Candle care and safety tips

Scented candles make a house a home. With their warm, soft light, fragrant aromas and beautiful designs, candles add cosiness and relaxation, and add style to your surroundings. To burn your candle safely and make it last longer, follow these simple tips.
 

Never leave a burning candle unattended 

This may sound obvious, yet so many people don't follow this piece of important advice. Leaving an open flame unattanded is dangerous. It can take seconds for a fire to start, triggered by a gust of wind, an unexpected spark, a furry member of the family accidentally knocking the candle over (tip below: never leave your furry friend unsupervised around a burning candle!) or a myriad other reasons. Always make sure to never leave a burning candle unattended, and if possible, purchase a candle snuffer to extinguish it, to make sure no parts of the wick are still alit. 
 

Trim the wick

You might have heard that trimming the wick by about 1/4 of an inch after each use will add longevity to your candle and ensure a better burn, but let's be honest, have you actually applied this piece of advice?

Many people have heard about this, yet, they rarely trim their candle wick. But there's a reason that us candle makers strongly advise to keep your wick in check: 

• It will stop your candles from burning the wax and the fragrance too fast, thus making your candle last longer
• It will stop the candle from emanating smoke and soot
• It will give you the right flame height. Trimming the wick will avoid, too high, too hot, dangerous raging flames
• It will stop your wick from 'mushrooming' and burning too fast
• It will prevent your container from overheating

Size matters: choosing the right candle size 

Don't believe a certain type of man: when it comes to candles, size matters! Medium-sized candles are ideal for small and medium rooms, whilst large and extra-large candles are perfect for big and open plan spaces, gardens, terraces and balconies.

Keep your candles away from drafts

Don't listen to Elton John. A candle in the wind is never a good idea. Light and burn your candle away from drafts and open windows and if you burn your candle in a garden or on a balcony, check the direction of the wind and make sure your candle is protected from sudden gusts.

Keep away from your furry friends

Lux Ethica London®'s candles are free from nasties and are animal friendly, however our furry friends' noses are far more sensitive than ours, so make sure your scented candles don't interfere with their sense of smell and never leave your companion alone with a burning candle. 

Candles have memory: how to get the perfect melt pool

You may have heard that 'candles have memory', but what does that actually mean? A candle will remember the first burn, and the consequent melt pool (the melted wax that pools around the wick) will be based on that very first one, so always burn your candle for two to three hours for a medium-sized candle (such as Lux Ethica London®'s in medium, with a diameter of 8cm) or three to four for a large candle (such as  Lux Ethica London®'s in large, which measures 15.5cm in diameter) to avoid 'tunnelling' (when wax at the edges of a container never melts and stays hard even after many burns).

Time is of the essence: the right burn time

Never burn your candle for longer than three-four hours consecutively to avoid overheating the container and potentially getting a 'floating wick' (a wick that becomes unattached from the base of the candle container due to excessive, prolonged heat), large flames, black smoke, and soot. The perfect burn time for a candle is around two hours in one stretch.

Frosting

Frosting on soy wax candles might look like your candle caught a mild case of the winter blues, but worry not — it’s totally harmless and doesn't affect your candle. Those little white patches that look a bit like marbling — or indeed frost — happen because soy wax is a natural material, and as it cools, it can form tiny crystals that show up on the surface.  Soy wax, like many plant-based waxes that can also develop frost, is susceptible to changes in temperature, so plant-based candles can form a bit of frosting at any stage of their lives. Frosting doesn’t affect how the candle burns or smells at all — it’s just a cosmetic quirk that proves your candle is 100% soy and doing its natural thing. Frosting often disappears once the candle is lit and burnt for a little while. 

Spotting when a candle is at the end of its life

It can be tempting to burn a candle down to the very last few millimetres, but this can cause the vessel to overheat and the flame to rage. A candle is done when you have about 1cm (0.4 inches)  of wax left on the bottom of your container.

Reuse your candle container

Lux Ethica London®'s candles are made of pure soy wax. Soy wax offers a clean burn with minimal soot and smoke and if that's not enough, it's really easy to clean. When your candle is done but there's still a tiny bit of wax on the bottom of your container (1cm/0.4 inches), simply scoop it out with a metal spoon or small spatula, or alternatively use the bain marie method (double boiler) to melt the wax and throw safely away. Wipe your container with some kitchen paper and rubbing alcohol and reuse. Lux Ethica London®'s candle containers are made of reusable tinplate and all come with lids, so they make perfect vessels to store dried herb and spices, salt and pepper, use as jewellery or sewing boxes and much more. Should you have no use for the containers, these tinplate vessels can be easily recycled instead.