Confused about Testers.

[Mountain Soy Candle]

I need some opinions on this. We are coming into our first year of making candles and we did not have alot of fall and seasonal scents last year. I just recieved my shipment of samples and now have to test over 55 scents to eliminate the bad ones!!!! Of course I need help burning them because there is no way I could burn that many all the way and still have enough time to have candles ready for fall and Christmas. The business is not selling retail

so I do not have insurance yet. What do you do??? Take a chance of giving them away and HOPE nothing happens??? Do you give them out to friends and family with the same form you use for testing but explain it to them?? CONFUSED.

Mike

Edited August 1, 2011 by Mountain Soy Candle

[Candybee]

I think you are too focused on the 55 scents. You need to relax and take candlemaking one step at at time.

Test your candles first before you even consider selling them. Testing will help you learn to make a quality candle customers will want to purchase. Slapping a bunch together and hoping they will come out fine won't work. If you make slipshod candles because you haven't properly tested them for quality and safety you are already halfway there to losing customers before you even begin selling. Not to mention the liability you take on selling an unproperly tested candle.

Not sure why you have so many scents to test when you are just starting out. If you are putting together a fall line a few well made candles are all you need. If you only have time to test 4 then that is your line.

When I put together a scent line for fall I start out with no more than a dozen fragrances. Some are from the previous fall that I have already teste. While others are new scents that I have been taking time and testing throughout the year preparing for fall.

I think you are on the right track. Just slow down and take your time. You have the time to expand your business each year. If you plan to stay in business you really need to learn it and know what your are doing.

[EnvyCandles]

It is already August, if you are planning on testing 55 scents (in addition to your regular testing/pouring/preparations) then you seem to be in over your head. I do not see how you would have the time, testers, or even space to test that many scents in such a short time.

I would suggest narrowing down 3-5 scents that you want to add and testing those scents. Generally we only introduce a few scents each season, but they are planned well in advance. I think offering too many similar scents can confuse people, sometimes.

[ksranch]

Candybee and EnvyCandles are right - slow down. I had a five year plan to officially get "into" business. Unfortunately, it got shortened to a 3 year plan, but luckily I had enough testing under my belt to go for it. It's all about the testing and knowing that anything you put out there is quality stuff, and that means not only good, but safe. I'm only doing 6 scents for my fall/holiday line and they are already tested and decided on (and it's only August 1).

[SliverOfWax]

I do all my testing myself under controlled conditions. No way would I trust someone else's nose and try to rate a scent on what someone else says. Especially if they think they might get more free candles to test.

[coconut]

Mike, don't even try to have wicked candles ready for Christmas. That is truly playing with fire. You wouldn't want to burn down homes of customers, friends or family with an unsafe candle, would you? Or ruin your fledging reputation with lousy candles? I think 55 is awfully ambitious, but when I want to test the scent just to see if it is a keeper or a krapper, I make a wickless candle or tart. For a wickless candle, get a small container wider than tall, like a tin or 4 oz jelly jar, mix the container wax and FO as you would for a candle, and heat it on the candle warmer. For a tart, you can make those in a mold but you will use wax designed for a votive or pillar. Also melt in a container on a warmer. Be sure you use the right types of wax and containers as I have heard of explosions of glass containers when the wrong wax is used. If you FO's you like, and your wickless tests don't explode or anything terrible, you might give away or sell some wickless or tarts. But not wicked candles. JMO

[Mountain Soy Candle]

Thanks for all the truthful replies. OK I admit I have an addiction to this and buying new f/o's.

Maybe I am doing something wrong and I am glad I asked. I have 4 choices of wicks that I use and I burn all 4 at the same time. I use ECO,CD,CDN AND HTP. Usually I need to go through a couple of sizes before I feel its right. When I get what I thought was the correct candle which is good HT, good even wax pool and clean burn all the way to the end without having any glass problems I thought I was through for that F/O,Wick and Dye. So I move on to the next one. Am I wrong there?? I figured we could get some help from others. We don't sell candles and really don't think we would even be remotely close at this time. What I meant about fall and Christmas was not for retail purposes and I also stated that in my last post. I was asking that with so many f/o's do you all still test all of them yourselves or do you GIVE them to family and friends to help.

Mike

[Stella1952]

I was asking that with so many f/o's do you all still test all of them yourselves or do you GIVE them to family and friends to help.

It depends upon what I am testing. If I am simply testing for hot throw and proper wicking, I test the majority of fragrances myself. I DO have a few (and I mean 2 or 3) TRUSTED testers who understand testing and can give me solid opinions and data.

For market testing, I have a wider circle of friends who give me ideas about what people like and what they don't. My tastes are different from what people, in general, buy, so I need other opinions as to whether they would choose this fragrance or that one.

But speaking to your problem of having so MANY fragrances to test, there is a HUGE variety of fragrances from which to choose! Over the years, I have come to rely less on my market-testers' opinions and more on the fragrances I want to specialize in (after all - I'm the one who has to make and smell them!). My customers are true-blue because they like the line I offer. People who want a different type of fragrance than I offer buy their candles from others who specialize in those. There's room for everyone and every taste, so I don't feel compelled to make stuff I don't like simply because it's the fragrance du jour! HTH

[Mountain Soy Candle]

Thanks Stella. I guess I am hung up on wanting to have all the f/o's. I have found oils that did awesome but we didnt care for the smell but figured someone else might and so we kept it. I am going to start with a few scents and keep testing like I have been and just keep getting better and moving foward.

Mike

[ChandlerWicks]

Hi There,

I'm new to this also & confused but figuring out how to test slowly. At first I was using the whole 1 oz bottle of FO samples & had piles of little candles all over my shelves in kitchen. Gave to family members then began freaking out once I realized that wasn't a very good idea. So had them swear up & down to either send back or watch candles burn like a hawk. Won't do that again! Now I make very small batches of fo/wax ( so that I have enough FO left to try different %'s ) & pull the wick out & put another type or size of wick back in once I know that wick is not working out. Lonestar has a sampler pack of 305 wicks for $44.95. I bought different jars to see which I like also. So definately test yourself IMHO!

[deb426]

I test all my candles myself. Quite honestly, friends and family suck with feedback. Plus, I don't think they don't really know what to look for. After all my testing is completed, I might give a new scent to a friend or two for feedback on the scent only but not on how the candle burns. Especially if it is a scent that I don't particularly care for like a floral.

[Stella1952]

Thanks Stella. I guess I am hung up on wanting to have all the f/o's. I have found oils that did awesome but we didnt care for the smell but figured someone else might and so we kept it. I am going to start with a few scents and keep testing like I have been and just keep getting better and moving foward.

Mike, have you thought about making a few little sniffie samples to give to friends and family to get a better idea of what they like? I use the deli trays that bite-sized brownies, etc. come in to make a perfect little sniffie. People can throw a couple into their melters or just sniff to let you know whether they like the fragrance or not... Sure, some fragrances smell very different cold throw vs. hot throw, but it's a place to start...

[spark-me-up]

WoW! 55 eh? That's taken the top off my head

My main thing isn't fragrance but I decided to dabble- with EO's. I've started with one & I've been dicking around with it for weeks now!

I thought I'd be sitting pretty when I started on the second LOL. So, this has been a great thread to read, thanks guys!

Good Luck Mike... think I'd be about 89 but the time I reached your goal

[EricofAZ]

Hahahaha, great thread.

I agree that friends and family suck at testing. They want to be "polite" when we want cold hard facts. I had this problem with the girlfriend until I tested one with her at her place. Then we were able to chat about why she like Yankme brand and why mine are different (came down to Yank-me providing HT in a half hour and mine took 45 minutes). I guess it is the "I want it now" generation.

One of the best ways I found was to get a tester and give them instructions. Have them write down the size of the room, when they smell the throw for the first time, do they like the FO, is it strong or weak or just right, is the container hot, does the pillar curl in on itself or need hugging, etc, etc, etc. How long was the burn, subsequent burns, soot, yada yada.

Sliver, I disagree about feedback from testers. I like to get this. I liken it to software. There is alpha testing and beta testing with software. Alpha testing is where the software is no where near finalized and it takes really skilled people. There is often no GUI or Graphical User Interface to alpha testing, meaning that the product doesn't really look like software or a candle. I alpha test myself only. Beta testing is where the product is pretty close to what a consumer might want. It has a GUI, meaning that it works as advertised and the bugs just need to be identified. Beta testing is often more like destructive testing meaning that "here's the candle, try and break it - find out how it fails to burn well for you or throw well, etc." I found that involving others with beta testing is very well worth the effort. Then there's version 1.0, the initial release. This is often a treat for the testers. I want feedback on packaging, presentation, the final product, etc.

Edited August 3, 2011 by EricofAZ

[chuck_35550]

I don't know about everybody else but there are a ton of samples in my shop. I usually order a dozen or so from a supplier then do the oob thing and test the ones that crank my tractor. I'll make up two 8 oz candles and test one of them. If it works ok, then I'll put it out there for customers to pull off the lid and sniff (I don't have a physical shop) and get their reactions. If I like it and the customers like it, then it gets added and something that's not selling gets removed until a later time with maybe a re-name or a better season for that fo. I feel sorry for my samples that have been waiting for over a year to be discovered but that's life. It's those $1.00 sample sales that cause the problem, yes-no? HTH

Steve