A couple questions

[scrubzz]

Had a couple of hours drive both coming and going on my recent little trip and had to keep what everyone laughingly refers to as my mind occupied so naturally I thought quite a bit about candles - came up with a couple of things I wanted to ask -

First on UV Inhibitor - When you pour candles for testing purposes do you have to add UV also or can you leave it out to save a bit of $ and just add it after all testing is done? I have never read anywhere where it affects anything except fading. And do you add UV to your jar candles?

And next - What would you say "Shelf Life" is on candles before they are burned? - I know they can fade even using UV but down the road do you start losing fragrance or have any other changes?

[Georgia]

Funny how your thinking starts to revolve around candles, huh?

I add UV to my prestos everytime I add wax, so yes, I have it in all testers. In my experience it hasn't affected the burn any and I believe I have read that others are of the same opinion. And yes, UV inhibitor goes in the votive pot, the pillar pot, the container pot and the hurricane pot.

Shelf life I have heard varying opinions. All I can tell you is I have opened and burned jars two years later and they still smell great. Soy tends to morph more than parafin, I think...gets frosty.

Hope you had a great unwind!

[Shannon WY]

When testing, I don't add UV inhibitor because, as you said, it doesn't affect the burn. I do add UV inhibitor to my jar candles. As far as the shelf life, I believe they can last indefinitely if stored properly such as in a cool dark place. That's for paraffin but I'm not sure about soy. HTH some! I'm sure you'll get other opinions

[Tallbabydoll]

I don't sell and have never used UV so I can't help ya there. None of mine have faded, but none are in direct sunlight or over 2 years old either.

It's been my experience that properly wrapped and stored (meaning kept in a moderate temp year around) candles don't lose color or scent. I have had one that bleed a bit of color on to the wrapping but that only happened once and wasn't to bad. But I haven't had any of my candles longer than 2 years. Candles that I've left out, a couple has lost some cold throw, but it didn't seem to effect the hot throw at all. Yet I have one thats been sitting out for months, and you can still get a whiff of the cold throw when you walk by it. I think it really depends on the strength and quality of the fo used when it comes to that. HTH

[scrubzz]

Thank you very much to each of you!

[Alohagirl]

My house has lots of windows and I have pillars displayed all over the place. Despite the year-round sunshine, I don't use UV and none of them have ever faded unless they got hit with direct sunlight.

Some people report that vanilla fragrances will turn a white candle yellow, and blue shades will fade the fastest.

[Scented]

Well it's habit for me, so UV goes into everything. A red candle I made about 7 years ago finally started to fade. I've had candles I've made for myself, those little experiments w/ new molds etc., that have held scent for up to four years.

[sharyl55]

Peaks UV really isn't that expensive considering you are only using 1/2 tsp pp. I'm more concerned about forgetting to use it on products I do want to sell - ancient minds and all that. So I do what several others do. Add it when I add wax.

[scrubzz]

And I thank each of you also!