Karen, I just happened to be trapsing through.. In my opinion the best soy wax is produced by Enchanted Lites. But I also know what it costs to ship wax. So I also recommend finding a reputable supplier as close to you as possible and working with the soy they offer. Soy wax burns better with fragrance oil added. And cotton wicks are great. I prefer HTP wicks, which are a cotton braided coreless wick, that bends towards the melt pool. Greatcandle.com candlecocoon.com Both these companies have very knowledgeable ladies running the show. They were chandlers first, then became suppliers. Unfortunately, they are both in the Midwest..I think Angie(greatcandle) has kits..that might be the best way for you to get started. 86 oz, that's over 5lbs of wax...WOW! And I'm guessing atleast 3-4 wicks?? If I did something that big, not including the crock or the cost of it, Yep it would cost about $40 for the wax, wicks and fragrance, based on my mark up rate. So $46 is not off base...But certainly it would cost about about 16-18 to make. So yes you are definately saving alot of money making your own..However, I will caution you that repeatedly refilling candle jars and crocks and burning in them will weaken the containers over time. So the more times you do it the more closely you need to watch those containers when they are lit.

Well to be quite honest. It takes longer than a few months to work out a quality consumer safe product. However, the best place to start is with a kit. It takes some of the guess work out for you, gets you familar with the process, and gives you building blocks to work with. Check the link out below. Moonglow carries EL waxes, and some of their fragrance oils. Otherwise like I said Call up Enchanted Lites and ask for Bruce. He might be able to put a kit together with stuff they carry right there. Here is a link that might be useful: MoonGlow Kits~Enchanted Lites Wax Supplier

I have gotten good results with GB464 & Eco 10's. So the questions that come to mind are: How long do you let a candle cure befoe first burn? I would give it 48 hours. What oil are you using? They do not all work equally well. You have to go through a lot of trial & error to find the ones that work. I recommend keeping a little notebook to keep track of what works & what does not. Also, try things from different companies. No one company will have equally goud results with every oil they sell.

For those of you who make candles maybe you can help me. I want to purchase some 100% soy scented candles wholesale for my non profit to do fund raising. I cannot find a pure soy candle with a self cleaning wick. When I say self cleaning, I'm talking about a wick that falls off as it burns and doesn't turn into a big black glob that throws off black smoke. Can you help?