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Candle Making List of Categories

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Can I make Hurricane candles without using Micro 180?
Can I use colored sand when making a sand candle?
On your old website you had tutorials, where are they now?
Do you have any information on how to market the candles I have made?
Can I melt wax on a stove top?
What makes the added scent bead up when added to the wax? I added the scent and it seemed to cloud up and form beads when I let it settle breifly/
Why don't my scented candles smell when burning?
I can't smell my candles, but everyone raves about them, why?
Why are my candles turning white?
Why are my candles changing color?

Can I make Hurricane candles without using Micro 180?

Micro 180 hardens wax without reducing the translucency of the wax. Since much of the beauty of a hurricane comes from that glow from within the use of an opaquing hardener such as Vybar or stearic is not desirable in Hurricane candles. If you make them with no hardener they will be more susceptible to heat damage when you burn a candle inside.

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Can I use colored sand when making a sand candle?

It really depens on how the sand was colored. Most colored sands I have tried worked fine. I suggest testing by adding a small amount of sand to hot paraffin to see if the color bleeds.

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On your old website you had tutorials, where are they now?

Candle Projects are now at: Free Candle Making Project Instructions

General Candle Making instructions are now at: Free Candle Making Instructions

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Do you have any information on how to market the candles I have made?

Yes, as a matter of fact I have written an e-book on it. This is an expansion of my candle / craft business seminars and goes into far greater detail. A free evaluation copy containing excerpts from the book (including some useful information) is available here The full book on CD is purchasable here.

It will run on most PC's (older systems and pre windows 98 machines may have a problem).
To run on Macs a pc emulator such as VirtualPC is needed.

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Can I melt wax on a stove top?

Not directly. Always use a double boiler whenever possible. This does not have to be a commercial double boiler. Place an old pot with several inches of water in it on the stovetop. The wax goes in a smaller pot (our pouring pots are great for this) placed inside the first pot.

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What makes the added scent bead up when added to the wax? I added the scent and it seemed to cloud up and form beads when I let it settle breifly/

This commonly occurs when using potpourri oils in candle making. Di Propylene Glycol (DPG) is not soluble in wax and is a common ingredient in potpourri oils. Some companies market these as candle oils even though they are messy to use in candles. There are also a few common scent oil ingredients such as vanillin which may precipitate out in the wax if it is present in high levels.

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Why don't my scented candles smell when burning?

This is such a complex topic but I will try to list the main reasons here:
- Not enough fragrance oil - generally 1 ounce of scent oil per pound of wax is necessary to make strongly scented candles.
- The scent oil was "cooked" too long in the wax - the scent should be added just before pouring
- Use of low quality scent oil. This is not a problem with ours, but there are some really cheap, low quality scent oils on the market.
- Poor melt pool - Fragrance is released by evaporation from the melt pool. The larger the melt pool, the more scent throw.
- Some fragrances are inherently weaker than others. For example Watermelon will never smell as strong as Mulberry.
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I can't smell my candles, but everyone raves about them, why?

The process of making candles puts so much scent in the air that your nose becomes desensitized. When evaluating the scent throw of a candle always have someone from outside your home or workshop evaluate them (friend or neighbor).

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Why are my candles turning white?

They are fading. Many candle dyes are moderately unstable. Minimal amounts of UV light (such as reflected light from a window or some flourescent bulbs) will often fade candles quickly. If your candles are losing color check the bottom. If the bottom has not lost color then this is a fading problem. The use of UV Inhibitor will slow fading down tremendously.

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Why are my candles changing color?

If the entire candle is changing color (not just one side for example), then this is most likely an oxidation problem. This is a chemical reaction caused by an incompatibility between 2 or more ingredients in your wax. I have seen this occur most commonly with pine scent oils and green dyes. There is no cure for this aside from not using that color / scent combination.

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