Update on the wine, liquor, and beer candles!

So far it has been a success. I have tested my 100% soy wax on two bottles. One being a thinner beer bottle from the beer company Rogue and the other being a vodka bottle with a  thicker layer of glass from the company Absolut!

The test burns have gone wonderfully and you can expect to see some for sale in the next few weeks.

Here are a few images to illustrate what a beer and liquor candle will look like :)

 Before:

During:

 

After the first 3 hour burn:

Hanging out with my candles, enjoying the nice ambiance 

Stay tuned for our next entry!

Paraffin VS Soy. Who should win?

WHY PARAFFIN? 

We all know what our candles are made of…wax. Duh. BUT do you reaaaaally know what is in your sweetly scented jars of joy?

PARRAFIN WAX !!!- it is the number one used wax in the candle industry. And aside from being a fun word to say it’s not such a fun ingredient and I FBCandles am here to tell you why.

Here is a breakdown [of which I could go on forever trust me!] of what Paraffin wax is and why you want to stay far far away…

Dun dun dun….

1. Paraffin wax is CHEAP, that is pretty self explanatory. Buuuut why is it cheap?

2. It’s cheap because it’s basically sludge aka final byproduct in the petroleum refining chain [even after asphalt is extracted]. And we all know Petroleum is a fossil fuel right? Mmhhmmm. Love the idea of breathing that in.

3. But why should you care???? Aside from breathing in fossil fuels? WELP you are creating indoor air pollution [in case you were wondering]. The soot from the burning of paraffin candles is the same as that given off by burning diesel fuel. [you know that icky black stuff that collects on your walls after burning a candle in the same spot for awhile?] Yea..

4. Some of the air contaminants in paraffin fumes include toluene, benzene, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and naphthalene—substances found in paint, lacquer and varnish removers. EVEN THE EPA SAYS ITS BAD-go look for yourself.

5. While burning paraffin wax candles the sot releases carcinogens [see above].

WHY SOY?

1. Soy is non-toxic. 

2. Soy wax burns 25-50% longer than paraffin wax.

3. It burns cooler and cleaner. [for all you clean freaks out there!]

4. Its wax can be washed with hot water and soap. [psh take that fossil fuels]

5. Soy wax is a biodegradable renewable resource. [just like water, awww]

I will let you be the judge of which you prefer. Coming from a business perspective, the idea of cheap ingredients is nice because you can make a much larger profit. However at FBCandles I believe in spending more money to invest in something much more sustainable and much cleaner! To me, the choice is simple. Even if you decide to purchase candles from Walmart or Target or a cute lil locally owned shop like Fawn Berry Candles be sure to get a candle that is GUARANTEED all soy, not soy infused, or partially soy.  100%. 

Beer Candles, Wine Candles, Liquor Candles...OH MY!

That's right. Over here at candle land (aka Amanda's apt) we are currently experimenting with beer, wine, and liquor bottles-reusing them with our 100% soy candles!  Still in the early stages of the process and haven't quit determined if these bad boys are sell-able and safe, after a bunch more testing and applications, there will be an announcement on FBC's site (and we hope it is good news!!).

Now I know you are wondering what the heck is going on...why are you making candles in a alcoholic bottle and how??

FBC, many years ago pondered on the idea of putting a candle in a beer can by cutting the top off with a box cutter (not a good idea) and from there I have always wondered how I could perhaps make candles inside of glass bottles. Specifically reusing bottles-because we LOVE our eARTh ;)

And vuole la laa FBC found a company that sold glass bottle cutters. Special thanks to Mike for being the faceless model ;)

This is the process BEFORE the candle is made:

• These are the bottles we  used with our glass cutter.

• Next, we took our glass cutter which puts a score on the glass bottle in a perfect circle, similar to a compass. 

• Now we take boiled water and pour it very  s l o w l y over the score in hopes that it will crack along the line.

• Once the bottle is (hopefully) cracked we need to take the bottle and separate the top and lid from the body. The next step is pouring very cold water on the score and it should break (sometimes if you place the bottle in a bowl of cold water it will crack at a slower, and therefore more even line.

• And it broke off!

• Here is an example of a even break and an uneven break. The last step before we can make candles in these bottles is wet sand the edges that were broken off to ensure no sharp edges and boo-boo's :)

Stay tuned in to see the results of making candles in the bottles, burn them and see what happens.

New New New !

Hello blogger world....many exciting things have-been/are happening and I must give a few shout outs.

• FBCandles is super excited to almost have a personalized logo designed by the very awesome Nicholas Emmanuel Mariakis, I HIGHLY recommend him to anyone, anyone that is interested in having someone (super awesome) create logos and graphic design :) See below for an example of something he has been working on for FBC

• Also my very talented friend, Emily, has taken all the photos you see currently on my site! (image below is one example) She has very reasonable rates, is always very flexible, and has a wonderful eye for photography (both product,landscape,and portrait). Check her out at http://emilymorganphotography.com/. 
• Last but not least..FBCandles is planning on working with the amazing duo that is Werth Photography! As soon as the new logo comes out, FBC's website will be uploaded with some updated photos from this creative couple. Below is one of their images from a recent photo shoot. Please check them out at http://www.werthphotography.com/ or on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/werthphotography
  

That's all for now, keep a look out for the next post where you can see how FBCandles makes candles out of liquor, wine, & beer bottles!