Helpful candle related websites

[burntheflame]

Hello all,

I find this forum and your advice invaluable in helping me acquire the knowledge to get better and better at making candles. I have used so much info in all my testing.

There is a wealth of information here but I wanted to ask if there are other sites that you also use to acquire knowledge or ideas or insight into becoming better chandlers.

Would love to hear which sites you have found useful over the years.

Thanks in advance.

[spark-me-up]

Hi!

Before I came accross this site, I found the candle cauldron a lot of help...http://www.candlecauldron.com/ Their troubleshooting page helped me out on a few occassions

Seems that you can find one piece of interesting/ helpful info on most every site, but trying to find ONE site that covers everything is difficult.

I also like to read a few sources before I try anything, because there is A LOT of misinformation out there.

Mostly though, I thank my lucky stars I came accross this place =)

[Beth]

This forum has the most info, hands down.

[Stella1952]

I also like to read a few sources before I try anything, because there is A LOT of misinformation out there.

Yep.

I like to read up at manufacturers' sites whenever I can. Some have a lot of information about their products (surprisingly, some have nothing).

In addition to the manufacturers, wick distributors have lots of information about wicks (WicksUnlimited, WickIt, Premier, etc.).

I read supplier sites, too, but some of those have unreliable info, so caveat emptor.

Candlemaker's websites are often the least reliable read for quality information.

Discussion forums contain wonderful information as well as junk.

Bottom line is that you have to be able to weigh information based upon whether it can be independently verifed, because people often state their opinions and beliefs which may or may not be accurate, based on lore or even completely fact-free. I realize that if I am reading information from a commercial website, they may slant their point of view toward the products they manufacture or sell - that's just common sense - so I try to look beyond that kind of bias. Understand that there is a ton of copy/paste info out there. Some, like stuff copied from an industry organization such as the National Candle Association, is designed to be repeated (ie. warning instructions, etc.). Other information often found on seller's websites is not well vetted and some is total and complete manure. The internet is rife with rumor - one person says something and a hundred others repeat it until it's accepted as fact when it really is NOT fact, but simply one person's opinion. The same holds true with people sharing experiences. For example, one may make a statement based on my experience that few people share, so one size does NOT fit all!! Beware of believing information simply because someone of notariety says so or it's on their website. Martha Stewart springs immediately to mind... or a celebrity who promotes some "pure, natural" kind of candles... Look for photographic evidence of claims to illustrate and support the text; look for reliable scientific sources as references. Beware information that contains few or questionable citations that support that point of view. Lastly, rules of life apply: if it seems too good or fantastic or nutty to be true, it probably is.

Good luck & have fun learning! :-)

Edited March 8, 2012 by Stella1952

[SliverOfWax]

Take everything you read everywhere with a grain of salt. Just because someone might have copied and pasted something from somewhere else doesn't make it true. TRUE EXPERIENCE coupled with a lot of trial and error is the best teacher; internet ramblings and musings, otherwise known as copies and pastes, are the least reliable and should be given the same credibility as spam mail from nigerians wanting to make you rich.

Above all else when it comes to forums, high post count doesn't mean squat. It can generally be said that unless someone with a high post count is a forum moderator or owner, about all that high post count means is that the poster is spending a lot of time babbling and precious little making candles and learning by doing.

It's said we learn best from our own mistakes. Just dig in and don't be afraid to screw up.

[jonsie]

What I have wanted but could not find was an independent wiki on candle making. That way the topics have their own individual page that users can make additions to and post references to verify sources. Forums are wonderful for discussions but one topic might be spread over 20 different threads. With a wiki, one page is established for that topic but can allow for updates and links to sub topics.

I have actually gone as far as to install the wiki software with my web host but there is a learning curve to the wiki that I haven't overcome yet.

I'm also debating the idea of including other craft topics (soaps, body care, etc) but then I find myself getting way ahead of myself. I still need to work the darn thing!