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4 Basic Candle Care That You Should Know

Happy Chinese New Year! Hope you already had a good ‘goat’ year. I sure did and I hope you do too 🙂

How time flies isn’t it? At first I was counting down to Chinese New Year and by a blink of an eye, today is the 4th day of Chinese New Year already. *sob* *sob* And no, I’m not going to talk about anything that relates to Chinese New Year at all because I’m rebel like that keke!

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Interestingly, while being at home for the past few days, I discovered something about my candles that I never know about. After doing some reading online, I got to know about candles even more than before. Before this it was just burning and burning and buying and continue burning. So here’s 4 basic candle care that you, the candle lover should know 🙂

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Candle Care #1: Trim the wick to 1/8 inch each time before relighting

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This is a trick I learnt sometime ago. I notice that when the wick is not trim, the light somehow burns wilder, burns on a faster rate than usual and some even gave slight black smoke. Usually candle store will recommend a wick trimmer and since I can do it the manual way and that I don’t want to spend a fortune on a wick trimmer, a good ol’ scissor works the same. How much is 1/8 of an inch you ask? Beats me! What I do is to tilt the scissors in such way (refer above) with the tip touching the candle and snip. Then I’ll tilt the glass over a dustbin to get rid of the excess wick 😀 . Easy peasy.

 

Candle Care #2: Keep candle burning not more than four hours at a time

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I’ve heard a lot about blowing off the candle when the area smells nice but I never done it myself. I don’t know why. However I always keep my candle burning time at a maximum of four hours only. Last time I never knew about the four hours rule so I always blow it off by the 2nd hour. It is said that the top of the candle will be fully melted within four hours so if you let it burn say two hours, the candle is only partially melted and when the same process is repeated, you may risk having a “memory ring” forming on top of the candle. I’ll explain more on this at tip #4. It is also when the candle became a pool of liquid wax on top of the jar that you get the most scent of all. So keep track of the time and blow it off when you’ve burn for four hours 😀

 

Candle Care #3: Allow to cool for two hours before relighting

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When I first started the whole candling thingamajig, I was paranoid with leaving the candle burning whenever I leave the room more than 10 minutes. So I like to blow it off and relight it again whenever I wanted to. This is actually not good for the candle itself. Candles should be allowed to cool for at least two hours, trim the wick first before relighting otherwise you will risk having a memory ring or tunneling.

 

Candle Care #4: Preventing memory ring or tunneling

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Memory ring aka tunneling is the most frustrating for candle. If left unattended, the candle will continue to burn on the center only, making a tunnel right to the bottom of the jar. I had the same issue with my Copenhagen candle and my M&M candle but because those two candle wax are softer, I just place the jar tilted on one side and the memory ring will be melted off in no time. Things are different with Yankee Candle because the wax are harder and takes a longer time to melt. I found a noticeable memory ring forming two days ago and Yankee Candle actually have this thing called the Illuma-Lid that sits on top of the jar rim that works by bouncing back the heat to the candle with its metal surface. That thing does look expensive so I made my own ‘lid’ with aluminium foil. It’s absolutely hideous I know but it works. It works painstakingly slow. Usually memory ring happens to larger candle jar such as the Yankee Candle ones. I have no problem with the smaller jar from the same brand or any other candle that are with 3-wicks. So if you have large jars of candle at home, take notice on how it burn and take necessary precaution steps if the candle doesn’t burn all the way to the side.

Hope you gain some info or insight from the above basic candle care and mishap prevention tips. Burning fragrance candles are not as simple as lighting the candle and voila but also how to get the most of your money spent (it ain’t cheap yo!). With these simple and easy to remember tips, you will definitely have a lovely, soothing living space for many hours to come 🙂

 



Comments (6)

  • Wow this is a good insight and informative post on candle appreciation and maintenance. Thanks girl! Trust you got our back! I am grateful that you shared this information because at a glance it seems easy to light up the candle and enjoy the scent. Hence one might not know that there are some tips and tricks to it. Granted a good candle can lean towards pricey side hence it’s important to learn the tips and tricks to enjoy and maintain the candle. Thanks again and you’ve a great collection there especially the M&M one!

    Reply
    • If candles are cheap I might not even know so much LOL. Actually I do notice the difference between cheaper candles with the expensive ones. Cheaper ones tend to be softer. Yankee Candle large jar claimed to have 110 – 150 hours burn time therefore it’s harder wax. This makes the burning slower but also a problem when I wanted to fix the memory ring problem.
      M&M candle are a steal. I think only RM25 for a large jar. Can’t remember. Smells quite good. If you have a need to try Yankee Candle, get Mistletoe scent. Smells amazing 😀

      Reply
  • Good tips. I did not know anything about candles except for lighting them. I always wonder why one side are not properly melted compared to the rest. Now I know why and how to fix.

    Reply
    • Memory ring happening to jar with larger opening on top is lesser. Yankee Candle jar are narrower on the top. I’m glad to hear it helps 🙂

      Reply
  • Lol you’re right. It’s a luxurious hobby and pricey product hence you’ll be motivated to learn more to enhance the experience and also maintain your candle collection. Thanks for the recommendation on Mistletoe. Each time I walk past Yankee Candles in Sunway Pyramid I’ll always smile fondly as it reminds me of you.

    Reply
    • Oh boy. I had a bad experience at Sunway Pyramid branch. I vowed not to buy Yankee candle anymore. If it’s not because of the Rakuten deal, I probably won’t 😛

      Reply

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