rebeccajo99

Thanks Chris. I have found a supplier that I like and it is fairly close. I have to place my order soon since I don't have enough to get though my next round of testing with the scent I am working with right now.

Thanks Michelle.

I don't have anything sucessfully wicked yet, but I hope to very soon. My sample pack of one of my wick sizes is almost gone, so I have to order more. I'll just stick with who I ordered my sample pack with for now since it sounds like there may be some fluctuation with different suppliers and I don't want to go too much on a wild goose chase like I did earlier in my candle career. Hopefully when my pack of 100 is gone, I have at least a couple of scents wicked:yay:

no, i understand that testing is going to be ongoing. Don't get me wrong on that. I was wondering more if I have to retest every scent every time I buy a new stock of wicks or wax or can I limit it to select scents? (like the first ones I pour from the new batch) Does that make more sense?

For example... Let say I have Sweet Pea and Amish Harvest sucessfully wicked, but need to buy some more wicks to continue testing new scents or even make some more Sweet Pea and Amish Harvest, do I have to test another candle or two each in Sweet Pea and Amish Havest, or can I do just Sweet Pea to see if the wicks are OK. (or wax if I had to puchase that instead of the wicks)

I have been looking at the classified section and whenever people post for items for sale, they post where they purchased it from. I can understand doing that for FO since not all suppliers make their FO's the same, but what about the wicks or even wax? I noticed some wicks that I may be interested in purchasing, but don't want to if I have to do extensive testing with them again every time I purchese wicks from a different supplier

so far I really like the CD wicks. Have not successfully wicked a candle with them yet, but I am getting close.

Bless your heart (and nose)!! There used to be a cattle operation down the road from me... When the wind came from that direction, especially when they were doing certain tasks with the cattle, OMG!!!! Gas Mask time!!!:laugh2:

It is is only gas mask time when we have those heavy humid days or a east wind. Other than that... it is bearable.

Thats it!!!! I don't know when I tried to do the search again that didn't come up. Either way THANK-YOU. Off to pour a smaller wicked jar I come!!!

I read a post somewhere on here that talking about dancing flames and if you should try to wick up or down when you got them. I forgot to copy and paste it into my notes and now I am dealing with a dancing flame. Can somebody help me find it back???

Thanks

I do know that certain scents - moldy, nasty, fetid ones especially - seem heightened by temperature and humidity. Under certain conditions, *bad* smells seem intensified and no amount of other more pleasant scents seem to be able to "cover" the unpleasant aromas.

Isn't that the truth. I live by a turkey farm and going to dread the summer time here very shortly:laugh2:

Thanks for all the information on this topic. I do test burn in a room that I can control the temp and environment the most, but it does change some with the seasons.

Ok... I started doing a test burn with CD10. I am 1 1/2 hours into the test and I have a very weak hot throw (CD12 was much better) and the jar is also as hot with the 10 and I'm still on the top half of the jar. I'm starting to get frusterated with all of this, but I'm determined to get my business up and going.

I'm going to go out and buy some coconut oil and see if that helps at all (since i can pick that up at my local store and not wait for USA to get shipped). However, in some posts I read 1 tsp per pound and others i read 1 tbs per pound, so I'm a little confused on that. I'm sure it is something that I am going to have to test out myself.

If somebody else has suggestions on how to harden the wax up a little bit to slow down the burn, I would appreciate it. Thanks

I started testing my sweet pea today. The details are as follows

1 oz fo for 1.1 lbs wax (little booboo there)

no die

no additives

9 oz hex jar

ecosoya 135

poured at 100 on 6/9

I started trying CD 12 per someones suggestions (sorry, don't remember who). The jar got really hot, mushroomed and the melt pool was 3/4 inch in depth about 20 mins before the 3 hour burn test was up. The hot throw was soso. (this was my first test burn so this is a HUGE nono and not happy at all with the results)

I was going to try CD10 next. How much does the FO affect wicking. My old wick series, I used 1.5 oz per 17 oz of wax and never compaired the lower fo amount. If I don't get hot throw the way that I want... then I think I am going to have to increase FO (obviously, safty is the most important).

Thanks. That one is a little further away since I live in West Michigan. I will still check out the shipping cost and see if overall it is cheaper or not. Thanks for the suggestion as i am open to them.

I am looking at purchasing body wash base from Wholesale Supplies Plus since so far, they are the closest supplier to me. (of what I can find so far). However, the smallest container that they have is 1 gallon and has a recomended shelf life of only 1 year. Is that typical for body wash bases? I don't know if I personally can get through 1 gallon of body wash base in a year???

Thanks for your help and sorry if I posted in the wrong spot, normally don't deal with soap stuff, but I am interested in trying to make some bodywash for my personal use.

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/StoreCategory.aspx?CategoryID=1468&CategoryName=Body+Wash+Base

I have been eyeing those holders as well. How big/small of a jar do they fit.

Sorry for hyjacking the post, but I have a simular question.

I am running low of body wash in my closet so I was going to make my own from now on. I have decided to just use a base and scent it, however I cannot find any smaller containers of base besides a gallon jug. Does the stuff keep for a while so I can make more as I need it? I don't want to start selling it at this time since I am still working on my candle line and don't have time to do research on the requirements for my state. Lastly, does anybody have any suggestions on the best place to buy the base.

I'm glad that you guys can get some humor out of my stupid question . We will see how the testing goes on it next week. Trying a new scent. (sweet pea)

I'm doing a search for my possible names for scents and if it is not trademarked for candles it is fine to use correct???

For example... i found the name "home for the holidays" that somebody mentioned on the trademark website. It says scented candles in the "goods or services" that is where I have to look to make sure it is ok for my candles right? http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4004:u9bb62.8.28

I was pouring my next round of testers and I accidently added 1 lb 1 oz of wax to 1 oz of FO. I normally do 1 to 1. Will this extra oz throw off my testing too much that I should just throw away this batch or will it still be ok?

Thanks for letting me know. I have been eyeing that scent. Now I need to restrain myself!!!!

thanks. I really hope to be back in colored candles in a few years or so. Sounds like they will be good just to keep in storage for a while.

Does anybody know how long of a shelf life the dyes have. I have decided to put colored candles aside at this time. If they are going to go bad before I decide to start trying my hand at colored candles again, I want somebody else to get some use out of them. I cannot find the information on thier website.

Thanks

yea... i noticed that too.

After much thinking and reading my notes last week I decided that I bit off more than I can chew right now between this and now having 2 kids. So I decided to pack away all my dyes, notes on other products to add (like reed diffusers and aroma beads) and work on this candle size and doing a dye free line first. Additives are still a possilbity and I have those notes all tucked by my side, but someone mentioned that they have solved thier frosting without using additives by pouring cooler, so I thought I would give that a try as well. I have not tried the unscented/undyed candle with CD wicks yet. I tried that with my old wick series, but forgot to on this one. It is now added to my list of candles to pour this weekend.

Now, just need to stay focused on this and stop reading posts about other products to get my brain moving again!!!

Stella

Thanks for sending the link you have been a great help. I have read that information a few times before, but it is always nice for a refresher. I have been trying the CD wicks for a coupls of weeks and love the results that I have been getting so far. I may actually have my first candle sucessfully wicked with them already, but won't know for another week or three when testing is completed. Getting a great hot throw so far with it.

This candle, however, is without additives as I had this one poured about a month ago and has been curing waiting for a test. I still would like to go without additives if possible since it will leave one less step out for possible error.

Sounds to me like you are experiencing some degree of soot by the gray color you describe. What jar are you using? I used eco 135 for years and can probably help target the right wick for you. Also try not using more than an oz per lb of scent. The more scent the dirtier the candle will burn. As for the Universal Soy Additive and or coconut oil, I never used either. Just pour your candles at a slushy stage and most all frost and pitting will be eliminated. HTH!

quick question...

pouring at a cooler or hotter state does not effect wicking does it? So if I start playing around with pour temps, I don't have to worry about my wicks changing or do i? (i know, maybe a stupid question)

Stella

I am trying to wick Amish Harvest as well. I don't use c3 but was wondering how close CD and CDN wicks really are since they are in the same chart. When I tried CD 16 it was too strong, so I was going to try 14 next.

I use ecosoya 135 1 oz pp of fo in a 9 oz hex jar if somebody else has a suggestion as well.