Alesha Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Hi there! I just joined this board after running across it in a Google search… I got the idea in my head to make little mason jar candles for Christmas, and then I started doing some research. Holy smokes, there’s a LOT to candle making! I’m not a stranger to concocting things, and have a small business where I make natural bath, body and home care products, so I understand a bit of the science of it, but have some questions… 1. From my research, I’m understanding that soy wax is best for container candles. I’ve found some soy wax from one of my suppliers, and it’s the Golden Brand GW 415 and 464. It sounds like the 464 might be the better choice. Has anyone had experience with either or these? Also, what are your thoughts on beeswax pastilles? 2. Wick: unwaxed cotton or wooden, and why? 3. I have a whole bunch of essential oils at home, but would fragrance oils work better for this medium? I have a handful of FO’s from a few years ago that I could use up. 4. I’ve read about wax coming away from the glass, frosting (I think that’s what it’s called), and things getting lumpy at the end of the pouring and to take a hot glue gun to smooth the top of the candle out. Does this happen? 5. I’ve read that some candles don’t burn at all, they burn greasy, etc., What are potential problems that I could run into? Any tips that anyone can give me would be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Starting from scratch takes more time than what remains between now and Christmas. There's all that ordering and pouring and curing and testing and tweaking and pouring again and curing again and testing again and tweaking again and dang...it's Christmas. Not to mention the cost of all that. In fact, you could buy them all a case of Nest candles and still save money. For reals. If you just want to make candles for Christmas gifts, you can buy a kit from a reputable supplier like Candlewic, Candle Science, etc. It will include the appropriate wick and all that jazz so there's not all that shooting in the dark stuff. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura C Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Hello @Alesha and welcome to Craft Server! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alesha Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 12 hours ago, Laura C said: Hello @Alesha and welcome to Craft Server! Thanks Laura! Hey, do you have any idea why I can't log into the site on my desktop computer? I can only access it on my phone...??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alesha Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 15 hours ago, bfroberts said: Starting from scratch takes more time than what remains between now and Christmas. There's all that ordering and pouring and curing and testing and tweaking and pouring again and curing again and testing again and tweaking again and dang...it's Christmas. Not to mention the cost of all that. In fact, you could buy them all a case of Nest candles and still save money. For reals. If you just want to make candles for Christmas gifts, you can buy a kit from a reputable supplier like Candlewic, Candle Science, etc. It will include the appropriate wick and all that jazz so there's not all that shooting in the dark stuff. Thanks! I looked at both: one company doesn't ship to Canada, and the other has excellent prices, but shipping to Canada is $60! I'll see what's available in Canada for candle making kits though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 7 minutes ago, Alesha said: Thanks! I looked at both: one company doesn't ship to Canada, and the other has excellent prices, but shipping to Canada is $60! I'll see what's available in Canada for candle making kits though. Canwax is the only Candian supplier that comes to my mind, but I'm sure there are others. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusyBee Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Hi there from Canada! 1. I am the one who is using 464 for candle, and it is excellent wax that I don't bother to look for anything else. 2. In my opinion, wicking is about 90% of candle making. If you can get the right wick into a candle, then most of problems you hear gets solved. You have to use WAXED cotton wicks for any kind of candle. For soy wax, try to choose from the ones designed for soy waxes(ECO is my choice among cotton wicks, but there are others that other candle makers had success.). Wooden wicks with "booster" are the ones that will work well with soy wax. Combination of wooden tube wick with cotton wick work well also. Once again, wicking is almost everything in good candle making. Finding the right wick is time consuming process that it could take months & months to years. 3. If I am correct, I believe there are only 8 essential oils out of thousands that can be used in candle making. You will need to choose from fragrance oils made for candle making, and on top of that make sure they are made for use with soy wax. Even if we were able to use essential oils in candles, it would be too cost prohibited. It takes 60,000 roses to produce 1 oz of rose essential oil. Don't even waste your time looking at their pricing. 4. Wax coming away from glass(Wet Spot) is something even big candle companies haven't figure it out. It is just nature of wax. There is nothing that can be done at this moment. Frosting: This is another nature of soy wax, and frosting is caused by expose to lights. You can reduce frosting by using amber glass or ceramic container or tins. With 464 wax, you can have beautiful top appearance by pouring at temperature between 130 - 140. But, think about doing 2nd pour with 2mm thickness. This will give you mirror like finish 100% of time. 5. If you can get the right wicking, then all the problems will be solved. Soy wax need fire power, but make sure you keep the temperature down so you can keep the container at safe temperature. This is very critical part that you or any candle maker would need to figure out. Your plan to use 415 or 464 in little Mason jar! This is not a good idea. Soy need fire power to burn right and that container is going to be too small to keep it cool for that fire power. I only can wick 464 right among container that has minimum of 3.5" and up diameter. You are up there in cold weather, and I am down here in Southern California. You might have to experiment with your own pouring temperature depending on your room temperature condition. Yes! There are so many things that needs to be put into consideration. Good luck with your candle making journey! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alesha Posted October 24, 2019 Author Share Posted October 24, 2019 Holy smokes, candle making can take months to years to figure out?!? :-o bfroberts — thanks, I’ve checked them out as well, and they won’t ship to either my home or work for whatever reason. Busy Bee — thanks for the information! And yes, I know all about precious EOs, as I deal with them on a daily basis. Making a rose-scented candle with rose EO would be very costly. I use mine sparingly for making skin care products, and a little goes a long way, thankfully. For mason jars… A lot of the kits I’ve seen come with smaller containers. So, if soy is so bad for small containers, why do they sell them with soy kits? To be honest, candle making sounds like it’s a bit much (plus, I don't have months/years to figure it out), even with a kit, which I’m not really interested in anyways. Being that I do so much experimenting with natural bath, body and various health products, I’m more interested in making a candle with my own spin; not the spin and scents that a kit dictates. Thank-you all for your thoughts and advice! I may get into it down the line, but think that I’ll just find some food-based items to concoct for Christmas. Already have some sangria brewing in my basement, and found some great jar recipes online this morning. :-) Thanks! Alesha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 4 hours ago, Alesha said: Holy smokes, candle making can take months to years to figure out?!? 😮 bfroberts — thanks, I’ve checked them out as well, and they won’t ship to either my home or work for whatever reason. Busy Bee — thanks for the information! And yes, I know all about precious EOs, as I deal with them on a daily basis. Making a rose-scented candle with rose EO would be very costly. I use mine sparingly for making skin care products, and a little goes a long way, thankfully. For mason jars… A lot of the kits I’ve seen come with smaller containers. So, if soy is so bad for small containers, why do they sell them with soy kits? To be honest, candle making sounds like it’s a bit much (plus, I don't have months/years to figure it out), even with a kit, which I’m not really interested in anyways. Being that I do so much experimenting with natural bath, body and various health products, I’m more interested in making a candle with my own spin; not the spin and scents that a kit dictates. Thank-you all for your thoughts and advice! I may get into it down the line, but think that I’ll just find some food-based items to concoct for Christmas. Already have some sangria brewing in my basement, and found some great jar recipes online this morning. :-) Thanks! Alesha You had me at "sangria". 😋 Are they into wax melts? They are easy peasy. You could concoct some lovely ones and get creative with packaging, etc. Really make it special. Maybe even include a warmer? IDK. Just an idea that's so much easier than figuring out candles in such a short time. But if you dig things that will plague your existence for the rest of your life, cost tons of money and make you pull your hair out on a daily basis, candle making is totally for you. 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightLight Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Yes do wax melts! You can get kits, and or supplies at any of the candle suppliers. People love them and they are fairly easy to do right off the bat. There are kits you can buy on Amazon. You could also get a candle making kit! The kits will have the wick already picked out for the wax, etc. The nice thing with kits, you can test the waters and see if this is a craft you want to pursue further. Candle Science has these kits https://www.candlescience.com/kits Flaming candle has this https://www.theflamingcandle.com/candle-making-kits/soy-container-candle-making-kit/ Candles and Supplies http://www.candlesandsupplies.net/Candle-Making/Starter-Kits Amazon has several kits but can’t guarantee the suppliers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Delicate fragrances may be a candidate for salt potpourri, reed diffusers, room spray, pillow spray, etc. heck make vanilla sugar. It is delicious to smell and eat. Plenty of time to make cute shapes, or just package in a gorgeous jar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura C Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 On 10/23/2019 at 12:53 PM, Alesha said: Thanks Laura! Hey, do you have any idea why I can't log into the site on my desktop computer? I can only access it on my phone...??? Hi @Alesha, sorry, I just now saw your message. I'm not sure, you should ask @TallTayl or another one of the site administrators. You could try clearing your browser cache, close and reopen your browser and try logging onto Craft Server again. craftserver.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Are you using your craftserver name or your email address to log in? if using your email address, try instead using your craftserver name, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary in Canada Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 On 10/23/2019 at 1:08 PM, bfroberts said: Canwax is the only Candian supplier that comes to my mind, but I'm sure there are others. Good luck! A little late to this thread...but we also have Village Craft and Candle in St. Mary's ON...and they are very good. I've used Canwax and they are also good. If you want to use C3 Soy wax, New Directions Aeromatics in Mississauga carry it at a very reasonable cost....and they have lots of great scents, which is their core business. I have purchased from USA suppliers, but the Cdn $$$ is not great, and shipping is expensive...not to mention the time it takes for the order to get across the border. The major thing I miss is containers...we have VERY limited options here. I've spoken with Canwax and VCC and they say to bring painted containers or something a little more modern would be too cost prohibitive...personally...I think they're missing the boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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