5 Candle Care Tips

For The Holiday Season

Below are my 5 tips regarding candle safety and proper care plus something for those who want a safe alternative to burning a candle when you cannot be present in the room:

Safety First

I always stress safety when burning either candles, incense or fragrance oils in your home. Taking the proper precautions BEFORE lighting will ensure an enjoyable and relaxing environment.

• Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Never light a candle anywhere children or pets may maybe be able to get to or jump upon and burn themselves or worse become startled and knock the candle over and starting a fire.
• Never light anything near curtains, Christmas trees, dried or silk floral displays or any other potential fire hazard. Container/Jar candles get very hot and can burn you.
• Never move a lit candle or candle that you have just extinguished. You can burn yourself or worse drop the candle and splatter hot wax on yourself, children or pets.

Wick Care

Proper wick care will increase the life of your candle, enhance its fragrance throw and prevent your candle from smoking. Your wick should always be trimmed to 1/8" above the surface of the wax. Always trim the wick PRIOR to lighting your candle every time, including the very first burn. If the wick is to long the flame will produce carbon soot which will stick to your candle jar, your walls, your ceiling, etc.

Keep in mind that having the proper wick size aids in achieving the proper burn pool which will help with scent throw. Too small of a wick will create a small burn pool, which will lead to poor scent throw. Too large of a wick may burn too hot and will burn off the fragrance, leading to poor scent throw.

You can use scissors, old nail clippers (my personal favorite) or a specialized wick trimmer, but no matter what, always trim, trim, trim. Remember, the proper size wick will prevent carbon soot and create the proper burn pool for the maximum scent throw.

Burn Time

Proper burn time is important to ensure you get a full melt pool and prevent "burning a hole" through the center of your candle. You should burn a candle for at least 60 minutes, 1 hour, in order to create a full and even melt pool and eliminate "center" burn. NOTE: Some candles are designed to burn through the center only. These are mostly candles that have botanicals or other decorative elements embedded in the candle wax. We are not talking about these type of candles but "regular" container candles.

Extinguishing Your Candle

When you're done burning your candle and it's time to extinguish I highly recommend that you use a candle snuffer. If you do not have a candle snuffer you can hold your fingers/hand behind the flame and blow GENTLY. Blowing GENTLY will prevent the hot wax from splattering onto your hand or fingers and the surrounding surfaces.

An Alternative to Candles

If you have little ones around or your pet(s) are nosey and/or clumsy and you are afraid of having a lit candle in the house there are alternatives that provide that holiday fragrance you are looking for without the flame.

One recommendation I am always giving customers is, instead of candles how about a reed diffuser? Reed Diffusers are a great way to add a constant fragrance to your home and are a safe alternative to burning a candle when you cannot be present in the room. They are also great for those who are easily distracted and might have forgotten they lit a candle.

Reed Diffusers are a great alternative for Powder Rooms, Guest Rooms or anywhere in your home where you want the fragrance of the season but not the dangers of an unattended candle.