How To Burn Your Candles Safely

[Cosy Candles & Aromas]

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the amount of people who just haven’t got a clue on how to burn a candle safely!

I’ve got friends who tell me that they just light a candle and then just leave it burning all day, even while they’re at work or out shopping.I always have a right go at them about it. I ask them if they read the warning labels I place on my products. Most don’t or they’ll just skim or ignore it. I then go on to explain what could happen.

With pillars, if you exceed the maximum burn time, the sides could collapse causing a ‘blow out’. With container candles, the glass could crack and shatter with the intense heat. In both cases you’re looking at a nice mess over your nice coffee table or luxury shag pile carpet or worse a fire that turns into a raging inferno!!

Don’t even get me started on votives! The amount of people who think they are freestanding candles is frightening. They’re not, they are made to liquefy so must always be placed in a suitable, snug fitting glass container. Again failure to follow instructions will result in the above.
So please, please, please. Always take notice of any warning labels, instruction leaflets or verbal instructions. They are there not for decoration but to possibly save your home and loved ones. Just as a reminder here are the rules.

Never leave burning candles unattended.
Keep burning candles away from flammable materials.
Keep lit candles out of reach of children and pets.
Do not place candles on or near heat sources.
Always ensure that you burn your candles in or on suitable holders.
Once lit do no move your candle.
Always extinguish with care. If possible, use a snuffer.
Keep the wax pool free of wick trimmings, matches, etc.
Always ensure that any glass containers with chips of cracks are discarded

Other useful little titbits
Did you know a candle has to have a memory to burn correctly? Basically this is done by allowing the candle to burn long enough for the melt pool to reach the whole width of the candle. The rule of thumb is to allow 1 hour’s burn for each inch of the diameter.

Always ensure that wicks are trimmed to 1/4” before lighting. This will ensure that your candle will last longer and burn cleaner.

Sometimes you may find your wick has developed a ‘mushroom’. This is a gentle reminder that your wick needs trimming. Extinguish the candle, allow to cool, and then trim the wick before re-lighting.

If on extinguishing your candle you notice the wick has moved off centre, gently realign whilst the wax is still molten.

Prevent fading and warping of candles by storing them away from direct sunlight.

[Shileah]

Ah - a sock trick, I like that! :) thanks for the information!
Yes, the shine is somehow my problem, if I dust my candles off, there seems to remain some kind of dusty coating and that just doesn't look nice :(

[Cosy Candles & Aromas]

Hi Lea!
Yes, wicks should always be trimmed before re lighting a candle. Otherwise, it'll smoke and cause excessive sooting.

As to the problem of removing dust from candles, this can be tricky. I normally blow any dust off of the tops. Thing is wax is sticky so after a while the small particles of dust just seem to embed themselves on the tops.

One other little tip is if you have pillars on display and they get a bit dull, take an old stocking, scrunch it up and buff the outer surface of the candle. This will bring the shine back up.

[Shileah]

Thank you for this article, that is very interesting to read! I admit to have no clue about the safe handling of candles; things like not leaving them unattended, keeping them away from flammable materials, pets and kids and using a suitable holder were clear to me, but I did not know that the wicks should be trimmed!

- By the way, is there any good way to get candles free of dust? I've got some of them which I only use for decoration and just today I tried to dust one of them off. Result was that a dry towel was no good idea and holding the candle under the tab also got me a rather "weird" result... :)

Greetings, Lea