chuck_35550

Best of luck Jeanie. I hate lye too and wish it wasn't necesary for cp but oh well. I wear a mask and have a fan that draws the fumes out and keep food or drink far away from your work area. Once you have the lye water made up, just make sure you don't slosh it on you or have any pets and children under your feet. The worst mistake I've madw with lye was to use a wipe that had some raw batter on it to clean my hands. Lye burns look like little stipes and they hurt like the dickens. It took my hands forever to heal up. I didn't realize my mistake until it was too late to neutralize the lye with vinegar and water. HTH Steve

Seriously? Bump, nobody has any feedback on these molds? Hmmmm. I'm so tempted to try these out. Thanks anyway, Steve

I'd just about bet that the supplier sent you the wrong oil. You need to contact him and describe your results. If he hasn't sent you the wrong oil, then that's a bad formulation that's been cut too much. I've only had one fo that wouldn't mix and it was a new formulation of an old oil. HTH Steve

Oh Babs, they are so ugly! It seems like the harder I try the worse I get, lol. The bars look like pieces of granite. I might post some pics just to prove I really do soap but oh brother is this some ugly soap. Steve

I'm looking at the acrylic slab and log molds. Can you put acrylic in the oven? They suggest 10 minutes at low heat for an easy release. I guess not? The prices seem reasonable and the shipping is free. My Kelsei is starting to crack and I'm ready for something new but have never heard anyone talk about these molds. TIA Steve

Sure. Lets say I used .50 oz in an 8 oz container and the test burn was perfect. I mix one that is a little more than .50 and the wax smokes and the flame burns low. My current wax would forgive me that little extra amount and burn more or less the same. Now, this has been my experience and others may not have had that happen for them. I think its a great wax but it does tend to lose adhesion to the container wall over a period of time. Steve

I have a customer who tells me she falls asleep all the time and leaves candles burning all over the house. I do take pride in most of my customers telling me they trim wicks. I test with the wick untrimmed as if it were a customer's candle. I think the good Lord is just with most people when it comes to burning a candle. Anything burning should be supervised but like Stella, I have totally forgotten a burning tester until bed time. It's just the nature of the beast. I like the double wicked idea too.

I have customers who begin their Christmas shopping about now. They buy container candles, hand made soaps for their own baskets and creations. Melt and pour is a very easy way to increase products for holidays. Get a good low-moisture soap base, some dye, a few silicone molds and you are in business. There's a lot of money to be made with m&p/candles. I'll start selling college guest soaps soon too. I made some Alabama soaps and used a pumpkin fo and placed them in a cellophane bag with my label at the top. Easy peasy. HTH Steve

Sweet. How do you do a spoon swirl?

I could see a difference in altitude but a few degrees in temp isn't going to greatly affect much of anything. So you can only burn candles during certain seasons in the desert? You got it made with no humidity. Shoot, that would be a piece of cake compared to 150% hot humid southern stuff. The temp inside of most people's homes are kept constant, unless you turn on overhead fans in the shank of the day. Stella tests her candles outside, don't you Stella? She stinks up the whole neighborhood year round. jk. I still say, try another wick.

A stick blender? I have to admit that once I tried mixing with a hand mixer for improved ct/ht and quickly gave that up. A couple of minutes with a slotted spoon at about 190 and pour at about 185 or 180 with about 7% of a quality fo should give you a fairly decent candle. Wick? Test lx, zincs or premiers...ect. You didn't burn off your fo you just overloaded the system. Bring it down a few notches and you should be pleased. IMHO Steve

You're welcome. The added soy gives you a 50/50 soy/paraffin mixture (roughly). It improves appearance and is much easier to wick IMHO, although some advocate the wax as is with nothing added. Clarus offers their own version of 6006 as well. My only problem with 6006 is how unforgiving it can be on the amount of fo you use. Otherwise, I think its a great wax. HTH Steve

Coconut oil is pretty expensive. Most parasoy blends contain some coconut, as well as other "secret" ingredients. There is much debate over the issue of adding coconut oil for improved appearance and or scent throw. Some swear by it and others say it's bunk. I would recommend learning a wax and then once you are familiar with its' properties; experiment with additives. A good wax ought to do its job without more expense in the way of additives, but yes I have tried coconut and soy. I agree with "lose the all natural" its just a way to market or get yourself in trouble for something that just doesn't exist. IMHO Steve

It doesn't fly. You're jar configuration is changing the results not the ambient temp. The wax burns down into the container and you must be losing efficiency. Try another wick. How could any major mfg sell a candle if they had to factor in ambient conditions? You might get a slight decrease in efficiency and or flickering but not a major loss and if the container is wicked right, the candle ought to catch up by the end of the burn. IMHO Steve

My customers "unanimously" said, "No more jelly jars"! So I went to the 12 oz salsa and sold it as an 8 oz (it comfortably holds 8 oz) and decided to buy a ton of 16 oz salsa jars. Don't like em but now have sold out all my 12 oz jars and am determined to sell off the 16 oz jars. They hold 12 oz and of course will cause an increase in price at a time that nobody wants to pay more. I will have to order a ton of the 12 oz jars eventually when my Christmas tree farm makes its order but hope to have sold off the others. It would be great if my customers would take the jellies but oh well. You have to pay attention to your bottom line and what the customers will tolerate or else give em away. Nobody ever asks me for a larger or smaller size. But then I don't have a shop.

Here's a recipe I came up with, see what you think? TIA 35% Olive 11% Palm 11% coconut 11% Shea 11% Cocoa Butter 5% High Oleic Safflower 5% High Oleic Sunflower 11% Castor 35% water at 7% sf Hardness 33 Cleansing 7 Conditioning 65 Bubbly 17 Creamy 35 Iodine 66 INS 132

Have you ever poured a large batch of candles and for some reason one of them or more had less ct and maybe there was some adherance issues but all the rest were just fine? No? I was getting the occasional bum candle and noticed that heavy oils were more difficult to keep suspended, in fact, some were so heavy that they did settle to the bottom during the cooling phase. Lighter perfume type fos seemed to blend and stay suspended better than heavy foodie fos; so I stir and agitate after each candle poured. I keep my spoon in the pot and hold onto it while pouring and then stir as I go to the next container. There are fos that are soy based just for a better blending capability (or maybe thats just hype) but if you look at the wax you'll see streams or ribbons of fo suspended throughout the container. Still clear as mud?

Minding my own business and making a batch of salt bars and everything is going as planned and the batter is ready for the sea salt; pouring out salt from a measuring cup that has been weighed and open up the seal on a box that will be totally used........it is one solid block of salt. No panick, still got time but wait....the box won't rip off! Panic sets in as I wrestle with the block of salt until finally it plops into the batter! Well, everything looks ok just thought I'd warn you about salt absorbing humidity and solidifying in the box. Thanks. Steve

True Lavender at TCS is a good one that really sticks in cp soap.

Ky Peppermint Patty is really nice. It is more like a milk chocolate with a hint of peppermint (to my nose) but the effect is very pleasant. I mix ky graham cracker crust with it and call it "Grasshopper Pie". Not a real big seller this time of year but maybe this Christmas. HTH Steve

That's it in a nutshell (what rjdaines said). I've always looked at "all natural" eo based candles as aromatherapy. The essential oils of plants have certain properties that affect the human system. People should be well schooled about spices, eos or other naturally occurring substances that are known to be powerfully irritating if not applied in the proper levels. But back to the original question of temperature affecting fo performance; Stella has posted some interesting material about crystal structure in soy and or palm waxes and how they are affected by tempering. You could search those posts and see if there's an answer there. I like to warm the fo and blend for at least 2 minutes before pouring and continue to stir until all the wax is poured up. It's easier for me to see the results because I don't use color and I use a clear pour pot. Left alone even for a minute or so and the fo begins to collect on the bottom. HTH

This is a Liquidation Sale for in-stock quantities only. All fragrances in the liquidation are skin safe. These fragrances are compatible with lotions, creams, body wash, shower gel, soaps, hair shampoo & conditioners, salt scrubs, pet soaps, pet shampoos, body mists, and massage oils. None of these fragrances have been tested for compatibility with candles. Available quantities should be correct. In the event that your order can not be filled due to inventory inaccuracy you will be notified and allowed to select another fragrance or be issued a refund. Hmmm. Doesn't sound like candle fos to me.

I think you have to look at the formulation. Some fos are formulated specifically for soy or vegetable waxes and others are listed as doing well in blends or paraffin. I would be more aware of whether the fo is tested in what medium and what recommendations the mfg offers on temps. Remember that fo does not bind with the wax it merely blends after sufficient agitation (stirring for long enough period of time). Eos are a totally different animal and I don't believe the original intent was for candle making. I know in the long run, each of us will do what works for us but it rarely works for all of us. Soy is an unstable wax that can change dramatically from batch to batch and certainly brand to brand. Temperature variance in wax can swing rapidly and I doubt any of us have monitured wax temps from start to finish and would probably be surprised at the rise and fall of temps based on environmental conditions. Clear as mud? Steve

I use Quiet Girl's recipe for one of my soaps and it is so wonderful but maybe the bastille is the best option. Dunno. I could look at my goat milk recipe and see how gentle that one is but I think the cleansing is gonna have to be real low to protect the tender skin from chemo. Thanks for the input guys. Steve

"And all I kept saying was, I want to go home"......and here we are!!! Yay!!!!!! There's No Place Like Home. Steve