chuck_35550

Good luck with that. Essential oils are expensive, dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and aren't famous for great ht. Ask the customer if they want to pay the extra amount for such a request. I mean you are talking a whole new line of product and expensive testing to satisfy one customer.

Well hell, let me jump in here and throw my two pennies around. This is what happens when you have no industry standards to protect the consumer. I mean, 1000 pounds of wax and zero acknowledgement from any rep whatsoever? I think that amounts to fraud. The company purports that product to be so wonderful and it doesn't meet the standard set by their own literature? This happens to all of us. A bad batch of 6006 or a bad batch of whatever and we just bitch about it on this forum. I would contact an attorney and explore your legal options. Make these folks accountable for their products. They have just as much responsibility to the consumer as anyone else. I guarantee you that a letter from an attorney would get you prompt action. Steve

Go to Avery and download their free templates. Real easy once you get the hang of it.

How many candles are we talking about? I would ask her what she would be willing to pay for the current order and take a hit. Anything else is a lot of work. I take it that she hasn't put these candles on the shelf yet? How much remaining inventory doe she have? Personally, if this isn't a really large account, I'd take my candles back and take off the labels and sell them somewhere else.

I am in the same thinking mode as yourself. My frustration comes from the constant shifting of raw materials. Prices of raw materials and companies going out of business or discontinuing products has me tired of re-inventing my products. We are small entrepreneurs who haven't much voice or control over the very ingredients that make up our products and are constantly at the mercy of our distributors. Personally, I intend to scale it back and bide my time. Until this economy settles down and until the future for small time business persons looks a little better; I say be careful and wait. Timing is everything in life. HTH. Steve

Try 85 % 6006 and 15% soy. Heat to about 190 and pour at 180 into room temp jars and leave out on the counter to cool. You should get great adhesion. However, you will begin to see loss of adhesion after burning. Adding a little coconut or palm oil helps with that problem (about 1 tsp). HTH. Steve

I have a toaster oven on the work bench that holds about 12 jars at a time. I just keep adding jars to the oven as warmed ones are used. It keeps them nice and toasty and I don't pull and wick them until I'm ready to pour. I got it at Walmart on close out for about $20.00. HTH. Steve

Wick information will ususally tell you what type of wax works best with that type of wick. If you are using a wick that cannot efficiently absorb and burn that wax, and or, you are overloading the fo that the wax can take; then you get clogging. IMHO Steve

Try 85% 4630 and 15% cb advance and add 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Pour at about 180-185 into clean jars. Cure for about 5 days or try some out and different intervals to see if the ht develops. Try zinc wicks to see if that doesn't help out. HTH. Steve

That's about right.

I use a cd 18 in Clarus 70/30 wax.

Yeah Stella, basically the same diameter and probably no real change in wicking but I just don't like the looks of the taller salsa and I have 240 of em. The price of the hex are several dollar more a case and I made the mistake of cheaping out for the large salsas. I kinda hate the hex jars too, because they make me think of Home Interiors. It will be ok, I just get so tired of having to change everything up all the time. OOh I think I'm whining! Ok, thanks Stella. I'll get through this. Steve

I purchased 20 cases of 16 oz salsa jars, due to the 12 oz jars being discontinued. The 12 0z jars held 8.5 oz of wax and .5 oz of fo and all was well with the world. These jars are going to hold substantially more wax (at least 4 more oz) and at least .75 of fo or more. I just don't like the jars. They look like mayonnaise jars (to me). I'll have to raise the price of my candles and the whole thing just kinda screws up my little piece of the world. I wish now I had gotten the 12 oz hex jars but oh well. I didn't think a 4 oz difference in jar size would make so much difference in the logistics. Anybody use these containers? Steve

These are the Soapcalc numbers from your recipe. Hardness 29 - 54 you have a 17, Cleansing 12 - 22 you have a 0, Conditioning 44 - 69 you have an 82 Bubbly 14 - 46 you have a 0, Creamy 16 - 48 you have a 17, Iodine 41 - 70 you have an 85, INS 136 - 165 you have a 105. Notice the zero cleaning and zero bubbly. However, it has a conditioning number that is through the roof. If you look at Mediterranean countries who make 100% Castille soap; I think you will find they cure the soap from 6 months up to a year. Your best bet is a stick blender (about $10.00 at Walmart). HTH Steve

There are some good threads on here about starting with a lower amount of fo and then increasing as you test. A really good candle scents an area without cutting off your oxygen supply. Nobody wants a headache from an over fragranced candle (except fringe customers). Wax is simply a matter of testing and finding what works for you and your area. I started with paraffin and eventually moved to a blend. My number one requirement in a wax is that it doesn't require weeks of curing. I make candles on order and sell a limited line of seasonal fragrances. I need to provide the product pretty quickly after the order and I don't need to wait a week or two. My best advice on fos is to buy the samplers or sniffies (1-2 oz samples) before buying large quantitites. Lastly, your wick+wax+container will equal a candle that burns slowly, develops a 1/2 inch melt pool, doesn't soot, doesn't overheat the container, and will fragrance an entire mansion. Simple, huh? HTH. Oh and welcome to the Board! Steve

Question 1: I re-use my containers several times but always inspect to make sure there are no cracks or chips. Using first rate glass (make sure you aren't getting inferior glassware) and thicker walled containers helps to reduce the chance of breaking. Question 2: No. Frosted or colored glassware is just fine IMHO. Question 3: The only triple wick container I use are those blasted Libby hearts at Valentines Day. Otherwise, I don't double wick anything. I have several cases of a 4" apothecary that will take a rather large wick but it looks like a house on fire. Don't use em. I would double wick anything that won't give you a decent melt pool with a reasonable flame. If you have to have a giant wick, well, I just don't care for that. You can look around the different web sites and see tureens that are double wicked and other large 4" containers with multiple wicks. Question 4: Don't make pillars. Sorry. Remember: This just my opinion. HTH. Steve

Thanks for the correction Top. I don't use 1.5 oz pp of wax. This is my formula: 8 oz container holds 7 fluid ozs. so I use 6.5 oz of wax and .5 oz of fo per candle. I think that kinda works out to close to 7.5 % or 8% ratio. I just multiply the number of candles to be made with that fo and mix and pour. I get zero waste and a slightly more concentrated mix of wax and fo. It seems to have worked out rather well for me but that's with Clarus 70/30 (soy/paraffin). I totally sold out this Christmas and currently have no stock and no willpower to begin again. Sorry about the misinformation; although some folks do use 1.5 fo per pound. Steve

I think you'll find most people use 6% load in their wax but there are those who use up to 9 or even 10% (often referred to as triple scenting). But what Stella said about different waxes taking different loads is very critical. The ultimate answer would be if you overload the scent and it shows up as oil on top of your candle. Not good. I use about 7% load which is about 1.5 oz depending on the fo. Some are really strong (florals and some bakery scents) while others are light in nature and delicate. I don't mind adding extra fo if its a really good seller. Just remember that differences in load can created differences in the wicking. Too much information? Oh and welcome to the board! Steve

I tried several formulas but didn't care for the sooting. The wet spots were pretty bad. It's an ok mix but I wouldn't want to spend that much money for that blend. Part of the mythos is creating your own secret blend that makes the ultimate candle. You can probably find some threads on this blend on search.

I'm like honeybear. Started with a votive kit from Cajun candles. I really like to make candles but I hate selling them. I'm not able to really develop a full-time business and work a full-time job; so I have to sell them around town. I have a couple of seasonal wholesale accounts that keep me afloat and my greatest pleasure is hearing customers brag on my work. Try it slow and easy. Don't spend a ton of money. Have FUN. HTH Steve

Thanks as usual Barbara. Steve

I manage to get the exact amount I need without waste. Of course you add in the fo amount as part of the weight. The kids are going to make a couple of candles for pity's sake. God some of you people need to get a life. If you wanted exact amounts, you would need to figure in the rotational axis of the planet and the alignment of the stars. Don't use or maybe try it and see if that works. Or maybe get Carrie to come over and set up her computer and a seismograph.

I have a good recipe that calls for lanolin. I notice that there is a warning about lanolin being heat sensitive. Does anyone have advice for lanonlin and an opinion on what it does for your soap? Steve

That looks like a well balanced recipe. If all went well then you should be able to use it now. The curing process is mostly to evaporate moisture and for the quality of the soap to improve but I use my soap the next day in most instances.

I'm with CareBear on this one. It really depends on the recipe for me. I like to use beef tallow instead of lard but some recipes do better with palm or pko. the palm I use is nice and white and it never discolors. Palm and coconut help to really harden the bar and are good for cleansing. Customers never read ingredients and I don't volunteer information about lard or lye. You can see people's eyes glaze over when you mention those ingredients. Remember that the new Cricso has palm in it. Soapcalc has the new Crisco listed. HTH. Steve