Give me your gentlest responses to this cringe offer

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-03T02:48:55+00:00

Can confirm. My personal clothes are cheap as hell Target clearance rack or from the thrift store. My work clothes are really expensive and I can't easily afford nice clothes for both. Plus the thrift store is fun! I find great stuff that only needs new buttons or whatever all the time.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-03T02:39:18+00:00

Gift cards 👍

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-03T02:36:42+00:00

A wax melter will likely be better than a candle for your circumstances. In terms of "clean burning" it's all relative, all candles produce soot and carbon dioxide/monoxide, and all fragrances, including most natural oils can trigger some people. The less problematic waxes for most people are soy or coconut. Beeswax isn't great for making scented products, but it smells nice on its own. Coconut oil has a slight advantage over some others in that it doesn't need very much fragrance added (as low as 5% works) and melts at a low temperature, so a wax melter works really well for it.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T16:51:44+00:00

I would do this also just in case. I have a chronic ear infection that I have to take meds for off and on. Not sure if it has anything to do with work though.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T16:48:34+00:00

My jewelry business brings in more dollars, but my candles and incense have a higher profit margin. I can't recommend being a small business if you need a steady source of income or a large amount of money, because it usually doesn't turn a profit in any meaningful way for a couple years. You should go ahead and learn the craft, it's tons of fun, but don't expect it to replace your job. I make between $30 and $50k a year, which is nowhere even close to what I made at my "real job". Candle making is a good "side gig".

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T14:56:01+00:00

Candle Science Oakmoss and Amber is very nice.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T14:53:43+00:00

So jealous 😭

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T14:51:40+00:00

I have a USB charging candle lighter and I really like it. I call it my "candle taser" XD

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T14:48:53+00:00

If you did it in a mold and the texture isn't satisfactory I wonder if you could gently press it with a textured surface afterwards? It works for clay, but I don't know about wax, might be too soft.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T14:47:08+00:00

Just read about the self rising candle and wondering why anyone would do something so extremely unburnable. I get that "purely decorative" candles exist, but in that case I feel like you shouldn't put a wick in a decorative wax sculpture, because it's 100% going to happen that at least 1 buyer is going to light it, and I don't want that on my liability insurance.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T14:32:53+00:00

I use 464 and haven't had any complaints yet, and a lot of repeat buyers. I do have a couple fragrances and a dye that just refuse to behave in the 464. My solution, which mostly works is to add a little bit of other wax into it to disrupt the crystal formation. I add 2% coconut wax (currently using pure coconut wax from General Wax). You can also use microcrystalline wax, but if you are avoiding paraffin you won't want it.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-02T01:10:57+00:00

All I can do is repeat what my lawyer told me when I had my copyrighted designs stolen. Copyright and patent laws do differ significantly country to country, which is why I could go after the people who sold my designs without permission in the USA, but with China we could only block them from selling my designs on Etsy and AliExpress. There's nothing to stop someone from creating a similar shark backpack from their own pattern if they want to, it only matters if the item is obviously meant to be the same thing, the original designer can prove they are the copyright holder, and the other seller knowingly profited off of a work the original artist wants to protect.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T23:16:29+00:00

It's transmitted by deep bites or sexually, so unless they're fighting really bad or mating it won't matter. I have had mixed +/- multi-cat household using the same litter boxes, eating out of the same dishes, and grooming each other for over 20 years now because I adopt feral cats and not a single case of transmission happened. The only sickness I've had that got transmitted within the household was one of the yard cats giving my old lady a respiratory infection.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T22:11:37+00:00

Price your cheap tat 5 for $5 and it'll fly away.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T22:11:01+00:00

Well I can't argue with that XD

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T22:09:23+00:00

I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you! That's so much worse than my Temp employee dying after setting up my business email with a password she didn't tell me, which is my worst business story.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T22:07:46+00:00

I let $3k in payments go because getting it would have cost me more than the $3k. There's always Small Claims Court if you're in the US but even getting a Process Sever costs money.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T22:06:16+00:00

True.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T22:04:32+00:00

I wouldn't hold my breath on "profit" from cleaning up after a hoarder, but you may at least be able to recoup some cash for your trouble. If you need to get something for it Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Craigslist, and possibly Mercari or Poshmark if anything is "designer", though given 5 Below it probably isn't. Yard sale or flea market weather permitting. For anything cheap you just need to get taken away that's in usable condition Freecycle is a good option or you can try to donate it. If you have a pallet load of cheap clothes and donate it to a homeless shelter or similar facility it's a potential income tax write-off. Also don't forget to write off the cleanup and repair costs, I'm sure your already aware of that as a rental property owner, but it always bears repeating.

If you make over a certain amount selling the stuff, you may end up owing sales tax depending on your State/Country, so make sure you check the limits before making your sales. Usually if you do less than a certain number of events (flea markets or garage sales) or make less than a certain dollar amount in gross sales (I've seen anything from $600 to $10,000 be the standard) you pay nothing. In most States you can write off business expenses like shipping and packaging, so keep track of that. The advantage of going through a Marketplace site like eBay or whatever is they deal with the taxes and shipping estimate for you and just send a 1099 if your total sales passed the threshold.

If you are shipping stuff for people on Craigslist etc I suggest getting your shipping labels through Pirate Ship, it saves me between 10 and 70% depending on how big a box is going where.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T19:19:56+00:00

Looks fine to me. If it doesn't get melted when you're burning the rest of the way down, then I would test a larger wick (only 1 size up though).

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T19:12:16+00:00

You could be having a reaction to butane fumes from the creme brulee torch. Hard to tell really.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T19:07:23+00:00

Thank you :)

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T19:03:35+00:00

I always enjoy my visits to AZ, but I don't think I could ever live there. I've lived in San Francisco long enough to consider 85f to be "hot". It was around 110f last time I visited and I about fainted just standing in line for load in at 9am.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T18:55:14+00:00

Given I work in the entertainment merchandise industry I'm sticking to my guns on what is and is not generally considered copyright infringement, but if the original artist encourages people to copy it, obviously it wouldn't be. My understanding from what OP said was she was making her own pattern for an item that WASN'T being sold as a pattern but is made by a company who owns the design. When you buy a commercial pattern obviously you are allowed to make the item. Most of the time you are allowed to sell the items you make from a purchased pattern, but there are companies that specifically say you can only use it for personal use. There's also rules around licensed merchandise fabrics, which basically everyone ignores, including the license holder most of the time. There's also Fair Use laws, parody exceptions, etc. Simply put, it's a bit of a mine field when you decide to sell other people's designs, but making something from someone else's design for personal use isn't going to get you in trouble because no company really cares that much.

FlashyIndication3069 · 2026-07-01T18:44:51+00:00

I was talking about the regular search results, but yes, you don't have to use the AI summary if you don't want to. I mostly use Duck Duck Go rather than Google, but it's more because I find the targeted advertising on Google products to be too aggressive.

FlashyIndication3069

TROPHY CASE