Nostalgia Cotton Candy Machine - Retro Cotton Candy Machine for Kids with 2 Reusable Cones, 1 Sugar Scoop, and 1 Extractor Head – Red

Was nervous about the many poor reviews, particularly recent ones, so put it together carefully, read the instructions, and watched some YouTube videos about cotton candy machines. After making our first set of batches, my overall take is it's a great little unit. I had no trouble getting it going, waited the full 10 minutes for it to heat up before using it, and used candy floss sugar bought separately (unit doesn't come with any). Spun up into floss in about a minute, and was relatively easy to spin out onto cones (came with the flossing sugar), or a straw / chopstick we had around. We made about 6 'batches' consisting of about a tablespoon of sugar (the max for the unit), and they got eaten very very quickly (faster than I could make them).I set it up outside because of the reviews saying the sugar got sprayed 4 ft in every direction. I did not notice any sugar spraying out of it at all for me; my next batch I will try inside. I did however, find some perhaps 25%-50% of the sugar in the batch fails to make it into the floss, and is flung as small particles onto the walls of the bowl in a ring (where the spinning disk is). I collected it afterward (the pieces snapped off easily) and tried putting a couple big pieces in to re-melt and have less waste. That turned out not to be such a good idea, as the weighting wasn't distributed evenly for the spinning disk. The solution is to crush the hard candy into little pieces first, so that it can spin out more evenly, which I'll try next time.I stopped the machine due to the odd rotation that was occurring, and let it cool. The sugar in the head all hardened inside and looked like a fairly nasty mess to clean up. Good news is it's sugar, so it dissolves in water. After cooling for 20 mins I popped the head off and ran it under hot water and dissolved out all the sugar that had hardened inside. Took a good 10-15 mins to get it all out, so I won't be in any hurry to re-create that situation. But all in all it's straightforward to clean and looks like new again.In sum, does what it's supposed to do (makes delicious cotton candy), is easy to set up, easy to use, and easy to clean. 5 stars. Just know it's small batches, you may want to make some ahead of time if you have a bunch of kids / people that want to eat it.

The Nostalgia Cotton Candy Machine is such a fun addition to our kitchen! It’s easy to use and works great with both regular sugar and hard candies, which makes it even more versatile. The cotton candy comes out light, fluffy, and just like the kind you’d get at a fair. It’s a big hit at family gatherings and parties, and even fun just for a weekend treat. Cleanup is pretty simple too. If you’re looking for something fun, nostalgic, and kid-friendly (or just for your inner kid), this machine is totally worth it!

I bought this cotton candy machine for my granddaughter for Christmas, and she loves it. She's 11 years old, and it is simple enough for her to put together and use. We read the directions, and she understood that it is important to allow enough warm-up time in order for the sugar or candy to melt properly (3 minutes). I bought a set of the flossing sugar bottles and a large box of the paper cones to go with it. She and her friends had a great time experimenting with the different flavors of flossing sugar and then trying out hard candies, which worked equally well.It took a little time to master the art of how to hold the paper cones and how to gather the "cotton." At first she kept dipping the cones vertically into the spinner, but it was too easy to bump the heating element and then melt the ball of candy on the cone. She also found that the candy gathered too tightly around the cone and ended up in a heavy ball instead of the traditional cottony fluff. After reading some reviews, we found that starting the cone inside the bowl and then holding the cone above the bowl allowed the "cotton" to very lightly wrap around the cone, thereby producing a huge and fluffy cotton candy, just like at the carnival.Although the machine does work very well, there are a few issues I wish the manufacturer would address. The machine vibrates so much that you really need a second person to hold it in place. Putting some rubberized shelving material under it helped some, but you still need a second person to help. This vibrating also shakes the plastic bowl loose.Clean up is easy with the exception of the heating element. Once the heating element has cooled, it needs to be removed for soaking/cleaning. This is NOT an easy chore. I am a pretty strong person, but I had a very hard time removing it. When you push the unit on, you will notice that it goes on VERY tightly. So once it is coated with sugar, cools, and hardens, it is even harder to get off. I actually am concerned that I will break it or bend the post it is mounted on. Be sure there is an adult to do this step of the clean up.I read a few other reviews that addressed these issues, so I know it isn't just the one I bought. But I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned these things in their reviews. Perhaps not all of these machines do this.Once the heating element is removed, clean up is easy. Everything is soaked in hot water for a short while to melt the remaining sugar. No scrubbing is needed.This is a fun machine for a small group of kids (and adults), but I wouldn't plan on using it for a huge birthday party of children; it takes too much time for each cone...maybe 4 or 5 minutes.It's a good idea to read the directions well and some of the reviews here on Amazon before using your machine. Some people have already tried all the different candies that work and will tell you what does not work. This is good information. Overall, we are happy with this purchase.