How to care for your beeswax candles:
The Basics • Pillar Care • Taper Care • Votive Care • Repair & Hugging • "Bloom"
First, the basics:
Before lighting, make sure the candle wick has been trimmed to 1/4".
Hold the lighter flame to the base of the candle wick and watch for the wax starting to melt before removing the flame (assisting the capillary action of the wax into the wick).
Always use appropriate holders for your beeswax candles. More information on holders can be found in the sections on the particular types of candles.
Make sure that your candles are are vertically upright as lilting candles will drip.
Keep your candles out of drafts as they will cause the candle to burn unevenly and as the flame flickers in the draft, the wick is likely to start smoking as well.
For all beeswax candles, burn the candle long enough to allow liquid wax to cover the top surface of the candle (for large pillars this could mean burn times of 3 to 4 hours). See Repair & Hugging if shorter burn times are causing issues with your candles.
Always keep children, pets and flammable objects away from the open flame of candles and never leave burning candles unattended.
See individual candle sections for how to properly extinguish your candles.
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Pillar Candle Care:
Place pillar on appropriate pillar candle holder. Make sure candle is vertically upright. Trim wick to 1/4" and light wick holding flame at the base of the wick until you see the wax starting to melt. For the initial burn, allow candle to burn approximately one hour per inch of candle diameter (appx. 3 hours for a 3 inch pillar). This will prevent tunneling of the candle ("tunneling" is when the flame burns down the center of the candle leaving wide side walls). If your candle is burning unevenly due to drafts or a lopsided wick, or tunneling due to not being burned long enough, see Repair & Hugging below. If the candle wick becomes too long during burning, extinguish the flame (keep reading for how to do this) and use a wick trimmer or sharp pair of scissors to trim the wick back to 1/4" and re-light. To extinguish your pillar candle, use a metal wax dipper or other non-flammable tool to dip the wick in the melted wax pool. This prevents smoking and re-primes the wick. Make sure to then stand the wick upright again and clean out any debris that may have fallen into the melted wax pool. When ready to burn again, trim the wick to 1/4" and re-light (following these same instructions). (Back to top)
Taper Candle Care:
Place taper candles in appropriate taper candle holders and make sure the candle is vertiaclly upright (lilting candles will drip). Our candles are approximately 7/8" at the base and should fit in most taper candle holders. If your holder is a bit too small for the candle, hold the lower 1/2" of the candle in warm water for a few moments (wax will soften), then carefully push the candle into the holder until it is snug. Trim the candle wick to 1/4" and light by holding the flame to the base of the wick until you see the wax starting to melt and the wick is lit. For the initial burn, allow the taper to burn long enough for the wax pool to cover the top surface of the candle (or longer, of course!). To extinguish your taper candles, it is preferable to use a candle snuffer or you can blow them out (holding your hand behind the candle as you do so as not to blow melted wax everywhere - know that blowing candles out will cause the wicks to smoke). (Back to top)
Votive Candle Care:
Votive candles are meant to liquify in their holders, so it is very important to use appropriate heat resistent votive candle holders. The candle should fit in the holder with very little space between the outside of the candle and the holder. For ease of cleaning the wax out of the votive holder when the candle is finished, add a few drops of water to the votive holder before putting the new candle in it. This will allow what is left of the cooled wax to be more easily removed from the votive holder when the candle is done. To light, trim the wick to 1/4" and hold the flame to the base of the wick until you see the wax begin to melt and the wick is lit. Allow the candle to burn until the top of the is visibly filled with molten wax. To extinguish your votive candle, use a metal candle dipper or appropriate non-flammable tool to dip the wick in the melted wax pool (this prevents smoking and re-primes the wick) then make sure the wick is standing upright again. Fish any debris out of the wax pool at this time. To reuse, trim the wick to 1/4" and re-light. When the wax pool is down to 1/2", allow the candle to burn itself out. (Back to top)
Repair & Hugging:
Let's face it, we aren't always able to keep our candles out of drafts, burn them long enough or otherwise maintain them as we should (oh, the shame of it!). Here are some tips to fix most candle burning problems:
Uneven burning due to drafts or a curled/bent wick: If drafts are the problem, remove the candle from drafts. Obvious yes, but hey, it works. To repair uneven sides, use your candle wick dipper or another non-flammable tool to gently push the lit wick towards the taller edge of the candle. The heat of the flame will cause it to start melting and the candle will eventually even itself out.
Pillar wick is too long after many hours of burning: Extinguish the flame by dipping the wick in the wax pool, then use a wick trimmer or sharp pair of scissors to trim the wick back to 1/4". Stand the wick upright again and re-light.Fish out any debris in the wax pool before re-lighting.
Tunneling & How to Hug your candle: Most often, tunneling is what happens to pillar candles when they have not been burned long enough - a narrow well starts forming down the middle of the candle with thick sides around the edges. In many cases this can be repaired by "Hugging" your candle (although very deep tunnels might require using a dull knife to cut off the excess wax around the edges). To Hug, first light your candle and allow a substantial melted wax pool to form and the edges of the candle to have become warmed by the heat of the flame (this could take up to two or three hours on large pillar candles). At this point, carefully start to push the edges of the candle towards the flame - don't go too far or the resulting melting wax will drown out the wick and flame. The wax should start to melt off of the sides of the candle and after about an hour or so, the candle should have righted itself (see images below as examples of candle hugging). If your gentle hug was less than perfect, you can also use your candle dipper or other non-flammable tool to gently push the wick towards the sides of the candle to even out the melting of the wax. (Back to top)
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