BLNDR▼ HELP CENTERBACK TO APP
▼ DOC 01

Getting Started

The six-step day-to-day workflow that drives every batch

BLNDR is the candle shop OS — pitcher math, batch costs, recipe management, vendor catalog cross-reference, inventory tracking, and Square / Shopify sync. The six steps below are the actual day-to-day workflow. Each links to its dedicated section in the sidebar for the full deep-dive.

1. Set up your shop (Settings)

One-time setup. The Batch Planner pulls everything from here, so this drives accurate cost-of-goods downstream.

  1. 1

    Add the waxes you actually buy

    Settings → MY WAXES. Vendor + size + real price paid (not list price). This drives $/lb COGS in the Batch Planner.

  2. 2

    Save a formula preset

    Settings → MY FORMULAS. A formula is a (wax + fragrance load %) pair you reuse. Star one as default; switch per batch via dropdown.

  3. 3

    Add wicks + lids

    Settings → WICKS and LIDS. Per-unit cost + owned qty. Add these before containers — the container form's default-wick + default-lid dropdowns pull from these registries.

  4. 4

    Build your container catalog

    Settings → CONTAINERS. Jar/tin sizes with capacity, cost, sell price, default wick + lid (selected from the wicks/lids you just added), plus stock tracking and refill mode.

  5. 5

    Connect Square + Shopify (optional)

    Settings → integrations cards. OAuth-based; tokens are AES-256-GCM encrypted at rest. Sign into the Shopify Admin BEFORE clicking CONNECT or Shopify shows “Unauthorized Access”.

2. Stock your library

Library → Oils. Browse the catalog (~6,000 oils across CandleScience, The Flaming Candle, Nature's Garden, Wholesale Supplies Plus, Hive & Honey). Add the ones you own. Library oils appear first in the mixer search, drive Oil Engine tracking, and feed the Batch Planner's stock check.

TIP
Click any oil's (i)for the full panel: per-size price table, IFRA cert + SDS, manufacturer (sub-brand), “view on vendor” link, classifier confidence.

3. Build a recipe (Mixer → Recipes)

Slider-based blend builder. Add oils from your library, drag percentages to total 100%, get hazard + load-band guardrails, name it, save it. The recipe lands in My Blends with version history.

4. Plan a batch (Batch Planner)

Pick recipe + ratio + containers + quantities. The Live Math panel returns wax weight, per-pitcher oil split, COGS breakdown, margin, and a stock check — all without a Calculate button.

5. Make and ship (Make Batch)

Sticky footer button. Click → confirm the manifest → recipe-history snapshot is taken, library qty deducts, finished candles push to Square (and Shopify, if enabled). Stock-short batches don't block — the button switches to MAKE ANYWAY because your Frag Lab inventory is the source of truth.

6. Maintain (Inventory + Oil Engine)

Day-to-day cleanup. Drag-to-adjust quantities, run the Oil Engine dialog when vendors discontinue oils or you have cross-vendor duplicates. Swapped oils stay in your library with a “swapped → X” badge until stock hits zero.

NEXT · DOC 02 →Mixer