Any Candle Makers Here?

[bubba.50]

the she-griz had three jars from those scented candles wimmens like so much & I was kinda bored so, I thought to make her a couple. I already had beeswax & a box of soy wax from lube makin' supplies so, I went to Michael's & got some wicks & a bottle of scent additive. made her one from beeswax, one from soy wax, and one mixed. there's where my question starts. the bottle of scent said it was enough for 4 pounds, the three candles together probably only a pound & a half, used the whole bottle & there's hardly any smell at all and mostly then only after ya blow it out.

so, any hints or help would be mucho appreciado.

[swamp]

I make candles. With beeswax I don't use scent. I prefer the natural smell. There is candle scent and essential oil. The scent works well for me. The candles I make run 3 inch x 15 inch tall. I use 2cc per candle. The largest I can make is 8x34 inches and uses 55-60 lbs of wax. Haven't made one of those in a while.

Save your old candles and melt them all down and make new ones. I filter it thru paper towels just to clean. the scent seems to mix well and smells good. I call them junk wax candles.

Hope I helped/
swamp

[runfiverun]

well I done it the other way around.
the lube didn't really have a lot of smell until I shot it.
the wife called it asscracksweat lube.

[bubba.50]

LOL! nah, I didn't use lube to make candles. it was clean beeswax & soy wax right out of the box. I'm just curious how to get some scent from them. they had plenty of smell-purty in their original incarnation & I used a bottle of scent that was 'sposed to be good for 4 pounds to do about a pound & a half and ya can hardly smell anything at all.

[xbeeman412]

Swamps candles are GREAT asks Me how I know...LOL. Thats what the wife says.

[bedbugbilly]

bubba - I know nothing about candle making but I am curious as to why your candles didn't have the fragrance you were expecting - hopefully someone will be able to answer and say why. As I said, I know nothing but would it have anything to do with the use of "natural waxes" (bees wax and soy wax) as opposed to something with a paraffin base that would somehow neutralize the fragrance? Seems like with the ration of fragrance to amount of wax that they would be more than fragrant?

Nice of you to make the better half some candles and I'm sure she appreciated your efforts. Hopefully some one will be able to answer - inquiring minds want to know!

And just think - once you get an answer, you can mix some of the "fragrance" in with your BP lube and soak your patches in it - opens up a whole new batch of possibilities!

[jonp]

I'll hit my wife up as she got into doing this last year. She stole some of my Beeswax I got from Randyrat and since I work at a glass plant I got her a few cases of free mason jars in green, blue etc that were rejected due to shading of the glass and were going to be crushed and tossed. She even tried to make me a Hoppes #9 candle for my reloading room.

She has tried a couple of types of wax and mixtures. I can get her all of the free jars in any size she wants so she is going to town on it.

[44man]

Daughter brought me bags of soy wax. She made candles and the wick went out. I have a lot of wax that I don't know what to do with.

[GhostHawk]

Personally when I make candles I prefer not to be run out of the house by the smell. So I add no scent.

I have played around a fair amount, have a lot of gear, different molds, etc. What I learned is that it is much much easier to use a jar or some type of container.

One of my best efforts was a set of 4 colored candles in cheap dollar store highball glasses. They looked great, worked well, and were easy to do.

I suspect part of your scent problem could be using the wrong wax.

The other thing that happens is sometimes scents and colors will appear to mix, but they are just enough heavier that they will sink to the bottom.

Best of luck.

[gwpercle]

Back in the 1960's we Tie-dyed jeans , T-Shirts and made scented candles , the "scent" was from bottles of 100% Essential Oils , to a 1 cup sized candle 10 drops were used. Some scents were much stronger than others and 5 drops would do just fine (like that God awful Patchouli stench ).
If you used something called "fragrance oil" or "candle scent" that's the problem...it's much cheaper than an Essential oil but it doesn't have the smell power your looking for.
Get some of the "good" 100% pure essential oil stuff , same scent , and re-melt your candles. Go by your nose , the "good" oils may be weaker than the old stuff nowdays .
Gary

[bubba.50]

thanks for the replies so far. they have a pretty good selection in the candle-makin' dept. but I don't know what-all kinds of scent elements Michael's has but I'll check there again & maybe one of their 'associates will be able to tell me somethin'. or maybe I'll melt'em back down & cut it about 50% with paraffin wax. or maybe I'll just buy her a couple candles & put my wax back in the lube wax pile.

and by the way, Michael's candle-makin' area is where I got the soy wax. they also have little blocks of beeswax in their candle & soap makin' supplies. but at their price per ounce it would be about 40 or 50 dollars a pound or more.

[bubba.50]

Personally when I make candles I prefer not to be run out of the house by the smell. So I add no scent.

I have played around a fair amount, have a lot of gear, different molds, etc. What I learned is that it is much much easier to use a jar or some type of container.

One of my best efforts was a set of 4 colored candles in cheap dollar store highball glasses. They looked great, worked well, and were easy to do.

I suspect part of your scent problem could be using the wrong wax.

The other thing that happens is sometimes scents and colors will appear to mix, but they are just enough heavier that they will sink to the bottom.

Best of luck.

I don't care for scented candles either but, I ain't makin' them for me. and I am usin' jars & they were already candles once so I know they'll work.

and the soy wax came right out of the candle-makin' section at Michael's so, I'm guessin' it'll somehow work if I can just discover what I'm doin' wrong.

[jonp]

thanks for the replies so far. they have a pretty good selection in the candle-makin' dept. but I don't know what-all kinds of scent elements Michael's has but I'll check there again & maybe one of their 'associates will be able to tell me somethin'. or maybe I'll melt'em back down & cut it about 50% with paraffin wax. or maybe I'll just buy her a couple candles & put my wax back in the lube wax pile.

and by the way, Michael's candle-makin' area is where I got the soy wax. they also have little blocks of beeswax in their candle & soap makin' supplies. but at their price per ounce it would be about 40 or 50 dollars a pound or more.

https://www.candlewic.com/newsletter...ontent=4-21-17

If you buy your supplies at Michaels you will go broke. Price their beeswax and then shoot Randyrat a pm and you will see what I mean.

[bubba.50]

https://www.candlewic.com/newsletter...ontent=4-21-17

If you buy your supplies at Michaels you will go broke. Price their beeswax and then shoot Randyrat a pm and you will see what I mean.

yeah, I have plenty of beeswax for my needs. I mentioned it only to show how proud Michael's is of theirs. and as for Randyrat, I've sent him several PM's over the last couple of years askin' for price & shippin' on his package deals he offered at one time consistin' of a few pounds of beeswax & a pound of carnauba wax & he's never bothered to respond.

[jonp]

yeah, I have plenty of beeswax for my needs. I mentioned it only to show how proud Michael's is of theirs. and as for Randyrat, I've sent him several PM's over the last couple of years askin' for price & shippin' on his package deals he offered at one time consistin' of a few pounds of beeswax & a pound of carnauba wax & he's never bothered to respond.

That's odd. I've gotten beeswax from him several times and he always responds and ships right off.

[Wayne Smith]

I have had no problem with PM's to Randy. He doesn't always have wax, but he will tell you what he has and when he expects more.

As to the scent. It is highly volitile - it needs to be added at the very last end as the wax is cooling to maintain it's strength. That's actually a good thing, if you don't like the scent just melt the wax and the scent is quickly gone.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I made candles back in the `70`s. I only used parafin wax, steric acid, concentrated color blocks and concentrated scent blocks that you broke off. I used either medium or heavy candle wick that came 50` to a roll. I still have a large box of 2 piece molds out in my barn.Robert

[mjwcaster]

Soy wax candles are great.
Some scents just don't work in soy.
And you have to adjust wick size for both the container size and the scent.
Some scents require a larger wick than others.
When I was making/selling them I stuck with one size jar, one size wick and would only use scents that worked with that combo to make life easier.

Benefits of soy candles are cleaner burning, little soot, great scent throw.

I keep threatening to order a box of wax and make some more.

The wife keeps buying candles and most of them are junk, uneven burning, little scent, sooty.




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[bubba.50]

yeh okay. I think the wicks I bought ARE too small so, I'll get some bigger ones & re-do them. and I'll put the beeswax back in the lube pile. what scent brand/type/flavor works best in your opinion?

[mjwcaster]

I bought my scents from mail order supply houses that tested them for soy wax compatibility.
Bittercreek and mcsoywax we're the two suppliers I used.

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