Quentin Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 I was reading on a website the other day about taking measurements of your ingredients and such. A sentence toward the end of the article really jumped out and got my attention. The author's statement was "don't forget to measure your fragrance oil and liquid dyes by weight not volume" [My paraphrase]. Uh Oh! I have been adding fragrance oil by liquid ounces or milliliters and not by weight. I looked at some of my fragrance bottles and you see the statement that says "bottles filled by weight". Other manufacturers label their bottles as X Fl. Oz./XXX ml. I've been griping about how my pillars and containers give off very little fragrance or usually none at all. Could the way I've been measuring be causing my no fragrance problem? Am I supposed to be weighing all my liquids? I'm really confused now. Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 All fragrances are of different densities. This makes their weight fluctuate, sometimes by a good bit, though not sure if it oils make “that” much difference in throw. The fluctuations in visual appearance in the measuring vessel could vary by quite a lot, though. Remember back to science class about the meniscus? The angle of view if using different measuring vessels often makes a big difference. For quality consistency, and scalability, do yourself a favor and use weight. Eta: fornthose suppliers who sell by fluid ounces, it is because of the labeling requirement to sell fluids/liquids by volume. When buying bulk fragrance it is always by weight as that is how the labs create them. When I co-op i sell by weight to ensure everyone is paying for exactly what they are getting. If retailing, I would need to switch to volume. And measure accurately or risk losing a ton of $$ due to differences in specific gravity of the fragrances. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 (edited) I weigh my fragrance out before adding to my wax. When I first started I used to use volume and learned that would not give me an accurate FO %. Learned that years ago on this forum so I am thankful for the great advice given here. Wanted to add I don't use enough dye to weigh it. I use dye chips and cut them or use as whole as needed. When I was using liquid dyes I used a dropper and formulated my color recipes drop by drop. So for example a dark blood red might be 2-3 drops cinnamon and 1 drop black. No weighing involved. Edited March 8, 2018 by Candybee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 8 minutes ago, Candybee said: I don't use enough dye to weigh it Same here - I use liquid colorants by the drops and they don't even register on the scale, even when using my jewellery scale. So for color, I just count my drops, and that gives me enough accuracy to duplicate it. However, like everyone else, I always measure my fragrance in weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 (edited) I'm not about to weigh colorants. What I use won't come off the stick I stir with to make a difference. Try your next batch by fl. oz. for fragrance and see if that helps to answer your question. Edited March 8, 2018 by Scented Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 Wax and fragrance get weighed for candles. I use the pounds / ounces setting on my scale most of the time. I use a measuring spoon for UV inhibitor, however, and as the others said, I don't weigh colorants. I go by number of drops or dye chips for consistent results. For soap, I weigh all ingredients in grams, except for the water and fragrance, when I use pounds / ounces setting again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam W Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Quentin: Always go by weight.....never volume. As TallTayl said, you lose $ when going by volume. FOs can have different weights when measured by volume .......going by weight will give you some consistency for each different FO since each FO will have a different weight. Easy experiment: take one of your FOs and weigh it out by weight and then pour it at volume......you should be able to see the difference between the two(an oz by weight will be different than volume.........especially when using heavy FOs like vanilla (many floral scents are light in weight where earthy scents are heavier) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxAlpha71xxx Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 On the weight vs volume topic: With measuring and proportioning our materials by weight how then do you go about filling (and labeling) your containers? By weight or by volume? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 1 hour ago, xxxAlpha71xxx said: On the weight vs volume topic: With measuring and proportioning our materials by weight how then do you go about filling (and labeling) your containers? By weight or by volume? products sold in a solid form are always by net weight. products sold in a liquid form are by volume. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxAlpha71xxx Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 (edited) 27 minutes ago, TallTayl said: products sold in a solid form are always by net weight. products sold in a liquid form are by volume. Do you see any comments/complaints from people regarding the level of materials in a container candle? I would expect that there could be a considerable difference in the level of wax from one candle to another depending on the density and percentage of the FO used, along with the size of the container.. I've never actually paid attention to that sort of thing when I've seen candles at retailers....until I started attempting to make candles myself. Do your customers seem to notice/care? That brings up another question. When you fill do you weigh each candle? Or do you just weigh the first and fill the rest to that approximate level? Edited October 9, 2019 by xxxAlpha71xxx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 I’ve not had one complaint. I do wear them on a scale to make sure they’re the same. Or at least that they meet the minimum. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 I don't think the volume difference is terribly noticeable. I weigh my candles as I am pouring them to make sure they all have a minimum weight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Candle Nook Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 I have a “fill line” (that I mark myself on all containers) that makes my candles look uniform as a whole. My oz may vary slightly but Are always my minimum weight. No one has ever complained. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 15 hours ago, The Candle Nook said: I have a “fill line” (that I mark myself on all containers) that makes my candles look uniform as a whole. My oz may vary slightly but Are always my minimum weight. No one has ever complained. Do you find that pour temp causes variations in the final height? I learned that pouring as little as 10* different resulted in “shorter” (and lighter) candles. What a pain. remember the video by Danielle and company where one dude sat with a ruler to pour? Yikes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Candle Nook Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 @TallTayl i never saw the ruler video 😂 that would be overkill for me!! Pour temp hasn’t seemed to affect my final product — but, I only use 1 wax and 1 vessel and my pour temp is vary rarely more than 2-3 degrees different. I have never branched out because this is a side business for me and I don’t have the time/inclination to make additional product to increase my bottom line or fulfill customer desires. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 37 minutes ago, The Candle Nook said: — but, I only use 1 wax and 1 vessel @The Candle Nook This is interesting. Are you saying that you've settled on one wax that works for all your container candles and all your different fragrances, and/or all of your pillar candles and all your fragrances? I'd love to be able to hear more about that. I probably have ten or more different waxes, and that's ridiculous. I've been trying to find the one best container wax and the one best pillar wax, but my approach has been haphazard at best. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxAlpha71xxx Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 10 minutes ago, Quentin said: @The Candle Nook This is interesting. Are you saying that you've settled on one wax that works for all your container candles and all your different fragrances, and/or all of your pillar candles and all your fragrances? I'd love to be able to hear more about that. I probably have ten or more different waxes, and that's ridiculous. I've been trying to find the one best container wax and the one best pillar wax, but my approach has been haphazard at best. I've gotten a bit frustrated myself and have a new approach. I've done a bunch of testing that shows that a CD 10 wick in 6006 wax in an 8 oz elite jar from FC works for a lot of the scents I've tested . If I make a test candle that doesn't work with a CD10 then I'm just putting that scent to the side to re-visit later. Now, if I can just get those 8 oz tins to cooperate.... 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 4 minutes ago, xxxAlpha71xxx said: I've gotten a bit frustrated myself and have a new approach. I've done a bunch of testing that shows that a CD 10 wick in 6006 wax in an 8 oz elite jar from FC works for a lot of the scents I've tested . If I make a test candle that doesn't work with a CD10 then I'm just putting that scent to the side to re-visit later. Now, if I can just get those 8 oz tins to cooperate.... Tins are such a pain. The shallow height versus width proportion throws everything off. Same thing happens with the glass 6oz calypso type jars, maxi tea lights and tea lights. 😖 you need that little bit of chimney to make the system function as people expect a candle to. I thought I was being clever with wood wicks, but they don’t love shallow either. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 10 minutes ago, xxxAlpha71xxx said: I've gotten a bit frustrated myself and have a new approach. I've done a bunch of testing that shows that a CD 10 wick in 6006 wax in an 8 oz elite jar from FC works for a lot of the scents I've tested . If I make a test candle that doesn't work with a CD10 then I'm just putting that scent to the side to re-visit later. Now, if I can just get those 8 oz tins to cooperate.... Wow! I've been using 6006 with a CD-10 on almost every one of my container candles. I must be on the right track and didn't even realize it! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Candle Nook Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) I think the reason my approach works for me is I don’t make the magnitude of scents some of you make. — if a FO doesn’t work for me, I don’t use it. I move to a different scent. That doesn’t mean I don’t own/buy a ton of FO — just give up if 1 particular FO doesn’t throw. For instance, i have had no luck with CS new white currant....I may mess around with longer cure or try a few different wicks — but ultimately, I give up....I have too many FO that make great candles to get bogged down by testing new wax/containers. This is a small side business I do for fun and I have many other interests/hobby’s that take up time — the biggest of which is a small store located within my church that I manage/buy for/run that sells religious merchandise, and candles 😉, the candles I sell at cost to the store so church has the profits. Edited October 10, 2019 by The Candle Nook More info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah S Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 On 10/10/2019 at 12:08 PM, Quentin said: @The Candle Nook This is interesting. Are you saying that you've settled on one wax that works for all your container candles and all your different fragrances, and/or all of your pillar candles and all your fragrances? I'd love to be able to hear more about that. I probably have ten or more different waxes, and that's ridiculous. I've been trying to find the one best container wax and the one best pillar wax, but my approach has been haphazard at best. Good God! 10 waxes?? Pillars?? All your fragrances? @Quentin, you must be so frustrated! I used one container wax for at least a year before I branched out. Now I use one paraffin and one palm for all the candles I sell and the majority that I make for myself. I'm not above playing with other waxes for the fun of it, but I really only focus on those two. Same with containers, I have two sizes that I focus on. I will wick other containers (like awesome pumpkin shaped bowls!) for myself, but that's just to play with. I have the same philosophy as @The Candle Nook when it comes to fragrance. If it doesn't throw in my wax, I don't struggle with it. Got no time for that! Oh yeah, and I use the same palm pillar wax for pillars and melts. I bounce back and forth between a couple paraffin waxes for melts, but I think paraffin melts are more forgiving anyway, it's hard to mess them up. I am an enthusiastic graduate of the KISS school of thought. 😂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 On 10/11/2019 at 2:31 PM, Sarah S said: Good God! 10 waxes?? Pillars?? All your fragrances? @Quentin, you must be so frustrated! Frustrated AND a nervous wreck most of the time. If you think my wax inventory is crazy (and you are correct), you should see my wick supply! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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