As natural as possible.

[snewbie]

Ya I know, define natural, right? I searched the topic, and the most recent halfway decent thread was this one.

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65328&highlight=natural+candles

Anyways, I'm not interested in bantar about semantics and what the definition of "is" is. I'm just looking for some recent experiences from those of us that try to make the most "natural" candle possible. I'm not trying to take the fun out of it, but am also trying to be "green".

I'll start by sharing.

Scents

Essential oils that work in Feather palm wax: Lavender(a bit weak), lemongrass(strong), and peppermint(medium-strong). 1oz EO per 2lbs wax.

Phathalate free fragrance oils. Bad combo:beeswax and lavender EO.

Wax

Bees, palm grown in an environmentally sustainable manner. Soy(preferably from non-gmo/"organic")

Wicks

Anything but zinc-cored.

Dyes

Reach compliant from Just by Nature.

Edited May 21, 2010 by snewbie

[mm123]

Phathalate free fragrance oils. Bad combo:beeswax and lavender EO.

.

Could you explain what you mean by "phathalate free"? I haven't heard that term before. Why would beeswax and lavender EO not be good, but lavender EO works with palm wax?

[snewbie]

Apparently phathalates are an additive used to raise the flash point in many FOs for candles. At least, that's what I heard. I do need to do a lot more research on it. Thanks. All of candlewics scents are phthalate free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalate

I didnt like the combo of my particular sticky smelly beeswax with the lavender I'm using. My wife thought it smelled weird too. Palm has basically no smell.

[snewbie]

I guess I should add my experience with the reach dyes from just by nature.

I havent noticed any effect of dye on burn quality, but that is only testing palm votives.

I use 1 drop per ounce of wax for full strength.

The blue and yellow are awesome. The red is a little bit rosey pink. The orange is a little bit peach. The green and magenta are too weak to bother with. I tried mixing orange and red, and a little bit of red (5 drops to 20 orange drops)overpowered the orange. I mixed an ok blue violet by adding 1 drop blue to 15-20 drops magenta.

[simplybeelightful]

[i didnt like the combo of my particular sticky smelly beeswax with the lavender I'm using. .

Just wondering why your beeswax is sticky and smelly?

[snewbie]

Its a fairly strong smelling soft yellow beeswax, which is nice, but it doesnt combine well with some scents. I added a very small amount of leftover ylang/amber(from candlewic) palm wax to some and it smells awesome.

[simplybeelightful]

I wonder if your beeswax is blended since beeswax is not soft at all. Where do you get it?

Don't mean to be in your business but, I have never had any problem using lavender FO with my beeswax.

[snewbie]

I wonder if your beeswax is blended since beeswax is not soft at all. Where do you get it?

Don't mean to be in your business but, I have never had any problem using lavender FO with my beeswax.

Considering the store it came from, anything is possible.

What do you all think otherwise? Is there anything else I can do to be as natural as possible without taking the fun out of it?

Has anyone used essential oils? Which ones did and did not work?

I'll add another one: Rose Geranium/Palm - Weak.

Edited May 23, 2010 by snewbie