Jump to content

How do you store your FO's


Recommended Posts

Hi,

 

I'm living in California and it's getting really hot over here, especially in the summer.

 

My garage goes up to 90 during the afternoon and early evenings. Do you guys use a fridge to store your most important fragrance oils? Recommended temperature is 60 to 78 degrees for a years shelf life.

 

Also, how are you categorising your fragrance oil samples. Simply alphabetic or?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

most of mine are in the basement where it keeps cooler than the rest of the house. As far as categorizing, heck if I know. I just toss em on the shelf and sift through them as I go! Lol, not the smartest thing but Im not mass producing at this point. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I keep mine in an antique shelving unit that has a door so they are in the dark.

For me I have all the mac apple together, all the vanillas and so on.  And then I have a misc couple shelves where I just throw them in and have to sift for what I have and I always find surprizes of oils that I had forgotten about.  And all my little 1 ouncers...omg....you don't want to know how many I have!  And I continue and continue ordering all these samples that I must have and a lot of times I already have them.....just horrible!

 

Trappeur

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wax room is the most northern part of the house. The room is lined with commercial chrome shelves. I also like my oils not exposed to the light so have tons of big opaque Rubbermaid containers for them. Active/open bottles (1-2 pound bottles) are in bins on one of the shelves and my back stock bins are on another. I store by supplier. I am some sort of organization and labeling freak so it is all organized and labeled. 

I go through oil quickly so am not certain why I am so concerned about oils going bad!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I keep mine in the cool dark basement so they keep longer.  I don't categorize them either.  Just keep looking until I find what I am looking for!  I am not organized enough to go that extreme!  :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have storage racks I keep my FOs and EOs on. I save use the empty jar boxes my candle jars come in. I keep the dividers in the box and store the FOs/Eos in the dividers in the box and put the boxes on my storage shelves in my house. My house has central air so they are in a controlled climate and out of direct sunlight.

 

I only seperate scents by type. So all citrus go together, florals, fruits, bakery, clean, etc. are stored in categories together so I can find them easier. I found this works best for me much better than storing by supplier.

 

But I do keep a spreadsheat on what scents/supplies I buy from each supplier. Makes ordering from that supplier a breeze and keeps me from forgetting to order something I may have forgotten to order too.

Edited by Candybee
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, pcbrook said:

I don't categorize them either.  Just keep looking until I find what I am looking for!  I am not organized enough to go that extreme!  :P

Do you make wax in bulk batches where you are not having to pull lots of oils each day that you pour?

I'll bet now that I am thinking it through, you pour like 100 jars in 1 scent or 2 this day, a different one the next, etc. 

I guess because I make melts only, have 103 scents in my line, each is made up of 2-3 oils and am constantly replenishing inventory I have to pull maybe 50-60 bottles of oil each pouring session! I would lose my mind (may be too late for this anyway-HA!) if I did not have them categorized. 

I probably should not show you what my pouring plan template looks like...HAHA! Hey! I have those big turkey fryers full of wax, you know!!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stored: cool, fairly consistent temps in rubbermade type covered tubs.

 

Organized:  by supplier&size. For the massive amount of trial sizes, I Sort by scent class to help choose a best of class, then the rest are sold off as lots or blended into one big "limited edition" bottle. It is too easy to amass a huge collection that ages and needs to be disposed of!

 

Storing in some sort of tub or container is helpful if you ever have a spill. The damage will be contained to the tub (a big component of GMP).

 

don't forget to "burp" your glass bottles periodically. Changes in temps cause massive pressure changes in the bottles. 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I keep my FO's in a shelving unit, in tubs in my basement where it stays decently cool, especially with the AC on. As for categorizing, It's always a work in progress or a change, but most I categorize by type. Floral with floral, fruit with fruit, bakery with bakery, etc. 

I dont' have a lot of sample sizes, and the ones I do I almost always blend into new scents. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, justajesuschick said:

Do you make wax in bulk batches where you are not having to pull lots of oils each day that you pour?

I'll bet now that I am thinking it through, you pour like 100 jars in 1 scent or 2 this day, a different one the next, etc. 

I guess because I make melts only, have 103 scents in my line, each is made up of 2-3 oils and am constantly replenishing inventory I have to pull maybe 50-60 bottles of oil each pouring session! I would lose my mind (may be too late for this anyway-HA!) if I did not have them categorized. 

I probably should not show you what my pouring plan template looks like...HAHA! Hey! I have those big turkey fryers full of wax, you know!!

 

Actually I only have about 35 to 40 FOs so it is not that hard to look for them.  I think if I had 103 I would have to keep some sort of organization or I would go crazy.  I do pour a bunch at a time.  Usually about 5 or 6 a day!  

 

Everybody has their own system and we have to do what works best for us!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, pcbrook said:

 

Actually I only have about 35 to 40 FOs so it is not that hard to look for them.  I think if I had 103 I would have to keep some sort of organization or I would go crazy.  I do pour a bunch at a time.  Usually about 5 or 6 a day!  

 

Everybody has their own system and we have to do what works best for us!  

LOL is 103 a lot? :D 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

41 minutes ago, pcbrook said:

 

Actually I only have about 35 to 40 FOs so it is not that hard to look for them.  I think if I had 103 I would have to keep some sort of organization or I would go crazy.  I do pour a bunch at a time.  Usually about 5 or 6 a day!  

 

Everybody has their own system and we have to do what works best for us!  

Yes, that is what dawned on me as I was typing.  You knock out certain scents each day so you are not sorting though and gathering tons each day. Makes sense!

 

17 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

LOL is 103 a lot? :D 

103 scents. But each scent is typically made up of 2-3 oils. Trying to maintain my full time career and do this is maddening!!! HA!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, justajesuschick said:

103 scents. But each scent is typically made up of 2-3 oils. Trying to maintain my full time career and do this is maddening!!! HA!!!

:D I think at last count, ones that are not blends I have about 80 - and then I blend most of them, so total I could at any given time have about 200 scents. Very few (like maybe 10) are "stock" scents, The rest are all either dubbed as "limited edition" or just when they go, they are done. I do have all of my blends written down just in case I might want to duplicate it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

:D I think at last count, ones that are not blends I have about 80 - and then I blend most of them, so total I could at any given time have about 200 scents. Very few (like maybe 10) are "stock" scents, The rest are all either dubbed as "limited edition" or just when they go, they are done. I do have all of my blends written down just in case I might want to duplicate it. 

My scent list remains constant year round. Melt Cups are RTS and I try and keep 10-25 of each in inventory each week so a LOT of Melt Cups. Then I offer custom items which can be poured in the 103 scents. Clearly, I now add scents much more slowly and carefully than I used to!

I have customers nationwide and now Australia and England. All scents sell year round. I have customers who buy apple and spice scents in the heat of my summer and some who want fruit and clean scents in my winter!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I store mine on two shelving units and unfortunately the rest on a couch near their the AC ... this is all why I'm being forced to get our inventory of fragrances down to at least 1 1/2 shelves. He wants to add a third shelf (which I should just let him so I could fill it), but I don't want to lose this beautiful wooden table that he won't take care of very well nor will he store it properly. (We don't live together.) 

Anyway, I store on shelves by company and then alphabetical. We learned to do this after using the just-throw-it-on-the-shelf method and then purchasing too many of one kind of scent we could never find ... only to find that we had it all along. So my partner is quite anal about order and I just let him have his way to a degree. In other words, we stock by company, then by bottle size, then alphabetical.

But that system doesn't work when it comes to pulling out what's to be made next. THAT is where he isn't orderly, but quite messy and that's how we lose track of scents too. He has what he thinks needs to be made and I have what I want to make. They typically are not the same thing. Again, we don't live together. We're about 2 1/2 hours apart (4 or more if you drive like him). 

Anyway ... that's what we do. The fragrances are in a room that stays pretty cool year round unless the AC breaks. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The one thing I am trying to tweak with my setup is the temperature control.

My workshop, as is, is cooler typically than everywhere else which is good for the FOs.

But its bad for the actual candles and curing as I dont want them temp dropping below 70-72 to avoid 

wet spots forming while they are stocked, etc. So I have a heater I keep down there that keeps the

temp around 72. Not sure if that is warmer than preferred for the FOs. Haven't noticed any issues, but time will tell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm in CA, but it doesn't get very hot here.  Usually our highs are 70's.  I store mine by supplier in plastic tubs and the plastic tubs in a wood cabinet.  I have a master list of scents so I can quickly look at a scent name and know which tub it's in.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...