You get what you pay for as far as candles are concerned. The quality of wax, jar, and wick varies. Longevity of use is related to quality (price) and proper usage. Very inexpensive candles are scented by putting a perfume on top after the candle is made. High quality candles are scented throughout the wax with wicks that are tested to be the proper size for the container. They are not made in China. The amount of scent a candle can produce is a product of the surface area of the melted wax, and the amount of scent within the wax. In regard to keeping old wax, I say absolutely! In addition to using it to make your own candles, sachets, and melts, you can add small chunks to other candles. I prefer to do this after it starts to cool off and shrink. Just push new chunks of wax in the soft candle to offset the shrinkage and it will all melt together next time you light it.

I tried the candle warmers that everyone is so crazy about, and I don't like them for the same reason you stated- for some reason the scent seems to burn off, no matter what brand it is, even one of my own, and you are left with a bunch of weak smelling wax. Whether "rebatching" the wax would work or not, I don't know. Since it will already have some oil in it, it may not hold much more fragrance. The wax would have to be completely melted and then the fragrance oil stirred into it quite well- just like making a candle from scratch. Then the candle would need to set up and cure for about a week. Feasibly, you could have a brand new candle or you could have a flop. You may want to consider using fragrance oils in water on the candle warmer. I know people that do that. It is essentially the same as an electric or tea-light fragrance diffuser. The people I know just put the water in something glass and heat resistant (like a coffee cup) and add some fragrance oil, and let it heat on the warmer. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Susan

I've always had favorable comments with a moderate strength vanilla scent, it seems to appeal to both males and females. I personally do not like flower scents, specially gardenia and rose. tttodd, the Slatkin candles are great; I especially like the fact that the lid is attractive and kills the flame without having to blow the candle out (eliminating that burned smell of having just blown out candles). I just bought a 3 wick Marshmallow slatkin on thursday and it has a mild vanilla scent. The glass jars at Yankee get a black soot deposit when you extinguish them by putting the lid on. Yankee has started selling some of their scents in a simple clear column container, like the slatkins; I personally do not like the countryish jars, they don't suit my decor. On that same shopping trip, I bought 2 boxes of Yankee vanilla tea lights, they burn well and go out by themselves, which is what I like about tea lights, specially the clear plastic ones, they look good in a clear glass votive holder.

This is one of those broad "categories" I prefer to break up and store by use. Hence parchment sheets are near baking center, but parchment roll is near prep where I might be making up packages for steaming veg or seafood. Similarly, microvable wax paper is near MW, but waxed paper sandwich bags are stowed with the brown paper lunch bags. (I don't make up lunch bags very often, nowadays.) Foodsaver rolls are near foodsaver machine. Aluminum foil is near oven with parchment roll. Clingfilm is near the fridge, along with my ziplocks, though I am trying hard to use reuseable glass containers for leftovers, which are stored in the same place. Freezer bags and butcher paper are with my food preservation supplies. I am working hard to get over my tendency to lump sets (dishes, pots, implements, spices) together rather than disposing them around by where they get used. I figure that even if it's more steps to place them in their storage positions (i.e. putting soup bowls in a different cupboard from the cereal bowls) at least those steps aren't happening just at the moments I need them for cooking or plating. L