How can I keep my candles looking their best?
Candles will discolour or fade when they are exposed to intense light for extended periods. We do not recommend displaying your candles for long periods in direct sunlight, fluorescent lighting or other strong illumination. Wax will soften in temperatures over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Store your candles in a cool, dry place.
What kind of Wicks do you use?
We use multiple kinds of wicks depending on the item. These include, CD wicks, TCR wicks, and ECO Wicks. All have various purposes and benefits ranging from rigidity to keep the wick centered to soot and smoke resistant properties. These wicks are coreless, non-directional, flat braided wicks with a special paper filament woven around them. This configuration is engineered to promote maximum and consistent capillary action while ensuring a wick trimming flame posture. They are ideal for using in the harder-to-melt vegetable-based waxes such as Soy.
Do I really need to trim the wick?
It depends. You should trim the wick when it needs trimmed. If you see a carbon mushroom on top the wick, it definitely should be trimmed, or if the wick seems very long. When trimming, you really should trim the wick to 1/4" before lighting your candle. Or, at any point your flame is getting too large and you are seeing smoke or suit, simply extinguish the flame, trim and re-light. If you do not keep your wick trimmed, problems can occur. Wicks of all candles can "mushroom" at the top which can lead to excessive flickering, smoke, and/or soot. Keeping your wick trimmed also makes your candle safer. Additionally, it can prevent your wick from curling back into the wax - which is mainly a problem with non-cored wicks.
My candle is leaving lots of wax on the sides of the container after burning it. Why?
What you are referring to is called "tunneling". Multiple factors can contribute to tunneling. Improperly or cheaply made candles is one cause. We can assure you this will not be the cause of any of our candles tunneling. We use premium ingredients and all our recipes including wax, fragrance, and wicks have been extensively tested together. So then, what could be causing it? Most likely, it’s because you are not letting your candle burn long enough before you extinguish it. Each time you burn a candle, you should try and burn it at least until the wax pool reaches the edges of the container... even if it barely reaches. For most candles, that is roughly 1 hour for each inch in diameter of the container. On average this is around 3-5 hours of burn time depending on the container. If you do not do this, your candle will get what's called a "memory burn" and it will start to burn down the middle leading to the tunnelling effect.
However, if you see a bit of wax left on the edges, do not worry. As a candle burns down further, heat that is within in the container from burning will gradually melt that down as well. Proper wicking by candle makers aims to get the wax pool to just barely reach the edge as you never want a wick that is too big for the container.
Self-trimming wicks are designed to curl so there may be occasions where the wax melts unevenly. This is not unusual and will sort itself out after the first few burns. Our candles are tested to ensure that the candle performs well throughout its life. It is a misconception that a full melt pool is always a good thing at the first burn. It could be that the wick is too large and could cause the candle to burn through quickly or become extremely hot as it burns down.
As the candle burns lower, the container will hold more heat, thus melting any residual wax on the side. Obviously if the candle is near the end and there is still wax on the sides then the wick has not been up to the job or the candle hasn’t been left to burn long enough.
Why do I sometimes get small puffs of smoke coming from my wick and flame?
This can happen for a couple of reasons. First, make sure to keep your wick trimmed properly as mentioned above. Secondly, constant or random drafts can cause puffs of smoke as well. For example, if your candle is next to a window, door, vent, etc. the drafts will interfere with the flame causing it to dance around and produce smoke. Also, if your candle is located in a place where people frequently walk right past it, this can cause puffs of smoke as well. Unless its constant, its nothing to be too worried about.
There is a mushroom bloom head on my wick after burning? What is it?
A carbon buildup, otherwise known as a "mushroom" can happen with any kind of wick and wax. It is most common in highly fragranced candles as the fragrance oil travels up the wick while it burns. It is completely normal; however, it needs to be removed by trimming the wick before relighting as mentioned above. In a way, the mushroom head is a nice reminder that to trim the wick. (Please remember to give the candle plenty of time to cool and harden before attempting to trim the wick as you do not want wick debris falling into the wax.
How can I avoid making the candle smoke when I extinguish the flame?
There are a couple of ways to do this. It’s important to note that you should try to avoid blowing out the flame as much as possible as this definitely does cause excessive smoke. It is also dangerous because you may blow the melted wax out inadvertently as well. If you have a Wick Dipper or candle hook, all you need to do is tilt the wick into the melted wax and raise the wick back up. Don’t try this if there is mushrooming as the debris may dislodge and fall in to the melts wax which is not ideal.