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Lab & Co coconut wax


pughaus

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On 12/26/2018 at 9:19 PM, JeremyM said:

I'm a little late to the conversation (haven't been on this forum in a while), but I do use the Virgin Coconut Creme wax. I used to use 100% soy wax (464) but became so aggravated with inconsistencies, sink holes, and all of the other problems that give soy a bad rap, so I decided to make a change. To clear up a few things, the wax only comes in the fancy bag if you order small amounts. Anything over 40 pounds or so, and you get a big box full of wax slabs. No fancy packaging. I do miss the soy flakes, but I NEVER have any problems making candles now. I also use their wood wicks, and my candles come out absolutely perfect every single time. Peace of mind alone is worth the extra money I pay. I also increased the price of my candles to compensate. 

 

Also, just to be clear, this is not 100% coconut wax. It's a coconut wax blend with mostly coconut wax but also some soy wax. The only thing I don't like is, unlike other suppliers, they won't give you an exact percentage. They will just say it's mostly coconut wax. I suspect it's more soy than most other suppliers because I tried another popular coconut wax, and my wood wicks burned with a large flame. When I reached out to them for support, they said wood wicks just don't go with coconut wax. Not sure how this blend is different, but my flame heights are perfect. 

 

For anyone who is tempted to test this wax with wood wicks, I use 9 oz amber straight sided jars. Most fragrances work great with a booster wick with a width of 3/8" and a thickness of .03". They also have a different coconut wax blend that contains apricot wax instead of soy wax. It's a tad more expensive, but I didn't like it as much. It was softer than this wax. Those candles mostly required a booster wick with a .02" thickness. 

Jeremy, how is the throw with the Virgin Coconut?

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On 12/26/2018 at 8:19 PM, JeremyM said:

The only thing I don't like is, unlike other suppliers, they won't give you an exact percentage. They will just say it's mostly coconut wax.

I agree Jeremy- this has quite a bit of soy in it.  If I had to guess based on my own experiments with blends, I'd say this is something close to 40% soy  50% coco and 10% paraffin.  It melts easily like coco wax but the flame height is much more consistent than I've seen in other coco waxes. 

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3 minutes ago, Trappeur said:

Hi Jeremy.....

 

Couple questions.....

How much are you paying for a 50pound box of wax?

Also I don't use wood wicks  What wicks do you recommend?

 

Trappeur

 

For wood wicks, I use woodenwick.com (where I get the coconut wax). They have a lot of different options, but the original wicks on their own don't seem to work well. They recommend booster or dual wicks for natural waxes such as soy or coconut waxes. The dual wicks have never worked for me, not sure why. The booster wicks do work well though. I tried making my own booster wicks by combining two wicks together, but ended up just going back to the booster wicks because it was a lot easier. 

 

I use 9 oz amber jars that you can find from many different suppliers. They have a diameter of roughly 2.5" inches. For the 464 soy wax, I used 1/2" wide booster wicks. For the virgin coconut wax blend though, I only need 3/8" wide booster wicks. Most of my wicks have a thickness of .03" but some need .02" or .04".

 

The cost definitely sucks and their shipping costs are horrible. I live in Massachusetts, so prices will vary but my last order was for 40 pounds of wax. The wax itself was $131 with tax, but the shipping was $93, almost as much as the wax itself. The total amount was just shy of $200.

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4 minutes ago, pughaus said:

I agree Jeremy- this has quite a bit of soy in it.  If I had to guess based on my own experiments with blends, I'd say this is something close to 40% soy  50% coco and 10% paraffin.  It melts easily like coco wax but the flame height is much more consistent than I've seen in other coco waxes. 

I asked them about paraffin, and I was told it contains no paraffin wax. I hope they're being honest with me.

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15 minutes ago, JeremyM said:

The wax itself was $131 with tax, but the shipping was $93, almost as much as the wax itself. The total amount was just shy of $200.

 

Yikes. Even in L.A. I pay less freight than that.  My cost comes to 4.22 lb incl. freight.

20 lbs

Wax  $56.00
Freight $27.76

the good news is,  I just got a 20% coupon with my last box. 😀

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4 hours ago, pughaus said:

Yikes. Even in L.A. I pay less freight than that.  My cost comes to 4.22 lb incl. freight.

20 lbs

Wax  $56.00
Freight $27.76

the good news is,  I just got a 20% coupon with my last box. 😀

You're a life saver! I hadn't opened my most recent box of wax, so I just did and found my 20% off coupon. It expires in a few days, so I would have missed out if not for you!

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1 hour ago, JeremyM said:

You're a life saver! I hadn't opened my most recent box of wax, so I just did and found my 20% off coupon. It expires in a few days, so I would have missed out if not for you!

 

And YOU just reminded me my coupon expires on 12/31!  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/28/2018 at 7:21 AM, JeremyM said:

I asked them about paraffin, and I was told it contains no paraffin wax. I hope they're being honest with me.

Unfortunately whoever you spoke with is not being honest with you. I spoke with customer service there and I was told there is paraffin in it. I stated that other's were told it didn't have paraffin. She said she didn't know why anyone would say that. She said it has food grade paraffin in it. 

Edited by Jeana
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I've used both waxes and they are great.  The Wooden Wick Co./Lab and Co. customer service is awesome too.  But I'm looking to switch, unfortunately, because I recently learned (from a phone call to the company) that they both contain paraffin and I'm wanting paraffin-free.  Back to the drawing board.  Going to throw this out there...I discovered on Instragram All Seasons Wax Co in Australia, looked up their info via website, and there is opportunity to be a distributor in the States.  After reading through these forum discussions about figuring out the ideal coconut/soy blend...maybe this company has figured it out?  Anyone want to be a distributor state-side? 

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Ugh, sorry everyone, but they're right. It was a different company who told me their wax had no paraffin. I just went back through my emails. Even though Lab & Co didn't tell me outright it contained paraffin, I did ask if it was considered all natural, organic, and biodegradable. The rep replied the wax was not considered all natural or organic, but she then added that coconut, soy, and paraffin waxes were all considered to be biodegradable. I should have asked a follow up question. 


Well, I'm annoyed at myself now for not digging into it further. Did they tell you how much paraffin they used? If it's less than 1%, I may be willing to live with it if I can't find anything better. 

 

In the meantime, has anyone had luck with the Coco83 wax blend? Someone mentioned earlier it has coconut, soy, and beeswax. I think I'm going to order a sample of that and hope it works as well. I've also come across the All Seasons Wax during my searches. It would be great if we could get it here in the US.

 

Jeremy

 

 

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2 hours ago, JeremyM said:

In the meantime, has anyone had luck with the Coco83 wax blend? Someone mentioned earlier it has coconut, soy, and beeswax. I think I'm going to order a sample of that and hope it works as well. I've also come across the All Seasons Wax during my searches. It would be great if we could get it here in the US.

 

Hi @JeremyM. I've been experimenting with the Coco83 wax as have others on here and there are some other posts that discuss this wax. You should do a search.

 

And basically, my take on the wax is that I somewhat like it and I want to like it but I'm having a hard time deciding on a wick. Troubles with tall flames and soot/smoke. The wax is beautiful and easy to work with and the tops after burning are smooth. Besides wicking, my other issue is that the h&c scent throw can be hit or miss with the different batches that I bought. The last time I purchased that wax was about 8 months ago so they may have worked the bugs out of it by now.

 

Regarding your comment about the beeswax, Coco83 doesn't have beeswax as far as I know and have been told. I was told by Candles & Supplies that their Coconut slab wax has some beeswax in it. I have some of that wax too and it is nice but it must have beeswax in it because it has a different smell than other coconut waxes and it makes all my scents smell different than usual. The beeswax smell is changing the outcome of my scents and I don't like that. The scents still smell nice but not the way I want them to.

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4 hours ago, JeremyM said:

Ugh, sorry everyone, but they're right. It was a different company who told me their wax had no paraffin. I just went back through my emails. Even though Lab & Co didn't tell me outright it contained paraffin, I did ask if it was considered all natural, organic, and biodegradable. The rep replied the wax was not considered all natural or organic, but she then added that coconut, soy, and paraffin waxes were all considered to be biodegradable. I should have asked a follow up question. 


Well, I'm annoyed at myself now for not digging into it further. Did they tell you how much paraffin they used? If it's less than 1%, I may be willing to live with it if I can't find anything better. 

 

In the meantime, has anyone had luck with the Coco83 wax blend? Someone mentioned earlier it has coconut, soy, and beeswax. I think I'm going to order a sample of that and hope it works as well. I've also come across the All Seasons Wax during my searches. It would be great if we could get it here in the US.

 

Jeremy

 

 

Which company told you their coconut didn’t have paraffin?

Coco 83 has been discontinued for a while. By the way lab & co feels and behaves it seems to have quite a bit of paraffin. All of the coconuts I’ve worked have palm in them. I’m not very happy about that. I took palm out of my soaps a long time ago and now it’s in my candles. I’d rather have paraffin than palm. I’ve been using sc21 mixed with another soy for a while.. Now it’s its getting very hard to find in stock, so I’m back to the drawing board looking for waxes again. I got some coconut/soy from General wax. I poured a tester last night. Have you tried that one? I has paraffin too, but it’s cheaper than Lab & Co.

Edited by Jeana
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the inconsistent supply of coco83 lately is troubling.  CalCandle was out of stock before the holidays and now they're  "no longer taking orders for Coconut 83 for the present time. " 
Which is bad news for west coast coco candle makers since that was our western supplier.  Candles and Supplies had the same stock issues on Easy Beads (coco83) in Nov-Dec with eta dates that kept getting pushed back and they are once again are out of stock, as is Northwood.  And my last batch of coco83 reeked of rancid grease which is what led me to the Lab Co. wax. 

 

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16 minutes ago, pughaus said:

the inconsistent supply of coco83 lately is troubling.  CalCandle was out of stock before the holidays and now they're  "no longer taking orders for Coconut 83 for the present time. " 
Which is bad news for west coast coco candle makers since that was our western supplier.  Candles and Supplies had the same stock issues on Easy Beads (coco83) in Nov-Dec with eta dates that kept getting pushed back and they are once again are out of stock, as is Northwood.  And my last batch of coco83 reeked of rancid grease which is what led me to the Lab Co. wax. 

 

Ok, so this is the quickest way to send me into a full blown panic attack.  Just as we are getting finalized on all the wretched testing now this wax is “gone” for all intents and purposes too? I have no swear words strong enough today. 

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50 minutes ago, Jeana said:

Coco 83 has been discontinued for a while.

 

I got some coconut/soy from General wax. I poured a tester last night. Have you tried that one? I has paraffin too, but it’s cheaper than Lab & Co.

 

Oh man, I can't believe that about the Coco 83. Well, it does have some issues so maybe it will be better on the next release. This will at least be the 3rd version of it when it does come out. The 1st version being the one I started with about 3 -3.5 yrs ago and that one was awesome. I so hope they bring that version back. This 2nd version we have been dealing with has been hit or miss for me with several issues. 

 

I have been testing the Ultra Wax Coconut Blend from General Wax and I really like it except it is a very soft wax. All my container candles have been too soft, specifically for Florida weather and hot weather shipping. I'm playing around with additives and now that I have some pillar and tart waxes I'll mix with those too to see what happens.

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21 minutes ago, pughaus said:

Candles and Supplies had the same stock issues on Easy Beads (coco83) in Nov-Dec with eta dates that kept getting pushed back and they are once again are out of stock, as is Northwood.  And my last batch of coco83 reeked of rancid grease which is what led me to the Lab Co. wax. 

 

 

Holy crap, no, no, say it isn't so! Yikes, I can't take it! LOL. 

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1 minute ago, TallTayl said:

Ok, so this is the quickest way to send me into a full blown panic attack.  Just as we are getting finalized on all the wretched testing now this wax is “gone” for all intents and purposes too? I have no swear words strong enough today. 

I know, I'm sorry.   Maybe this is just accublend getting caught with sudden increased demand and they'll get past this- but as far as I can tell, no one has coco83 in stock at the moment.  

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5 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Ok, so this is the quickest way to send me into a full blown panic attack.  Just as we are getting finalized on all the wretched testing now this wax is “gone” for all intents and purposes too? I have no swear words strong enough today. 

 

I hear you loud and clear, I'm having a Panic Attack too! LOL. The wax MFGs are trying and have almost succeed in driving us all crazy. *shudder*

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Okay so who said easy beads is discontinued?? And how do we know for sure coco 83 is easy beads as so many people get different answers when asking 

I’m so flaming mad right now - I want to blood curdle scream - I have worked with easy beads for the better part of a year blending and finding the perfect mix and now I’m reading this BS!!!

😡😡🤬🤬🤬🤬

they have been OOS many times on the easy beads but If they discontinue it I don’t even know what I’m going to do 

I have some calls to make today To see what answer I get 

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24 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Ok, so this is the quickest way to send me into a full blown panic attack.  Just as we are getting finalized on all the wretched testing now this wax is “gone” for all intents and purposes too? I have no swear words strong enough today. 

No kidding! I’ve been working on a blend of the sc21 coconut and soy for a year now. I just got really comfortable with it, and now they don’t have it in stock for the third time in the last month. I have accounts ordering their candles, and I have no wax to make them. How can we run our businesses this way? I’m scrambling now to figure a replacement formula. The sc21 was supposed to be back in stock yesterday. I tried calling and Cal Candle wouldn’t answer their phones. I take it, it didn’t come in. Im totally screwed :( 

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