Frequently Asked Questions

Short answer....no ,,,,,,,,,,,Long answer...tried that once and found that the difference between monitors made a sometimes huge difference in what colors people actually saw. If you have a color you need and have a sample we can usually get very close on a visual match. Thank you for asking,,,,,Mike

The answer is actually quite order dependant, but I can give some generalizations. Most orders take 2 days in production and then ship on the third day. We have a very stringent procedure that we go by that requires several 8 hour to 12 hour cooling periods between pours. All of our candles get poured at least twice some three times to ensure all the air bubbles and void spaces that are created when the candles cool get filled in properly. The big exception is the hurricane shell which takes 4 days to pour properly as it requires 5 pours to make it correctly. We could shorten these times if we wanted to, but we would rather lose a few sales than put out a product that does not meet our standards.

We have never tried that before without some kind of heat to get the scent in the air. Normally we would recommend using an electric oil warmer for such a purpose. In that case you would fill the bowl about 3/4s up with water and then add scent a few drops at a time (after the water is warm) until you get the concentration of scent in the air you want. We are in this case assuming a large residential room. Another option in this case is a scent ring. It is a grooved ceramic ring that you place on top of a regular light bulb and put a few drops of oil in the ring.  You would most likely need at least 2.  We do not carry this product. If your room is a large banquet room or such that is a bigger problem but has an easier answer. Those types of rooms usually have an air circulation system that is constantly running. You can use this to your advantage. go to wal-mart in the automotive section and they have vent-clip air fresheners.  A couple pakages of those cipped into the air discharge dusts would probably do the trick.   If you need to contact us again hit my personal email address mgannetta@hotmail.com                                                                                                     Mike  

The Michael Gannetta you are referring to lives in san francisco, try this email:    Brentmichaelsf@mac,com

We love to teach. Unfortunately we do not have the facilties to do it on a significant scale. However the internet is a great place for you to start. There are many places you can go. We recommend Candlesandsupplies.com as well as candlewic.com. They can set you up with starter kits and all the supplies you need as well as basic directions to get you started.  Follow the directions to the letter and when you feel comfortable with the process then you can start experimenting with your candles. It is best to start with soy or parrafin based wax when you are learning. There is a great deal of information available on how to use these two types of wax. Do not try to start with palm wax as it is very finicky and there is almost no information out there as to wick sizes, scent loading and coloring specifications. (we had to learn the hard way) There is a huge variety of wick types and sizes out there. Soy and parrafin have been around for a long time so there is a lot of information on wick sizes to be had. Palm wax candles are relatively new on the markets and information on wick sizes is dubious at best. Gel candles are not a place where newbies should go as you are looking at a candle style that really can be dangerous if not done by an experienced chandler.

Blunt answer: Any one that makes anything and does not test it before selling it is asking to go out of business.   Long answer: We test our candles by making them exactly the same way as we make them for you. It is a test of the process as well as the product. By testing we ensure that our process does not waste time and supplies, but also produces a safe and better product. We start by making 4 indentical candles just like we would for you. The same formulas and steps, no changes. We then burn those candles in several fashions, standard test burns of 4 hours per burn, short burns (under 90 minutes), long burns (6 hours) and start to finish burns. So for any 1 particular candle this means at least 4 candles each time we want to test the littlest change. When we test we look for scent throw, length of time to create a full melt pool, smoking (the ultimate sin), heat transfer to the glass (lower is better), total burn time (longer is better) and safety. Each test is charted on a test document and kept on file to record results and to look at for trending and developing new ideas. Example: Our large jar candle worked great with a single 40 size wick for the start to finish and long burn tests but failed miserably on the short burn test. None of the 20+ other sizes of wick would meet all of the requirements for the 4 burn testing when installed as a single wick. After around 100+ candles we found the only wick solution that met our requirements was dual size 34 wicks.  Each new scent has to be tested as well as new colors or glassware or even a new shipment of wax from the manufacturer. Simple things such as white dye can be a problem. White dye if used in too large a quantity will destroy the burn characteristics of a candle well before similar concentrations of other colors. The most important part of testing is safety. You are asking us to make a product for your house that produces a flame. To not ensure the safety of that product would be inexcusable.

When we create your handmade candles we make each one individually. This means that we measure out the scent quantity per our formulary for that particular candle based on the maximum scent load the wax can take on. So if you want a candle with a blend of patchouli and cracklin birch we would base the scent ratio on the "heaviness" of each individual scent. In this case we would go around 60% birch and 40 % patchouli in that the patchouli we use is a very strong scent and would overpower the birch.

No we do not. We haven't really figured out how anybody can do that. Wax can only take a certain amount of scent as a percentage of weight and that percentage is different depending on the wax you are using. There are a few techniques that can get you another 1 or 2 % but that is about as far as you can push beyond the manufacturers specs. If you go too far the candle will smoke, not burn well or feel slippery and in extreme cases will actually seep scent oil. Our thought process: If they offer "triple scented" then their regular candles must be 1/3rd scented.

You are right to be suspicious. Remember the old saying about "too good to be true', it applies in all things. When you see really inexpensive pillars, there are generally one of 2 reasons. A) It is being sold at a loss to get you to try the product. Or it really is a cheaply made product. This actually works for almost anything. I learned it the hard way in my younger years. Things to look for on the web or at the store. bad words: "overdipped" usually means a plain unscented candle that has been dipped in scented wax of the appropriate color. The base candle that has been dipped is usually a "pressed" candle. This is method of mass production where wax beads get dumped into a mold and then a piston presses the wax into the mold, the candle is then drilled to place the wick and then the candle gets dipped a few times in the scented and colored wax. Easily identified by weight. When you pick them up they do not feel as heavy as you think they should be and they are not. This is because the pressing process only uses enough pressure to get the granulated wax to stick together, it does not remove all the air. The granulated wax is rarely scented although the overdip wax is and some of the scent will transfer to the center. To see this for yourself buy one of those dirt cheap 3x6 candles at your local discount department store and cut it open with a large knife, you will see what i mean. "lightly scented" usual translation: "we went cheap on the scent load" or it is an overdip Note: All of our pillars are fully liquid when poured into the mold. Scent and color through and through, and then air cooled for 12 hours before being released from the mold. This makes them much heavier than you would expect and gives you what you pay for.

No, we do not use lead core wicks in our candles and as far as we can tell no one that makes candles in the United States does either. "We don't use lead in our wicks" is a great tag-line but it really doesn't mean much. The hazards of lead core wick in candles were recognized by the govenment in the mid-1970s eventually resulting in a ban on using lead in candle wicks in the late 70s. Candles imported from overseas may contain lead as these restrictions are hard to enforce on imports. Some candle makers do use zinc-core wicks (which are permissible) as the zinc wire in the wick helps to keep it from falling over into the candles melt pool. We do not use these either in our candles as we use only 100% cotton wick.

Trimming the wick is the most important part of taking care of your candle. Think of it as a pump and the liquid wax as the fuel to be pumped. If the wick is too short you get a very small flame until more wick is exposed. If the wick is too long the flame is too large causing smoking and the wax pool to become too large too fast. This is particulary important with pillar candles as too large a flame will cause excessive dripping.

This is a property of the natural palm wax we use. The size of the crystals if affected by the wax and mold temperature when poured as well as the rate at which the candles cool.

The best place we have found is located at the National candle association website www.candles.org.