chuck_35550

It takes three wicks for one of those large heart shaped containers with my wax and I place them equal distance from each other toward the center. Each wick slightly overlaps the other wick in order to cover the entire area with heat. They are just such a pita to secure that I will do anything to avoid multiple wicking containers. I don't like huge wicks with large flames either, so my largest diameter is 3 inches. Steve

I would use a zinc wick with that wax and at least a 6% fo load. Zincs are cool burning and constructed to work best with paraffin wax blends. They do mushroom a lot (carbon build up) but they handle paraffin well. The alternative wick might be an LX but maybe you just need to test a wide assortment of wicks. Did you get a lot of soot from the cd wicking system? HTH Steve

What does your testing indicate?

Southwest Candle Supply has a Muscadine (poured some yesterday) that is a very good grape IMHO. The Kudzu is a floral grape and has a hint of musk in it to me. I used to pour a lot of it (Alabaster/Community Candle) and it makes me sick to smell it now. Kudzu blooms are very powerful and sweet but that's all you can say for Kudzu, lol.

Poured 80% Tennessee Candle Supply Apples and Spice, 10% Mango and 10% Peach Magnolia Strawberry for a fruit medley fragrance. The spice comes out just right and the apple mellows with the additonal fruits. Be very careful with Spearmint. I have a bottle that will probably last for ten years, because anything more than a splash and it takes over everything else. You get spearmint gum. HTH Steve

They offer free shipping on anything over $250.00 and be sure to look at the bulk rates. Free shipping is always good for me.

CDN wicks burn a little hotter and they stand up to the wax due to the coating. The 3020 is Clarus' version of 6006 and has to be wicked down substantially but you can use the same wicking. I understand the the 3020 is very popular but I like the 3022 better.

The Masterbuilt heats the wax to 200 degrees and pretty darn fast. The spout is perfect for me and the only problem mine has is with trash that gets in the wax. I placed a fine wire mesh screen on the inside over the spout and it does a good job of keeing trash out. You can pour quickly with the right set up, I have a two eye electric warmer (eyes are covered) and keep my pour pot and thermometer on standby while getting the fo ready and jars ready. Very dependable, I've had mine for about 4 years and it works like a charm (have a back up just in case). Cleaning is a real breeze, let your wax get low and pour out into your pour pot and lift out the aluminum liner and wipe out with a paper towel. Just remember to line up the heating coils just right or you won't make a full contact and you will freak out that the thing is broken. HTH Steve

You need to check out SKS Bottling and Packaging. Pretty good deals on bulk orders of tins. Steve

I agree with a cdn or cd 10 as a starting wick. You might find cdn 10 for heavy fos and cdn 8 for light fos but I bet the 10s will work in almost every application. Steve

My last cdn wicks were from Southwest Cabdle Supply but I also buy the 12 inch cdn from Candle Coccoon and a bag of wick base assemblies and get three wicks out of each one. I like a thick coating on those wicks. I would try a cdn 16 or 18 with that diameter. HTH Steve

I've been with this wax for over 6 years now and use cdn or cd wicks. My salsa jars take a cd 18 or 20 to get a full mp and some fragrances need about a week of cure time. But the majority of fragrances are ready to go out the door a day or two after being made. I heat to 200 degrees in the turkey fryer and pour at 185 degrees into warmed jars and then cover in a large cardboard box with blankets to insulate overnight. I don't know what your container diameter is but the salsa jar is about 3.75 inches across and the cd 18 or 20 will get a 1/2 inch deep full melt pool in about 20 minutes or so. HTH Steve

Wholesale supplies is not free shipping, they add the shipping costs on the front. Sweet Cakes may be pricey but the majority of their products are A+ in my book. Just can't afford to spend that kind of money for part time sales. AH/RE has some excellent choices for soaping and candle making IMHO and are reasonably priced with ok shipping charges. Steve

Does the soot only appear in your bathroom whenever you have a lit candle in it? Soy first grabbed a hold of the candle industry because the soot was white and not as detectable as paraffin (or so I've been told) and then the whole natural movement took over from there. Combustion will always leave a bi-product, no matter how hard you try to defy that reality. Mushrooms on the wick are evidence enough that your candle is sooting the air but the awful truth is that anything burning is emitting particles into the air along with fragrance molecules, gases and unknown elements that have not been identified either in the formulation of the wax or the fragrance oil. If you want to protect your wall hangings and pictures you will need to stop cooking food in the house, burning candles, exhaling carbon dioxide and stop using gas heat. You might want to consider wickless. HTH Steve

I tried 4627/soy and found nothing there that worked. No matter what percentages or whether I used zinc, cd or lx. If you want to use about 8% fo try 1.25 oz and see if that works for you and try a zinc but forget vanilla based fragrances. You could try a week of curing before testing or just scrap that formula and go with something else. HTH Steve

I tried a lot of different formulations (75/30, 50/50, 80/20) and didn't care for the results. I hate to sound like a broken record but the 85% 6006 with 15% soy is the best formulation IMHO. Pour it up at 185 degrees into room temp jars and don't cover. I used cdn wicks with that formulation and got great results. HTH Steve

Generally, there isn't a need for cure time with paraffin. I don't know how you are testing but here's my technique. Pour the candle without a wick and after it has set (next day) I take a metal meat thermometer and make a hole for my wick. I pull the wick out with pliers if it doesn't work and resurface with a heat gun. Once cooled, I make my hole and try another wick. If you plan to use more than 5% load (the average is 6-7%) you should pour your candles with that amount for testing. HTH Steve

This may sound strange but it works for me. I line up my bottles on the work bench in accordance to their type or similarity and after pouring that fragrance, place the bottle on the other side of the bench and check off on my worksheet how many poured. I line the poured candles from left to right in rows starting at the back of a large cooling box. The next day I begin pulling candles out and inspect for problems, trim the wicks, place the lids on and stack on a shelf with the bottle in front to mark the fragrance. I place my labels and warning stickers and return them to the jar box and write the fragrance on the top and shelve. Keeping a list is really important for me to insure that the right label is on the candle. I use one pour pot (glass coffee carafe with drip proof spout) and clean up in between if using color (which I don't) or if changing from bakery fragrances to floral or something that would require a clean up. Otherwise, you aren't going to smell a trace of Sugar Cookie in a batch of Creme Brulee KWIM? I weigh everything and use an oven digital thermometer with the silver wire and a probe that stays in my pour pot on my double eye warmer on the bench. If I am pouring 12 oz jars with 6% fo the math looks like this (jar holds 8 oz of wax-pour in 15 oz of wax and 1 oz fo) and pour into the jar on the scale. If all goes as planned there is no left over wax and all the candles look the same. Oh and make sure your jars are on a level area. HTH Steve

I like Peaks Strawberry Jam.

Soapcalc is kind of like falling down a rabbit hole. You can chase numbers to achieve lots of bubbles or gentle or super emollient and wind up with an out of balance recipe. Some soapers go by the 50/50 rule in formulation (50% soft and 50% hard oils) and build on that rule of thumb. You really want to keep an eye on your lauric acid (I try to stay under 12%) and pay attention to linoleic and linolenic percentages to prevent dreaded orange spots or rancidity. Quiet Girl's recipe is one of my favorites and it uses Crisco in the formula. The holy trinity of oils is olive, palm and coconut (Palmolive soap and detergent). Substitute lard for the palm and think 50% olive with 20% coconut and 30% lard. Now take out 10% from olive and add 10% soybean and take out 5% from olive and add 5% castor. Look at your qualities and whether adding or subtracting makes any real difference in the quality of your soap. Use quality lye, oils and research what fragrance oils work best in cp or hp applications. Leave your soap in the mold for at least two days and check with your gloved finger to see if its hard enough to unmold. HTH Steve

I haven't made much of anything, after closing the business and can't seem to get any motivation (on vacation from working) to even clean up the lab. Luxury hand-crafted items in my area are not doing well for economic reasons. Craftserver is not the problem but just a general lack of enthusiasm on my part. We've pretty much said and done about everything you can say or do on some of the usual topics IMHO. Its either help a noob or complain about a distributor and that gets kinda old for me. Summer will be even slower than spring but the real issue would be to preserve this resource by keeping it active in some way. We've lost some great members like: TopofMurrayHill, Stella and some others who kept things popping. Steve

I have been using 3022 for over 6 years now. The 3020 is their version of 6006 and its okay but I perfer 3022 for overall appearance and performance. This wax was first introduced as the famous "Greenleaf Miracle Wax" and was a hot topic for quite awhile; until the business went under. Melanie or Brad Ford are the best in the business IMHO and the product is totally trustworthy. HTH Steve

I formulate my wax to exact proportions and use every last drop. If you don't care about a little left over wax that's fine but there's no reason to not figure the exact liquid of wax + fo + color on your scale. I place my jar on the scale and pour (it does require that you not overfill jars) with no waste. You can take some tape for water heaters and secure a fine mesh screen over your tap (wax just gets crud in it one way or another) to prevent any trash in the candle. Take a paper towel (Thank you Lord for paper towels) wipe out your Presto and pour another batch. Buy a good scale and a good thermometer (not a candy thermometer but a digital). HTH Steve

Yes. It is supposed to be a 65-35% formula and the additon of 15% soy makes it a 50-50 blend. I don't know if that's true but it works out real good. HTH. Steve

No, I tried 4627, 4630 with 415, 464 in all kinds of percentages and didn't care for any of the results. The only blend I found to be consistent was 85% 6006 and 15% 415 or 464 with a cd wick. Great appearance, cold and hot throw for most fos at about 7% load. I know there are some real fans of 4627 and 4630 but those waxes just didn't work for my taste. HTH Steve