I make and sell candles, but I make container candles. I have tried many, many different types of wax but the one I like best and am most impressed with is J223 by Astorlite. As far as fragrance amount, that depends on the brand of wax you are using. J223 recommends 1 to 1 1/2 ounce per pound. I have never used over 1 ounce because the J223 has an excellent cold and hot scent throw. I do cover my candles (or put the lid on the jar) mostly to keep them clean. I cannot see that having one uncovered has ever made any difference in my candles. I use dye chips; I have never had much sucess with liquid color in either soap or candles. Most of my candles have just as good of a scent as a Yankee candle or some other nice candle. However, I use the best wax and the best fragrance oils in them; fragrance oil quality makes a huge difference in the finished fragrance of a candle. I hope I have been of help.
Susan

Susan.. thanks for the info. I went to Astorlite's website and it doesnt look like they have any location near me. Do you buy your products on-line? We have a warehouse here that sells all candle making supplies and that is where I have been buying my stuff.. I am not sure of the quality though, I think I should try a couple of different companies.. Sorry for the rambling!

Trish

Trish,
The scent throw from the oil you use also depends on the quality of the oil itself.
What Susan said she uses, 1-1 1/2 oz is considered by the candle making industry, what is used for high scent by indusrty standards.

1 oz.oil per 1 lb is what is considered a 7% pour.
1 1/2 oz per pound is considered a 9% pour.

Anything higher than a 9% pour is not considered safe for burning as it could catch fire. People do use higher concentrations, especially homemade candles, because they are not using a GOOD quality oil, so they need MORE for a good scent throw.

You are better off buying good quality oil, since you will need to use LESS for the good scent throw, it will be more economical. And a good quality wax, combined with the right size wick will make for a great candle!

Alot of folks use vybar in the candles as supposedly it helps the harden wax & the scent. Some waxes come with it already in.

If you use good quality ingredients leaving the candles unwrapped shouldn't be a problem. you may lose a bit of scent from outside, but nothing major.

Dye chips used to be the way to go because they were cost effective & came in many colors. But now the liquid dyes are reasonably priced & long lasting. I think the dyes are easier to control color with. You know if you used 3 drops of red & 4 of blue to get the exact shade of purple you wanted, it's going to be easy to replicate that a 2nd or 3rd time where your shades would vary more with dye chips.

Have fun making candles & enjoy them!

hazel

Thanks Hazel. I am off to buy some wax tonight and plan on making some candles this weekend. I have some scent coming from Alabaster Candle Co.. Hopefully it is of good quality!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Trish

I buy all of my candle fragrances from Bittercreek. I also buy the wax from there. I have bought the wax from Wholesale Supplies Plus before, but their fragrances, although terrific in soap and bath and body products, aren't worth a darn in candles- I just cannot get a good scent throw. Alabaster is a very reputable place and you should get quality oils from them.
Hazel, I may give the liquid colorants another try since it has been a couple of years since I tried them. I had a heck of a time getting them to blend into the wax, and I never could get them to blend inot my M&P soap, so I have stuck with the wax chips. The liquid would certainly make it easier to duplicate color batch to batch. Using the candle chips from Peak Candle Supplies has made the coloring much easier, but the liquid would be even better for measuring accurately.
Susan

About good quality oils....Is Peak Candles a Co. with good quality oils? Or should I switch to Bittercreek? I use candlewick para wax cbl-129 with the peak oils. I'm trying to figure out a good recipe for a good scent throwing candle. A candle with a strong scent that is very noticable when walking into a room.

I've had good results with oils from Peak, as well as Candle Science (candlescience.com).