About our Candles

Candle Safety and Tips for getting the most out of your products.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, an estimated 8,200 home fires are started by candles each year. In addition, a study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission suggests that 85 percent of candle fires could be avoided if consumers followed three basic safety rules:

• Never leave a burning candle unattended. Make sure the wick is no longer glowing before leaving the room.

• Make sure candles are out of the reach of children and pets.

• Never burn a candle on or near anything that might catch fire.

In addition to those basic safety practices, we’ve compiled some very useful tips to help you stay safe and get the most out of your candles: 

• Keep wicks trimmed to 1/4 inch for a cleaner, safer burn. Wicks that are too long can have huge flickering flames which are dangerous. Wicks that are too short may not burn hot enough and may drown in the wax.

• Always use in a well-ventilated, draft free area with limited traffic. This helps prevent uneven burning, flickering flames, soot, or any debris going into the candle or wax pool

• Burn new candles until the pool of melted wax reaches the edges of the glass vessel or up to 4 hours whichever comes first.

• Remove any debris that may have fallen into the wax. Do not leave matches anywhere on the candle.

• Burn your candle on a heat resistant, stable surface or on candle holders designed to catch wax drips.

• Extinguish any flames that are smoky, large or flickering. Let the candle cool, make sure the wick is trimmed, and check for drafts before relighting.

• After extinguishing a candle, always allow it to cool completely before moving or disturbing. Never touch or move a candle that is liquified.

• Don’t burn your candles all the way to the bottom. Discontinue use when the wax is 1/2” from the bottom of the container.

• Extinguish with a wick dipper or a snuffer. Never blow out candles.

• Never use water to extinguish a candle. Water causes wax to splatter and may break glass containers.

• Never use a knife or sharp object to remove wax from a glass holder. It may cause the glass to weaken and break.

• Never use candles as a night light or when you may fall asleep.

• Be careful if using candles during a power outage. Battery powered lights are safer sources. Never use a candle when fueling equipment such as a lantern or Kerosene heater.

• Scented candles have a shelf life of about a year or more if stored in a cool, dark place.

Notes:

• Extinguishing the candle prematurely, before the wax pool reaches the edges will create what is known as a “Memory Ring” where, instead of having an edge-to-edge melt pool, there will be a fresh unmelted ring of wax around the edges and a carved out tunnel in the center. Tunneling wastes a lot of wax and fragrance that will never get dispersed into the air and can also cause the wick to drown in the wax, rendering it unusable. This can be avoided by burning your candles for no more than 4 hours or until the melt pool reaches the edge, whichever comes first. We find that doing this makes it so that the next burn melts to the edges much faster, allowing you to only burn your candle for say, 2 or 3 hours before it reaches a full melt pool. 

• Use a wick dipper or snuffer to extinguish your candles. Our favorite way to extinguish a candle is by dipping the burning wick into the wax pool until it extinguishes itself. This produces much, much less soot than blowing it out or putting the lid on, having the added benefits of re-coating the wick with wax, preventing the wick from smoldering and leaving no black marks on your decor. Be careful to avoid knocking carbon build-up into the wax. If you don’t like this method, a snuffer is the next best way, in our opinion but has the same risk of knocking carbon buildup into the wax pool. Either way, you’ll need a wick dipper like tool to remove any debris that may have fallen into the wax before moving on to the final step. 

• After extinguishing a candle, always allow it to cool completely before moving or trimming. Disturbing a cooling candle can cause the partially solidified melt pool to become deformed in the cooling process, causing it to burn differently next time you use it. After the wax cools completely, trim the wick to 1/4 inch again and either relight the candle or cap it to preserve freshness. Scented candles have a shelf life of about a year or more if stored in a cool, dark place. Some frosting is expected with soy candles and does not affect the performance of the wax or fragrance.