Newbie question - right forum this time :@)

[Ladybenj]

Hi Guys and Happy New Year to you all,

I'm new to this site but find them a wealth of knowledge - because despite what my husband thinks - I don't know everything - but we'll keep that just between us as he thinks I'm very intelligent :mf:

Anyway, I was given a candle making kit for Chrimbo and I love it. I always receive candles but this is great and very easy - easier than I thought. I work for a charity and have decided that I can sell these at the events and things that we do and my mind has been working overtime at what else can be achieved.

I want to be able to put things into the candles like petals and other stuff but don't know when these should be added and if they are safe to be there when they are burning - could someone offer my some guidance on this please.

Thanks in advance,

Ladybenj x

[Wicknwax Candles]

Hi

If your selling on, you will need candle insurance

[Ladybenj]

Is it different from public liability insurance? and if so can someone recommend where I can this from. :confused:

Thanks,

Ladybenj x

[Wicknwax Candles]

I get mine from

http://www.craftinsurance.co.uk/

[Pauline@weddingtreasures]

Hiya Lady and (welcome)to the forum!

Pauline :)

[Ladybenj]

Hi and thanks for that - I didn't even give insurance a thought so glad you mentioned it. Google didn't come up with anything specific but those recommended are more than reasonable, so I'll crack on and get that sorted - better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully will never ever need it but Sod's Law that something will happen without it eh!

Thanks for the welcome Pauline - glad to be here.

Donna x

[girlyracer]

Hi Donna

Happy New Year and welcome to the forum.

I've just recently started selling my candles to the general public and for my insurance I went to Combined Market Traders Insurance Association.

They were very helpful and even though at the moment I don't do craft fairs their policy automatically gives you £5 million Product Liability and Public Liability. I just rang them up, answered a few questions, paid over the phone with my debit card and I was covered immediately. All for the princely sum of £48.50.

I think they are the cheapest by far for craft insurance. The less we have to pay for our insurance , the more we can spend on supplies:D

Ruby x

[just_mai]

I'm just wondering are you going to keep buying kits and selling the made up candles form the kit, or are you going to buy separate supplies and make you own candles up.

if you make your own candles up you need to do a lot of testing with fragrances and wicks before you even contemplate selling. to get the right balance of fragrance oil to give a nice throw and wicking is very important part of candle making, wick to small and you have a small flame and hardly any scent throw, wick to high and you get mushrooming,
not putting relief holes in candles when making them can cause air pockets and fires.

it's not as easy as you think making a good candle.

not trying to put you off, but just trying to make sure you know the pitfalls first.

i've just started making candles after having a kit for my birthday last April, I hated the kit, but love making mine from scratch, Only just managed to get the wicks right for my pillar candles, my soy container ones are just about right dependent on container and fragrance.

I'm not selling them yet, but hopefully by the end of the month I will be selling soy container and palm pillar candles, as I know those two work.

[candles by lisa]

Just noticed this thread (sorry been of on my holiday).

When it comes to putting things into candles you have to be very very careful particularly if the items are flamable. Even if you stick petals etc to the outside of the candle if the candle melts and the leaves float into the melt pull they will catch fire when they hit the flame. Best to use inflamable items like shells, stones etc and if you want to use botanicals you can stick them to the outside of the candle as long as you make sure that the outside of the candle stays intact (you leave an outer layer to the candle).

If you need more info just give me a shout.

Cheers.

Lisa

:D

[Ladybenj]

Hi guys, and thanks ever so much for all the help and guidance. Mai, I've used the kit and enjoyed it but think it might be better if I make them from scratch - I found out about the relief holes by scanning the forum and looked that up further - I'm having a problem with sinking in the middle at the moment, but after doing pottery and taking notes on firing and applying that principal to candle making, and then burning them is working well. I know what you mean about the wicks - they can be a little 'strange' shall we say, and I've had to re-melt some due to the wicks being too short to start with.

Girlyrace - that's great info and I'll definitely check that one out when I start selling on.

Lisa, I've checked out your site and you make some fab stuff - mine will only be for things like events that we have to raise the money, so I'm not planning to sell them in massive amounts, but the info on things in candles is great, thanks. I thought I'd ask before I started doing stuff like that and burning down my house - don't want to do that now it's nearly finished lol.

All great info and helpfulness on this forum.

Many thanks,

Donna x