Candle Care

Candle Care

How to care for your candles

Over the past decade candles have become part of our everyday life adding style and mood to our living areas. Once they were only associated with birthdays and celebrations. With the variety of candles available today there is a colour and style to suit every taste. Whether you just have your candles as part of the decor or whether you burn them, you will still need to take care of them to keep them looking nice.

If you have your candles just to look stylish, now and again you will need to give them a refresh to keep them looking like new. All you need to do is get a cloth and some vegetable oil or even furniture polish and rub gently. This will keep you candles look new.

Wick Care

You will need to make sure your wick stays centered. If you are burning candles in a glass holder and the wick is off centre it may cause the glass to crack. Also if the wick is off centre  your candle will burn uneven and melted wax will spill.

To trim the wick: on a standard pillar candle the candle will burn best with the wick at around 6mm. On wider candles, between 5 - 10cm the wick will need to be slightly longer to allow the burning wick to heat the outside of the candle. It is best not to trim wicks on extremely wide candles including the three wick candles.

Always centre the wick after each burn. If the wick becomes too short just get a knife and scrape out around the wick. It is normal for a wick to curl slightly when it is burning, just be sure that it doesn't become un-centered too much. If this happens put your candle out and re-centre the wick before lighting again. If after burning the wick becomes very blackened just trim slightly with sharp scissors.

It is also best to burn candles in a still environment. If the candles are placed where there is even a slight draft it will cause the candle wick to both flicker, which will cause the candle to smoke and also to burn the candle unevenly.

If when you candle has been burning for some time you notice that the flame is very small it is best to extinguishing the candle and pour off any excess wax. This will make your candles last much longer also.

Hugging

When you have pillar candles they need to be "hugged". This is where you use your thumbs and finger tips to very gently roll the softened wax around the top of the candle towards the middle. You should ne careful not to push to hard or you can cave the top of the candle in. This should be done while the candle is burning .If burning for long periods you should do this every hour or so. Also hug your candle again before putting it out. This will make your candle last longer and keep it looking even.

Candle Safety

Make sure to only burn candles in a well ventilated room.

Never burn candles in enclosed space

You should not expose your candles to extreme temperatures

Always make sure that you place your candles where there is nothing above or immediately beside them. This includes shelves, books, lights, material objects and even plants

Never burn candles beside each other. If you do be sure to leave at least 10cm between them

Always place candles on a heat resistant surface

Never burn candles near gas appliances or any other flammable material

Never move your candle unless the wax has hardened

Never burn candles near an open window or door as the breeze could blow curtains or other materials into the flame where a fire could start

Always keep out of reach of children and pets

Never go out or go to sleep without extinguishing your candle first

Never leave candle unattended

Never use candles as emergency lighting if looking for something in a closet. (Don't laugh it has been done)

AND to provide responsible information I must tell you to never put out a candle with your fingers, you might get burnt. (Yes this has been done too)

Putting out your candles

The only safe way to put out a candle is with a candle snuffer.  Old Indian folklore says that you should never blow out a candle because it offends the spirits. It can also be very dangerous as sometimes when you blow out a candle you will get hot wax splattering everywhere, which you will have to clean up, and sparks coming off the wick which could cause a fire hazard.

Again, do not put out candles with your fingers

Do not put out candles with water

Put out candles if flame gets too close to holder

Put out candle if flame gets to high. Trim wick then re-light

Put out candle before going to sleep

Put out candle if going out

Join Our Sales Team / View Our Catalogue / Home

PLEASE NOTE: The information on these pages is intended as a guide only. Be Enchanted accepts no responsibility for any consequences resulting from the use or misuse of the information provided. No Liability is taken.