Home: How To Care For Your Candles

How To Care For Your Candles

I love buying luxury scented candles, but there’s nothing that frustrates me more than when they burn unevenly and I end up with half the candle stuck to the sides and a whole lotta wasted wax and that’s a whole lotta wasted burn time! My friends, I wrote a blog post all about how to care for your candles! Y’all ready?

Let It Burn Evenly

The first time you ever burn your new candle is by far the most crucial. No really, get this right and you will get the most out of the candle for it’s entire lifespan. It’s pretty easy, but if you don’t do this, you will dramatically shorten the entire burn time and waste a good chunk of your candle which if you are thrifty like me, will make you kinda kick yourself for weeks over. Whatever you do, make sure you burn the candle for long enough to melt the entire top layer of the candle. Do not blow, or snuff your candle out until you see the entire top layer of the candle is melted wax. It might take a good couple of hours for it to happen, but trust me. It’s SO important!

Trim The Wick

Often forgotten, but SO important! Before you light your candles, check the length of the wick, it should be around 5-6mm so if it seems a little longer, just give it a trim. This will reduce (or eliminate) smoke and it will also lengthen the life of your candle.

Don’t Blow It

I’m a big believer in snuffing out candles rather than blowing them out. I think it leaves a better wick and not only that, but once you have your room filled with the scent of a dreamy candle, why ruin it by blowing it out and leaving the place smelling like smoke? Instead I try to only buy candles which come with lids, otherwise, I make sure I have either a spare candle lid or a bell jar handy so that I can snuff the candle out and avoid filling the room with the smell of burnt wick.

Uneven Surfaces Are Not Your Friend

I found this out the hard way! I used to have a set of SUPER wonky shelves and I could never work out when my candles always melted funny. The top layer would never totally melt and one side of the candle always stayed solid wax. And then I realised the shelves were crazy wonky and that was the problem. The motto of the story, is if you don’t use a spirit level when you put your shelves up, your candles will pay the price!

If It All Goes Wrong…

If it all goes wrong and you are left with oodles of delightful wax up one side of the candle and no wick to speak of, don’t worry, just save the pot with the wax left inside and when you have a few stored up you can render it down and make a brand new candle out of the surplus. Don’t worry… I’ll do a tutorial soon and show you how it’s done!

♥

I hope this post was of help, also the candle featured in the images is the New York candle by Roja Parfums. It’s perfection! It’s smells of old New York, breezy central park, excitement and electricity! It’s a blend of Lime, Rose de Mai, Jasmin de Grasse, Lilac, Cherry Blossom, Cinnamon, Clove, Wood Notes, Vetiver,  Woods, Almond and Musk. It’s really special, which is why it needs to be looked after carefully!