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I have never made a gel candle....


soapqueen

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I started making gel candles (wickless, forever candles) before I started candles and tarts. It didn't take me long after wasting a lot of money to switch. If I were you, I wouldn't invest much in gels until you find out if they will sell in your area. They didn't do so well in mine, and I sell in a tourist area many times. I made all of mine with sand, sea shells, palm trees, fish, etc.......all the scenic designs I could think of. They were too beautiful and expensive to burn up with a wick, so I went wickless and added an insert for a tealight. Everyone looked at them and bragged on how beautiful they were, then when I told them the price, they didn't want to spend that much....and my prices were much lower than many others I've seen on websites. Now, with the economy falling, it might be even more difficult to sell them. I finally got rid of them, some at barely above cost, so all my labor was in vain.

I wouldn't say it's harder to make gel, if you make the forever (wickless) ones like I did. At least you cut out all the wicking and burn testing as opposed to paraffin or soy candles. It does take more time to actually make them, if you do the scenic designs, and you do spend a lot more money. Gel is more expensive and embeds can get expensive if you add a lot to your candles.

IMO, there is too much work involved for what I could sell them for. Occasionally I still make a few for gifts. I really hate working with gel, though, 'cause of picking off the little gel balls off everything when cleaning up.

If you decide to do this anyway, I have quite a collection of embeds, sand, inserts, etc. you can purchase at a reduced price.

You can PM me.

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but I was wondering if it is "harder" to make then wax candles? And also, where do most of you buy your gel at?

As with other "wax" mediums, you have to do your research. Every medium (i.e., palm, soy, gel, paraffin) has its own properties which responsible candle makers should be aware of. It just requires knowlege and lots of testing.

I make both paraffin and gel and not one is any harder than the other, IMO.

ETA: As far as buying gel wax, I would make sure you use a patented formula. That way you know what you are getting each time (i.e., LD, MD, HD). When I first started I bought unpatented gel from a smaller candle supply source and in three days my entire 5 gallons of gel had clouded beyond use. Just an FYI.

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