New to candle making, a few questions which I hope arent too painful to read lol :)

[Lubella]

Hi everyone! I have been browsing these forums for a while now, and I realize many questions get asked over and over and over again, so I do apologize if this is a pain to read lol.

I LOVE candles! I love incense, I love making my own bath and body products! I recently spent over 100 dollars on yankee candles, only to have one slightly scent the room. This has led me to researching how to make my own candles, because that is just ridiculous to me.

I am grasping everything, but there is so many opinions on what works, what doesn't, so I know trial and error will be huge!

So I wanted to share what I have purchased, and ask if you guys feel that I am on the right path?

I already have a scale to measure everything out.

I have ordered a candle science pitcher, various fragrances, and this wax http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81zdFjePggL._SL1500_.jpg

And these wicks

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092RN1C6/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Will those wicks work in 8 oz mason jars, and 4 oz mason jars? I got these ones

http://www.myworldhut.com/product_images/h/ball_8oz_regularmouth_60000__16083.jpg

and

http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pACE3-957278enh-z7.jpg

Also from what I have been reading, I will be melting the wax to 185 degrees, let it cool to 180 and stir in 2 oz fragrance oil (for 1 pound wax) for about 2 minutes, and then pour at 170 degrees.

How does that sound?

Thank you SO much for taking the time to read this, I am really excited to start doing this!

[Lubella]

I just read the bag of wax, would it be better to mix in the FO at 185 and pour at the 135 degrees like it says? Thanks!

[Dolphin146]

2 ozs of FO per pound is to much I would start with 1 oz per pound

[EricofAZ]

Hi, welcome to chat. Your wicks are ECO 12's. While the ECO series may do very well with soy, I rather wonder that the size is a bit to large for the container you bought.

No worries, getting smaller wicks is cheap. You might want to go directly to the CandleScience website (or Peaks which hosts this forum) for wicks.

I agree that starting with 1 oz per pound of FO is good. Two per pound might be a bit high. I sometimes go 1.5 per pound. For me, sometimes 1 oz per pound is not enough.

Since you are using soy, the folks in the soy forum can help you more. I found soy to be a bit difficult to work with to get a good hot throw, but others here can really make it right.

Go ahead and build your candle. Try pouring at 135. Don't worry about making it pretty. Just let it cool. Maybe a second pour to kinda even up the top. Cool. Let it sit for at least 24 hours. Then test it. During the test, 4 hour burns are appropriate. Sometimes I do a "power burn" for double that when I think the 4 hour burn looks good. You're looking for 1/4 inch melt pool and glass that is not too hot. I think 175 degrees might be the max for glass temperature. I never let my candles get that hot. 150 is fine for me.

If your melt pool is deeper than 1/2 inch, then you're way too hot.

Now, two things you might want. Get something to glue the metal wick safety tab to the glass. Oh, they make all kinds of stuff but if you have a dollar store and buy a glue gun with glue sticks, that works the best. And something to center the top of the wick. Maybe a couple of wood sticks in an x pattern glued together with your favorite new glue gun and some kid's putty to hold the wick to the stick.

If all this doesn't work out, consider a candle kit from one of the common suppliers here. They usually do a good job at matching the wax, wick, jar, and FO and give you a good formula to start off with.

[justajesuschick]

Wow! Did you ever get some great advice from Eric!

I do not make candle nor use soy so I am of no help in those areas.

It is likely that you have already checked out tutorials but in case not, here are a few places that might be worth your time:

http://www.peakcandle.com/ (Check out the section in the left nav midway down the page for tips and basics)

http://www.candlescience.com/learning/

http://library.rusticescentuals.com/

Best of luck to you as you learn your way!

[chuck_35550]

I started with a votive candle kit from Cajun Candles. There were 12 metal molds with wick pins, wicks, fragrance of my choice, color and J-50 wax. The kit contained enough to make several dozen votives and was reasonably priced and gave me a better understanding of the art. Buying from Amazon doesn't give you a representative to ask questions, make complaints or establish an account for future purchases. Jelly jars are a great starting point, in that they are straight up and down containers and are fairly easy to wick. Multiply .06 times 7 and you get .42% fragrance oil for one jelly jar (8 oz jars hold about 7 ounces) or you could try .50 or 1/2 ounce per 8 ounces of wax or 1 oz of fragrance per 16 oz of wax. The reason I gave you the two formulas is for the purpose of testing. Measure out 7 oz of wax and 1/2 oz of fragrance oil, don't worry about sticking the wick just yet. Melt your wax and watch the temperature with your thermometer and add your color and stir for 2 minutes, add your fragrance and stir for two minutes and pour into the jelly jar. After the wax hardens and cures for several days, take a meat thermometer and make a hole in the middle of the candle and insert a wick and burn for a couple of hours. Write down every step for reference. If the wick is too big you will have a super hot jelly jar with a too deep melt pool. Write down the strength of each fragrance, the wax appearance, ect for your next test. Pull the next wick out of your sample bag of wicks and start again until you find the best combination for that fragrance. Now test the next fragrance and follow the same steps. Don't give these test candles to friends or family EVER! After you thoroughly test and know your candles are safe; find some testers to give you feedback about the fragrances. You should be somewhere close to that point this time next year. Find the nearest distributor (don't go to Michael's or Hobby Lobby) and go to their showroom and ask questions and forget Amazon. HTH

Steve

[Lubella]

Yikes, I tried to respond and my message disappears lol, so I apologize if this posts twice.

Thank you SO much for the responses!!!!! I went ahead and ordered the medium sized wicks too just to be safe.

Last night I made my first soy candle, I had wicks that are too small, so I double wicked the jar. I just wanted to test one before my good oils and such come, to see how the process goes that I tried. It looks and smells fantastic cold. I haven't lit it yet, so not sure about hot throw.

Is paraffin easier to get a good scent throw? Would it be worth looking into paraffin jar candles too?

Thanks!

[Lubella]

I started with a votive candle kit from Cajun Candles. There were 12 metal molds with wick pins, wicks, fragrance of my choice, color and J-50 wax. The kit contained enough to make several dozen votives and was reasonably priced and gave me a better understanding of the art. Buying from Amazon doesn't give you a representative to ask questions, make complaints or establish an account for future purchases. Jelly jars are a great starting point, in that they are straight up and down containers and are fairly easy to wick. Multiply .06 times 7 and you get .42% fragrance oil for one jelly jar (8 oz jars hold about 7 ounces) or you could try .50 or 1/2 ounce per 8 ounces of wax or 1 oz of fragrance per 16 oz of wax. The reason I gave you the two formulas is for the purpose of testing. Measure out 7 oz of wax and 1/2 oz of fragrance oil, don't worry about sticking the wick just yet. Melt your wax and watch the temperature with your thermometer and add your color and stir for 2 minutes, add your fragrance and stir for two minutes and pour into the jelly jar. After the wax hardens and cures for several days, take a meat thermometer and make a hole in the middle of the candle and insert a wick and burn for a couple of hours. Write down every step for reference. If the wick is too big you will have a super hot jelly jar with a too deep melt pool. Write down the strength of each fragrance, the wax appearance, ect for your next test. Pull the next wick out of your sample bag of wicks and start again until you find the best combination for that fragrance. Now test the next fragrance and follow the same steps. Don't give these test candles to friends or family EVER! After you thoroughly test and know your candles are safe; find some testers to give you feedback about the fragrances. You should be somewhere close to that point this time next year. Find the nearest distributor (don't go to Michael's or Hobby Lobby) and go to their showroom and ask questions and forget Amazon. HTH

Steve

Thank you Steve! I will definitely do the tests that you mentioned. How would I go about finding a near distributor?

[ksranch]

.

Is paraffin easier to get a good scent throw? Would it be worth looking into paraffin jar candles too?

Thanks!

the easy answer is yes. the real answer though is success depends more on you finding a system that works for you. I could tell you mine from A to Z and you could get different results. The advise you're getting is great stuff...So, let the testing begin, take good notes on everything, and perfect your system. it's worth it in the end, so enjoy!!

Edited October 9, 2013 by ksranch

[Theresse]

If you don't mind paraffin, you might eventually give into the metal molds for pillar candles. That's what I started with (which shocks everyone, since apparently beginners prefer to do containers) and I had a BLAST doing it and seeing this perfectly-shaped, smooth, pro-looking candle pop out of the mold the next day.

If you stick with container candles (and I do believe you've been bitten by the bug like the rest of us and will stick to candles one way or another!), I recommend buying a heat gun. You know, I bought mine for candle-making 9 years ago and only opened it for the first time a couple of weeks ago when I made my first container candles ever...and I couldn't BELIEVE how easy and helpful it was to have! Also they have so many uses that it can't possibly be a bad investment. So when my candles got bubbles and had little blemishes, I just re-melted the tops with the heat gun until I got everything just right.

Peak probably sells heat guns, and here's another one (you want variable heat and a couple of settings) that has decent reviews on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-H0800-Heat-Gun-1200-watt/dp/B0000DD1KP/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1382333646&sr=8-2&keywords=heat+gun+variable

This talks about the many uses of heat guns:

http://blog.all-spec.com/2009/03/20-heatgun-uses-who-knew/

[EricofAZ]

yeah, heat guns.. glue guns... presto pots... different waxes... different jars... lots of liquid dyes or solid color thingies... additives... more wicks ... molds... more glass and new wicks to match the glass...

Welcome to the $20K hobby. It is fun though.