Essential Candle Care Tips for a Safe, Long-Lasting Burn
Best Practices for Burning and Enjoying Your Candles
To ensure your candles burn beautifully and fill your home with their delightful fragrance, it's important to follow a few simple care tips. Proper candle care extends burn time, enhances scent throw, and ensures safe usage.
1. Trim the Wick
Always trim your candle wick between 1/8 and 1/4 inch before each burn. A trimmed wick helps prevent an oversized flame, reduces soot, and ensures an even, clean burn. Use a wick trimmer, scissors, or nail clippers to maintain the proper length. Our candles perform exceptionally well when trimmed closer to 1/8 inch.
2. Allow a Full Melt Pool
The first time you burn your candle, let it burn long enough for the wax to melt evenly across the surface, reaching the edges of the container. This creates a full melt pool, which prevents tunneling (when the wax burns down the middle) and maximizes the scent throw. The size of the melt pool determines how much fragrance is released, so a full, even melt pool is key for a strong, consistent scent.
3. Burn Time Limits
Don’t burn your candle for more than 3-4 hours at a time. We have found during testing that ~ 3 hours is the optimal burn time for our candles. Burning for too long can cause the wick to "mushroom," which leads to soot and a larger flame. Stick to shorter burn times to keep your candle performing at its best and to prevent overheating the container.
4. Extinguish Properly
To avoid excess smoke or splattering, gently blow out the flame or use a candle snuffer to extinguish it. Always make sure the flame is completely out before leaving the room.
5. Placement for Optimal Scent Throw
To maximize fragrance distribution, place your candle in a strategic location:
- Place in a central location.
- Avoid drafty areas, like near open windows or air vents, as strong airflow can cause uneven burning and dilute the fragrance.
6. Room Size and Candle Strength
In larger spaces, you may need more than one candle to fill the room with fragrance. Multi-wick candles, like ours, are especially effective because they create a larger melt pool, releasing more scent. For smaller rooms, one candle placed strategically is usually enough to provide excellent scent coverage.
7. Keep Candles Away from Flammable Objects
Always burn your candle on a heat-resistant surface and keep it away from curtains, books, or other flammable objects. Be mindful of burning candles near pets or children, and never leave a candle unattended.
8. Store Your Candles Properly
When not in use, store your candles in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight. This will help preserve both the wax and the fragrance, keeping them fresh for your next burn.
By following these best practices, you’ll ensure a longer-lasting candle, a more powerful scent throw, and a safer burning experience. Let your candles create the perfect ambiance while filling your home with beautiful fragrance.
