Candles are an amazing decoration. They can provide a warm, inviting fragrance, eye candy and the stimulating glow of a safe fire right in your home.
Candles seem pretty straightforward. Place somewhere safe and light it. Easy peasey.
But actually candles have some requirements to burn safely and correctly.
If you follow these tips from Magnolia & Willows, you can get more life and enjoyment from each candle you burn.
The most well loved candles will get low, low low in the jar.
You can light the end of a spaghetti noodle in order to reach the wick.
Please be careful because the noodle will obviously be hot( it’s on fire lol), but it maintains a smooth small flame just long enough to reach that wick at the bottom of the jar.
I run the noodle under water to extinguish flame before throw away after use.
Speaking of low candles- once that candle is 1“ from bottom it shouldn’t be lit anymore!
American Candle Association recommends disposing of candles when they are within 1” from bottom of jar.
You don’t have to throw it away though. Place jar in freezer for 30 minutes and when you remove jar the wax chunks can be pried loose easily.
You can place those chunks in your wax warmer, or in the bottom of gym bags, garbage cans or drawers to add a nice fragrance.
The jar will be easily cleaned with dawn dish soap and a magic eraser for reuse.
We have a great article on 25 ideas for what to do with that jar including 🪴, jewelry organizing, ect.
Speaking of filthy places that could use a fresh scent. Wax Melts are actually perfect to place in the home or work.
These small fragrant cubes are easily placed in the bottom of trash cans, dresser drawers or lockers.
They will add a clean scent without even being melted.
Magnolia & Willows usually adds a wax melt sample in a nylon bag to each order.
Just be mindful to avoid any place that exceeds 120 degrees. This means no cars, attics or garages.
Candles need to stay trimmed. They shouldn’t have giant flames even though it looks pretty cool.
The cotton wick should pull just the right amount of wax up as fuel. In order to do this safely and efficiently wicks should be trimmed to 1/4” Before each use.
1/4” is about the length of a pencil lead after sharpening.
This trimming will help keep your candle from tunneling and wasting wax.
Windy or drafty areas in the home will make a candle work harder to burn fuel. The teardrop shaped flame should be still while it pulls up wax. If the flame is moving around it is displacing soot and burning unevenly which will shorten life of candle.
You don’t have to use towels to remove wax from your wax warmer. Thats always messy and too much effort.
Just place wax warmer in freezer for about 30 minutes.
Wax contracts as it freezes, so the spent wax will pop right out after freezing.
Tunneling can occur for many reasons. If the wick is too small for jar, drafts of air in room or if melt pool isn’t trained correctly.
Tunneling is not good because candle wax will be wasted on the sides of containers instead of burning properly.
If you notice your candle tunneling, place tin foil around top of jar to radiate heat back into jar.
This can melt the top layers of wax and even out candle.
Certain scents can transform a mood, but did you know certain scents can also solve a problem? Lemon is a natural deodorize. It will help eliminate the odor of cigarettes, fish and burnt food.
A tried and true method to enjoy those dinner candles longer. Place in freezer for 20-30 minutes before use.
They will drip less and last longer if burned while cold.
Here at Magnolia & Willows we have candle love.
We are proud to offer quality, pop art candles.
Our candles are made with premium Soy wax and Beeswax for a natural healthy home.
Each candle we make is hand poured and hand decorated to bring joy and intrigue into our customers spaces.
We lovingly gift wrap each order because we feel that every purchase should feel special and valued.
You can find our awesome products at Magnoliawillows.com. Perfect for home, office or gift giving. 🕯 💕
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