Candle Care

Some basic steps to help ensure you achieve the optimum burn with your candles are as follows:

Tips For Your First Burn

Burn, baby burn!! Your first burn should be for at least one hour. Give your candle enough burning time to develop a melted wax pool that goes all the way to the edge of the container on the first use - this can take up to a few hours, depending on candle size. Believe it or not, your jar candles have a kind of “wax-memory,” and once a burning pattern has been established, it can be hard to change.

If you don’t allow your candle enough time to form a full melt pool on the first burn, a little depression or “tunnel” may start to form around the wick. This will make it more difficult for the wax around the edges of the jar to melt, causing the tunneling effect to continue with each burn. Eventually the tunnel will become too deep for fresh oxygen to flow in, and your candle will have trouble staying lit for more than short periods of time.

What is a Melt Pool?
When lighting your candle for the first time, and each time thereafter, allow the wax to melt all the way out to the diameter of it’s container. Once the melted wax reaches the glass, allow it to melt until 1/4” deep. This is called a melt pool. This is also where all of that fragrant aroma is released. If you cannot smell the aroma, it means that the jar is too small for the area. Consider placing a couple candles in one room to increase its aromatic benefit.

Cotton Wicks
Keep your wick trimmed to 1/4”. Occasionally, mushrooming (that big black blob on the wick) may occur. This is okay and simply means that there is a build up of carbon or a draft. This usually occurs when the candle is richly scented or contains vanillin (ex: Blueberry Cheesecake). After the candle is extinguished, allow the wick to harden and carefully trim to 1/4”. 

Wooden Wicks
Wooden wicks are a wee bit different from traditional cotton wicks and they  require a bit of extra care. Always trim your wick before each use, removing all charred wood from previous burns! If you don't, the wick may not stay lit long enough to fuel the flame, causing it to extinguish itself. To trim a wooden wick use wick trimmers to cut horizontally and remove all but 3/16" before each burn. You can also use your fingers to remove the charred bits.

Soy Wax Quirks
Soy is a living organism. It continues to expand, contract and change from its current form. It may also look frosted or lumpy. Frosting occurs when the soy heats or cools rapidly and is a natural process. These ‘flaws’ are normal and it is a clear indication that you have purchased a 100% all natural soy candle. Think of it as soy wax cellulite....it's totally normal!

For God-Sake, Keep An Eye On It!
It’s so important to never leave any candle unattended. Remove any “loose” items before lighting a candle such as wick trimmings, gemstones, petals, fruit, etc. If any items melt into the wax, try to keep them off to the side in the melt pool.

Other Miscellaneous Candle Fun Facts
Soy wax is much different than paraffin wax which is what most of us are used to burning. Due to its lack of chemicals, soy wax generally has a lighter or shorter "hot throw" meaning how far the scent goes. This means that it won't be as pungent or fragrant as a paraffin candle. Soy candles still put off a pretty awesome hot throw but just keep that in mind if you're a newly converted ex-paraffin burner. :)

Contact us if you ever have any questions!

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