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Beutimus soaps CB. You are quite the busy bee. Steve

Cut it out Babs, you're making me look bad jk. Seems like you have recovered nicely and have your technique going strong. That may be one of the prettiest I've ever seen from your collection. I bow to your artistry. Steve

Customers are free to do business with whomever they choose. I sell candles and people buy them or they don't. The customer who is worried about quality control doesn't buy candles. If you fall for marketing garbage like "All natural" or "Triple Scented" or "No lead wicks" it just goes to show you don't know beans about the industry. What you really need to say to the inquiring customer is "Would you like to open a wholesale account for private label?" I mean would you seriously put the fo supplier, wax supplier, wick supplier, label supplier, jar supplier, dye supplier, additive supplier on your label for full disclosure? No point in trolling.

Each year, for some unknown bit of reason; there will be an out of the blue request for some fo that hasn't been requested in forever. This year, it has been a run on Muscadine. I started getting orders for cases of Muscadine and found my supply was almost gone. I may have enough to finish the season but it sure is weird to be pouring Muscadine at Christmas and nobody touching Vanilla Bean Noel or Hansel and Gretel's House. Anybody else get this kinda thing? Steve

Yankee extrudes the fragranced/colored mottling wax into beads that are machine filled around the wicked container. The containers pass through a warming area that melts the wax. I have made swirled candles with my parasoy but it was a real pain and not worth the effort IMHO. Using a paraffin wax would be the way to go and have some patience until you get the temp part of it down. Hand-crafted items shouldn't look machine made, it kinda defeats the purpose but in the end its all about how well the candle does its job. KWIM? Steve

I don't see any of the major companies offering their formulas on their web sites or the sides of the candles. The best you could do IMHO would be to direct them to this board. I don't want someone in my area selling half-assed made candles and possibly putting lives in danger because I fed their idea that candle making is no big deal. Believe me, there's already enough of those scam companies that put a little fo on the tops of their candles or melt down cheap Chinese candles and slap a label on them. Tell them to look on Youtube or offer to sell them your secrets. Happy Thanksgiving. Steve

Amazon. Type in Disney molds, they got a bunch. HTH Steve

Eczema sometimes responds to pine tar soap. I would hesitate to call it a "Eczema" soap for obvious reasons but there are some good pine tar recipes on the board and around the net. You need to buy top grade pine tar and get ready to work real quick with it, as the stuff sets up instantly. Not to mention it smells horrible. I use a pine tar shampoo on my dog for skin conditions and it really helps. HTH Steve

I have the Essential Depot ones too and they are great but the outside of the soap looks like glass when it comes out of my acrylic. The push rods on the acrylic are a little dodgy but its no big deal. A very well thought out mold IMHO.

I use it with the KY Parasoy votive/tart wax at about 15% and find it makes the sides and bottom nice and hard but keeps the tops nice and creamy.

Clarus 3022 is the same wax. Go to their website and contact Melanie for a sample. I can tell you that the wax has varied very little over the years and is still the best wax out their IMHO. Connies Candles carries the wax but at a slightly higher price. I predict this wax will make a comeback with chandles. You might also consider 6006 with 15% 415 or some other soy wax as an alternative. HTH Steve

I have the 2 pound and wished had gotten the 5 pound. Makes soap with easy clean up and no liner. Well made product.

Where were your gloves young lady? A lye burn is so different than any other kind of skin injury. It's not like you have to wear a hazmat suit but just be focused when dealing with that part of the process. Don't let your mind wander off (ask me how I know) and remember that the fresh soap batter can still burn until the saponification process is complete and all the lye is used up.

If I remember correctly, the 3020 is their version of 6006. It's good wax but I love the creaminess of the 3022. Melanie and Brad are great reps. Steve

Coconut oil is in the wax that I use and in fact another formulation with a higher degree of coconut oil was briefly available. I love coconut oil in votives. It gives them a shiny appearance but I don't know that it enhances cold or hot throw. I have used petrolatum in times when the soy crop was in drought and the quality was poor. This was recommended by the mfg and was for improved adhesion. Coconut oil is getting so expensive but my best advice would be to try a teaspoon or so per pound and see what you get. If you believe it greatly improves appearance, efficiency or throw then why not? It's all subjective to our individual taste and experience IMHO but Chris is right about there being no magic ingredient. HTH Steve

I think it would be safe to say that the dispersal of fragrance in an open room would be in the parts per million, not very concentrated and likely to pose any kind of a health risk. Pouring large numbers of candles in a small space with no ventilation would be extremely risky to your health "duh". Concentrated perfume can cause a reaction but I doubt the perfume industry will cease and desist. Fragrance oils are created by perfumers who use different combinations of synthetic and natural essential oils to imitate a natural fragrance. Have you ever looked at the ingredients on melt and pour soap? This is just another example of a slow news day that means zip. If a customer is burning 6 candles in the house at the same time, well how can you breathe? Not an issue. IMHO Steve

Tennesse Candle Supply is in business but those fragrances have been out of stock for a long time. I have been able to order fragrances on hand and have requested e-mails when or if they get the others in stock but wouldn't hold my breath. I've never seen any of those same fragrances anywhere else, unfortunately.

I wouldn't dream of giving you advise in such a matter.

My favorite blender is Creme Brulee. Almost any other fragrance will blend at a 50-50 ratio, example: Pineapple Brulee, Pumpkin Brulee, Butterscotch Brulee, Royal Sugar Cookie and or Vanilla Bean Noel and Brulee. Just make sure you get a top notch Brulee as your blender. HTH Steve

I poured it at 185 degrees into clean, room temperature jars and did not insulate the jars. The set up was perfect for me. I mixed at 85% 6006 to 15% soy. HTH Steve

You may have to wick up as a result of high altitude and a thinner atmospheric pressure/oxygen level but it shouldn't be significant. HTH Steve

Candles harden from the outside as they cool off and as the proceess continues, the wax contracts or shrinks. Wax is formulated to prevent loss of adhesion to the outside wall of the container through differing techniques. The initial quality of the soy bean harvest will dictate changes in the formulations and the quality of paraffin refinement may cause a change in formulation. Density is determined by needle penetration and is a form of quality control but is not a guarantee that every batch of wax is identical in quality. Hence, the need for constant testing to make sure that a current batch number has maintained your standards of performance. If you are trying to construct a formula using additives to straight paraffin or soy I don't have the knowledge to recommend petrolatum, coconut oil, ect but rather the mixture of different waxes to achieve the same outcome. My approach is to slow down the cooling process to reduce shrinkage and maintain adhesion by placing in a cooling box with no drafts. Its not 100% but it works the majority of the time with my wax. HTH Steve

My parasoy doesn't require curing (3022) as a rule but when dealing with light fragrances or complex (many notes) curing is essential. If I pour Cherry Bomb or Mulberry at a load of 6 or 7%; they're loud both on ct and ht IMHO but some florals or seasonal fragrances seem to improve on the ct if not the ht after a week of curing. Its an old trick when some chandlers add a top layer of fo to ehance the dynamics of their product. You burn it off and all of sudden the candle doesn't throw anymore. I don't believe that fragrance oil binds to wax of any kind but rather it is suspended in the wax. The wick will absorb both oils once liquified and combustion does the rest of the job in dispersing the fragrance but only if they are of similar weight and the fragrance oil is not too heavy to be suspended in the wax. That is why more is not always better with fo load. Too much fragrance oil just becomes too heavy to remain suspended in the wax and collects in the bottom. Whew! Steve

Welcome to the "Funny Farm" and understand you aren't in Kansas anymore. I began with a votive kit from Cajun Candles and was rewarded with a positive first effort. The pursuit of a perfectly made votive, container, melt, hurricane or pillar will drive you to purchase lots of stuff and quickly take over your home; even with a well thought out strategy (trust me on this one). Get a kit from a reliable company and learn that medium from the ground up. Stay away from soapers and fragrances fiends at all cost (literally) and have fun. This will take you over and people will look at you in that "way" when you start talking about wax, wicks, fos, jars, molds, raw materials, shipping, labels, color, equipment and oh yes, fragrance oils. Break a leg. Steve

Your 50-50 formulation would actually be about 85% soy and 15% paraffin. I've read different percentages on 6006 and some say it is a 70/30 formula or 80/20 but the one I go by is 65% soy and 35% paraffin (add 15% soy to get a 50-50 formulation). I recommend the addition of 15% soy with cd or cdn wicks and fo load of 6 to 7% per pound. Pour into cold jars and don't cover. The adhesion is good and the ht/ct is excellent with most fos after a couple of days. I've tested everything out there and still use Clarus 3022. Find a wax and learn is my best advice. HTH Steve