Wick Trimming
You need to trim your wicks. Every time you use your candle. They should sit at about 5mm before each burn. This stops your candle from getting too hot, which can not only be really dangerous (the longer the wick, the larger the flame and the hotter it is too, which in extreme cases or as part of a combination of factors could lead to your melting pot exploding - yikes!), it can also mean melting through your candle at a much faster rate. Both are wildly valid reasons!
If you’ve got kids or pets then you’re probably used to keeping a whole pile of things away from them: panadol, glasses of red wine, anything sharp or expensive or clean. Well, add your (lit) candle to that list! Please don’t let your little loves within a meter of an open flame. I don’t need to tell you why - oop, nope, according to my insurance I might need to tell you why. It’ll be hot, and they could get burned, or knock it over causing a fire.
Stay Away, Baby
Stay Away, Part II
Most of the other things I mentioned above - clean things and panadol etc. - can be perched next to a cushion or some curtains or your beautiful new bedspread without a worry in the world. This is where candles hop off the bus and do their own thing. Lit candles must be kept away from soft furnishings, dried flowers or leaves, and anything else that looks suspiciously like it might burst into flames if given half the chance.
Goodness me, they’re particular little babes aren’t they?! Candles should be kept out of draphts and breezes (if they’re burned in a lick of wind, the best case is their flames jumping around all hot and bothered and echoing a long-wick situation, meaning you’ll run out of waxy deliciousness sooner than you’d like.. worst case is that lick catching one of those flames, flinging them over to a soft furnishing and house fire) and only on flat, stable, heat resistant surfaces.
Smooth and Still
Stop When…!
Part of me wants to put this one at the top because it is so important, but then the chronology of this list will be wobbly so instead I’ll add some italics to the bold letters to make sure it stands out. Never, ever burn the last 1cm (or so) of your candle. Candle wax absorbs the heat of the flame: when all of the wax is hot and melty, the only place left to absorb that heat is the glass. Even heat-rated glassware like ours can only take so much before it cracks or explodes.
Please do not leave your candle unattended. I’ve written this as many places as I can think to: on the warning labels at the bottom of each melting pot, on the care cards that are sent out with each one: I just want to make sure you know how crucial this is. It is unlikely that calamity will happen if you’re in the same room as your candle: dogs and kids and soft furnishings are kept away and that open flame is tended to. Never ever leave home with a candle still burning.
Always Watching
And Finally:
The truth is, that if you look at any ‘visitor posts’ on a candle facebook page or reviews on their website, no matter how established, they will have recounts of people’s candles cracking, exploding, or otherwise causing significant mischief. Because not every individual candle can be tested, sometimes one-off problems arise: these can always be gotten to the bottom of. We test thoroughly & painstakingly to make our offerings as safe as they can be. Please care for them, too x