5 Ways to Take Care of Your Candles

Make the most of your good scents.

There's a right way to care for your candles and a wrong way to care for them. Some people may be surprised by this news. After all, how much care could a single candle possibly require? Most of them are simple to include in your everyday routine. Although the reality is that there are several things you can do to maintain your candles in good shape.

When you initially light your candle, make sure it burns evenly. If you're lighting a candle for the first time, give it some time to burn. Before you put the candle out, make sure the entire surface has melted. If you don't, your candle may develop a rim of solid wax that will never melt. It's essential to let your candle burn evenly before putting it out if you want all of the wax to burn. This procedure should take at least an hour, so don't light a fresh candle unless you have some extra time.

Maintain the cleanliness of your candle. After a few burns with a candle, you may find that soot and other debris have accumulated within the container. Remove this debris as soon as you notice it. This can cause the candle to overheat, resulting in a flashover or the entire surface of the candle catching fire. When you find wick trimmings in your candle's wax, use tweezers to pull them out. Wipe away soot, fingerprints, and other distracting design features using a dry cloth.

Trim the wick of your candle. Make sure your candle's wick is the proper length if you want a clean, even burn. And this may require some cutting. Check the height of your wick before lighting your candle. If it's longer than the recommended 0.25 inch, clip it neatly using scissors (or a wick trimmer). After that, relight it. Of course, you don't want to shorten it too much. A too-short wick might become lost in a sea of molten wax and fail to light, so be as accurate as possible.

When putting out your candle, make the least amount of mess possible. If you blow too hard, the wax will spatter all over the place, wasting your wax and leaving you with a lot to clean up. When it's time to put out your candle, do it with care. If your candle comes in a jar, you can extinguish it by simply replacing the lid. You may also get a proper snuffer. Or, you may put out your candle by dipping the wick in melted wax. A wick dipper is a unique candle tool that may help you achieve this; after pressing your wick into the wax, make sure to straighten it out before it dries.

While there is still wax in your candle, put it out. If you're using a candle, you should put it out before it runs out of wax. Allowing your candle to burn down may lead it to overheat its container, which might result in a problem, a mess, or both. Most candle experts advise that you put your candle out while 0.5 inches of wax remain in it. Always remember that you may wipe out the wax and reuse the bottle.