NattyCat

but you can't hug a soy pillar - it'll crack.

yep - 180 is far too hot - you've melted the mould - the bunnys will never come out if they've welded themselves to the mould!

Pour much, much cooler. don't bother with stearin. You should be able to pour pure paraffin pillar wax and achieve enough shrinkage for them to pop right out with a little persuasion. when you put the melted wax in a jug, leave it to cool for so long that you just start seeing "cloudy" areas in the wax. This is the stage just before the "slushy" stage. If you pour at slushy (which is the temperature you pour container candles at) then you'll get air bubbles in the bunnies - the best guide to the temperature is of course a thermometer, but your hand comfortably on the outside of the jug without it removing skin is a good method too!

If you can't get it to work - please do send it to me. I'll have a go and if I get it to work I'll send it back, with bunnies, and instructions! Alternatively - feel free to come and see me with it and we can try together - I'm only 20 minutes from you I reckon?

Nat

where did you get the mould and what temp are you pouring at? Is the wax fragranced? If the colour from the mould is getting on your wax then that points to the pour being way too hot. Also, if you've added too much fragrance or dye that can soften the wax.

Start from the beginning - clean the mould and wipe with oil. Melt some wax with no additives, no dye and no scent and put it into a glass jug - don't pour the wax till you can comfortably place the palm of your hand against the outside of the jug.

Wait for it to set for at least 2 or 3 hours - then put in the fridge for half an hour. The wax should really just pop right out. Are you using 100% paraffin pillar wax? it will never work with container wax. I'm wondering just what wax you're using and where you got it from?

If you STILL can't get the wax out - then the mould is just not for you!

Nat

I always use green....

hehe - we've all done that! I put 35 votive moulds and 20 tart moulds in the oven to melt the wax off (they go to rusty if you wash them too much) I left them in the oven for about an hour accidently - they came out jet black and smoking - alllll ruined.

stick them to the bottom of the pastry?

PS - the round metal things are called sustainers.

yep - i kept breaking the legs and head off my little gingerbread men - but I found if I loosened it allllll the way around the sides, and then flipped it over and pushed gently along the length of the shape - it eventually pops out intact! I could never get one out when I actually held the mould in my hand - it always had to be flat on a surface.

Good luck!

Anjie

Lay the mould on the kitchen side (after it's been in the fridge for 10 minutes or so) and then hold on to one side and gently place your index finger near the edge of one cavity - push your finger gently onto the mould and then "pull back" - this will pull the mould away from the edge of the bunny. Go round the WHOLE cavity doing this - it's a bit like using a knife to separate a freshly cooked cake from a pan - just gently go round the whole cavity pulling the mould away from the wax - try to always leave the mould sitting on the side, don't pick it up.

Once you have loosened the bunny, turn the mould over and place it back on the kitchen side - and push the bottom of the mould. NEVER try to get the wax out of the mould while you're actually holding the mould in the air - that will just bend the mould and break your ears. try to loosen, wiggle and push the wax out whilst it is sitting on the side.

Also, when you fill the mould, don't fill right up to the edge - your enemy is over-spill. If you've filled the cavity too far and it bulges or runs over - then it will be much harder to get out of the mould. Last thing you can try is to wipe a little cooking oil or preferably olive oil on a piece of kitchen towel all over the inside of the mould before you pour - and then use the above methods to get the bunny out.

Nat

Hi Laura

To legally sell soap or any bath/body products in the UK requires that the soap meet al EU Health and Safety Regulations. And it's NOT the ingredients, it has to be the end product that is certified.

For example, if you buy a melt and pour base which is fully certified as safe, and you buy fragrance oil that is certified as safe, and then dye and other things like lavender seeds or marigold petals for example - all of these products may individually certified as safe under EU regulations - but the SECOND you combine these products, then they lose all certification and are illegal to sell.

No matter what you do, or what recipe you want to use - it is the END product that needs to be certified. So you can't create a bar of lavender soap - get it certified and then on the next batch decide to add a different colour - otherwise you'll need to get it certified all over again.

The legal requirements for labelling are simply that ALL ingredients need to be listed under their INCI name and there needs to be a use-by date, batch number and contact details. Those people selling at boot-fairs etc are doing so illegally and trading standards officers DO patrol such fairs - I was questioned myself recently but luckily I had all my paperwork but insurance documents on me at the time.

You can buy pre-certified base from www.meltandpoursupplies.com (or .co.uk - i can't remember) so all you need to do is melt, pour and the pre-fragranced, pre-coloured soap. That would be a good start and fully legal and you'd be able to see if soap sells for you without spending loads of money on the certification.

Nat

hhmmmm. so much for a non-stop sale if the "savings" are loaded into the shipping costs. There is no way I can pay another $30 on top of the ACTUAL shipping costs when, as you said, all this stuff is available elsewhere.

It's a shame, their shipping never used to be a rip-off. It may be a genuine mistake on the basket configuration, but because I received no reply to my email - it's looking more likely that the constant sales are taking their toll on the profit margins, so a "stealth" charge is added to the shipping amount to make up for it. But geez.....$30 more???? Did they not think we'd notice??? Man, us brits MAY be stuck-up and reserved, but we AIN'T stooopid and we WON'T pay huge inflated shipping costs for no reason.

Rant over.

<<<<<skipping off to candlesource who has the best shipping rates around!

Hi All,

Does anyone use the USPS shipping option on Becky's new website? I added 11lbs to my basket and the shipping came to over $82 for standard airmail parcel post to the UK - but when I checked it out on the USPS website, it was only $55 for 12lb. I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed that shipping is really high or if it's just international customers?

I did email them, but got no response. I know Becky's ill but apparently it's business as usual there so I was surprised not to receive a reply - especially as I've ordered so much from them in the past.

If they have loaded almost $30 onto the shipping costs for international customers then that's gonna be a bummer. I won't be able to order from them anymore.

Nat

nice pictures, good price, very pretty site.

Good instructions too :wink2:

You too Anjie (I'm Natasha)

If you need anything - gimmie a shout, I have scoured every corner of the earth for the best bargains from moulds, wicks, glassware, wax and other such lovely candle-making stuff and I now have most of my fragrance oil made for me to my specification (I supply sensory p sometimes) so I might have some laying around (who am I kidding, I have 4,000 ounces of oil here) that you might like!

Nat

My mum and dad live in St Mary Hoo, near Rochester - but I'm in Ashford.

Cool - another candlemaker in Kent - I was beginning to think I was all alone!

anjie' date=' tell you what a small world it is, my hairdresser is my postmans hubby lol

hiya nattycat, sp got the best then

btw, whilst I'm here, you use 1 - 1 1/2oz of FO to 1lb of wax, well the bottles come in 50ml, how do I work out how much that is oz wise?[/quote']

You're gonna kick yourself when I tell you the answer to your question.....

......weigh the bottle

If I sell a 12 pack of votives, I individually shrinkwrap them and then place in a 12 pack votive tray, which is then shrink-wrapped.

For 2 or 6 votives I use acetate boxes.

If you want to package your votives in boxes of 2 - I am currently in the sunshine container co-op and only need 50 boxes, but it looks like I'm gonna have to buy 100 as they can't split a case. I can let you have some of the boxes at actual cost if you want.

check out www.sunshinecontainer.com and look at their clear votive boxes - it's the 2 pack ones that I'll have spares of.

Nat

Hi Anjie

Just noticed you're in Kent...so am I. Where abouts are you?

BTW...sensory p get some of their oils from me!!

got 'em. have a look at the way you spell scentifique. a lot of people spell it scientifique - with an extra i.

Nat

no hun? Did you get mine about the moulds? If you want them - just shout and I'll send them up. I think they're both tin ones from Pourette - a cone shaped one and an octagon one.

Nat

ooooh I just got the SAME pan! It's made of cast iron and weighs a ton - I got mine for free from a trade shown I just went to. They gave me a brochure with all their other pans, and they have little cakes, bundt cakes, BIG moulds, little moulds - I was in 7th Heaven. Basically, I told them that I wanted it for wax - so they did a trade with me - If I sent them some wax melts made in the pan, so they can use them for display purposes, I get to keep the pan. I was all OVER that deal like a rash!

They ARE expensive, but I think I'm going to have to buy more as I love the shapes - they even do a whole football stadium mould!!

Nat

if you cool the candle too fast, it could cause mottling and frosting. Candles are best left to cool slowly, preferably at a steady room temperature, out of draughts if you want to have a smooth even finish.

You can put the candle in the fridge for 15 minutes to half an hour if it doesn't slide out of the mould easily. It is absolutely fine to pour tonight and wait until tomorrow morning - in fact, it's best that way because you won't get impatient and try to force the candle out of the mould, or accidently pull the wick right out by trying to pull the candle out of the mould before it's ready (and I bet LOTS of people on here can say that they have experiences that joy.....me included)

Nat

Hi Yvette

I just found a couple of aluminium moulds I don't use - if you want them send me an email and I'll post them off to you. They're nothing special but might be good for you to use while you're learning? Will email you incase you don't get this message.

Nat

i shrink-wrap mine, and you can still smell the fragrance through the wrap.

Leaving it unwrapped is an invitation to everyone to pick it up, sniff it, and leave their un-hygienic fingerprints all over the soap - and you NEVER know where their fingers have been. Fingerprints on M&P show up so much too that it will put people off.

After a while, it will dry out too as it looses moisture over time and also loses fragrance.

Hope this helps,

Nat

I currently use the paypal shopping basket on my site but I am changing it.

Having done some order tracking and visitor monitoring, I have been getting a huge amount of abandonments at the shopping cart level. When I did a survey to find out why, it seems that the paypal screen doesn't explain clearly enough that people DON'T have to have a paypal account to buy things.

Not only this - people who DO have a paypal account but DON'T want to pay with it and want to use a debit or credit card instead are recognised by paypal when they put their name and address in, and paypal then forces them to sign in to their accounts and won't let them checkout without doing so.

With a 30% abandonment rate, with the main reason being that people don't understand that they don't need a paypal account, and don't want to sign up for one, I've decided that it's not the way forward for me and have changed to a payment gateway with internet merchant banking facilities.

Nat

Yep! it is just www.clearbags.com I order from them all the time and they ship pretty quick too!

Yep - these are the exact boxes I'm looking for - do you know which of these hold tealights? Unfortunately I used my last box and sent it out so I don't have anything measure. It would be great if there were some that held:

6 tea lights

12 tea lights

6 votives

12 votives

Thanks for the help sassy!

Nat