greeneyedney Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 i dont work my candles in the kitchen so i had no way of melting down tester container candles i found some candle warmers at wal mart. stick those on there and they melt down completely.. just thought id share incase anyone works away from their kitchen linda:embarasse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katinka Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 yup - also banned from the kitchen here... in fact banned from the house entirely... don't ask, its a painful subject and I am starting to hate my garage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I threw us out of my kitchen and into the dining room, but I really wish I had a closed room or workshop - better yet - let everyone move OUT of my tiny house! I hate when people mess up my "studio" with all their personal possessions...:rolleyes2 And that goes double for the hairy cats and dogs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escentiallysoy Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Yeah, I am stuck in my basement. Wish we would have kept the old stove and put it down there, it would have been a big help. Thanks for the idea!! I didn't even think of that. I have a couple of testers I need to melt down so that would be perfect!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katy Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I am still in my kitchen. Husband travels allot so he can not really tell me no. I have bought those candle warmers from WM and I can sell them in a combo a candle and warmer. I make a good profit on them. Just another idea for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexitan Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I have a funny story regarding moving from the kitchen to a spare bedroom. The kitchen was totally converted to our candle shop, so decided to move into the spare bedroom. The first day, had everything laid out so nicely, turned the turkey fryer on to start a batch of candles, then turned the heat gun on to heat up a mold, and tripped the breaker. What a pain. Now have to plug the heat gun into the socket in the hallway with an extension cord. Next, I needed to melt down a test candle to repour...the smoke detector went off. If I try to melt anything down, and it smokes just a tiny bit, the detector goes off! I guess I'll just have to live with it, but sure did like doing the candles in the kitchen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doris Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Wish we would have kept the old stove and put it down there, it would have been a big help. Get a hot plate. Mine was about $20, has 2 burners, and I use it for all my candle and soapmaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMary Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I use a $15 griddle from Wal-Mart and put my pouring pots on those to melt stuff down. I was happy to move away from my kitchen, turned the dining room into a candle area, but was still doing double boiler for repours and melting, then I saw a thread on here and commandeered my griddle I use for breakfast stuff. I think it's a Presto too actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilredheadsis Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I only been making candles for about a year, I still have the kitchen. I have a flat top stove, that works great for smoothing/leveling the bottom of candles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzanneg Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I love my basement! It is finished and my work area has linoleum! I love it! Quiet (except for my boom box) and I have all the room I need! No body wants to come in! Wonder Why?:rolleyes2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I am so jealous of those basements! Down here, they are referred to as indoor swimming pools...:laugh2::laugh2:When I was a kid up north I LOVED the basement and couldn't BELIEVE that people in hurricane areas didn't have basements to hide in, like we did for tornadoes! Then Mom taught me about water tables...:rolleyes2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverm00n Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I do that too when I only have one or two candles to melt down. Another idea is: if you attach your wick crooked, instead on pulling it out, you can heat gun the base a little and slide it over with a skewer.Stella what's a water table? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perkyaim99 Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Stella what's a water table?Water under the ground surface. If I remember correctly down there in the South the water table is so high, if they dug a 6 ft grave, it would fill with water, that's why they use crypts. If you've ever dug a hole and had it fill up with water, you hit the water table, like quarrys they dig only as far down as they can when they hit water it gets turned into a lake. Some areas of the country have high water tables, like in the south were there is more rain and humidity. Areas like the desert it's something like 600-800 ft before you'd hit the water table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGirl Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Sometimes I use the warmers but, if I have several to melt down, I use my oven and put the jars on a cookie sheet. I also have a 2 burner hotplate in the sunroom...candle workshop. LOL my son is an electrician and I still have to use an extension cord into the kitchen to keep from tripping breakers! I wish he was more sympathetic to my work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I don't have to use candle warmers, luckily. I'm sorta lucky. When I started over 10 years ago, my husband put me in one of our garages(two car). Froze in the winter, even with heaters, and baked in the summer, even with a swamp cooler! My Mom lived with us in a small, attached inlaw apartment. She passed away a few years back and we converted it to a workshop. Now I have a kitchen/livingroom, bathroom, air conditioning, large closets, cable TV a couch/bed, bay windows, and a separate entrance to the outside, and one to the rest of the house. I'd give it all up to have my Mom back, but I know she'd want me to use it for my business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alajane Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Bernadette, what's a swamp cooler?(Looks like this may turn out to be an educational thread, between water tables and swamp coolers!!)TIA,Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmhoneybear Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Still using the kitchen and have my heat gun out so frequently that my daughters have begun making s'mores with it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzanneg Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 I don't have to use candle warmers, luckily. I'm sorta lucky. When I started over 10 years ago, my husband put me in one of our garages(two car). Froze in the winter, even with heaters, and baked in the summer, even with a swamp cooler! My Mom lived with us in a small, attached inlaw apartment. She passed away a few years back and we converted it to a workshop. Now I have a kitchen/livingroom, bathroom, air conditioning, large closets, cable TV a couch/bed, bay windows, and a separate entrance to the outside, and one to the rest of the house. I'd give it all up to have my Mom back, but I know she'd want me to use it for my business.You are so lucky to have all that! I am so sorry for your loss though! I wish I had all that in my work shoppe down stairs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joym Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 I've used my turkey roaster to melt them down; can get in several jars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macaroni&cheese Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Be careful what your intentions are with a candle warmer. They won't melt your wax hot enough if you want to just melt down some wax for a tester of a new fragrance in a single container--the wax won't get hot enough to bind properly, and it will all sink to the bottom, giving you a false reading. Unless the vaporization point is near 125 or so.As for crooked wicks, I prefer to use a heat lamp for the top, and a candle warmer to melt the bottom, and I use a thin, sharp steak knife to move the bottom of the wick.Swamp coolers work great, as long as the humidity is below 65%!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindys Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 I to am in the basment. I have my own room. Tons of shelving for storage.Also tons of extensions cords. I need to write a map as to what not to plug into things.I am still digging out wax from jars. I never thought to heat them up DUH Dont you think I should know wax melts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 I just saw this again...A swamp cooler is a less expensive version of an air conditioner...you pour tap water into it, turn on the fan, and it blows cool air around. I live in the desert so no problems with humidity! But the garage caught the sun all day long, literally, and there was no way the cool could keep it below 100 degrees.:tiptoe: Yes, I am fortunate to have all that for a work space, but it's bittersweet... it's been 3 years this past spring since I lost my Mom, and I still miss her so much there are days I can hardly go on:( . We were very, very close. But working where she lived gives me lots of inspiration, and I'm sure alot of it is from her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alajane Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Thanks for the definition! I'd never heard the term before reading this thread, but I remember trying a "homemade" version of this years ago when our AC went out at work and we set bowls of ice water in front of fans.Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Your name just made me hungry!!!! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra Phelps Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Counter top toaster oven. You can put alot of candles in those at once. Get the biggest one from Wal Mart. It will hold the 26oz. apothecary. This is MUCH faster than a warmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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