chuck_35550

Thanks CB for the info. Three will fit in a shipping box and I thought what you could do would be to fill the other two molds (one on either side) with hot water to insure a complete gel (if that's what you like); not to mention making three logs of soap. I'm no longer in business but couldn't resist buying the molds, oo pomace, coconut, watermelon and rose fos for a little Christmas in July (been in withdrawals). I better not spend anymore money for wooden surrounds but who knows? Steve

Thanks for the heads up on that one! I bought three of them for $22.00 apiece. Their web site is great and the prices and deals are pretty sweet. I have used them in the past but they didn't have such an extensive product line. I wish they had those molds in slabs too. Thanks again. Steve

Essential oils have been used for centuries for medicinal purposes. Certain oils can be toxic and should be used with caution. Some people may have an allergic reaction to an oil or combination of oils and that's serious business. Its best to buy a good handbook explaining the oils and their properties and what levels are recommended for safety purposes. I guarantee that when some company states that their fragrance oil contains an essential oil(s) it's a pretty small percentage of the formula. Essentials are too blasted expensive to make much profit and a little goes a long way. The "natural" label is a hot button topic and some folks kinda think its marketing hooey and some folks market their product as an all natural product that has some kind of health benefit (sinus candles, ear candles, lotion candles); it all takes a knowledge of your raw products. HTH Steve

It's not a big deal. You might get more response and then again maybe not. Summertime is pretty light for discussions. The melting point of a wax is simply information to let you know at what temp the wax will liquify. Low temp melt points usually mean soft wax and higher melt points are usually harder. You want your tart to melt at the temperature of an average melter (electric or tea light) so if its too hard, the wax won't melt and if it's too soft it won't hold up on a hot summer day. Blending wax with different melting points and fragrance loads changes the original purpose of the wax. My advice would be to go with a wax and learn all about it before you start blending. It takes a bit of testing and time to learn about a particular wax. Go to the fragrance section and click on suppliers and read through their products and the prices and then pick one and begin testing. You want a tart that will fragrance for a good deal of time and one that melts completely within a reasonable time. That sounds simple but believe me, its not. HTH Steve

I have two bars in my shower. One is a gm and the other is a salt. I generally use them together to balance my skin (salt too dry and gm too oily) or alternate the bars to keep my skin just right. I never have quite understood the idea behind a salt bar. Mild exfoliation (maybe) is supposedly a reason but it seems mostly people like the lather more than anything else KWIM? What would happen if you made up half batches of each and poured them in layers? Big lather and great conditioning all in one bar would be kinda cool. I like mp imbeds to help do the same thing in a soap. Just a few ideas. HTH Steve

The only difference is none. It's possible that the wax formulation has changed but doubtful. Sounds like you have drafts from ac vents or ceiling fans that have caused your candle to have these problems. Try testing in a small space (bathroom) with no drafts and see if the problems lessen. HTH Steve

Spend your money for quality fragrance oils and use essentials in soaps or bath and body. You aren't going to get a knock your socks off ht from that type of candle IMHO. Steve

They went out of business. I heard you could order fragrance oils from them but got no response to my e-mails. Notice that the wicks are not on sale they are at that price until gone. Good luck with that. Let me know if you get a bite. Steve

Post this in the wickless section. There is a ton of information about wax formulas, presto pots and fragrance oils. HTH

You could try addding some Titanium Dioxide but I look for vanilla fos that are designed to not morph or discolor in cp. There is also a vanilla stabilizer that you can use along with the titanium dioxide that works pretty good. HTH Steve

Try 30% CO 10% Castor 30% Lard 30% OO 41 hardness 20 cleansing 53 conditioning 29 bubbly 30 creamy 54 iodine 160 ins

I think the op is referring to this: This is our own line of Soy based fragrance oils that are made with the highest quality fragrance compounds in a soy oil base. Most fragrance oils that are used for candle making even for soap making have solvents, mineral oil or dipropylene glycol in them. When common fragrance oils are mixed with natural waxes they can cause all kinds of problems. Our Soy based fragrance oils mix very well in natural waxes. You can also use these oils in paraffin waxes too. Some of our Soy based fragrance oils may contain a little bit of a solvent in them. There are fragrance compounds that will crystallize with out them. Our goal is to offer fragrance oils with little or no additives. We use these same fragrances in our line of candles. Also we work very closely with our perfumers to obtain the best fragrances. I've never used a soy based fo but it makes sense from a marketing point of view. HTH Steve

The lids are wicking the liquid wax. As the wax melts it probably pushes the unmelted wax upward in the jar and the lid wicks the oily wax. I would ditch the lids and go for something else that wont absorb the melted wax. I suppose you could put some kind of liner over the top (wax paper maybe) and srew the lid down over the paper but it interferes with customers sniffing your product. Seems kind of dangerous to think that maybe your 100 degree plus jar might burn a hand or even explode if it gets hot enough. JMO Steve

I have never attempted bakery candles but have bought a few. I had a pie slice that caught fire and almost burnt my house down. These kinds of specialty candles require extensive testing for safety. I know there are plenty of boared members who make these kinds of candles but I'm not sure you can get reliable help other than testing different combinations until you are satisfied with the results. Good luck.

How are your cupcakes contained? If they are free standing on a heat proof plate I would look for a cool wick like an LX. The cupcake is pretty much the same system as a pillar candle. You want your melt pool to stay away from the outer wall of the candle but with enough area to provide ht. If your candle is in some kind of glass jar or holder, then try cdn wicks. HTH Steve

I use the salsa jars with a 70% soy and 30% paraffin blend with a 16 cdn wick at 7% fo load. Most of the time my candles are ready to go in a couple of days but the longer they sit the better they throw IMHO. I've tried 50-50 blends and the paraffin smoke problem seems to take over the system. Zinc wicks are cool burning wicks and they don't handle soy efficiently. I have a ton of jars 12oz and 16 oz with gold lids for sale. Steve

Warming the jars and then covering in a box with blankets, slows down the cooling process. If the glass is room temperature or even cold then the wax begins to solidify on the outside (like a candy shell) and then as the rest of the wax begins to cool and solidify-it shrinks-pulling the wax away from the glass wall. It's kind of pointless this time of year but you can try several additives to change the molecular composition of the wax. I think your candles look great and love your labels and overall look. You seem to be doing your homework. Some folks swear by coconut oil (wally world) 1tsp to 1tbp pp of wax and others use petrolatum at about the same rate per pound of wax. HTH Steve

Candle Cocoon offers 12 inch long cdn wicks and wick tabs. I get three wicks out of each wick for my 8 ounce containers and they burn just a little hotter than the regular cd wicks IMHO. HTH Steve

<H3 class=ue-box-title>Quick Details Place of Origin: China (Mainland) Brand Name: DP Model Number: 710 Application: Candle Making Melting Point: 46-56 Forms: Liquid Oil Content (%): 30% Refinement: Crude color: light yellow </H3>Specifications slack wax EN ISO 9000 Wax blends Wax emulsions slack wax is a low-range melting point product in the Prowax line of petroleum slack and scale waxes. It is a translucent crystalline material in the solid state and a straw yellow-to-amber, clear liquid when molten. It is derived from petroleum via a carefully controlled refining process. 710 is comprised of a mixture of straight chain normal paraffin and branched, iso-paraffin hydrocarbons. How did you come by this wax? This looks like a large bulk commercial wax that is sold by the tank or drum.

There are some Youtube videos for rendering lard and tallow. I love tallow in soap and as a sub for palm but some people can be real squeamish about animal products in their bath and body products. I can always buy good tallow but finding lard that has not been hydrogenated is next to impossible and very expensive. The fat from around the kidneys makes "leaf lard" and is prized by chefs for pastry dough and flavoring certain dishes. HTH Steve

I place candles in their boxes in coolers packed with the frozen blue pouches to keep them cool and only kept out candles for customers to sniff. Once they start melting you can't go back. Label the coolers so you know which fragrances are where and keep them packed in your vehicle and run the ac often. You can use ice but you have to make sure that the melted ice doesn't get to your product. HTH Steve

There are wicks that are designed to curl as they burn and some people wind the wicks by turning the jar and this causes the wick to turn as it burns and keep the melt pool even. You may have read a post(s) about people who make tails on their candles for decorative purposes and some customers may be too dense to cut the wick off before burning. If a wick curls down into the wax it simply goes out and does not catch the wax on fire. Steve

I have a set of poinsettia tea cups and saucers that I poured red colored wax fragranced with Apple Jack Peel. They are about 4 years old now and they still smell and look great and I put them out for decorative purposes only. I made candles in heavy mugs and those worked just fine and sold pretty good. I look for containers that are stable and not easily tipped over but mostly if they are heavy enough to handle the heat. You could drop a votive holder down in the cup and pour over it maybe? I wouldn't trust something that hasn't been designed for that purpose but I'm seeing a lot of different containers in the stores these days (flower pots ect). HTH Steve

Handcrafting should be about creativity IMHO. I've poured candles in sea shells, outdoor containers and tried different coloration methods for different looks. Have you tried placing photos on your pillars or using imbeds from silicone molds. That's a ton of fun (but expensive) and making your own silicone molds is so cool and easy. How about sand candles with macrame hangers? HTH Steve

I started with a votive kit from Cajun Candles. It was fun and easy and not too expensive. I bought some votive holders at Dollar Tree, clear bags with twist ties and made some labels and gifted them to friends. The feedback gave me the courage to try jelly jars. Clamshells for wickless or melts is another way to go that doesn't take a ton of investment. Go to the those forums and read through some of the posts to see what you think. I love paraffin for its bright colors and easy wicking but wound up with a parasoy wax that gave me the best of both worlds. Try Peaks (this is their board) kits and pick a wide assortment of fragrances (bakery, beach, herbal or florals) and have some fun. I'm a guy and there are a lot of other guys who make candles. You never know till you try. HTH Steve