RoseJ Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Hi all I am a total newbie and have been reading and searching the boards for a week (yes I get it test test and test again LOL) WHEW, who knew there was so much to making candles? Anyway I was wondering if there are any books that you all would recommend ( I did a search but when you search candle books 5,000 pages come up due to the word candle I guess) that I should read since I am such a newbie? I was thinking of doing jar candles but unsure now after reading some hazards that I never thought about. But I am still interested in learning more. I'm thinking maybe it would be better to start with tarts and dipped critters, reed diffusers and that sort of thing. Not that they don't have their own hazards.OK now don't slay me for asking dumb questions. I know I'm ignorant but I'm trying to educate myself LOL.TIA!RoseWho has only poured wax once when she was 8, I promise to do better next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeahRB Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 First thing I would do is decide what kind of wax you want to use (whether paraffin or soy or palm). After you decide on a wax to use, read up on it. There is a lot of good info on this board. You could start with a kit just to see if you like it. I think Peak has a soy and paraffin kit. Candlescience has a soy candle making video that might help you. I started with a container candle. I am very accident prone and I did not blow anything up. Have fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseJ Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 Thanks for the tips Leah. I started out thinking I wanted to do paraffin, but the more I read I think maybe a blend of paraffin and soy like the comfort blend or the IGI 6006. I'm so new that I'm not even sure if they are different waxes or the same wax with different company names. But I am sure I will learn. I am thinking that I will start with the scented container candle starter kit from peaks and that says that it has IGI 4630 it does say that is a blended wax it just doesn't say what it is blended with. So hopefully that will give me an idea and I can work off of that.Thanks again.Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeahRB Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 The 4627 is called the comfort blend and it is a paraffin wax. It is really good, but messy. It is kind of like petroleum jelly. The 4630 is what I started with and it is great. Very easy to work with. It is pre blended (had additives added) and no need to add anything else but color and fragrance. I loved it and I always used 9% FO per lb of wax. Hope you have fun and be warned that it is an addiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseJ Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 Leah, Thank you again you are awesome! Cool then maybe I will like the 4630 so much I won't need to change I only plan on doing container candles so don't need one for pillars, votives and such. I do however want to get some dipped critters done for Christmas presents and maybe tarts. But we will see how far I get with things and testing testing testing. I don't much like the sound of wax like petroleum jelly. But it prob has benefits I just am not aware of yet. Well I quit smoking so I figured I could replace that addiction with something much more fun and healthy:cheesy2: hoping this works!Thank you again so much!Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Who is your nearest supplier? See what they offer and go from there. If you are lucky enough to have a nearby supplier; you can gain a lot of help and knowledge locally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseJ Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 Hi Chuck, I looked into that. Looks like the nearest to me would be candle chem in Brockton Ma. that would be about a 6 hr drive one way. So not so local . But at least closer for shipping. The candle makers store is over in Ohio and not sure distance wise if that may be about the same miles. I really would have thought there was at least one wax supplier in NY state but not from what I can see on the suppliers by state list.Thank you for the help.Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Well welcome to the craft. I'd be more inclined to see if you can get a little of each wax and types of waxes and see which you prefer. Read the board and the ancient board too (the archives here) and if you still want books, go to Amazon and see what they've got under candlemaking. I have quite a few, but dang if I can find where they are. One I do like is Candle Making A step by step guid by Bob Sherman and another I like is the encyclopedia of Candle Making techniques too by S. LeaIf you get into Cut & Carve candles, get the Cut & Carve Candles by Brooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseJ Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 Hi Scented!Thank you for the welcome. I do see that some of the companies offer wax in 1 lb pieces (slabs? not sure lol) I guess so you can test the wax out and I think your idea is a good one. I certainly may have to do that just to find which one works best for me. I am thinking I may just have to hit the lottery just to test out candles by the time I get done testing all the wax, containers, wicks and fragrance lol. I think fragrance is going to be a hard one for me cause I want to try them all. I do know that I want to find a good fresh baked bread one. Anyone out there have a suggestion on which company to try for fresh baked bread? I am going to go look for the books you suggested over on Amazon.Thanks so much Scented!Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 You're welcome. I just think the more waxes you use the more you will find the kind you want to work with. You have straight paraffins, blended paraffins, soy, palm, beeswax and several blends. You'll need a variety of wicking probably, but plenty of suppliers off a variety pack (so to speak). Look at the other books on Amazon too. There may be some you're interested in too. You may get overzealous as I did and had to have all these books (most of which said the same thing), but those are the two books that I got the most from. There are a few others and there are a lot of wasted purchases too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scentlady Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 You're right there isn't much of anything in NY state, at least not near me. Drew Candle Co. is in Rochester and they have wax but I didn't have much luck contacting them about picking up orders so I gave up. There are places you can get beeswax though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseJ Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Well that is to bad cause Rochester is only about 3 hours from me and would be well worth the trip we could stop on the way to the casino .Wonder if maybe they went out of business? On another note I had requested a candle book from my local library one of the two that they had (neither of course the ones you suggested cause that would make my life waaayy to easy LOL) so today I went to pick it up. It was about a 20 page book and looked like it was from the 1970's LOL. It was more on the history of candle making and didn't even have soy wax in it. I put it right back on the cart to be returned since I sat right at the table and read it there. I was intersting enough but not what I was looking for. Why oh why does USPS seem to take so long for everything except bills? Rose I was thinking/dreaming to bad I couldn't just apprentice for a candle maker like back in the 1800's. Then I could feed my desire and not have to wait for usps LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmhoneybear Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Candlescience has a Fresh Baked Bread. It smells yummy! They have quite a few other fragrances that are awesome as well...maybe start with some 1 oz samples from them? Really, you can't go wrong with them. I got online myself about 2 1/2 years ago to find a book on candlemaking, then found this site and never looked any further. I have spent countless hours on this forum and in addition to learning tons, have met some great people. I love it here!Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of candlemaking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseJ Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 nmhoneybear, You and I have similar experiences. That is how I found the board too. I have put in many enjoyable hours the past couple of weeks reading this board. I finally did decide to register as I felt strange just lurking about. I am going to definitely get the fresh baked bread from Candlescience. MMM is there any thing that smells as good as fresh baked bread? Thanks so much for the welcome and the FO advice!Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmhoneybear Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 nmhoneybear, You and I have similar experiences. That is how I found the board too. I have put in many enjoyable hours the past couple of weeks reading this board. I finally did decide to register as I felt strange just lurking about. I am going to definitely get the fresh baked bread from Candlescience. MMM is there any thing that smells as good as fresh baked bread? Thanks so much for the welcome and the FO advice!RoseOk, Rose...decided I would enable you by recommending a few more of Candlescience's FO's that you must try as long as you are going to get the Fresh Bread, especially since Fall and the holidays are right around the corner. LOLBanana Nut Bread, Cranberry Marmalade, Hansel & Gretel's House, Mistletoe, Pumpkin Souffle, Rain Water, Strudel & Spice, Violet & Lime, and Wildberry MousseHappy shopping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseJ Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 nmhoneybear, Thank you so much for the suggestions I will add them to my list. I think I had all their pumpkin scents on there anyway. I have never met a pumpkin scent I didn't like lol. The other ones sound awesome as well.HMM I can see that I may need to get a job just to support my FO habit Thanks again for cluing me into the good scents to try.Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmhoneybear Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 You're very welcome. And, yep, it was a pumpkin candle from Partylite that got me totally hooked on candles about 8 years ago. I even sold PL for about 5 years to support my habit until I started making my own candles. I absolutely love all pumpkin scents! I think the best I've found is Pumpkin Vanilla from Candle Source, but Pumpkin Cornbread from Backwoods is yummy, too...just different. Candle Source is an awesome place to get FO from cuz they are very reasonably priced. Oops! Sorry...enabling you some more! :tiptoe:Valerie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseJ Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 LOL I have to tell you I have spent so much time on this site and researching candle suppliers and reading FO descriptions DH wanted to know if I got an online boy friend ! Yah that would be just what I need. I told him oh heck NO I am going to be way to busy for any kind of shannagins lol. He was not happy to hear that in the least and we haven't even got to the part about the funds I am going to need for my new hobby.Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Include him in this endeavor and he can have his own wax mistress (purely imaginary of course.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I just joined this forum and found this thread searching for book recommendations and I'm already confused--I didn't even know there were diff waxes used. My current hobby is winemaking (very addictive hobby) and my husband saw a show on TV about candlemaking and thought I might be interested (I didn't see it but he was saying they were adding lots of diff colors and even carving them--I don't consider myself artistic at all though). I like to do my homework first (reading) then go to forums with questions. My dialup internet connection is so slow anything online takes me forever and broadband isn't available here. We're way out in the country in a rural area and there's no specialty retailers/craft shops here either so I order everything over the internet. I went to Amazon first and found lots of candlemaking books but I wasted money on a few winemaking books till I found a couple of very good ones so I was hoping to avoid that pitfall here. I noted the two books suggested. Thanks for letting me rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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