Looking for the best candle care tips to maximize your investment? You have come to the right place!

Most people buy a candle, light it, and forget about it. But there are candle care tips to make your candles last longer. Let’s talk about a few.

Candle Care: Do’s and Don’ts

There are some do’s and don’ts in the candle world that you should know.

Were you aware candles had memory?  This is due to a candle’s “memory.” A candle will burn to the same melt edge as the previous burn. Sometimes, the second burn time may result in a complete melt pool.

Melt pools are indicative of how the candle will perform and in no way is guaranteed to be the same each time. Knowing about the candle’s memory is important, especially through the first burn.

When you burn a candle for the first time, you should burn it for no more than 4 hours. This is to assess the performance of your candle. A candle’s melt pool, or melted wax while burning should reach all sides of your container, before extinguishing it, on the first burn. You want your candles to burn evenly. 

Sometimes you will hear the term “power burn.” This is a lit candle for an extended amount of time. Power burns are mostly used by chandlers (candle makers) for testing in a controlled environment. It should not be something you use typically. 

We recommend you keep your candles burning for 4-5 hours only. Power burns can result in hazardous results for reasons we list below.

Let’s Talk Wicks

Wicks are the conduit for the flame. Wax is drawn up through the wick, and when lit causes the candle to heat the wax, which creates the fragrance, and ambiance of the candle.

The single most important thing to know from this blog is to trim your wick before lighting your candle. Every time! Try using a handy wick trimmer that makes it much easier. 

Most consumers take the candle from the box and light it. Also, many companies do not necessarily trim their wicks before selling the candle.

We always trim the wick before selling, but it is strictly as a means to ship and store. It is always important to make sure your wick is no more or less than 1/4th of an inch long.

• Too short: the flame will extinguish itself, most likely resulting in a useless candle. 
• Too long: it will produce a higher flame resulting in smoke, soot, and potentially fire due to the container becoming higher in temperature and potentially resulting in a fire.

Now as we promote our candles as smokeless and sootless, improper candle care will significantly increase a hazardous situation. It is a must that you trim the wick! When the wax in the container reaches ¼ of an inch, stop burning and reuse the jar.

We have a simple technique for cleaning and reusing jars: Wax On, Wax Off.

Hazards You Need to Know About

Speaking of potentially hazardous situations, be mindful of where you place your candles.

Don’t place them on potentially damaging surfaces. If a candle does burn hot, it could damage the resting surface. For example, you wouldn’t want to burn your candle on a kitchen surface, or a wooden coffee table if you were worried about heat burns.

This is not to say all candles will burn in this manner, but wouldn’t you want to be cognizant of potential problems?

Place your candle on a protective surface. For example, if I am to put it on my bar, or a piece of furniture, I put a coaster of some sort underneath. You can get beautiful stands or supports for protection. I use these cork coasters. They have a minimal design, are multifunctional, and are protective.

If you want to enhance the beauty of the container, but it is already beautiful, place it on a coaster and decorate around it.

When Current Trends Are Dangerous

Finally, this recommendation is controversial, especially in light of current trends: adding decorative accents INTO the wax of the candle, such as potpourri and crystals. These do nothing to enhance the performance of the candle, are strictly decorative, and potentially a fire hazard.

Let me explain.

Potpourri is dried flora and herbs and dried flora and herbs could be easily ignitable. While burning the hot wax, the fire from the wick or the hot wax could set the potpourri on fire, resulting in the candle’s temperature increasing significantly, and thereby creating a larger flame. This situation = fire hazard.

Crystals can have the same effect. Hot wax or the touching of the flame could result in the crystal becoming too hot, thereby cracking the container, etc. Now you have a significant increase for a fire. 

At Southern Oak Artisan, we do not risk harmful or dangerous conditions or components in our candles. We promote safety. Our compliance follows guidelines from the National Candle Association, International Fragrance Association, Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the American Society for Testing and Materials. These groups recommend not using additives to candle wax other than commonly used fragrance and color.

We at Southern Oak Artisan are dedicated to safe candle making. It is why we got started in this business. We wanted every candle burn to be a positive experience, promoting a safe breathing environment as well.

Reuse Your Candle Jar

Last, but not least, reuse your candle jar. Again tips are provided in a previous blog as to the many uses for candle jar reuse. 

Sign up for our free Protect Your Investment Guide regarding candle care tips that are easy to keep on hand. 

Be sure to check out our shop for safe, 100% natural handmade soy candles and wax melts. Happy candling, and trim your wicks!