Candle Care

There are several things you can do to keep your candles burning, safely, for a long time:

Never leave your candle burning unattended.  This should go without saying, but we thought we’d say it anyways.  Oh, and if you have any small ones who like to grab things off of tables, you probably shouldn’t leave them in a room with a burning candle either.

Now, the first thing you are going to want to do with your candle is remove the lid and inhale that heady aroma, that sweet fragrance, that mind clearing smell.  Actually, one of the great things about soy wax is the amount of fragrance the soy will hold (compared to paraffin and other waxes).  Just taking the lid off the candle should release the scent into the air and leaving it set open will help freshen the air, even when it isn’t burning.

Before you burn the candle, and we mean every time you light it, you want to make sure the wick is trimmed to 3/8” to 1/4”.  The wicks don’t usually burn up completely when they are lit.  Trimming some of the charred tip from the wick will help it burn cleaner and longer.

The first time you burn your candle, plan to leave it lit long enough to melt the entire top layer of wax (containers only, of course).  As long as you do this the first time, you should be able to avoid ‘tunneling’ - where the wick burns a hole down the middle of the candle – and the candle should burn evenly the rest of the way down.

Remember that the container will get hot, especially as the wax level gets lower.  Make sure that the candle is sitting on something heat resistant.  You should not burn a candle that has under 1/4” of wax in the bottom.  It’s time to throw that away and get something NEW!

Oh, and just in case you haven’t checked out the page on Soy Wax (see Waxes and Candles for more info.), you should know that Soy Candles do have some soot.  It is nowhere as heavy as paraffin candles and it is usually white or light grey.  In most cases, it won’t cause any problems and is still much healthier to burn, but we thought you should know. 

For Pillar, Taper and Molded candles.

Again, Never leave your candle burning unattended.  This is even more true for these types of candles.  The wick is ‘exposed’ and may continue to burn when knocked over.  We recommend having some kind of container surrounding the candle when/if burning.

Most of the rest of our suggestions are the same – enjoy the scent, trim the wick, etc.

Also, these kinds of candles are often a mixture of Soy Wax and other types of waxes so you may get a bit more soot from these candles.  (Again, see our Waxes and Candles page for more info.).

One last thing – while the largest part of wax will burn up completely, there is a likelihood that excess wax will flow from the candle as it burns lower and lower.  Please make sure to have these kinds of candles sitting on or in something that is fire resistant and that you won’t mind getting some wax on.