chuck_35550

The problem with paraffin was the black soot. People didn't like the stuff on their walls or curtains and soy has a less noticeable soot. I started with the J waxes and got really frustrated with quality issues and poor performance. GL came along and offered an alternative to pure soy or pure paraffin and it has worked for me ever since. It soots and it often has quality issues (appearance in nature) but it always throws for me in most fo and wick combinations. Its just silly to villify soy or paraffin.

Say whatever you want but I had a call on the way to work this morning from a woman half way across the state who wanted to buy my parasoy blend candles. She had received one as a gift and everyone wanted to know where they could get one. She didn't mention a funny smell or being allergic; it just smelled good. Imgaine that. Steve

You might do some searches with hobby lobby to see what specific info you could get. Personally, I would go for a supplier that does nothing but candle and soap supplies. I think you might get better results and valuable information if you have problems. Hobby Lobby staff aren't going to be much help. JMO Steve

Those look great. Surely customers would know better than to use the lid for a snuffer?

Lids are really tricky. Plastic liner fitments are the least popular with my customers. They are never sure how to get the lid off (by pulling it you doofuss). Screw off lids or lugs are the most popular. BUT almost all my customers tell me that they never use the lids and could care less about having a lid. Obviously, we need the lid to keep the candle clean and to keep the fragrance fresh and concentrated. If the lid is attractive and easy to remove, then that's all that really matters to most people. Price is critical to those of us that have a tight bottom line. My salsa jars have nice shiny gold lids that screw off and stay put when traveling and are included in the price of the jar. Simple. HTH Steve

Actually, you have to be careful with the Presto because those temp guides are not reliable. I use a Masterbuilt turkey fryer and have found the temp to be very spot on but then I pour into my glass carafe and keep it to right temp on a hot plate. I keep my oven thermometer (it has a long silver cord to the probe) in the wax and make sure it doesn't over heat. HTH. Steve

I still use the 70/30 Clarus but continue to experiment with 6006. I mixed the 6006 with 15% 464 and used wildberry mousse in a tester. It blew down the doors without any cure time. I was so happy, until another fo fizzled and then another and then another. This wax can be really picky about fo amounts and wicking. Wicking is a cinch but it doesn't guarantee a great hot throw. I never had a problem with the cold throw or with the adhesion but that hot throw was and is elusive with this wax. I have to hang with the 70/30 for the holidays but hope to come up with a formula that works as well. HTH. Steve

Yup. All candles produce soot. You burn something and it has smoke which contains soot. I have some fos that produce a lot of soot (vanilla is usually the reason) and some that produce almost no noticeable soot. If your wicking is not efficient you will have more than usual sooting on your jar. HTH Steve

Glass can be recycled endlessly with no loss in quality or purity. An estimated 80% of recovered glass containers are made into new glass bottles. Today’s glass containers are more than 40% lighter than they were 20 years ago. And light weighting efforts continue throughout the industry. So more than likely all glassware contains a certain amount of recycled glass. Glassware like Libbey, Anchor Hocking and or any other containers that are produced for the purpose of candlemaking should be used for handling high temps. Thick glass does not insure safety but rather glass that has been manufactured for the express purpose of handling high temps. I would say all of us are helping to conserve, because our glassware already contains recycled glass. HTH. Steve

I think you'll find that most eucalyptus fragrance oils will contain some essential oil and may throw better than a pure eo. I have never had a problem with "burn off" pouring at 180 degree temps. In fact, eucalyptus can run you out of the room if its really a strong fo. I don't have enough experience with eos because I couldn't afford good quality oils. Steve Here's something from Genwax. There can often be confusion when talking about the Flashpoint of a given candle additive. The best definition is: "Flashpoint" is the lowest temperature at which a flammable liquid gives off sufficient vapor to be able to ignite. However, this does not necessarily mean that the vapor will ignite. The concentration of scent in a candle is generally too low and dispersed to be ignitable. In its raw liquid form, straight from the manufacturer, the Flashpoint that is given is that of the component with the lowest Flashpoint. This Flashpoint could actually be lower than normal room temperature, but the component does not "Flash" because of its interactions with other compounds in the mixture.

A heat gun is your best friend for all kinds of things, trust me. I like mixing about 15% soy with 6006. Pour at 180 degrees into clean, room temp jars and make sure your wick is nice and tight. Some folks are adding coconut oil (1tsp per pound) for improved appearance and throw. I get zero sink holes BUT I am pouring into a straight sided container. Hex jars may not be the best jar to start out with, because they are tricky to wick and tend to have wax hang up more than the simple jelly jars or tumblers. You may be in the wrong business if you are seeking perfection. HTH. Steve

There are some great video tutorials on You Tube. You can get a good idea of the basic necessities for candle making from watching those videos. You can cheap out by using the double boiler method for melting wax or you can buy a hot plate, old coffee carafe and a candy thermometer for the basics. I started with a votive kit and picked out 10 fragrances and some liquid dye and bought votive holders at the dollar store. Printed up some labels and put them in cello bags and gave them for Valentines gifts with my business card. It was a good place to start and led me down a path of no return..lol. I graduated to buying slabs of wax and jelly jars......and on and on. Steve

Enjoy it while you can. Business in my neck of the woods is way off. Everyone is holding back until Christmas and not buying on the fall scents. I sell plenty of soap but the candles are way behind. I generally pour on the week-ends, unless a special order comes through or I'm in the mood. November and December is just work till you drop almost every night (if the economy doesn't mess things up). Steve

I had that problem the last time I cleaned out the liner. I didn't seat the liner properly and had to realign the liner until it seated and then everything worked just fine. Its a safety feature. HTH. Steve

I use 8 oz all the time when testing and for custom orders. I never measure out a full 16 oz of wax to make a couple of 8 0z candles. For instance, I have 2-12oz Salsa jars that hold 8 oz of wax comfortably. I measure out 15 oz of wax and add 1 oz of fo or 1.25 0z and pour up the jars on the scale. I have never had a problem with the quality or a difference whether pouring 8 oz or 5 pounds. You'll find other people who simply eyeball the amounts and never measure anything, because they are so familiar with wax and fos. Personally, I measure for the purpose of maintaing and insuring quality and quantity of my candles. Steve

Just By Nature

I would go for a baked bread or pie crust fo blended with rosemary or any tuscan type fo. HTH Steve

I agree with Mike. Less work and the customers don't really seem to care if the soap has fancy swirls or what not; although those soaps are available as well.

Try coconut oil or palm oil. I used the 85/15 6006/464 and didn't have a problem with shrinkage (pouring at 180 degrees into room temp jars). The wax did lose adherance after burning and did have a slight dip around the wick but not enough to be a problem.

Try a wide mouth straight sided jelly jar with a specialty lid. Candles work best with thick glass for good heat insulation and straight sides for reliable melt pools and for air circulation. The jelly jars are really expensive this year and I have opted for a 12 oz salsa jar. My customers really like them and they are fairly easy to wick. HTH. Steve

The problem you run into is that the companies don't list their proprietary ingredients. It won't hurt anything but your pocketbook to experiment with combinations of wax. I truly believe that the best advice is to pick a wax and then learn everything about the properties and or limitations of that wax and then build on that knowledge. I know my wax, even when I get a bad batch. The quality is pretty dependable because of that knowledge. Steve

I use grams for soap making but also check the oz weight to see how accurate or how much difference between the two units of measurement. But soap making requires much more accuracy in ingredient quantitites because of the outcomes. Gram weight is most accurate. HTH. Steve

It looks like that wax may be a 85/15 soy/paraffin blend. Try a tsp of coconut oil per pound and see how cdn wicks or zinc wicks do for that wax. Reading your entries in the Swan Candle board leads me to believe that this wax may need some cure time before testing. You might give it 3 or 4 days and see of that makes a difference. There's no way of knowing what the exact ratio of soy and paraffin is because they just describe it as mostly soy. Try about 7% fo, coconut oil, curing and then the above mentioned wicks. I use the 70/30 wax from TCS and its great. HTH. Steve

Kewl. Thanks for the info. Steve

I'm curious Ravens. How well does the votive wax work with the soy container wax? Does it adhere to the jar wall or does it shrink away and how is the cold and hot throw? Is it hard to wick or does it smoke a lot? Do you use the coconut oil for throw only or does it also help other qualities of the soy? Is this a really hard wax combo. Hope you don't mind me asking. Steve