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When you keep up with candle maintenance, you’re making sure your favorite candles burn safely and efficiently — and that they last as long as they should. Candle care can include little things like trimming your wicks, using a snuffer, and keeping candles on coasters.
If you’re new to candle maintenance, we here at Snif are bringing you everything you need to know about keeping those candles beautiful, fragrant, and safe.
What Are Some Tips for Candle Maintenance?
Proper candle maintenance helps you enjoy your favorite scented candles more effectively — so, here are nine practical tips to help you take care of your candles.
1. Trim Your Wicks
Trimming the wick of your candle is one of the most effective ways to keep it burning properly and safely.
When you’re burning a candle and the wax begins to evaporate, more of the wick will become exposed. If the wick is too long, it can produce a flame that’s too large or smoky.
If you trim the wick down with a wick trimmer to about ¼ inch above the wax, the flame will stay steady — and it won’t produce as much soot or smoke.
Another benefit of trimming your wick is that it can lengthen the lifespan of your candle. When a wick is too long and the flame is too big, the candle burns unevenly, pushing all the wax to the sides and creating a tunnel shape.
With the wax burning consistently, less wax is wasted, meaning your candle will last longer.
2. Snuff Your Candles
A candle snuffer is a tool with a bell-shaped cone that’s used to carefully extinguish candles.
Oxygen is necessary for keeping the flame of a candle lit — when a snuffer is held over a flame, the oxygen supply gets cut off, and the flame goes out.
When you blow out a candle, there’s a chance that you might blow embers or hot wax onto items nearby, potentially damaging objects. This is especially dangerous if you have flammable items nearby.
A snuffer is a tidier option for extinguishing flames with less smoke, and it’s also less of a fire hazard.
Another benefit of snuffing is that it helps prevent wicks from fraying or moving out of place. When a wick gets frayed, the fibers become loose, leading to flickering and more soot production. By protecting the wick, your candle sniffer helps the candle to burn evenly.
3. Achieve an Even Burn the First Time
A little-known fact is that the first time a candle gets lit can affect the rest of its performance and lifespan.
How much the candle wax melts the first time it burns sets a pattern for every other time you light it up — this is referred to as “memory burn.” This memory burn is why it’s so important to achieve an even burn the first time.
To do this, make sure that when you light a new candle, the melted wax pool covers the entire surface area of its container, all the way to the edges, before you extinguish it. This can take a little patience, depending on the size of the candle.
Doing what you can to prevent uneven burning with your scented candle can even help with its scent throw. That said though, there are many factors that can contribute to a candle’s fragrance throw besides its first burn, like the type of wick and wax it's made of.
For a high-quality burn every time, browse our Snif scented candles for a variety of vegan candles made with pure cotton wicks and a blend of soy wax and vegetable wax.
4. Place On a Heat-Resistant Surface
The base of a candle can get very hot over time, especially as the amount of wax in the container begins to diminish.
If you leave a candle jar directly on a countertop in your home, it can accidentally burn or crack its surface. Similarly, if a candle is overheating or wax spills out of its container, it can damage or stain your furniture.
An easy way to prevent all of this is to keep your candle on a heat-resistant surface, candle plate, or heat-safe coaster. Keeping your candles on heat-resistant surfaces can also help them maintain an even temperature and prevent overheating.
5. Avoid Direct Sunlight
Keeping your candle away from direct sunlight is crucial for preserving its shape and scent. The sun’s UV rays can soften your candle’s wax, causing it to become misshapen. The warped wax can cause the wick to become unstable, which, as previously mentioned, can lead to unwanted smoke and soot.
Sunlight can also cause the fragrance oils in a scented candle to break down. The delicious, comforting scent of your favorite candle might become less and less detectable over time, rendering it fragranceless.
By keeping your candle away from direct sunlight, you can help it maintain its potency.
6. Follow Suggested Burn Time
Following the suggested burn time of your candle is important for safety purposes.
When a candle burns for too long, the container can begin to overheat… and while this might not seem like such a big deal, it can be dangerous if you keep your candles within reach of children or pets who might accidentally burn themselves.
Another risk of burning your candle for too long is that the wick might become disproportionate. Having a wick that’s too large can pull up more wax than it should.
When this happens, the flame might not be able to consume this wax quickly enough. The result is carbon buildup and a whole lot of smoke.
Get the Most Out of Your Burn
We hope you have found these candle care tips useful. With a little consideration about the types of candles you use, plus where and how you light them, you’ll be able to enjoy the ambiance for hours to come.
Sources:
Is Your Home a Fire Hazard? | American Red Cross