Just Chatting

[moonshine]

:rockon:I just had to post this- I FINALLY feel like I may be getting somewhere with this candle making!

My husband brought me home a candle from Meijer tonight to show me how "cool" their marketing for it was. It is a empire home GREEN soy candle- the flavor GREEN Garden. The label is the paper brown Kraft kind that I also plan to use and it does look like a "Eco Friendly Candle"

In looking at it I could immediately tell that it was a soy blend- way to smooth of a top and you can see that is a harder wax. Now the front of the candle in big lettering it appears to be a true soy candle but in fine print it states soy blend, all cotton wick, biodegradable, All natural ingredients and all natural material.

I have nothing at all against soy blend- believe me I have thinking about adding paraffin to mine, I use straight 464 right now and have been beating my head against the wall trying to get it perfect- and I know and have read many posts that I am way to new at this to get that lucky but I can still hope one day I will- but anyways, I have been getting so down about it because in my mind of what the perfect candle is, being a perfectionist makes me crazy not getting it perfect right away! So I fired up the Go Green candle to see what she had and immediately ALOT of black soot starting smoking up, I blew it out trimmed the wick even more and relit and same thing- I couldnt trim it any shorter

So I left it on the counter and lit one of my own- Pumpkin Souffle and put it on the other end of the counter and let them cook! After a half hour I checked them both and the Go Green one was still sooting bad but did begin to release scent- BUT mine was not sooting at all and MINE was much stronger!! I am so excited that my candles are not as bad as I thought they were- definitely not anywhere near perfect but better than the meijer candle in my opinion! Now I am re-motivated to continue on!!

Thanks for listening- I just had to tell someone that understands the frustration and triumph of candle making!

[RichardLOZ]

Congratulations. Hard work and testing does indeed pay off by delivering results that you are looking for.

Here is Australia there is a large manufacturer of "100% natural Soy Candles", so as you do I also bought one just to see how it would be. Pretty much the exact same experience as you got, black soot, some throw and the claims of being 100% natural, which considering they us FO is untrue in any case.

Just do what you believe in, keep experimenting and testing and you will over time develop a great product. Its really just a matter of doing things correctly and having belief in yourself and your product.

We see it all the time here. I did a market on Saturday where there is another lady who makes Soy melts and a few jars. Her melts are unpackaged, displayed in take out plastic containers, complete with chips, cracks, mis-shapen etc. Her jars have no labels as such, just a small postage stamp label with the scent. On top of this her tarts are $2.50 each vs our at $1.60. Now ours are all shrink-wrapped, labeled with both scent, logo, business name, short buring instructions and then boxed, 12 to a box, by scent. It is so frustrating. She may have a great product, but when people see our stall and then hers, who do thay buy from

Believe in your product, be proud of your product and you will do well. I think my wife and I have spent as much time on the packaging and display of our line as we have developing it.

Keep up the good work

[Judy, USMC]

I think that most candlemakers (and soapers, too) can be their own worst critics! We want perfection and a quality product and sometimes won't even settle for second-best.

It does get truly frustrating when a third rate product gets out into the mainstream market just because they have a strong marketing team who sometimes (maybe most times) have actually no basis for some of the claims they make.

Side-by-side testing is the proof you needed. I'm so happy that you experienced it yourself. Good job!

[Candybee]

I'm always amazed at some of the junk that sells because of branding or clever marketing. I also think that once a handmade product takes off and the company has to then start manufacturing it-- it always loses that quality you get only from handcrafting.

[moonshine]

Congratulations. Hard work and testing does indeed pay off by delivering results that you are looking for.

Here is Australia there is a large manufacturer of "100% natural Soy Candles", so as you do I also bought one just to see how it would be. Pretty much the exact same experience as you got, black soot, some throw and the claims of being 100% natural, which considering they us FO is untrue in any case.

Just do what you believe in, keep experimenting and testing and you will over time develop a great product. Its really just a matter of doing things correctly and having belief in yourself and your product.

We see it all the time here. I did a market on Saturday where there is another lady who makes Soy melts and a few jars. Her melts are unpackaged, displayed in take out plastic containers, complete with chips, cracks, mis-shapen etc. Her jars have no labels as such, just a small postage stamp label with the scent. On top of this her tarts are $2.50 each vs our at $1.60. Now ours are all shrink-wrapped, labeled with both scent, logo, business name, short buring instructions and then boxed, 12 to a box, by scent. It is so frustrating. She may have a great product, but when people see our stall and then hers, who do thay buy from

Believe in your product, be proud of your product and you will do well. I think my wife and I have spent as much time on the packaging and display of our line as we have developing it.

Keep up the good work

Thank you RichardLOZ- It is so nice to hear encouragement and others experiences! I to have been spending alot of time figuring out my packaging and display and I am not even anywhere near to sell- but I want to be ready and have it all perfect for when I am- perfect by own standards that is:cheesy2:

Thank you again

[moonshine]

I think that most candlemakers (and soapers, too) can be their own worst critics! We want perfection and a quality product and sometimes won't even settle for second-best.

It does get truly frustrating when a third rate product gets out into the mainstream market just because they have a strong marketing team who sometimes (maybe most times) have actually no basis for some of the claims they make.

Side-by-side testing is the proof you needed. I'm so happy that you experienced it yourself. Good job!

Thank you for listening Judy!

It is very frustrating to see all this stuff at meijer/walmart- everywhere and for so stinking cheap but yes testing the one up against my beginner candle made me feel like a million- theirs stinks! LOL

Thank you for the pat on the back!!

[moonshine]

I'm always amazed at some of the junk that sells because of branding or clever marketing. I also think that once a handmade product takes off and the company has to then start manufacturing it-- it always loses that quality you get only from handcrafting.

Hi Candybee, thanks for listening

Excactly- my husband bought it because it looked so "environmentally friendly and true green" - it caught his eye and it was junk in my opinion but it was also very cheap for the size candle you got! How do you compete with that? Maybe display the crap candles up against our own hand made to really see the difference- then get sued- LOL:laugh2:

Thanks again for the reply

[soy327]

Here is another pat on the back. You will be a great candle maker.

[moonshine]

Here is another pat on the back. You will be a great candle maker.

Thanks soy!!! I sure hope so