Paul

Is there a good reason to use permatex in the finished candle? The stuff is kind of expensive and a little toxic, when compared to glue sticks. Methyl ethyl ketone, methyl ethyl ketoxime, formaldehyde and good number of other solvents meant for outdoor applications - albeit very small amounts in candle usage. I'm just wondering if using glue sticks causes problems down the road or during application that outway the cost and problems of permatex?

I use high melt glue sticks and a glue gun. It is much more forgiving in centering the wick. When I'm done with the candle, I'll pour out the old wax and put the container in the oven at 180 for about 10 min. Then take some pliers and pull the old wick tab out. Wipe the jar down and wash. Personally, I like to pour test candles without a wick. Then just take a drill bit or skewer and poke a hole in the center when ready to test. Just put the wick you want in the hole and if it doesnt' work, just pull out the old one. New hole, new wick ... presto. HTH

Thanks everybody - I just came here to ask the very same question

I really like those. I didn't even think of that, I just presumed FO would melt them. Another item to put in my cart for Monday Do they close up nicely ... no evaporation loss?

Of course! I had forgotten this from chem lab, so many decades ago ... I've even had problems when pouring ounces. The last grams want to run back up the bottle and onto my scale or hands. I hate the waste and the cleanup. The glass rod trick will solve this problem! Thank You!

The pipettes are a great item, at 8¢ each, I'm ordering some, thanks ksranch Janet, what do you use to clean out your glass dropper between FO. I have plastic ones. Yea, I would worry about cross contamination if I used them for dyes and then FO. I should get some glass ones. Great idea with the bamboo skewer, I can imagine that is a great technique when mixing small test batches of different FO's - but alas, no bamboo and no patience. Thanks

I want to make some small testers, 3oz, and I want to add about 7 grams of FO to my wax. I have some clean eye droppers, the same I use for dyes, can I use these for FO or will they dissolve or change the fragrance? Any tricks of the trade?

Ok, so I received my soy order Friday from Lonestar, cheap and fast, you have to love those guys.(Peak also Saturday morning I started testing PB and XceL combinations in clamshells, mixing up tiny 3oz combinations in 10% increments; no FO or Dye. The purpose on this test is to find a combination that will melt well and pop out of the warmer with ease when cool. Heated to 170° and poured into clamshells at 150°. The appearance on all of them except the 100% XceL are very nice – some strange waves and a little cracking on the 100% XceL (I think I poured to hot) After cooling for 6 hours, all of them, except for the 100% XceL, popped right out of the clamshell with ease. I started with one ½ oz. 50/50 cube in a 10w warmer. It melted nicely, but would not come out of the warmer at room temperature. I put the warmer in the freezer for 5 min. and the melt came out with a quite a bit of effort. The 60/40 cube (PB/XceL) also melted nicely and did come out of the warmer when put in the fridge with a very hard push. 70/30 (PB/XceL) melted very nicely in the 10w warmer. Came out a little easier, but not what I would like. 80/20 and 90/10 – I’m not seeing any difference in the way they pop out of the warmer in comparison to the 70/30. I’m going to warm and cool test a little more today, but I think I will start FO testing the 70/30 mix this week and see how I like that. And the testing continues...

Haven't tried it, but I was thinking Crème Brulee would go really well in a coffee scent.

A little OT concerning HT. As a builder and owner of homes with tall ceilings, you really need to keep your ceiling fans going at all times to keep your temps better equalized. In the winter time you want your fans going a different direction than in the summer. Not only will you smell your scents better, you'll be more comfortable and you're utility bills will decrease. http://www.ceilingfan.org/ceiling-fan-direction/ . HTH

Well, the more I read, the more I keep coming back to SusyK 's posts on her clamshell blend and I think I'm going to order some XceL to play around with. Between the PB and the high melt point of XceL, I don't think I'm going to find a better soy to weather the heat. I'll just have to see if the HT is there.

I thought I had the right recipe down to stop any wet spots. Then I got lazy and poured into jars that I had not washed and my wet spots came back, so I'm back to washing my jars. 8oz masons are the ones that did this to me.

I want to make tarts with a 100% soy blend that could be used in clamshells later on. I’m thinking of using a combination of Ecosoya PB and either XceL, 135, or 444. I would really be interested in opinions on these combinations. Are any of these combinations a complete mistake? I’m looking for a blend that will have a great HT and stand up to the heat when I ship to family and friends. It would also be really nice to have it pop out of the warmer easily when cool. Right now I’ve been using my leftover 4630 for personal tarts and it has awesome HT. It is just too soft for my tastes and I don’t think the little tarts would ship well. If I have to start experimenting with a new wax blend I want to try 100% soy.

Perfect! Thanks ksranch. I do save and reuse all of my glass, but I hate to throw out $1.50 lb wax. I don't even think I sound cheap when I say that

Well … I think I have become an official candle addict. I started making them for client gifts and now I seem to be pouring testers all of the time trying to find the right scents. Thanks to the board for all of the posts that have helped me get off to a great start. My question is – what do you do with those testers that you just cannot bear or will not work? Do you just throw the wax away or is there a better use? I just hate to send any more than I need to the landfill.

Well I'm just a newbie but I love 4630. I picked out HTP's first to go with this wax (based on reading this board) and have recently started using CD's to fit in where I can't seem to get the HTP's to go - but now I think I'm going to be testing CD's a lot more. A very nice wick with 4630. I have never used zincs.

16 volume oz (448 grams) of wax will equal 20 liquid oz. (still 448 grams) For example: I put 15 liquid oz. of wax in an apothacary jar and I want to make 4 jars - that equals 60 oz. (15x4=60) then divide by 20 oz (60 / 20) = 3 pounds of wax needed. Hope that helps.

Thanks Jeanie

Is it better to add FO while the wax is increasing in temperature or decreasing in temperature? I can never seem to keep my temperature constant working with a double boiler. If I keep my wax on the boiler while adding and mixing FO, my temperature will creep from 175 to 180. If I pull it off the boiler my temp will fall from 175 to 170. As an amateur trying to perfect my candles I’m just wondering if this affects HT. I’m working with paraffin – IGI 4630.

I'm pretty new at this, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I'm using 4630 with 3" containers and HTP 105 wicks. Light FO's (Honeysuckle, Lilac etc.) gives me a full MP on the third burn and cleans the sides of the glass nicely. With heavy FO (Vanillas, Cedar etc.) I'm just getting slightly larger than 2" MP and it tunnels, 1212 just gets a little larger MP but soots to much for me. I have some CD's on the way this week and I'm hoping that will test better.

Lily of the Valley Honeysuckle