!

I agree it's fine to vent if you're not happy about something, we've all done it, but I agree with TallTayl that people were quick to chastise the company because they didn't agree with the company's operations simply because it did not suit their needs, even after the rep clearly explained what happened and why they couldn't accommodate the request. There was a lot of good information shared here, who knows how many other people had a similar experience and just didn't say anything and they didn't understand the why. So don't be sorry for bringing up a topic, just remember, if you're passionate about it there's probably someone who's passionate about the opposite opinion! Their warehouse is open 8-5 (only useful information if you pick up I suppose) and their customer service is open 9 - 530.

It's not the loss of scent that will get you, it's the frosting! I made some for fall 2012 and many of them didn't sell, I tucked them away until fall 2013 selling season came around, they frosted so badly that the wax expanded and pushed up over the wick. They smelled fantastic though! I burned one that I could still see the wick and it was great hot.

If the Eco .75 is burning too hot you could try the CSN 5.

I prefer 4630 with either HTP or Eco wicks. The J series doesn't seem to be as consistent as the 4630 has been for me.

Looks like the wick is too big and the melt pool is getting too deep. The white strip is frosting, which is unpredictable at best. Try going down a wick size. It won't necessarily eliminate the white stripe, that's fairly common, but it will increase your burn time and help ensure the fragrance won't fade as you burn it.

Yes, heating the molds will help. I use a old pair of pantyhose to buff them and that helps also.

ummm, did you want to eat the cocoa butter when you opened the box? It smells Delicious! Love their products and pricing. Would highly recommend them!

I'm going to revive this thread once again! I made a lot of tweaks but stayed within the % suggested in the original. I did use a mix of ewax and btms 50. Some of the jars look like they are separating, but the very last one I poured is very thick and creamy like I was hoping for. The first one seems to be the like a mousse, which could be nice too. Any thoughts on why I got such inconsistent results from the same batch? Thank you for posting the recipe!

I just started looking into making liquid soaps and I picked up the book "making natural liquid soaps" by Catherine Failor, while I haven't ventured into making it yet, the book gives good step by step directions and a lot of background information. It is a little over whelming at first but I think it's a good reference book.

I poured a couple because I had left over wax from making votives. Since it was left over I have no idea what the pour temp was but they still crystallized beautifully and did not warp the mold. I poured the votives about 190 so I can imagine the wax was in the 170 range by the time I got to the clamshells. Not much help but you could probably do it with a lower pour temp.

rjdaines beat me to it, lol! The wick is not being held tight enough when you pour so as it cools it gets pulled around and sags. The plastic tools are great for centering the wick but crap for holding it tight. Try using a clothes pin to hold it tight or try the metal wick bars.

Ya'll rock! Thanks :-) I'm thinking tropical beach, the color came out more a peachy color than yellow so I wanted to keep pineapple out of the name.

I mixed Pineapple Coconut with Sex on the Beach and now have no idea what to call it, any thoughts?

We're always our own worst critic, I'm sure they are still very pretty! I'm still very new to soap making, when I made my first batch I had watched so many videos where the person had made swirls and it looked pretty easy so I figured i'd try it. Well, my soap was already at a medium trace and the FO accelerated but I had no idea what that looked like. I poured my base color in, then tried to put the second color in and it was so thick it just plopped on top. When my BF saw it he just said, 'what happened here? I guess you'll just have to cut this off so it will look right'. I thought it was kind of pretty.

I was thinking vanilla, but that sounds very 'vanilla' compared to everyone else's suggestions. I love Anise, leisa2003 did you get yours from, and is it an EO or FO, if you don't mind me asking?

I have only tried a few samples of the soy based oils. The patch honey was awesome in CBA (which I rarely use b/c of it's lack of HT), I used the peppermint in a test bar of soap and it is all I can smell in my house while it is curing! OOB the Hinoki was a nice 'hippy' scent, may try that in incense. I can't remember for the life of me what other's I got but I was impressed with the OOB but haven't put all of them in wax yet.

It's not a straight patchouli but northstar's soy based patchouli honey is really good. It's not the dirty, earthy type patch so I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for.

Thanks! I'm bummed I missed out on the Apple Pie, from what I've read in other thread that one must be awesome. I think I'm going to try a few of them for fun.

I'm going to try to revive this thread. I know they're going out of business but I was wondering what everyone thought of their fragrances and what your favorites/best sellers have been from them?

It looks a lot like Libbey's interlude jar, I bet a Large Flat top will work

6006 can be a beast to wick, but I still love it! It definitely will get air pockets in it so I would strongly recommend a lower pour temperature and consider the relief holes. The first time I poured in the 8oz Mason I got a huge hole in the top but I burned it anyway, it tunneled about half way down the jar in 30 min till it got through the air pocket then it filled the hole in and finally burned right after about 8 hours, wish I had taken a picture of it. I use an Eco 6 with 8-9% fragrance load in the 8oz Mason and have pretty good results, occasionally I'll get a nasty mushroom but 1 trim and it's done.

It's all the same color, I think the top looks lighter because it was still hot when I took the photo. Oddly enough it blew out on the other side from where this shroom was hanging. I'm thinking it was an impurity in the wax, I made this one for myself with questionable wax anyway. I've never seen anything like that before, even with the el' cheapo candles, lol. Just glad I caught it when I did. It's hard to tell but the flame was actually in what melt pool was left, my first though was, great I'm going to burn my house down (then I grabbed the camera, lol)