Teach Soap

First let me say I'm a neurotic perfectionist.

That being said, I'm asking y'all (the experts) where to begin. I currently make soaps, lotions, salts, conditioners etc...
I'm hoping to add candles to my repertoire.
I'm not silly enough to believe that candle making and selling is anywhere near as easy as it seems.
I research everything as carefully and completely as I possibly can before beginning any project. This is where you wonderful forum friends come in.
I'm interested in and looking for places to gather valid and good knowledge before I begin.

What particular books, websites, forums and so forth would you recommend that have been helpful to you that will assist me in my knowledge quest?

Thanks in advance for your replies. I've always used this forum as my first go to for information and I trust that y'all won't steer me wrong.

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In this world you can be either oh so smart or oh so pleasant. I used to be smart. I prefer pleasant. You may quote me. ~Elwood P. Dowd

What type of wax do you want to start out with? What type of clientele are you after? BitterCreek Candle Supply has kits that you can try. Be aware that anytime you change a color, fragrance or essential oil, it might change the melt pool, burning time, hot and cold throw and the size of your wick. So lots and lots of testing.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Those are all the things I don't know that I want to learn before I begin.
My biggest question is where to begin.
There's no possible way it's as simple as tossing wax in a jar & selling it.
I never do anything before I feel I've educated myself very well and have many tries under my belt to be sure that I can offer the best product possible.
I'm not at either of those points yet. What I want to know is where I find the information I would need to answer your questions. We all started somewhere. I'm just wondering what books, forums, etc that I can go to to start my learning.
However, I am looking up the answers. : )

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In this world you can be either oh so smart or oh so pleasant. I used to be smart. I prefer pleasant. You may quote me. ~Elwood P. Dowd

Honestly I'd start with a candle making kit from a reputable company like Nature's Garden or Peak Candle Supply. The instruction booklets have a lot of information and the best way to learn is hands on. I started out with paraffin myself, but there are many options now. Soy is a good way to start as it melts very easily and is the easiest of the waxes to clean up after. The easiest way to look at the base waxes is this:

-paraffin makes opaque, high density candles.
-soy makes opaque but milky, medium-low density candles.
-soy paraffin mix makes semi milky, medium density candles.
-palm makes crystalline, high density candles (please watch where the palm comes from, a lot of customers will want to know it is from sustainably harvested, orangutan safe farms)

Candle making can be fun and easy, once you play around with the waxes and find which type(s) you prefer. A good rule of thumb is 1oz of fragrance to 1lb of wax. I wouldn't go any higher than that until you have a lot of experience.

Also, as far as dyes go; liquid dyes are extremely easy to use, block dyes can be spotty of not melted properly. I suggest liquid dyes personally. They are easier to use, last longer (block dyes have a shorter shelf life) and are usually cheaper in the long run. 1lb of wax usually only needs 2 or 3 drops of a good liquid dye, while you would need an entire block of most solid dyes!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Thanks to you both for steering me in a good direction. I truly appreciate your thoughts & advice.
Like most, I'm a hands on learner but it's difficult to do that when you don't even know what you don't know.

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In this world you can be either oh so smart or oh so pleasant. I used to be smart. I prefer pleasant. You may quote me. ~Elwood P. Dowd

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/ This is a good forum for newbies. In the general candle making section, at the top, there is a section for 'helpful links for newbies' with lots of good info. Another good thing to know about the various types of wax is that soy wax is very picky with what scents will throw good and usually needs a week sometimes more to 'cure' before a scent will throw good. Paraffin is the easiest wax, as pretty much most scents will throw good, with little cure time. I've made candles with just about any and all waxes out there and settled on a blend of soy and paraffin.

Once you decide exactly what kind of candles you want to make, getting a kit from a reputable company is a great way to start. Hobby Lobby & Michaels sell candle making stuff, but I wouldn't recommend that route, as the quality is very poor.

You can never read or test enough and be prepared to spend some big bucks before you are ready to sell anything..........it's definately not a craft that is cheap.

Have fun!!

At least its loads LOADS cheaper than CP/HP! I've yet to find a fragrance that had issues with throw in soy wax, but perhaps I am just lucky this way. I have had a batch of paraffin spontaneously combust mind you... ALWAYS stay by melting wax! Use a double boiler or the microwave, but always stay near!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Thanks to you all!
I'm reading up & learning as much as I can. So far I've confirmed my suspicion that it truly is not as easy as it seems.
I'm still not quite ready to begin but y'all will be the first people to see it when I do begin.
With the insurance issues I've read about, I'm not certain I'll ever actually carry them as a product but I love to learn new things regardless.
Thanks again, I truly appreciate the guidance.

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In this world you can be either oh so smart or oh so pleasant. I used to be smart. I prefer pleasant. You may quote me. ~Elwood P. Dowd

Be patient with candlemaking. I've been making candles for awhile and I'm still learning. Whenever you change wax brands everything changes (sometimes each batch can be different too).

Also learn how to work with more then one brand of wax because if your supplier stops carrying one kind you have a back up. That is what I did when I started I kept trying a few different
brands and when my supplier stopped carrying one brand I was okay.

If you do essential oils only that is also a new learning curve. I like to make my own EO blends so have to test them every single time. Whenever I make a batch of candles even after I've
tested I make a separate one for myself just to make sure what I'm selling is okay and is still working the way it should. Put a warning label on every candle you sell when you get to that point.

I appreciate you know it will take time. A fellow bath and body person in my neck of the woods just started up 2 years ago and she just started selling candles a week ago when her supplies
came a week prior. They had no warning label on them at all and I have a feeling she had someone make them for her. Everyone thinks candles are so easy to make and they take a lot of
work and patience if you want a great quality product at the end. If you are a perfectionist like me you will probably become obsessed with the proper wick, wax, scent load etc.

I make soy wax candles and sometimes I do beeswax votives. Tried parafin awhile back and it wasn't for me. For colour I use wax blocks. Never tried liquid but I've heard good things.
Sometimes I don't add colour at all. Essential oils are natural but the scent is always lighter compared to fragrance oils which give you a much stronger scent in the end.

Michelle