Candle Etiquette - Caring for your candles
Sophisticated and elegant, candles add the perfect finishing touch to any ambiance both interior and exterior. Not only do they create a cosy vibe but emanate that perfect scent to heighten your senses and uplift your mood. Just as you keep your homes tidy and clean, it's important to care for your candles in order to ensure you have a perfect looking candle that performs well without a lopsided burn, sooty glass or wax inconsistencies. We at Inuqi have you covered in how you can best care for your candles:
The first burn
When you light up your candle the very first time, you should remember how important it is to burn it from 2-4 hours so that the melt pool created by the wax reaches all the corners. The time you burn your candle might vary based on the size of the candle edges. This is important to ensure you have a smoother and long-lasting candle with no wastage of wax due to tunneling. When not burnt for its complete duration, you might be left with a circular rim of wax that failed to melt and will never melt as you continue to burn your candles in the future. We have especially tested all our candles and placement of wicks to ensure that tunnelling does not occur when burned for the recommended time period.
Trim your Wicks
We cannot emphasize enough the importance of maintaining your wick by trimming them before every burn. Keep your wicks about 6mm in length to ensure you control the size of your flame which in turn allows for a clean and long burn from your candle. You can also prevent mushrooming and additional soot that results from this. What is mushrooming you ask? When there's too much wax on your wick to be burned, it results in a build up of black carbon particles on your wick since the flame cannot burn from the consumption of more wax.This creates a black cap which looks like a mushroom and can sometimes result in falling into your candle wax.
Keep your candles clean
Ensure your candle wax pool is free of debris such as match ends and residue from wick trimmings. Cover your candles to ensure dust particles do not settle on the wax. Make sure you blow away these particles if you find them before lighting the candle so you can prevent the dust getting into a hot pool of wax.
Handling Soot
If you find the edges of your glass candle blackened, extinguish your candle and use a clean damp cloth to wipe out the edges, trim your wicks and relight the candle.
Attend to your candles
Never leave your candles unattended and keep away from flammable materials, children and your pets. Never burn your candles for more than 4 hours at a given period of time.
Extinguishing your candle
The best way to extinguish your candle flame is by using a snuffer. You can close the candle lid until the flame runs out and reopen it to allow for the smoke from the flame to leave your candle before reclosing the lid. Do not blow the candle out as you could get wax to splatter.
Handling your lit handle
Protect your candle vessel and never burn the last few centimeters of wax as the container could get really hot. If your candle is lit during the first few burns, always handle it by its base as the top portion could get really hot. Similarly do not handle a candle that’s burning the last portion of wax as the entire container could get hot. With concrete candles however this is not a problem as the material remains cooler on the outside to handle. Prevent dripping of your pillar candles and use a non-flammable base to protect your surfaces. Keep candles away from excessive drafts and ensure to extinguish your pillar candles when the wax pool reaches the edges to avoid dripping.
Burn Time
Never burn your candles for more than four hours at a given time as the wicks will begin to mushroom and provide an unclean burn. If you notice smoking, blow out the candles, trim the wicks and relight them to get the perfect burn.
Storing your candles
Always store your candles in a dry and cool place avoiding any sunlight. Your scented candles are best protected with a cloche to ensure the fragrance doesn’t escape, and also protects it from dust and other particles that can settle on your wax.
Maximize your scent throw
Keep your candles away from windy spaces that will disperse your scent. Scented candles are best burned in closed spaces and open areas which are free of air flow. For maximum fragrance throw, keep windows and doors closed and burn your candle for at least thirty minutes to fill up your space with the aroma from the candle's hot throw.
How to check if your candle is burning properly
Your candle is burning properly if the flame has an upright tear dropped shape and is not flickering. If you notice any of these occurrences, extinguish your candle, trim the wick and relight it. Ensure you keep away from drafts and let the candle cool completely before relighting it.
Inconsistencies in candle wax
You know you are using a good soy candle when you notice some inconsistencies in the cooled wax which could be rough and bumpy. This is a feature of soy wax and a good way to determine the quality of 100% soy wax. The inconsistencies occur due to hot wax solidifying at an inconsistent rate and does not affect the performance of your candle.
Always ensure to follow the safety instructions provided by your candle manufacturer and remember burning candles need to be treated with caution due to their naked flame. Rest assured, candles add that perfect serenity to your ambiance and mood.