Wax frustrations on top of fragrance frustrations and now wick frustrations

[moonshine]

I haven’t been around on here much lately, life got busy with wedding planning for my daughter that ended up being postponed until this December (thank you Covid), work stuff getting crazy with the pandemic (again, thank you covid) and all the new rules and guidelines to keep our employees and our customers safe and a house remodel we had to push forward with before covid and it’s still in progress....I just got busy 

I have not been selling candles for a very long time, since the soy industry went to hell in a handbag but I have still been enjoying making candles for myself and family, testing waxes and relearning everything I thought I knew over 12 years time in this craft playing with coconut waxes -I had been a soy girl from the very start so it was a whole new world for me with fail after fail until I finally got it together!

 

Thought I was ready to plunge forward and start selling again only to find out my wax was gone....poof 💨 just gone!

Come to find out it was a manufacturing equipment issue and the Ez beads was actually coconut 83 and comes in 2 other forms- well now 3 forms  .....slab- cube and the new beads which are nothing like the old breads and it’s become a serious online bidding war to even get it when suppliers have it in stock 

 

I had purchased some cube form and it seems to be okay as far as not completely different from my old original ez beads from candles and supplies and then I heard about the presale cal candle was having on the bead form - I was so excited 

I did end up getting the cal candle 2 case limit presale, guess I got lucky because it all sold out within minutes and I was so happy to have what I thought was my new beloved wax back .....but boy was I so wrong 

This stuff is what nightmares are made of - totally not the same in any shape or form, the little pastilles are cute and all but a mess to deal with sticking everywhere and the odor.... 😷 yuck! and it stays cloudy and yellow in the melter no matter the temp and to top it off I never ever ever had sink holes or cavities with this wax and now I’m blessed with multiple ones in every....single....candle....I poured 

Now to top all that off I have had to ditch many fragrance oils that used to work and now they don’t with the “clean” reformulating and now I’m learning I have to fight for wicks if I need them, stalking suppliers and now some are not even the same anymore because suppliers are trying to make their own or something to that effect....really?

It’s a good thing I am a hoarder to a certain extent, I do have enough for awhile and I did stock up my jars along with my toilet paper 🧻😂 and paper towel- and Lysol- and hand sanitizer- and masks!

 

I WILL figure this wax out like I always do but I wanted to pop in and share my frustrations because I can’t be the only one...right?

I guess I need to come out of my cave and find out what’s going on in the candle world before all these surprises hit me all at once again- lol 

 

So many new waxes I never heard of and so many suppliers changing the wax names so you can’t keep track of what is really what - it’s craZy out there 🙈

I hope everyone is well- healthy- happy- safe and now I’m going to try and catch up on all the threads I’ve missed out on  😂

Edited March 5, 2021 by moonshine

[kandlekrazy]

I can relate to your pain!  I ended up selling my business mostly out of frustration with suppliers but also because we were moving out of state.  I kept just enough wax and supplies to get me through 2020 only to find out nothing is in stock or the fo has changed so much it no longer works the way I like.  So, I'll be starting completely over if I want to get back into making even if it's just a hobby for me, family & friends.  All I have is time now that I also sold my antique malls, so I shouldn't complain!

[moomin3]

yep!!! I just posted some of my thoughts about supply chain issues in this thread--- it really is a huge issue and I don't see it getting better soon. every day i see tons of brand new candlemakers in the facebook groups and on reddit asking about which wax to get first, and it's always always a specialty proprietary blend. i don't think people realize that they are then at the mercy of those suppliers and their price jacks, not to mention the freight cost. it's so bad as you said, coco83 is selling out within 5 minutes of restock on cal candle supply. i purchased my slabs there last summer for a reasonable price just to play around with. it's not something i would consider building a business around at all at this point because of inconsistent supply and - i have to admit - i never confidently wicked it. using CDN wicks has been a lifesaver but i still feel i'd need to blend with SP486/487 (microcrystalline veggie wax to harden) but - you guessed it - the wax is OOS everywhere except etsy for some insane fee.

 

kinda takes the fun out of it right??? i don't even have a business, this is just an inordinately expensive hobby for me, but it's definitely been eye opening watching the floundering about as people open their businesses only to have no restock of their supplies... and yeah, i'm with you - i have a ton of the older FOs that aren't 'clean' so it's not really worth my testing time to perfect those, i'll probably just do them as melts or just for my own enjoyment for candles around the house. sheesh.