Chefmom

When I was testing 100% Pillar Soy, the best burns were from square braid wicks. At the time I did not have the CSN from candlescience but I think they may work well, they have worked very well in the soy/paraffin pillars that I have tested. I always primed my square braid wicks myself in high melt paraffin mixed with beeswax. If you don't want to do the paraffin, then just do beeswax. My wicks stood up better while burning when I primed them. In the end the Pillar Soy at 100% burned weird for me, and I had a lot of spilling issues. When I tried to make scented ones they lit up the area with their cold throw and then I could get zero hot throw. I think I tried about 10 of my best throwing fragrances with no results and I threw in the towel. I think the pillar soy is a great additive for tarts to firm them up when you want to stick with 100% soy. I think it can be used as an additive for other candles, I just didn't like the results with it at 100%. I tried with votives as well, but I lost more votives just removing them from the molds with its brittle nature. Square braid wicks are usually the go to wick for beeswax candles, you need a much larger wick than you think with beeswax and soy is similar in its need for a larger wick. If you check out peaks wicks you can buy small packages of the unprimed wick for very little money. Once I figured out the sizes I needed I then went to Candlewic and put down the bucks for the big spools of raw wick. My research on here over the past years has put CD and CDN wicks on the top for soy candles. People love them for the high fragrance soy containers. I have not used them for pillars, but the CDN are designed for soy and palm waxes so that would be worth trying. Also, the CSN wicks are working well for me in soy blended pillars and beeswax pillars. They were originally designed for palm, but candlescience doesn't carry palm anymore, yet they still carry their wicks. They sell them in small sample packs so it's nice to buy enough to have on hand. Good Luck! Wicks will be the death of us all......

1343 will glow just fine on its own. If you add mineral oil to 1343 it will mottle. Vybar is an additive that will inhibit mottling and up the fragrance holding capacity of the paraffin. I personally wouldn't add it if you are not making a fragrance candle. Stearic will make the translucent quality of the paraffin more opaque and more white vs the usual "raw" paraffin ghosty color. You will glow, but in a different way. 4625 is a great all purpose wax that glows and is easy to work with. If you want more white glow, then add stearic. My daughter loves my 3-inch diameter candles because they glow. She grabs my samples from my sample box for her bedroom because they have burned down and have a semi-shell and so they glow and flicker. I have made a LOT of different combo recipes of pillars before settling on my favorite recipe. I prefer pillars that are unscented and I do like the white and ivory ones because of the ambiance glow once they have burned for awhile. You will want to test them though, I found with some of the plain paraffin pillars I had weird bulges at the top instead of them burning the edges down cleanly. It did take awhile to come up with a happy medium. I love the square braid wicks. I prime them myself in high melt wax mixed with white beeswax.

The box arrived right before dinner. It is packed in the same manner as the others I have received from Peaks, lots of Peanuts! Very pleased.

Holy Cow Ladies and Gents. I looked at my email last night and had the shipping email confirmation from Peaks, but it wasn't logged into the UPS site yet, however this morning when I checked it's out for delivery!! The chart states at (8-07)4:51pm it was prepped for UPS, (8-07) 9:09pm it left Harrisburg and it's on the truck for delivery today!! So that makes two days from ordering to delivery. Can't complain one bit!

I do a whole lot of stirring to assure an even mix of wax, color and fragrance. I can't picture that in a jar. Also, there are times when I pour and I take too long to adjust and set the wick on center and I get a nice air pocket around the wick. I would think that you pour, then the mixture cools and then you get uneven cooling and possible air pockets, then you spend so much time and effort fixing the mistakes that you could have just made the mixture in a pour pot in the first place. I have seen videos that show putting empty jars into a crock pot of water. Then putting wax beads into the jar and slowly melting the wax, adding more until the jars are full, dropping in a few drops of fragrance or essential oil and setting a wick in the center and voila! A candle. I can't imagine that the fragrance mixes with the wax. It's not something I would do. I actually like the process of candle making, it's very Zen to me.......but then again, I'm a Process Artist. I thrive in the process of creation!!

Just made my first order with Peaks with the new lower shipping from the Pa site. My cart first said roughly $15 for shipping (before discount) about 15 pounds. One slab of wax, some wicks and a bunch of 4 and 8 ounce FOs. Once I went through the order it lowered the shipping to $11.(I guess you have to go through the cart to get the amount from the other shipping site.) With the discount it's just $8.25. Can't beat that with a stick! I used to have to wait exactly 7 days for my Peaks orders. I'm in central Western PA, lets see how quick it gets here. Candlescience has always been the quickest with shipping. I'll have to get the tax info and set up an account so I don't have to pay the sales tax, other than that I'm pleased!

You don't have to be a genius, but being observant and a fastidious note taker comes in handy!! Learning from our prior mistakes is helpful. Take notes from the beginning, you will NOT remember what you think you will remember! Welcome Sally!! :highfive:

I think this is key. Looking at it from a customers side. If I am in a shop that is NOT the official Foundation shop and I am purchasing something with the "official" mark of the Foundation I am going to "assume" that purchasing that product somehow supports the Foundation. Are there signs or anything in the other shop that states the purchase of Foundation logo items supports the Foundation? I'm only using Colonial Williamsburg as an example, I used to work there. There is a clear distinction between the Historical District and the rest of the tourist spots in Williamsburg. If you want to support the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, then you MUST stay within the boundaries of the Historical District. Shop at the shops and stay at the Lodge or the Inn and patronize the taverns and pubs within the district. Everything you buy within their shops is supporting the Foundation, as soon as you purchase items, even items that look similar, those items are for profit and have nothing to do with the actual Foundation. I think the issue your Foundation is having needs to be taken up with the owners of the shops that carry items of the Foundation. The shop owner, who is profiting from these sales it seems, needs to be clear that the profits, or a percentage of the profits is supporting the Foundation or NOT, which ever is true. I'm not sure how large this Foundation is, but I'm really surprised they don't have a clear policy in their Non-Profit set up, things like this need to be clearly addressed for their non-profit licenses and taxes etc. (that's my inner accountant coming out.)

Hmm, this is a toughie. When you sell the soap to the other shop, you are getting your basic wholesale amount. But, when she turns and sells them under the Foundation logo, does that money go to the foundation, or to her as a sale? I think they are having an issue with the fact the shop is selling "their" stuff and they may not be seeing any money from those sales. I still can't see this being YOUR problem, their issue would be with the other shop owner. Is the Foundation a Non-Profit? So all of their sales (in their shop) go to the foundation, and not as a profit making shop venture. You are a supplier, nothing else. But I would drop the logo to the other shop and ONLY sell regular soaps, none from the Foundation logo. You are not responsible for giving them money from the sales of soap, the shop owner who has a "relationship" with them should be dealing with this.

The brightest red I have ever achieved with 6006 is with the Redi Glo chips, Cinnamon Red. I checked my color box and I used 1 chip for every 250 grams of 6006 wax and came out with a bright red, like the candy apple kind of red. I have tried some reds with the liquid dye and needed so much dye that I clogged every single wick. I have mixed some really nice rich reds, and some burnt reds etc, but they all have clogged up the wick. It won't be a deep, bloody red, but you can do a true red with the redi glo chips. Both Peaks and Candlescience carry that color, but when you see it on their websites, it looks more like a deeper red than the bright red that I get in 6006. Candlescience states that they use the chips in 4794 paraffin votive blend for the photos. So soy definitely changes the color. Good Luck, red is a tough one in parasoy.

Many, many years ago. Long before I even thought about making my own scented candles, I made an online order for floating candles from zestcandle.com. I was searching through their limited scented pillar candles when I happened upon a Sandalwood scented pillar for $4. Why not? At the time I had never smelled sandalwood. I had been reading about it as an essential oil in my soap books, but when I saw the price of a half ounce of EO I realized that I may NEVER smell sandalwood. So a $4 pillar and a chance to smell sandalwood, why not? I fell in love with this candle, it was deep, exotic, earthy, and very sexy. It became my favorite candle to burn in the bedroom if you know what I mean. So, the candle was burned half way, and it was a favorite of my husband as well and I went back to zest candle to order more. They didn't carry them anymore. Nothing listed as "sandalwood". AAAAArrrrrrgggghhhhhhh! I began searching for sandalwood candles, and I started haunting scented candles in every store I could find them in. Nothing listed as "sandalwood" smelled even remotely like that candle. Come ON, it was a cheap $4 candle, but I couldn't find anything like it. Well, I found this forum searching for candles online, and I had that little spark of........if I can't buy it, maybe I can make it myself.......and the journey began. So, years later, about 15-20 different sandalwood scents later, nothing, nadda, nope. I have never smelled anything that comes close. I stopped burning the pillar and have about 2 inches of it left. It is still deeply fragrant, and I keep it wrapped in paper to preserve the scent. I'm hoping to take it to a fragrance specialist and maybe having it duped. I have come close just a couple of weeks ago when I received an order of fragrances from Rustic Escentuals. Their Hawaiian Sandalwood is close, like it may be a part of this scent, but it is only a small part of this complex fragrance. So, a $4 cheapo pillar bought on a whim changes my entire life....................

And so it continues. Thanks for the link and video! I'd love to see the info about 100% beeswax candles as well. I have read a LOT lately that burning beeswax candles will actually pull the toxins from the air and it will actually change the ions in the air to "purify". All from burning a candle. There is no perfect answer, but it's such a shame that people find the need to slam other things to try to make their products look superior. It's been going on since the beginning of time I guess.

Thank you! Thank you!! *super banana*

My order of FO samples just arrived from Rustic Esentuals. Wow. I have only gotten through about 12 of them and my head is spinning, they are intense. On average, for those of you who use these oils in both candles and bath/body, do you use less than the "average" 1 ounce per pound? I have read that the Candle Cocoon oils are used at lower percentages and I was wondering if the same was true for RE? They are intense!! But so far I'm in love with White Sage out of the bottle.

It could also be a table place marker from a restaurant supply type store. Looking closely you may be able to make your own if you have a needlenose plier and pick up some heavy black wire from the jewelry section at Michael's. you could keep the base simple depending on if it will be seen or not.

I would put my Baker's Guess at three pounds of wax, maybe upwards of 4 pounds. Fill your pour pot with water, weigh it. Then pour the water into the mold to the depth you want the wax and compare how much water is left. Wax and water don't weigh the same, but you could guess that about 80% of the water weight would be wax weight. It would give you a guestimate.

Yes, I agree, classy. I love that soft line cat logo. It's lovely!!!

When I am working with small test samples I immediately switch to grams. 100 grams is roughly 3 1/2 ounces. But it's real easy to use percentages. 100grams to 10 grams is 10% 100grams to 6 grams is 6% If your scale doesn't like weights under 5 grams (my main scale is great for over 10 grams, but iffy in the 1-3 grams amount) then pick up a gram scale that weighs in micro grams and will be accurate for the tiny amounts. I weigh 100 grams of liquid wax, then have a tiny cup that I weigh 7 grams of fragrance in (I use 7 grams when I want 6, I figure one gram sticks to the container) and make the mix just like a big batch. It will fill one clamshell with a little leftover, I just pour that into a small silicone mold and use it as my first test piece, or I fill a half a jelly jar for a first candle test. As for the sniff test. Everything gets put away until my house doesn't smell like what I was pouring, at least a day. Then after a few days I start testing. I usually can pick up the scent, but if I can't, the true test is to leave the house for at least 15 or 20 minutes and then come back. That's when I can really pick up the scent and if/where it's throwing. If I can walk in my back door and smell it as soon as I walk in, that means it is throwing thru the whole house. 20 minutes is a dog walk or a stroll through the garden, so Its something I do anyway. You have to remember that scent travels on air flow. If you house doesn't have air flow, the scent can be trapped in one small area. It doesn't mean that the scent isn't good, it's just trapped. I have three places I test, but my main candle test area in my living room will first throw on the left side of the room before coming around to scent the right side. Some days, when the bathroom window is open the scent can actually travel through the left side of the room, into the hall and into the bathroom and NEVER scent the right side of the room. It's not the scent, it's the flow. That may be what Belinda (above) is talking about. At work, the building would have been professionally balanced for optimum air flow according to the buildings architect and engineer. At home these things are not done, so you will have pockets of stagnant air. ............guess who's husband used to be a professional Air Test and Adjust Balancer? He's now the guy that makes those huge air systems work and has balanced our house. So, if you have trouble getting what everyone else is saying is a strong scent, before giving up, try moving the candle/warmer around to different places in your house. A good test is to burn a taper and if the flame is not moving, there is no draft. If the flame is dancing around, blow out the candle and watch how the smoke is traveling, that is your direction of air flow. You can have professional leak test people come in your house to see where you are losing warm air, to make a more "tight" environment, and they seal the whole house up and walk around with smudge sticks to see where the smoke goes. .....ahhhh, science........

I will chime in and agree that high cost/high quality essential oils are best used in soap and B&B. You can source quality fragrance oils that are formulated with essential oils by reading the descriptions closely. I was just reading through the oils on the Candle Cocoon website and she lists many that are made with essential oils. It would be more reading and research, but you could easily fill a candle line with source fragrances that are created with essential oils and still be able to market a more natural, aromatherapy product. It is impossible to state that a candle is fully natural, just based on the chemical cocktail that is used to make the wicking in the first place, then the processes to make the wax, and then the chemical cocktail of the fragrances, but you could build a natural scent line that used more natural scents vs the synthetic based scents. I believe I read on here, that the best and most economical way to put the essential oils into the air is with the reed diffusion system. Back in the day, before candle making I would put a little tab of oil into a tealight burner with a few drops of essential oils that I had on hand from soap making and fill my house with scent. It died down quickly, but it was a nice strong scent. I'm a frugal person, and after soap making I saw about four or five drops of essential oil left in the bottom of the empty bottles and I put in a little olive oil, swirled around and then poured that into the tealight burner. Voila, free scent! Now I have so many candles to test, that I pour that mix back into my soap. Good Luck!

I casually use HTP on occasion, but they have never been my go-to wick. With some scents and my set up I will get a better overall throw with an HTP, so I may use it for that one scent. My use of 4627 is limited, but by your photos you are underwicked. When you use dark colors you may have to try a hotter burning wick or a higher number of the wicks you are using. I have read that the viscosity of 4627 usually needs to have a larger wick in the first place, that's before using a heavy scent or a dark color. Red is my touchy-ist color, if I go just a tad too heavy then my wick suffers. What I hate the most is when I have a sad little flame like in the photos but an awesome scent throw. I want to pull my hair out because you don't want to mess with an awesome scent through, of course, but you do want a good flame and a good consumption. I love the self trimming aspect of HTP and I really wanted it to work, but for me LX is my first choice and CD is a back up, but I'm testing different waxes with CD to get a better feel of them. I like to have them all on hand because sometimes one will work better than another in certain scents. As for melt pool, the jury is out. I like to see the first burn reach almost to the edge, about 3/4 of the diameter. I usually burn 4 or 5 times (in three hour slots for a jelly jar) before I make my assessment. I can usually tell after the first burn what is going on though. The theory is, if it is a big wick and reaches the full melt pool on the very first burn, once it burns down into the jar and the sides of the jar trap more heat, then the wick may be too big and can make the jar lightning hot and even crack the glass. For me, I test my very first test with a half full jar. I make a 100 gram sample and pour one jar half full and see what the wick will do in the bottom before repeating the test with a full jar. a.) I have a limited budget and this allows me to immediately cancel out scents that don't work with very little invested and b.) I don't waste the time to burn a jar halfway before realizing it won't work in the bottom half and then having to start over. In the end the system has to work from top to bottom. I just use this method to save time and resources in the process. Best of Luck to you, wicking will be the hardest part of this journey, well, choosing scents is pretty tough too. :tiptoe:

Candlewic is a great supplier and I have been happy with everything I have purchased there. In the beginning the website really threw me off, so I didn't order for awhile. Their wick page makes me nuts to try to read. I would bite the bullet and order two CD wick samplers from Lonestar. Not a lot of suppliers sell the sample packs that have a few of each wick size so you have each one on hand to try. I LOVE having a variety on hand. For 20 bucks plus shipping you can have 10 of each to play with. Once you know the size you need, then you can turn to Candlewic and buy the larger quantity of wicks. AND, once you have an exact size and length of wick you need you can order their custom wicks, which are a great thing with only a 500 wick minimum. Some big time suppliers have 5 and 10 thousand minimum orders. In your place I would start wicking the jelly jar to learn the wick and wax and how they work. It's tough to wick a larger than 3 inch diameter jar and double wicking is usually the answer, so start with the smaller jar and get that to go before you attempt the larger and more complicated jar. Good Luck!

Thanks!!! I lucked out......I was sitting there, for most of the day with a piece of paper making a list. When I was done I counted them and I had 42. I went over and over trying to decide which two to knock off the list and was having a heck of a time!! I knew if I just spent more time I could come up with 60, but I did want the lip balm base and flavor. Then, when I order I saw that you get two free samples. PERFECT!! I was able to get the whole list after all. Well, Backwoods is the next one on my list to try their fragrances. I have a short list, but they are only about 7 miles away from my house..........

Back in the days when I was a candle purchaser instead of a candle maker, I would ONLY buy votives. I too am frugal, but I didn't like sinking $25++ into just ONE scent. With votives I could have the scent for a couple of days, then switch and I wasn't spending a ton of money. I already had some really cute votive cups and so it was my way of saving money. I also don't like to commit to the scent if I don't know that I will even like it when it's burning, and a votive was perfect because if I didn't like it, I wasn't out a lot of money. I want to have an affair with the scent, not marry it. I did finally break down and bought a homemade candle in a scent that I really liked at the time. It was horrid. Black soot all through the neck of the jar, a tall torch of a flame and I ended up with soot on my wall. I had paid $30 for this really pretty autumn scented with cute pumpkin embeds in a giant jar (gel candle) from someone on ebay with GREAT feedback and then paid shipping and was really ticked with the way the candle burned. I went back to only votives for quite some time. So the moral of the story is that if you want to entice more frugal people, and you don't hate making votives then yes, make them. If you only want the high end market, don't. And the advice about where you place them in your sales display is really great advice!! It reminds us all that every single item in stores is studied and analyzed for optimum movement! :highfive:

I simply put any leftover wax into my pouring pot and heat it over hot water instead of boiling until it reaches my optimum pour temp and then pour into the new container. I keep tea lights handy when pouring for that exact reason, I always have a tiny kiss left and didn't want to waste it. Tea lights are perfect! Anything that doesn't fit in the tea light I just pour into a little silicone mold and pop it into my wax warmer for myself. Learn from my laziness. I thought that I would be able to tell what scent the tea lights were just by looking at the color and sniffing. Keep some little circle dot stickers handy and MARK them as soon as they are made so you don't have a bunch of tea lights that you aren't really sure what scent they are. :rolleyes2

I have had a small list from them for awhile, a good sale usually jumpstarts me. So, I bit the bullet and joined in, I ordered 42 (are the two samples also 1 ounce or a smaller "sniffie" size?). I did order a sample of lip balm base to compare to basic homemade. ........enablers.............