Chele

Prairie - I decided to give them 24 hours more before I started playing with the recipe and they are MUCH harder today. I think I am going to give it a few more days because I am thinking now they will be fine. My base from EBC was a little soft so I think it just needed to air out. Your recipe makes an insanely good bar of soap!!! I did make a second round following the recipe exactly except I substituted Coconut Milk for the Goats Milk - fabulous!! Thank you again for sharing!! Have a great day! Chele

If they don't try the 2 htp 83's if its a light color or oil or try 2 51C if its a heavy oil or you are adding lots of color. Have a great day! Chele

Thanks Candy - thats what I assumed on the t's and T's - but figured that was the easiest place to start. I am making another round today and going to see if I can harden it . Have a great day! Chele

Thank you so much for sharing! I made up a batch last night. My daughter used it in the shower tonight and said it was the best soap I have ever made. Her skin is as soft as a baby's:) That being said I had a couple questions -24 hours after making - it is still a little soft and bendable - is that normal for this recipe or will it harden as it sits? The "T"'s were tablespoons, yes? And if it is normal for it to be a little bit soft what would you suggest I add to harden it up? Thanks again! Chele

If you are going straight soy try a 51C or a HTP 83 in a jelly jar. See if they work any better for you. Straight soy (and even most veggie wax blends) will need a little hotter wick than paraffin to get a good burn so always check to see if your wick suggestion chart is suggesting sizes for paraffin or soy.

8 oz jar - are you referring to a Jelly jar or the 8 oz square mason jar? Those 2 jars wick totally different.

To each their own 6006 is a Paraffin/Soy wax blend and if you add the soy I mentioned it becomes even more of a veggie blend. Test, test, test and see what works for you.

Add 10 to 15% soy wax to the 6006 and the sinking will stop. You are working that wax way too hard. Add color & FO and give it a good stir with a whisk. Stirring for 3 minutes has to be putting a ton of air in your wax. You only need to heat your jars if your shop is cold... like really cold. Also no need to cool this wax to 150... Pour it hot. Once it has set up poke the tops of the candles a couple times with a skewer to see if you have any hidden air pockets. Lightly heat gun to top to fill in the little holes you made.. and be done with it Also I prefer HTPs and cotton wicks for that wax.

I had a tough time with the KY Para-soy container wax so I bailed on it. I know Vickey had said it was similar to her Perfect Blend but it just didn't act the same for me so I gave up on Ky's blends completely. If I recall correctly, I had cracking issues and God forbid if it frosted because no amount of heat gunning on the planet would fix it. I have a table full of about 50-60 candles to testify to that fact. I just can't bring myself to throw them away and I'm not going to waste the time to melt them down... and I can only personally burn so many candles. Now in KY's defense I always pour super hot so maybe it's just one of those waxes you have to pour at an cooler exact temp. As of Jan of this year, my new philosophy on wax blends if is the supplier doesn't reveal who manufacturers the wax and what wax it is.. I don't buy it. I have been burned too many times during the busy season by suppliers who run out of wax and I am stuck running around like chicken with my head cut off testing and trying to fill orders at the same time. I think suppliers think they are being "slick" when they try to sell us wax blends and the idea that they are only being made for them. I have dealt with the actual wax manufacturers enough to know that's rarely the case. (I've been lucky enough thru the years to get sales reps that love to chat. LOL) That being said - I think suppliers should realize that most of us buy wax from them because of price + shipping + customer service. I think they should be honest about the wax & it's manufacturer and also where they get their wicks. I think they do NOT realize the bind they put us in when they run out of inventory and we have to play the figure out "where it came from" game. Just my 2 scents.. wow, I am chatty today LOL Chele

I too would love to see your webpage if you'd be kind enough to share your web address. Take care, Chele

I just started working with the 6006 and it is jam up. What size containers are you using? Maybe I can help you out. Take care, Chele

http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1534035&l=19600&id=731331579 We use the Turk n Surf to melt the wax. Then I have plastic pots one for each of our top 20 sellers. (you can see some of these on the shelf above the melters- I find this saves me tons of $$$ in paper towels) FO goes in dixie cups, single use then toss. I also have about a dozen metal pots that I use for the other 40 scents. There is another wall in the shop missing from the photo shoot. It has most of our "top secret" stuff, as well as shelves of pours pots & oils we get direct from the manufacturers - so I don't post those pics. I hoped I answered your question.. if not let me know and I will try again. Have a good one! Chele

Okay, I was afraid of that... I think it's my privacy settings on facebook. (I have a stalker/ old flame I try to keep out of my photos Here ya go http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1540225&l=d1d54&id=731331579 Room Spray: http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1534036&l=9f697&id=731331579 Soap making: http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1534038&l=ba662&id=731331579 Candle making: http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1534034&l=4033b&id=731331579 Melters & more candles http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1534035&l=19600&id=731331579 Another shot of candles & melts http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1534037&l=71b92&id=731331579 Waiting for stuff to cool so we can clear the tables & go again. We pour the big tables twice a day, 3 or 4 times during the busy season. http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1534039&l=53c89&id=731331579 Thats all folks Have a great day! Chele

I think you can see my pictures even if you aren't a member of facebook. Here's the link: (You should be able to click "next" and go take the mini tour ) http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1540223&l=aaa65&id=731331579 It needs a good cleaning.. but who really has time? I hope to bust out a wall in the next year or so... we need more space! HTH, Chele

Sent you a PM. HTH, Chele

Wow... not a thread I was happy to read. I've only had one issue with her and it was years ago... BUT she was very quick to make it right. That being said I think in her position I would have just mailed you a LB of fragrance or issued a credit - whichever you prefer. The money she has now lost in losing you as a customer I am sure fair out weighs what resending you 1LB of oil would have cost her. Not to mention now worries me that one of my "untaped" boxes will bust open and I will also be screwed... so now I guess with all the added costs of everything else.. I now get to waste money on added insurance - if I get it shipped PM. I have noticed a couple of my smaller suppliers are doing business a little different than they used to... and customer service is fading quickly. You'd think in this shaking economy you'd treat the customers still purchasing like they are golden.... my ex said it best... You run out of customer service... You will run out of customers... You run out of customers... You will be soon be out of business. Take care, Chele

Have you called HP? I called a year ago when I was having trouble and was wayyyyyyyyy out of my warranty - they were actually really helpful. Turns out the problem was on their end & couldn't be fixed so the printer had to go back. They issued a call tag and sent a replacement printer overnight via Fed ex. Some how they got mixed up in their records & they shipped me a second replacement printer a few weeks later - so I called and told them to come get it - I didn't order it and wasn't going to pay for it. The customer service rep called back the next day and said just keep it if I wanted it... this is the second 2600 I have had trouble with.. and I guess they keep records of that. Obviously I kept it and the really great part is both printers arrived with 4 new full cartridges. (Yay me!) I don't even use the second printer but it is oh so nice to have one for back up if I need it. Anyway... might be worth giving them a call... sometimes the problem turns out to be on their end. Take care, Chele

ICS Wildberry Crisp and NG's Blueberry Muffin. I have used both as a replacement when in a bind. Customers never noticed a difference. HTH Chele

I noticed even with 50 GG 50 Soy I had no adhesion to the glass.. I could shake it like a rattle. Very strange and it didn't matter if I washed or warmed the jars. I have gone back to mostly soy,splash of palm, and a soy/paraffin blend... seems to be doing so well so far. HTH, Chele

I would take my money and go buy a couple Turk N Surf Turkey fryers. I just bought my second one last night. It was $99 at Academy Sports. They heat up fast and the wax is read to go in about an hour. They hold over 40lbs of wax. Tonight in 2 1/2 hours I poured 350 Jelly Jars and a couple dozen 18oz Mercantile candles. I had to stop pouring because I ran out of space. For the money I think this is a much better way to go. I should have made this investment a year or so ago. I am cranking out candles like a wild woman! Do a search on this board .. they have been discussed often. HTH, Chele

I like this new direction much better!!! Much "classier" feel. It feels much more upscale. I have no problem with the rose graphic.. your web page colors go well with it on my screen. Font choice is nice as well... just be careful not to over do it on script fonts.. but so far it looks good. I think this domain is better than .org and easier to tell people of the new site once you make the change. Just tell them it's the same address - just take the hyphen out. I would recommend you carry both domains for a year once you get the new one. Just forward the old one to the new one.. with a note on the old address to update their bookmarks. Keep up the good work!!! HTH, Chele

I have read thru most of the posts and agree with many of them. I had a very successful retail store for over 4 years.. heck we even turned a profit our first year in the retail business. I sold my retail business this past summer and took home enough profit from the sale to build a new building, pay off a car and lots of bills. So we have done it.. and done it well... that being said.... • If I had to do it all over again I would not have gone into the retail business. The hours are long, you have NO family or personal life, and when the store is slow - you will have to bail it out. • I realized real quick that a successful store hurts fundraiser, internet, and wholesale business. You can only make so many candles. In hind sight I should have focused on internet, wholesale, and fundraisers... in reality that is where I make my money. • The cost a retail space in much higher than anything you have planned. My rent was only $700 (my location was golden in my town - and yes it's location, location, location) but just to turn on the lights with the cost of bags, credit card fees, insurance, displays, holiday decor, advertising, heating & cooling, window decorating.. etc.. it was easily over $2500 a month and that's not paying a soul to work there.. add in employee costs and trust me you won't be drawing a decent, steady salary for a while. • Good help, that you can afford, is HARD if not impossible to find!!! If I decided to take a day or two off from the shop.. I would return to mass confusion for days. They will not run your business like you do, they will not care about your business like you do, and you will find this a constant source of frustration. All this means.. you are handcuffed to your store... If it were me, I honestly would pass on opening a store right now I think the economy is gonna get worse before it gets better and retail spaces will sit empty and will get cheaper as time goes on. However if you are bound and determined to have a store... It can be done successfully if you have a good product (and yes we carried B&B and candles, accessories etc.) and for the record I am pretty hard headed and no one could have changed my mind 4 years ago Just sharing my hindsight information. Here's a link to pictures of our old store. (if you are curious) http://www.buggytowncandles.com/storepics.html It had it's fun moments and I learned a ton about business in general. I do miss chatting with my favorite customers. Good luck in whatever you decide, Chele

Let me start by saying purple is my favorite color... and lavender is my favorite shade... that being said... I would rethink my color scheme.. it looks like a baby shower site or a baby clothing site. If you are against changing the site color scheme (which absolutely is your right ) I would change the candles in the pictures to pastels and whites... the current ones almost clash with the feel of the page... it just doesn't flow. As far as the domain... I personally would have passed on the .org - people for the most part don't think .org unless it's a charity or government organization. However since you have already purchased it and if you have advertised it.. the deal is done. If that is the case I would recommend once you buy the .com that you keep the .org for a while and forward it to the .com. People tend to bookmark sites they like and if they go to yours one day and it is just gone.. they will assume you are gone too. If you haven't advertised the .org site - I would rethink my domain name and just purchase a new one so I would have the same domain right out of the gate. As far as hosting I use http://www.lilhouse.com I have for many many years and love the price and service. I hope I didn't come across as rude.. that wasn't my intention... I have a bit of knowledge in this field. I am actually a graphic artist, web page designer by trade... candles used to be just my hobby. HTH, Chele

My point was it's amazing to see someone getting $50 for 20 oz of wax.. nothing more. If you don't really care about ebay or this thread... why comment? I was watching a gal on ebay doing the same thing 9 years ago and it was actually my inspiration to make candles... Now we have over 50 wholesale accounts coast to coast, fundraisers booked into next spring and a successful internet business. I make a living off my business and employee several others. I'm sort of new to this board but far from new to this business. And no it's not my auction... not sure what your point was... Take care, Chele

Like I said I have been watching her for a few weeks... they usually go very high when she introduces a new scent. She only lists a couple at a time since I've been watching. It's insane.. I'd love to sell 2 candles for $100.. that would rock!!! Take care, Chele