CaftCandles

I speak to Luis 3 or 4 times a week and I am not sure why he is not on eBay yet but I will ask him for you next week. I can tell you that he is now part of another company which will make it better for some people (more options) and more difficult for others (smaller operations) to purchase his oils. Will let you know when I know.

When you compare any measurements weither it be Temperature, Pressure or weight the scale with the most increments are more accurate. When it comes to weight, 1 ounce equals 28.35 grams therefore grams are more accurate. I think Stella said it best, when making large batches it's what works best for you but when make really small batches most scales do not have accurate enough resolution to use ounces. I use a scale for small batches that has a resolution of .001 grams which is equal to 3.527396194958041e-5 ounces, Do the math for that one, I think I will stck with grams as well. A note: Hospitals and Pharmaceutical companies use the metric system because it's more accurate.

This link sould answer all of your questions. http://www.candles.org/pdf/2007Okometricstudysummary.pdf

These are my FINAL POINTS or better yet "Clarifications"! Promise! Paraffin is a by-product! The fact that you think I have been fed a line or BS is very humorous to me. I am a regulatory consultant (Federal Agencys including EPA) for the very oil companies that you are talking down. The information I've shared about paraffin and about oil not running out in the next 100 years is based on FACTS not something I've read like you. I travel all over the world working in oil fields, refinerys, petro-chemical and power plants (both clean fuels and non) and I am telling you that YOU ARE WRONG! What you are reading is based on theroys and biased opinions, not actual facts. Government subsidy still cost money, you forget about cheap labor and servitude in other countries. You need to get out more offten. I personally have seen it with my own eyes not from some market report or from the BS that a manufacturer is selling you. BTW, I grew up around Farmers and still live next to them some of them being Soy Bean farmers. I see what they go through to get a healthy crop and how hard it is to get good prices. What you don't get is that U.S. farmers sell their beans first to the high demand markets at a high price and to subsidise their less improtant markets (Soy Wax) they will buy oils from South America where if is much cheaper to produce. I didn't say it is a pipe dream, Green Energy is real, it is good and is in production now. It's just not a viable replacement for fossil fuels right now and for a long time to come. My point was you cannot live without petro-chemicals (you know from oil), green energy has nothing to do with the products made from oil products including the very equipment green energy products are made from. Again, it's not running out anytime soon. I understand sustainablitiy better than you but I am not living under the illusion that we can make a clean switch and suddenly everthing will be better. It is people like me that will have to feed people like you if that were to happen. Live in fear? I don't live in fear! I live quite well with the money I earn from the petroleum and power industries and some of my achievements is to ensure dependant people like yourself have those wonderful products that you all so enjoy and the electricity to enjoy them with. It was never my intentions to convince you of anyting other than to do more research before you speak and don't talk bad about other peoples choices. What you do and why you do it is your choice and your buisness and mine is mine. I respect your choices and want respect for mine without having to read about "Green", "Sustainability", "Clean", "Renewable", "Farmers". "Deepwater Horizon" or "Bio-Anything" evertime this topic comes up. It's unsubstantiated "Green Washing" and it's getting old!

Sorry! I just remembered something to add. Have you ever factured in Natural Disasters, Drought, Disease or Infestation into your crop sustatinability? Every time one of those things occour the prices will skyrocket or supplies will be cut to wax production to maintain food supplies and more important uses. Don't forget about the hype put out there about how soy is cleaner and more sustainable than paraffin, that will surely run the prices up. Some soy users and "Green Washers" are cutting their own throat without realizing it. Ok, I'm done now I think, maybe, I hope!

Well, I disagree! Hexanes are only used to extract the oil from the beans. Other chemicals are used for sedimentary and bleaching agents as well as Hydrogen and Catalysts used to super-hydrogenate the oil (All about Hydrogenation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenation). If it is possible to make soywax without the petroleum industry it would cost so much that it would not be an affordable commodity for candle making therefore without petroleum products you would not have soywax! To my knowledge China does not export soybeans but they do export numerous soy products including soybean oil and soywax and yes to the U.S as well as other countries. My point with the link was simply that the U.S. as a country produces more soybeans than any other countries however there are more soy beans produced and exported from South American countries combined than the U.S. Argentina is the largest exporter of soybean oil in the world and anyone that takes the side of soy always bring up China for some reason. Now think about this, would it be cheaper and more logical to use your own soybean oil or import it from another country for less money. I really think you are not fully aware of how World Trade works and its benefits. Like oil the U.S. imports millions of barrels a year from other countries and that oil is refined and used whereas a large quantity of what we produce here is stored for later use if needed because it's cheaper to do it that way. Leaglly a soywax refiner in the U.S. can state that their wax is U.S. produced wax but the source of the oil is from other countries and technically they are not lying. The bottom line is for someone to stand on the side of soywax and say that they are supporting U.S. farmers is ludicrous just like someone that only fills their car up at U.S. owned gas stations because they want to support U.S. Companies. WILL NOT! Refineries charge very little for Slack Wax because to them it is waste. They charge enough to cover storage and transportation as well as a few other things like personel to document and track environmental regulations in the handling of it. If they had to dispose of it then it would affect the price of the products made from oil but not the other way around. Yes paraffin is used to coat food, more specifically produce but don't forget about body creams and lotions, lip balm, lip stick, sauves, numerous medicines, candy and chewing gum, cheese, crayons, etc. Paraffin is used in more products than most people can imagine, infact candle making weither it be with soy or paraffin represents a small percentage of the overall consumption of wax but they recieve most of the hype. If you think you'll still be alive when this happens then ok, NOT YET! One of the industries which I work is the Power Industry and altough there are many "GREEN" sources or energy they simply are not for the most part geographically or financally feasible to lower the dependancy of fossil fuels. Well if you didn't understand it the first time I will try it again just a little s l o w e r and LOUDER this time. What I said was "This is a mute point! Anything that burns has the potential to emitt dangerious gases into the atmosphere. Soy is not any more safer than paraffin in that aspect. Wick your candle correctly and you will have no emmissions." Do you honestly believe that whatever your soybean plants has taken in, in the last year has anything to do with the emmissions given off while burning? A fire is a fire and in its design it is to consume whatever it is burning. If a candle is wicked correctly there ARE NO EMMISSONS, if it is not, I don't care what kind of wax you are using it is emitting toxins! The fact that grownig plants being good for the environment has never been part of this depate however you really should do a lot more research on the subject, your facts are a little off. As far as your Paraffin / Lego analogy, growing plants and then returning plant matter back to the soil has nothing to do with burning a candle! I've said is several times and will say it again a soy candle gives off the same emmissions as a paraffin wax, bees wax, palm wax or any other type of wax candle IF IT IS NOT WICKED CORRECTLY. "Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non living things on earth." You have stated several times about petroleum running out in 50 to 100 years. That is another scare tactic by the "Green Washers", how do you think oil got in the ground? Aliens? Plant and animal matter decaying and breaking down over time is what it is, most people talk about it as if it were manufactured but in reality it is just as natural as anything else which includes paraffin wax. Crude oil is more volital and takes more time to be created but it is natural none the less and more is being made as we type. Crude oil is not going to run out in the next 50 years and that is based on actual facts not hype from "Tree Huggers" or "Green Washers". Naive is thinking that we can live without petrochemicals. Petroleum and Petrochemicals are an intergral part of everyting you use and consume daily in one way or another and we have become so dependant on it that if we lost it over night for example, I estimate that within the first year 90% of the Free World population would die. This is primarily due to ignorance, people just don't know how to survive without the luxuries of petroleum products that they have become so dependant on. There is no viable "sustainable power source" currently that can can be a major player world wide, there are a lot of great ideas but they just cannot meet the demand and will not saddly for many years to come. Thanks for proving mine! Things often are not as simple as people make them and require a long chain of events to get to the end product which counteracts their purpose to begain with. One observation I've made is if you visit a store or website of someone that makes beeswax candles they talk bad of Paraffin, Soy and Palm wax (everyone), If you do the same with someone that makes soy candles they talk bad about Paraffin and how expensive beeswax candles are and how they are clearing forest for Palm wax but if you visit some one that makes Paraffin candles the only information you find is instructions and safety tips (I don't mean everyone is doing it, I know there are many that take the high road). Makes you wonder, doesn't it? I have read more fictitious, misinformed and poorly researched claims by so many different candle makers that I am surprised anyone still buys candles anymore.

The FBI has a division that handles mail fraud and identity thefts and I'm sure they would be very interested in hearing about this guy. I am not open for business yet so I didn't get a letter, lucky for him! Someone that did get a letter needs to call your local FBI office and report him.

I support both, they are both very important for world economy, neither more important than the other and for different reasons. I think the link below might surprise a few of you about where soybeans are grown and I don't believe anyone besides the manufacturers has proof of where the wax is coming from, only claims. BTW, in this article they mention that to produce soybean oil they do what is called "solvent-extraction with hexanes". Google Hexane and you will see that without petroleum you would not have soywax. http://www.agricommodityprices.com/soybean.php The price of Oil has little effect if any on the price of paraffin. Paraffin or "Slack Wax" is a by-product of crude oil and is sold from Oil Refineries to Wax Refiners. If the Oil Refineries couldn't sell it then they would dispose of it therefore it has little to no effect on prices. It could be but it's not! Their wax refineries are not powered by sustainable energy but by fossil fuels. This is a mute point! Anything that burns has the potential to emitt dangerious gases into the atmosphere. Soy is not any more safer than paraffin in that aspect. Wick your candle correctly and you will have no emmissions. Don't support "Deepwater Horizon", Support deforrestation? 001, It's if not my intention to bash you. There are so many people out there that are badly misinformed about a lot of things. Mainstream media and certain Corp. types these days use words like "Sustainable, "Green", "Fossil Fuels", "Clean Fuels", "Bio-Whatever?" to support their causes and make the oposition look bad to get a piece of the market or to knock them off of their throwns. I am pro conservaton and pro environmental but I weigh the cost before I decide which side I want to stand on and currently we cannot elimminate the production of fossil fuels so why bash it. Use it, but use it responsibly, that's all anyone could ask until a viable replacement is found. There are pros and cons for almost everything we do these days which is why most people here will say that your choice of wax is a personal one. Everyone knows that Paraffin wax is derrived from the production of Crude Oil and for some reason there is very limited information on Soywax. IMO I wouldn't classify Soywax as a wax at all even though it is wax like, it's an extreamlly hydrogenated soybean oil and nothing more. Others will dissagree and thats Ok! The point is this debate has been going on since the invention of Soywax and I'm sure it will continue far into the future and both sides have merits and boths sides has issues. One interesting thing I have noticed is that I never see Paraffin users bashing Soy users but Soy users seem compeled to bash Paraffin users. Supporting their cause I suppose.

I agree and well said! I have always been a fast learner and have to ability to analyze and diagnose problems faster than most which is why I've been successful in my career. troubleshoot through the "Process of elimination" and as always Multi-Task, Multi-Task, Multi-Task! 3 weeks is impressive considering everything you've outlined, you have been very busy! On a legal note, scan and save multiple copies of your records just in case. What you explained about your record keeping sounds almost exactly like what I do, lots of info to go back to for a quick refernece to solve a new problem. GL

Honestly no one would be doing you any justice by give you their recipies. Part of being a quality chandler is going through the paces, failing more than succeding. It's what we learn by doing so that makes us good candle makers and gives you the experience to troubleshoot problems in the future. I know someone that purchased a candle company from others and they were taught how to make those specific candles and nothing about wax, wicking, testing or anything else. They later added some new fragrances and they burn horribly, at about a half a jar the glasss turns PITCH BLACK from all the smoking! If they would have went through trial and error like most people do, then they would know how to correct those problems. Take your time and do a lot of reasearch and most importantly ask questions when you get stumped. HTH

It's sad to admitt that aside from Lead Wicks there are no mandated requirements that I could find for the manufacturing of candles. Cananda, the UK and parts of South America have standards for Candles and the Great USA has let us down. It's up to us to do our best to make safe products for the people who buy them. I read some peoples post here that say "if it's not required, I wont do it" or "It's not even required", this saddens me as well. I personally would not want on my concious someones home burning and possible death due to burning one of my candles or because there were no saftey instructions on it in some way. Before you slap my hand for saying that, I know just because you put it on the label doesn't mean that they will read it but at least youv'e done your part to make them safe. The fact that the government has not mandated any safety requirements is fine but that is only half of the problem. You can still be sued for manufacturing unsafe or untested products and for lack of warnings or safety information on your products and held liable for death and or damages if something would happen. Proper record keeping will help prove what testing was performed to make your products safe. For me its a NO BRAINER, prevent accidents before they happen, its cheaper to pay a little extra for lables now than to pay for damages later. IMO!

Bitter Creek has "Quick Dry Candle Glaze ", I'm not sure if it's varnish or not. Check the liks below. HTH http://cart.candlesupply.com/product.php?productid=18569&cat=315&page=1 http://cart.candlesupply.com/product.php?productid=18570&cat=315&page=1

The 8 oz Status Jar has a 2.75" diameter and the 15.5 oz Jar has a 3" diameter. It looks like they got them confused. Their description points to the diameter or width being a typo, the other information matches that of a 12.5 oz Status Jar. I wish they carried the 8 oz and 21 oz Jars also.

As I've stated before, I have a good line of communication with Luis. He has informed me of some things that regretfully I cannot pass on but I can say (for conflicts with his NCA) that if you are patient and stick with him you wont regret it. Your options are about to get better, much better. I'm sorry to here that some of you are having trouble getting your latest orders on time but you should take into consideration that he is in the middle of a major transition and it has to be difficult (I'm sure) trying to keep up. What you do and how you do it is your buisness but a little understanding goes a long way.

Well said Carol! If you were not and don't plan to be a customer then stop stiring in the pot! I personally don't care what is going on in his world as long as I can get my oils.

I just received an email from Luis that stated: "My Plan is to keep a small select client base. We will continue to mass produce oils as needed and re open after our non compete is over. So we will be basically be underground." I think that explains enough for the weary to make a decision weither or not they want to continue to use his oils or not.

Is that scanner sold by Intuit?

Thanks Stella, I have a copy of QuickBooks that is 10 years old which is the last time I used it. I planned to use that software for my accounting but I didn't know that Intuit has improved their products to the point of managing small businesses. I have been searching the net for specific software manufacturers to meet my needs, I guess I was thinking to big. I will do a little reasearch tomorrow and give them a call to see if they have anything to match my needs. From the links you posted, I think they might do the trick. As far as "Cloud" based solutions I'll have to say NO. I would not trust putting all of my company information on someones server or on the internet. There are to many punks out there in their parents basement or garage cyber hacking today, I have enough problems keeping my own PC clean from those little B*****D's! Thanks Again! I'll let you know when I find something.

I am looking for a Bar Code Software that will pretty much track everything that I do from pruchasing to selling (shipping). I want if to track what and how much I purchase to what and how mush I sell. I would like to have 100% traceability, if I buy a case of wax for example it should track the wax through production up to the point of candles being sold. It should also manage my inventory and accounting (accounts payable / accounts recievable) and has to be linked to a website for cyber sales, etc. Ive looked around some and all I have found only covers 1 aspect like warehousing or point of sale. I need it to do everything. Any help would be great.

Hey Classic, No worries! That does not aggravate me at all, it just gave me a "Dr. Phil" moment when I was reading about me being refered to as a she. In this cyber world ones animinitie is high and you never are really sure who or what you are talking to. What would we all be without a sense of humor?

Wow! I left for one day and there has been a lot of talk about the sale of this company. I just want to clarify a few things based on my communications with Luis. I emailed him as soon as I heard that he sold his company to find out if I would still be able to purchase his oils either from him or the new owner, after all I just invested in his products to improve my own. He told me that I would be able to continue to purchase his oils but I would have to do it on eBay. He said that he "SHOULD" have all of his oils posted on eBay by "FRIDAY" and if I found one that wasn't to please let him know immediately. The "No Compete Agreement" that he sign stated that he could not maintain or sell from "HIS" website which is why he has now gone to eBay. There are still a few things that are unexplained but I am still in communication with him and awaiting his replies. I will have to admit that I was pretty peeved when I heard about the sell due to my new investment and the fact that he made really good oils but I in no way feel cheated. Yes, it would have been nice to know before I spent time and money but when in business you have to expect things like this happening and be prepared for it when it does. That is what separates the successful from the unsuccessful small business owner. Personally I don’t run my business in the same manner as him, if he did sign a NDA he obviously didn’t do any negotiating. The only way I would sign a NDA or a NCA would be under the consideration that they could not change anything that would negatively impact my current customers or employees for the same duration that I am bound to. My motivation is not only money but respect as well. If they violated that condition then I would be free to compete which is exactly what I would do just out of principle. Now, that being said! I’m not in this for weekend or local market sales, I’m in it so I can stop traveling the world working in countries that should be leveled and abandoned, so I have certain milestones that I have to hit to make this a viable business for me. Due to the poor handling of the sale of “Only Fragrance” I’ve been inspired to contact a major manufacturer that has been around for many years and is stable and offers a huge selection to choose from so I am currently restructuring my whole line or business plan so I do not have this problem in the future. There was a couple of Luis’s FO’s that stood out and now I have the ability to dupe them if I so choose. At least I will have some use for his oils that I have left. I guess I am lucky to be just starting in this industry or else it would have hurt more as I am sure it has hurt some of you. If I get any more information from Luis I will be sure to pass it on. BTW, I am a he not a she! It’s not that important, just a little weird reading about me in a “she” format. lol

Thanks kyme, I am in the process of negotiating with a "Real" manufacture right now, it may be something that I can get duped in the future. I will have to do some reasearch to see if it is worth it first.

No, not me! I have a customer that is looking for a fragrance called "Lucky in Love", I've never heard of it. Has anyone here ever heard of this one? Where do you get it? Is it good? What does it smell like?

I just sent Luis an email to find out who he sold it to and if they will make his oils available. This angers me! I am in the middle of testing 20 FO's from him. I do most of my own testing when it pertains to wicking, problems and safety but I also have other people do my R&D and Market Research testing for me in 5 different States and I just sent the samples out Wednesday. Today I got my first reports from my R&D people and they were positive enough for further development and now I sort of feel like I've just been violated! I have around $500 invested in the products and all of my money and time has probably been wasted. If Luis responds to my email, I will post up his response. I just rememberd, he gave me 15% off of my next purchase due to some shipping problems, guess I wont be using that!

That very mis-information is something that has angered me ever since I started making candles. I have worked in the petroleum industry for many years including refineries. The information pertaining to paraffin wax couldn't be more wrong. Paraffin wax or slack wax is a naturally occouring by-product in crude oil that is removed during the process to make many petroleum based products. I believe most people misunderstand the real meaning of the word "refine", it simply means "to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities: to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum", it does not mean to add chemicals. I've done a lot of researched and continue to do so on the different types of waxes, their pro's and con's looking for the perfect combination, like most people do I pressume. Some interesting information that I found along the way is that ALL waxes contain hydrocarbons (including Beeswax) and ALL wax can and do smoke and emitt toxins (minute amounts) if not wicked properly. This may surprise most of you, ALL wax is natural, Paraffin more so that Soy and Palm and ALL wax is BIODEGRADABLE. The same people that put down paraffin are the very people who use it (actually ingest it) everyday without knowing. I hate it when some people point fingers at others to make theirselves or their products look better. I always promote myself and my products as being what they are (The best in the World, lol) and I do not point out others faults.