chuck_35550

AH/RE has an fo "Welcome Home" that sounds like the description of HGH. Anybody know? Steve

Try Pumpkin Souffle or Gingered Pumpkin are spicy pumpkin fragrances. I mix the two for a softer version. HTH Steve

The same reason you attach Christmas or holiday to a fragrance name. It indicates a seasonal fragrance that you call something else any other time of the year. That fragrance name is simply marketing; there's nothing about it that reminds me of Christmas. I guess Claire Burke or Apple Jack Peel makes me think of Fall, Christmas or winter. HTH Steve

Indiana Candle Supply has an excellent one. Their coffee blends are really top notch.

I don't use any additives. I would start with a 10 cd wick and go from there. Good luck and hope this works out for you. Steve

The 3022 first hit the market distributed by Greenleaf. It was a huge success, as well as their fragrance oils and customer service. I've been using this wax for over 6 years and have attempted to dupicate it with my own formula but to no avail. Order the 10lb slab and heat to about 190 degrees and add your dye and stir 2 minutes and then fo and stir 2 minutes and pour into clean, warmed jars and place in a box for slow cooling. I normally use 6% fo load but on lighter scents use 7% and let cure for several days; although you can get a pretty decent ht/ct from day one. Clarus also offers their own version of 6006 which is very good too but I prefer the 70% soy 30% paraffin combination. I use cdn or cd wicks and almost all the ky fos from ah/re throw well. HTH Steve

I use 80% Ky Votive/Tart wax with 20% Clarus 3022 and 9% fo load. Pour 1 oz into silicone flower shaped cupcake molds and get sunbursts. They are hard on the bottom and creamy on the top and really do well. Southwest Candle Supply's Mulberry or AH/RE Cherry Slush are really loud and last a long time. HTH Steve

I use SKS for jars ($250.00 minimum) and Wholesale Supplies Plus ($39.00 minimum I think) are a few examples. Look at flat rate shipping, Postal shipping as just a couple of ways to save money. HTH Steve

Calendula makes an excellent base for lotions, salves and creams. If you have sensitive skin Calendula Oil would be ideal for you, it's even gentle enough that it can be used on babies to treat diaper rash. Calendula is an excellent anti inflammatory and antiseptic making it beneficial to sore, inflamed itchy skin conditions. It promotes healing, increases collagen production and cell regeneration. It also aids in the reduction of scars making it ideal for many skin conditions. Calendula is commonly used for acne, eczema, psoriasis, diaper rash, dry chapped skin and other rashes. It is a wonderful oil to have on hand at all times. Place your calendula petals in a tea strainer or cheese cloth and place in a Mason jar with your oil. You can set it in a sunny window and let the sun do the work or you can simmer the oil for about 30 minutes (don't let it burn) and then store for several weeks to get a good infusion. Your formula is too high in lauric acid for little people's skin IMHO but it could be allergies to other ingredients. Infants and cancer patients typically tolerate about 5 to 7 percent lauric and definitely no fragrance. HTH Steve

Try 85% 6006 and 15% 415. Heat to 185 degrees and mix color/fo for about 2 minutes and pour into clean room temperature jars. Use cd or cdn wicks for best results. You get less sooting and fewer wet spots. The ht/ct is very good at 6 to 7% and improves with curing. This formula is supposed to give you about a 50/50 percentage of soy to paraffin. HTH Steve

I usually order a grocery list of items from a supplier. You can look at your check out invoice and see how the shipping rate adjusts to whatever you are buying. Some suppliers have better shipping rates and alternatives than others; this will be reflected in the estimated shipping cost. Bulk is not necessarily expensive in the long run on some items. Free shipping or a bulk rate can be very cost effective no matter what phase you are at in your business. HTH Steve

Why not double wick on the larger jars? You could try different combinations of wicking to use up your supply. HTH Steve

I still have pop micas on hand but prefer to use the Celestials. My only gripe is that some of them start out a different color and then turn once they are saponified but the pinks are really pink and the indigo is really sweet. I love Morrocan red clay and French green clay as colorants. HTH Steve

I don't gel any of my soaps. The oven method will insure that you get a complete and not a partial gel IMHO. You could probably build a box with a light bulb inside that would generate enough heat to keep the temperature level up over night but its pretty simple to just place the mold in your pre-heated oven and turn on the light and turn the oven off for an hour or so. My soaps are hard and fragrant without any gel whatsoever but the colors are more intense with a full gel IMHO. HTH Steve

I've purchased some great molds from there but they weren't custom. There are several artists who make the molds and they may be backed up on their orders. Hope they haven't gone out of business like so many others.

It's always the problem of balancing suds and conditioning. You want high yield suds so you have to compensate by increasing your conditioning properties with butters and the like. The holy trinity of soapmaking for centuries has been olive, palm and coconut; with good reason. If you used a simple 50% olive, 25% Palm and 25% coconut recipe you get a balanced set of qualities. I really like olive pomace and beef tallow in my soaps with a little cocoa or shea butter. I use Quiet Girl's formula a lot and think its just one of the best all around soap recipes out there IMHO. Buy a bag of marigold petals and fill a round tea strainer and infuse your olive with calendula for little people skin. You can place the petals on top of the soap for a nice touch and its a beautiful golden color. HTH Steve

Sorry I took so long to answer. I get it from Community Candle Supply and use Clarus 3022 wax. It's somewhat a grapey floral but has some musky undertones which keep it from being a true floral. HTH Steve

Just got in a pound of Butterscotch Brulee' and Cinnamon Apple. Wowzer, I could drink the stuff out de bottle. Can't wait to get this in wax and its so nice to have TCS back. The turnaround was very short and I am so happy. Steve

Hazelnut Lone Star Candle Supply "Bittersweet chocolate with crushed hazelnuts." skin safe I've never used this fragrance but it sounds pretty nice. The other option would be to buy a straight hazelnut and mix it with a chocolate truffle. You might go to the fragrance finder and look around some more. HTH Steve

Being from Tennessee, I automatically think of persimmon as a mountain treat with a beautiful coloration to the ripened fruit. A spicy persimmon would be unusual. I carry a Kudzu fragrance that is very nice (think floral grape) that is kind of unusual as well. HTH Steve

On football Saturdays we are bad to light one of my candles and forget about it. The end of the day I put the candle out and the lid back on and the glass is warm. It has fragranced the house all day long and there is a little hang up but not much. I've been using this wax for about 7 years and I know it inside and out. Wicking has become pretty routine with the exception of certain heavy fragrances that require a wick up. They aren't perfect but I'm comfortable that they are safe. I have a totally different viewpoint about my candles than the consumer. They sometimes have unrealistic expectations of what a candle should do but they should expect the candle to be safe. Always err on the side of caution and never assume anything that the average brain dead consumer does with your product these days.

I started with a votive candle kit from Cajun Candles. There were 12 metal molds with wick pins, wicks, fragrance of my choice, color and J-50 wax. The kit contained enough to make several dozen votives and was reasonably priced and gave me a better understanding of the art. Buying from Amazon doesn't give you a representative to ask questions, make complaints or establish an account for future purchases. Jelly jars are a great starting point, in that they are straight up and down containers and are fairly easy to wick. Multiply .06 times 7 and you get .42% fragrance oil for one jelly jar (8 oz jars hold about 7 ounces) or you could try .50 or 1/2 ounce per 8 ounces of wax or 1 oz of fragrance per 16 oz of wax. The reason I gave you the two formulas is for the purpose of testing. Measure out 7 oz of wax and 1/2 oz of fragrance oil, don't worry about sticking the wick just yet. Melt your wax and watch the temperature with your thermometer and add your color and stir for 2 minutes, add your fragrance and stir for two minutes and pour into the jelly jar. After the wax hardens and cures for several days, take a meat thermometer and make a hole in the middle of the candle and insert a wick and burn for a couple of hours. Write down every step for reference. If the wick is too big you will have a super hot jelly jar with a too deep melt pool. Write down the strength of each fragrance, the wax appearance, ect for your next test. Pull the next wick out of your sample bag of wicks and start again until you find the best combination for that fragrance. Now test the next fragrance and follow the same steps. Don't give these test candles to friends or family EVER! After you thoroughly test and know your candles are safe; find some testers to give you feedback about the fragrances. You should be somewhere close to that point this time next year. Find the nearest distributor (don't go to Michael's or Hobby Lobby) and go to their showroom and ask questions and forget Amazon. HTH Steve

Why do you have left over wax?

Go to the Clarus web site and call and when the recording says Melaniering her up and order. Steve

She abandoned the trademark so what's the beef? The University of Alabama trademarked the scripted A and will sue you in a heartbeat. If you try to sell a red script A in this neck of the woods you better get ready. I call em "Mascots" and so far so good.